Keke Palmer Is the CMO of Her Own Brand

It's hard to imagine a superstar like Keke Palmer — famous for her starring roles in films like Nope and Scream Queens, and the Netflix animated sitcom Big Mouth along with two studio albums — building a slide deck. And yet she does. "I make a deck for everything," she revealed onstage at Brandweek in Pheonix, Ariz. "I live for a deck, about me! Like 'these are the brands and words that describe Keke Palmer.'" Over the years, those words have grown into a list: actress, singer-songwriter, producer, chair, host, entrepreneur, activist, and author. Since 2022, it's included media owner. And as of this week, it includes ADWEEK 2024 Brand Genius. If that's overwhelming to most people, it certainly isn't to Palmer. "For me, diversifying has given me so much freedom. It's allowed me the opportunity to dig into different corners and still be able to feed my family," she said. But as Palmer's multiple careers exploded, she's now focused on giving back to a community of fans and creators inspired by her success. It's become the "foundation of her brand." Here's how she's doing it — and why now. Quotes have been condensed and lightly edited for clarity. She wants to pass a legacy of community down to her son Becoming a mother to her now one-year-old son, Leo, transformed Palmer's life — including her business decisions. "He has given me so much more clarity and intention about what works for me and doesn't, and how I want to show up for myself," she said. For much of her career, she was focused on her own trajectory. But as her family and resume have expanded, so too have her ambitions. "But now I want to hand down to him this concept of community. That's what I was raised on," she said. The transition hasn't always been easy. "It's been hard to go from, 'it's me, I'm the star, Keke, I'm the one everything is [laddering] back up to,' to working out how we can create an infrastructure that can spread that out, and fast," Palmer said. But having her son has given her the ability to see more clearly, she said. And her business decisions now are based on an entirely different set of concerns. "When you have a kid, everything comes into perspective," she noted, adding this made it easier to say "no," to things that previously felt like "life or death.""Now it's like, I ain't got time for that," she added. Palmer believes her main greater purpose is to build a legavy bigger than herself: "I want to create something that is for my community, [something] beyond my brand, something that speaks to everything that my brand is about, inspiration, education, democratization." Palmer is showcasing BIPOC talent Palmer's KeyTV, a digital network she launched in 2022, is one of her biggest tools for giving back to the community. KeyTV is dedicated to backing and spotlighting diverse talent and, “sharing the keys to culture," Palmer said. Palmer [R] sat down for a conversation with ADWEEK's chief content officer (CCO) Zoë Ruderman [L] during Brandweek. It has since launched original series including Heaux & Tell and the comedy Bosses. "What I'm trying to achieve with KeyTV, is the realization that, especially as a person of color, you don't always have to be a performer," she said. The network is a showcase for BIPOC talent in a variety of entertainment roles. "You could be a DP [director of photography], you could be a director, you could be a writer, you could work in marketing, you could be a publicist, you could be anything." Her upcoming book reveals her path to 'self-mastery' The entertainer and media mogul’s new book Master of Me: The Memoir will hit shelves in November. A follow-up to her 2017 debut I Don't Belong to You, it will explore her journey to understanding her true value and writing her own narrative. Palmer collected her 2024 Brand Genius award at the Brand Genius Gala in Phoenix, Ariz. She said the book would explore "commodifying yourself without losing yourself," and delve into how to feel both independent and entrepreneurial. "For me, that comes from self-mastery," she said. Her book is meant to help others realize that, if they can't change the system, they can certainly change how they work within it. In 2025, she's also preparing to team up with singer-songwriter SZA to star in a new buddy comedy produced by actress and writer Issa Rae. She's more cautious about brand partnerships... Palmer revealed she recently had a publicist pitch her an idea around a fashion brand, but it was a non-starter. "They were offering a lot of money, but it just didn't speak to what my overall sense of my [own] brand is," she explained. "It happens all the time. We just say, 'hey, this isn't a fit'. Money has not been the thing that has moved me. Money comes and goes, we all need it but you want to go to places that make you feel good." ...Though there's one brand she'd love to work with As Palmer builds her media empire with KeyTV, she's increasingly open to working with more tech brands, including the biggest one of all. "I'd love to work with Google, I love them, I love the different hands they have in different things," she said. In November, Palmer will release her second book. She's also preparing to pair up with SZA a the 2025 buddy movie produced by Issa Rae for TriStar pictures. Catch up with the rest of our coverage from Brandweek, including insights from sessions featuring Chrissy Teigen and Linda Boff here.

Brandweek

Keke Palmer Is the CMO of Her Own Brand

The star on building decks about herself, and how her son inspires her to give back to her community

Rebecca Stewart

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Rebecca Stewart