Client: Concert of Colors Multicultural Music Festival
Sector: Grassroots Community Engagement
Objective: Expand attendance and deepen engagement among younger audiences while preserving the festival’s legacy and loyal core attendees.

Challenge

Concert of Colors is a decades-old multicultural festival in Midtown Detroit known for uniting global music, art, and diverse communities. Although the event had a devoted, long-standing audience, organizers sought to energize attendance among younger festivalgoers without diminishing the festival’s authenticity. The challenge was striking a balance—honoring tradition while creating fresh, high-energy, shareable experiences that would attract new generations.

Our Approach

Marx Layne developed a fully integrated marketing and engagement strategy that blended traditional media, social-first storytelling, and deep cultural partnerships. Concurrently, we developed and executed a multi-tactic campaign that included:

• Cultural & Community Partnerships
  • Engaged local cultural organizations and business communities tied to each performing group—from Nigerian to Colombian to Ukrainian artists.
  • Created tailored content for each community to share, driving authentic engagement and cross-cultural amplification.
  • Activated corporate partners, including AARP and children’s organizations, with customized assets to turn them into active promotional allies.
• Social-First Storytelling
  • Produced hundreds of Instagram and Facebook Stories capturing live performances, rehearsals, behind-the-scenes activity, and spontaneous festival moments—including dancing in the rain.
  • Crafted an immersive, real-time narrative designed to spark FOMO and prompt immediate attendance.
• Paid Social Amplification
  • Deployed targeted paid campaigns to extend reach among new younger audiences and reinforce loyalty among longtime attendees.
  • Boosted top-performing Stories and posts to increase festival-wide visibility.
• Media Outreach & Press Integration
  • Secured regional media coverage to highlight the festival’s history, lineup, and impact on Detroit’s cultural landscape.
  • Built media partnerships aligned with the event’s mission of unity—an approach rarely used for multicultural festivals.
• Artist-Driven Cross-Promotion
  • Activated each band’s own networks to expand visibility.
  • Developed shareable content packages for performers, enabling organic multi-channel amplification.

Results:

• Attendance increased by more than 30% year-over-year, blending long-time festival supporters with new, younger audiences.
• Social engagement surged, with Stories generating hundreds of shares and driving last-minute attendance based on real-time content.
• Merchandise sales exceeded expectations as new audiences engaged more deeply with the festival brand.
• Weather challenges amplified—not hindered—the experience, with rain-drenched dancing and crowd energy becoming viral-ready content.
• Cross-cultural and corporate partnerships expanded reach, transforming the festival into a shared community event supported by multiple audiences and institutions.

Impact: The Concert of Colors campaign became a model for modern festival marketing—an approach rooted in cultural insight, partnership, and multi-platform storytelling. Marx Layne demonstrated that successful event marketing goes beyond promotion. It requires integrating traditional media, strategic social amplification, and authentic community partnerships to create memorable, multi-generational experiences that drive attendance and build long-term momentum.