Cricket Wireless partnered with the TV network REVOLT for a hip-hop trivia campaign aimed at African-American audiences.
Objective:
Cricket Wireless sought to spread awareness of Cricket's smile-worthy reliable network among African-American audiences, relating back to Cricket's tagline "Smile, You're On Cricket."
Target Audience:
Cricket was targeting African-American wireless customers age 18-49, who were also viewers of the TV network REVOLT and interested in hip-hop culture, facts, and history.
Creative Strategy:
With no media budget to work with and no African-American-specific creative to intrigue African-American viewers, Cricket needed a partner with credibility among African-American viewers.
The team leveraged Cricket Wireless's linear upfront investment to unlock an earned value program during a significant cultural event — Black History Month. Cricket would partner with a network to produce new relevant content which would intrigue a predominantly African-American audience.
Teaming with REVOLT, a Black-owned network that features a roster of expert voices in the hip-hop space, Cricket would co-create a trivia format on hip-hop history that engaged and educated viewers, simultaneously associating Cricket Wireless with dependability, joy, and thoughtfulness.
Context:
REVOLT has a reputation for engaging hip-hop coverage and boasts a lineup of highly engaging personalities: subject experts on hip-hop history, Black history, and emerging cultural trends. The network's voices are vital, expressive, and deeply credible to the target audience, particularly during a moment of immense cultural import like Black History Month.
Due to its frequently replenished talent pool, mass-culture cachet, and youthful exuberance, hip-hop is often viewed as a current cultural force. MRC Data reports R&B/hip-hop accounted for 28.2 percent of total album-equivalent consumption in 2020, the highest mark of any genre.
However, hip-hop history is both dense and lengthy. While the genre is constantly evolving and informing the culture, it has existed in six different decades (dating back to the 1970s). Given innovative musical techniques like sampling (looping or layering previously recorded recordings to create a new soundbite) and the interpolation and reinterpretation of the genre's foundational lyrics via rappers paying homage to older generations, hip-hop also has a referential quality that makes it ideal for trivia.
Crucially, hip-hop also serves as a pop culture lens for the broader African-American experience, as the genre's referential attributes often weave in themes relevant to Black History Month. Depending on the era, hip-hop music conveys African-American styles, linguistic trends, and social justice efforts.
Overall Campaign Execution:
Cricket Wireless identified REVOLT fan-favorite personalities to compete in the "If You Know You Know" trivia contest about hip-hop history.
With podcast personality Kazeem Famuyide handling hosting duties, actor/musician Rome Flynn and DJ/producer DJ Osh Kosh competed in three rounds of hip-hop history trivia, formatted for audience participation and encouraging repeated tune-in (each round was one episode).
Each "If You Know You Know" trivia showdown was distributed across REVOLT's linear, digital, and social channels while Rome Flynn and Osh Kosh, also featured in Cricket's Black History Month "Smile Makers" program, were promoted across Cricket owned and operated (O&O) stations, building awareness of the affiliation.
Episodes were presented by Cricket Wireless and featured branding and frequent calls out of important messaging distinctions touting Cricket's network dependability.
In addition to Cricket branding, the contestants were shown using Cricket Wireless devices to power the game. The winner also received a $3,000 donation to the charity of their choice to continue bettering their communities, courtesy of Cricket and REVOLT.
Mobile Execution:
"If You Know You Know" episodes and teasers were released on all of REVOLT's digital and social channels, with shorter cutdowns and talent testimonials encouraging viewers to watch upcoming rounds and follow along.
Each social post included "presented by Cricket Wireless," building more earned value with every share, ReTweet, and Instagram post.