In this day and age, the comments section on social media can range from community to chaos. On Reddit, all comments are welcome … as long as they adhere to the platform’s community guidelines.
Brands, however, are held to higher standards.
In this episode of Campaign Chemistry, Kris Kennedy, creative strategy manager at Reddit’s in-house creative agency KarmaLab, discusses the importance of community and curiosity, particularly through platforms such as Reddit. In the world of advertising, Reddit is often viewed as the “final frontier”— a place of immense potential but one where the community isn't afraid to speak its mind. For brands to break through and truly form connections with users, Kennedy’s critical advice is simple: Listen first, talk second.
Kennedy also shares why creativity is always a "team sport," whether you’re in an agency or in-house. We explore the surprising power of nostalgia, the role of AI in helping Reddit moderators keep communities safe and the power that Reddit holds in culture.
The sound bite
"Listen first, talk second."
The key takeaways
- Creativity is a team sport. Similar to traditional ad agencies, Kennedy shares why it takes a village to break through with strong ideas.
- Listen first, talk second. Brands should treat their presence on Reddit like a personal relationship. The best approach is to listen to the ongoing conversations first before trying to talk to the audience.
- Observe the context. Kennedy encourages marketers to channel their inner “Jane Goodall” and take time to watch the community. This helps brands understand what is being discussed around their brand, so they do not have to start from a blank page.
- Be a good dinner party guest. Kennedy compares engaging on Reddit to attending a dinner party — brands need to bring something to the table. They should avoid making the conversation entirely about themselves.
- Authenticity over trickery. Redditors do not inherently hate brands. Instead, they hate when brands speak out of context or try to trick users into thinking they aren't brands.
- Recontextualize existing assets. Marketers don’t always have to invent brand-new assets for the platform. Similar to how a comedian adjusts their jokes depending on the venue (i.e., Chris Rock), brands can recontextualize their existing content to fit the expectations of a specific Reddit community.
- Leverage nostalgia authentically. Nostalgia is a very strong and consistent theme across Reddit. However, brands must approach it with authenticity and avoid trying to leech off of it too heavily.
- Understand that users age with the platform: People do not age out of Reddit; rather, the platform grows with them as their passions and needs change over time. Kennedy compares the Reddit experience to his own lived experience, from being a breakdancer to a new dad to a dad of a neurodivergent child. This evolution provides marketers with a unique opportunity to rethink how to leverage audience lifecycle marketing on Reddit.
- Start small. Instead of trying to grab all of Reddit's attention at once, brands should start small. It is recommended to begin with promoted advertising (with comments turned off) until the brand is ready to engage intentionally.
- Human moderators over everything. While AI and large language models are great at answering the "what," human intelligence is required to understand the "how,” Kennedy explains, tapping his own personal experience of navigating a close family member receiving a cancer diagnosis. Community conversations provide the diverse perspectives and emotional connections that AI cannot replicate.
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Music - Take you Out by Lucid Tides, courtesy of Triple Scoop.
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32 mins
Apr 30 202640 mins
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