Kevin Hart has built a seamless bridge between entertainment and marketing. He’s a luminary, entrepreneur, and a multi-million business founder. Hart has long been known for his unique brand of comedy, his prolific success as a content creator, and the media mogul. His multi-platform media company, Hartbeat, has produced award-winning content like FX’s Dave, the internet’s number one sports talk show Cold as Balls, Hartbeat Weekend Festival featuring J. Cole, Jack Harlow, and Ludacris, and the wildly popular celebrity Prank Wars on NBC. Hartbeat has also built enduring co-creation partnerships with brands like Procter & Gamble, Sam’s Club, Lyft, and Fabletics among others and id continuing to raise the bar for the inclusion of storytelling.Kevin Hart at Cannes Lions 2023 © Instagram / Kevin HartKevin Hart at Cannes Lions 2023 © Instagram / Kevin Hart

Hart has received an inaugural ‘Entertainer of the Year’ Award at Cannes Lions this year. He has stepped to the stage of Cannes Lions with the founding partner of WNDRCO Jeffrey Katzneberg to share the secret behind his success.

“What I love the most is not the accomplishments, but the opportunity. The opportunity to still be present, the opportunity to still be an action item in this business that can forget. So after all these years, to still recreate, to find purpose in sustainability, that’s the thing that I value the most. That’s the thing I look at and I’m most blown away by. The fans have a large part to do with that, of course.”

Kevin Hart

Work for hire versus being the creator

“The ecosystem of Kevin Hart is not just Kevin Hart. If you look at just the Kevin Hart of it, you are losing the value of the ecosystem.”

Kevin Hart

Speaking about where the idea for Hartbeat cam from, Hart explained: “The most important thing about Heartbeat is the ‘Why’ behind it. Looking at the success I’ve had as a talent and entertainer, I realised that I was a work-for-hire. And early on in being a work-for-hire, I said it’s not that it’s not okay because it is, but I would much rather be a partner. I would much rather have a choice or an option as to when I want to work and how I want to work rather than waiting for the phone call. So, in the early days, it was about being a part of the ecosystem that gets you to the decision of what’s going to happen rather than waiting for what’s going to happen.”

The venture has soon become a fully-fledged ecosystem where Hartbeat now provide television, film, unscripted content, radio, podcasts. “The ecosystem of Kevin Hart is not just Kevin Hart. If you look at just the Kevin Hart of it, you are losing the value of the ecosystem. What we have built has transformed into a fully-fledged media infrastructure that provides opportunities in every outlet you can imagine. What we are providing ourselves is the opportunity to put all those connections and partnerships to work. We are not a company for the moment. We are a company for the future, for the long term…”

Comedy as a vehicle for engagement

Speaking of the following steps and accomplishments, Hart summarised: “These things that once upon a time were just Kevin Hart opportunities, based on my likeness, have grown into brand-specific and company-specific growth opportunities. How do we better amplify the stories on your behalf inside of Kevin and outside? Kevin is the start of the engine, but once the car gets running, the car has a lot of different places it can go. Let’s show you how far the car can drive. And what we have found is that comedy is something that was overlooked in today’s time.”

He continued, “Some people value it, and some people look past it. When you talk about storytelling, when you attach a laugh to the purpose, you’ll find out there is sustainability and truth people can relate to. People can resonate and relate to things that ultimately make them laugh. So as a brand, we matched my success, which is comedy and being a universal thing that I’ve done, and seeing how we do that from an advertising lens, our marketing lens, a partnership, and, more importantly, a creative space. How do I make the concepts that our outside partners have and find a way to embed funny in them? Personality and, more importantly, charisma and charm?

“These are the things that are overlooked. And what I have found a lot of success in throughout my career is that people love to laugh. Whether you like it or not, we all do it. How can I consistently make you laugh? How can I make you laugh unconsciously? How can I make you laugh and feel grounded in a way that, regardless of your reason for it, it’s something that you love? When you can attach that to a commercial and to the brand and the end side of work, you will find yourself in a real place of success and, more importantly, an uncharted opportunity.”

