Key & Peele: Comedy Central Builds Cultural Resonance

Cook embarked on some fascinating and ARF awardwinning research for the Emmy nominated Comedy Central series amp8220Key ampamp Peeleamp8221 Pictured at top are Keegan Michael Key left and Jordan Peeleamp160She explains amp8220Three seasons in amp8216Key ampamp Peeleamp8217 still lacked awareness and engagement by AfricanAmerican and Hispanic viewers who should have been the showamp8217s biggest fansamp160 We needed to identify how and where prior communication efforts had failed and subsequently informed a customized Multicultural marketing strategyamp8221Noted here is that this research makes use of emotional response research based on community panels This form of research is gaining more attention in the industry where consumer motivations and emotional responses can become part of the fuller analysis of a piece of contentamp160I asked Cook the following questions about her research efforts for amp8220Key ampamp Peeleamp8221Charlene Weisler What research did you conduct for this seriesChanon Cook There were three key research studies which were running concurrentlyResearch Study 1 Understanding Multicultural Millennials The cornerstone of this research comes from an extensive Multicultural Millennial Collaborative Community of over 300 active online membersamp160 The virtual amp8220salonamp8221 convened on a weekly basis for over six months and covered a broad range of topics from the latest memes making the social rounds to hot button topics like Trayvon Martin and immigration policyamp160 We also conducted multiple ethnographies focus groups expert and academic interviews content analysis and secondary researchamp160 This is some of the deepest and richest research Comedy Central has conducted to dateResearch Study 2 amp8211 amp8220Key ampamp Peeleamp8221 Series Deep Diveamp160 Comedy Central conducted a series of indepth focus groups around key show and communications elements including talent appeal humor sensibility show format and messagingamp160 We spoke with current amp8220Key ampamp Peeleamp8221 viewers and Multicultural Millennials who from a psychographic perspective should be viewers across three marketsamp160New York City Los Angeles and ClevelandResearch Study 3 amp8211 amp8220Key ampamp Peele Semiotics Studyamp8221 amp160With a topic as complex as race we knew we needed to combine our consumer insight methodologies with extensive cultural analysisamp160 We had to understand amp8220Key ampamp Peeleamp8217samp8221 current cultural resonance and identify future opportunities to amplify the franchiseamp8217s cultural voice and impactamp160 We leaned into a semiotic analysis of popular content and amp8220Key ampamp Peeleamp8221 in particular to help build our narrative through a company called Truth Coamp160 Our use of cultural analysis combined with consumer insight work enabled us to bring to the surface hidden but essential insightsCW What were the calls to actionCC The amp8220Key ampamp Peeleamp8221 season four launch would be a radical departure from previous campaignsamp160 Our goal was cultural resonance a psychographic defined by common sensibilities and attitudesamp160 Marketing adjusted the focus from trying to attract African Americans and Hispanics to attracting the psychographic within the demographic Multiculturally aware Millennials who are culturally plugged in and socialWe partnered with brands like WorldStarHipHop DimeMag and DatPiff for the first timeamp160 Our YouTube campaign was also nuanced and extensive in addition to retargeting fans that had previously watched amp8220Key ampamp Peeleamp8221 or Comedy Central videos we built out targeting buckets for our Multicultural psychographicamp160 KeeganMichael Key and Jordan Peele continued to amplify their icon status and cool cred with high profile appearances and partnerships like guest editing the Entertainment Weekly comedy issue and hosting a panel at San Diego ComicConCW Did anything surprise you What were the quotahaquot moments CC Beyond likes and ratings perhaps the most significant impact has been a fundamental shift in the internal narrative around the Comedy Central core vieweramp160 Now when we say amp8220The Comedy Central vieweramp8221 we donamp8217t automatically picture a 24yearold white guyamp160 The Comedy Central core fan can be black white Hispanic male or female and we will serve all of them The only thing we ask of them is to love awesome comedyThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillage management or associated bloggers

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Key & Peele: Comedy Central Builds Cultural Resonance

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Charlene Weisler

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