Highly decorated ad industry veteran Carol H. Williams will receive Ad Age's Vanguard Award on Sept. 15 during this year's Women to Watch Awards event.
Williams, CEO of Carol H. Williams Advertising, is being honored for a lifetime of significant achievements, which include being named to the AAF Advertising Hall of Fame. The Vanguard Award, now in its second year, is given to women like Williams, who have inspired, mentored and blazed trails for other women in the industry.
Williams, the first ever African-American female to be named a VP and creative director at Leo Burnett Co., opened her own firm in 1986. Among the Fortune 500 clients she has created work for are General Motors, General Mills, Kraft, Procter & Gamble, the U.S. Army and Walt Disney Co. Williams is also the first African-American creative inductee in the Advertising Hall of Fame and a 2020 Matrix Award honoree.
Her creative credits include Secret's "Strong enough for a man but made for a woman," and campaigns for brands including New Freedom and Pillsbury while at Burnett. In the video below, based on a interview with Ad Age, Williams discusses her first meeting with the Chicago agency's famed founder.