Being funny is not a gimmick

A recent survey by Oracle found that 91% of consumers prefer brands that are funny. Only 20% of brands today are actually using humour. “Not everyone can do that, but you wake up every day funny. So how does it feel waking up next to you?’ asked Harlow.

“The crazy thing is, I really do wake up funny. I am really funny, not because I’m trying to be, but because I am. And it’s a talent. I am not a gimmick, I am not a character, I honestly am myself. And the crazy thing about what we are building underneath the company is that it has to mirror what I am, because what I am works. What I am actually works on a global level. If I wasn’t able to talk and sell the tickets and create a business, then it would be a gamble, but it works. So waking up funny is what I love the most because it’s not a gimmick, it’s what I am.”

Selling humour to brands

“Brands are blown away by my adamant approach to the opportunity. I don’t want anything given to me just because I’m Kevin Hart. I am a firm believer in earning it”

Kevin Hart

You work with a lot of iconic brands that have been around for a very long time, and they tend to be pretty conservative. How hard has it been to get them to open up and look at being funny? How do you break those doors?

“I don’t think it’s as challenging as people think. You have to understand that new opportunities and new ground get broken with new ideas.

“I’m not a rocket scientist, that’s just common sense. Without a new idea, you cannot find a new way. A path does not exist that people do not know about until somebody says, “Go this way.” 

“So when you’re in the room and you’re pitching and you’re telling people about a concept or an idea that ultimately brings value for you, the reason why we found success is that until I’m wrong, treat me like I’m right.

Getting job done, delivering value

So how do you get into those rooms? People have been trying to get into those rooms where it happens…

“My likeness is what got me into the rooms. My ideas and hard work are what allowed me to earn a seat in those rooms. I’m not here because of a hypothetical, I’m not here because of a thought. I’m here because I’ve done the work, my company has done the work. It’s a proven concept at this stage.

“Let me explain how I approach that. I tell brands that they will be wasting an opportunity if they just work with my likeness and don’t understand the infrastructure I’ve created. They can benefit from the entire infrastructure. The value that my infrastructure can bring to them is significant. Give me a second to show you, I want nothing more.

“Brands are blown away by my adamant approach to the opportunity. I don’t want anything given to me just because I’m Kevin Hart. I am a firm believer in earning it, and at this point, my likeness gets me the opportunity to earn. If, when I have the opportunity to earn, I am not deserving of it, then don’t give it to me. But if I am, not only give it to me, but also acknowledge the work that was done underneath the umbrella that I presented to you to bring you more value.”

“My value comes from being real, my value comes from when you lift up the foot of my car, the engine is what I said it was. It’s not what I made you believe. Here is how it runs. That’s where I think the biggest credibility has come.

The Q&A Round

Who is your personal hero?

My mum.

Would you like to go on Jeff Bezos’s rocket?

No.

Why?

I’m a black man… I have no desire to see what’s up there. I’m okay.

What is your favourite movie of all time?

“Boomerang”.

What is the smartest thing you have ever done?

Realizing that I’m not the smartest person.

The worst stand-up experience ever?

Atlantic City. In the beginning of my career, a guy threw a buffalo wing at me. It hit me in the face, and the sauce got in my eye. True story.

Have you ever tried skydiving?

No. Once again, I’m a black man. I have no desire to help death.

AI is mostly great or mostly scary?

It’s mostly in the moment. I think right now everything is glorified in the beginning, but there’s always a reason to not, and you have to find a balance.

Favourite sports team?

Anything Philadelphia. Sixers, Flyers, Eagles, Phillies. All day, every day. Philadelphia all day.

The dumbest thing you’ve ever done?

In school, before graduating, I assumed that because my friends and I hung out all the time, that we all didn’t have a plan. I was the only one who didn’t have a plan. That assumption is one of the worst ones I’ve ever made. Watching my friends further their education and get accepted into college when I didn’t, and I didn’t take my SATs, until this day, it’s one of the most asinine moments that I have ever had in my life because I assumed that we were all hooking, cutting class, none of us cared.

How tall would you actually like to be?

I am my perfect height, 5’5″.