On July 5, 2013, Grey North America promoted Michael Houston to a newly created position of CEO.
Mr. Houston, in assuming his new post, becomes one of the few African-Americans in the executive suites of the large, mainstream Madison Avenue agencies — even, perhaps, the most senior.
“By no means do I define myself only by that,” Mr. Houston said in a telephone interview to the New York Times. Still, “I do think it’s unfortunate that my appointment potentially makes me the highest-ranking African-American,” he added. “It sends a signal there aren’t a lot of African-American people in the industry in the highest ranks.”
That is problematic, Mr. Houston said, because “we’re meant to appeal to, tap into, popular culture” on behalf of marketer clients, “and it’s hard to do that without diversity.”
Mr. Houston joined Grey New York in 2007 as executive vice president and director for marketing. He was named global chief marketing officer of Grey in 2010 and managing director of Grey New York in 2011.
He’s now responsible for overseeing New buy viagra 50 mg online York, San Francisco, Toronto and Vancouver as well as Grey’s PR arm and multicultural shop Wing.
Under Houston’s leadership, Grey New York has won a host of new accounts with billings estimated at more than $3 billion, among them DirecTV, E*Trade Financial, Gillette, Marriott Hotels and Resorts, RadioShack and Sargento Foods.
Michael Houston’s love for advertising began in grade school.
“I was one of those nerdy kids who would cut out all the ads I liked in magazines and wallpaper my room,” said the Kansas native, who didn’t believe he was creative because he couldn’t draw.
Mr. Houston credits his ability to empathize with others as a key to his success—something he says he learned from his parents, both academics. “It’s an appreciation for turning things on their head and looking at things from all angles,” he said.
Michael Houston is a graduate of the University of Kansas, where he studied advertising and marketing at the William Allen White School of Journalism.