‘wakes funny’ Kevin Hart

amplify your story?”

Hart said it was important to enjoy the trust of brands that allow him to pitch and develop campaigns that “embed funny” into products from the likes of AT&T and sport betting company Draftkings.

Speaking with Jeffrey Katzenberg, entertainment industry executive, DreamWorks co-founder and founding partner at WndrCo, Hart said that “people love to laugh” and resonate with “comedy and colour.”

Hartbeat campaigns also reflect Hart’s authentic persona. “I wake up funny,” he said. “I am not a gimmick.”

KEVIN Hart built his fame as a livewire comedian and actor, but the founder and chairman of the Hartbeat entertainment studio and marketing consultancy also helps brands add value by becoming funny.

Announced as the Entertainment Person of the Year

2023 by the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Hart spoke at the Debussy on Tuesday about his ability to fuse comedy with marketing and business through “seamless” brand partnerships. Working across film, TV, radio, podcasts and more, Hartbeat has created a “media ecosystem” through which brands can grow, he said.

“We are not a company for the moment, but the future,” Hart told the packed auditorium. “How do we

But as Katzenberg noted, iconic brands often don’t relate to humour, even if 91% of respondents to one survey prefer funny brands.

Hart described Hartbeat’s partnership with Old Spice that developed “a synergy to grow the brand” through the comedy sports talk show, Cold as Balls. As Hart and his interviewees sit in ice baths, the Old Spice brand is integrated throughout comedic interactions with some of the biggest names in sport.

The key to the campaign’s success was creating a vehicle for consumer engagement “that is authentic and transparent,” Hart said.

Underlying this success was an ever-evolving partnership that also relied on the right talent, he added.

“The ecosystem of Kevin Hart is not Kevin Hart.”