New case study highlights how audience-first performance marketing generated more than 6,000 meaningful conversions for one of the nation's largest literary festivals
AUSTIN, Texas, July 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Orange 142, LLC ("Orange 142"), a division of Direct Digital Holdings (Nasdaq: DRCT) and a leading digital marketing agency for mid-market brands and agencies, has released a new case study highlighting how a performance marketing strategy helped the Tucson Festival of Books expand awareness, strengthen community engagement, and drive measurable campaign results.
One of the nation's largest literary festivals, the Tucson Festival of Books, welcomed approximately 130,000 attendees over two days in March while featuring more than 300 authors and promoting literacy across Southern Arizona. To deepen engagement with Hispanic, bilingual, and Spanish-speaking audiences, the festival partnered with Orange 142 to develop a full-funnel, culturally intentional media strategy rooted in cultural understanding, localized messaging, and data-driven execution.
The campaign combined paid social, display advertising, geofencing, and retargeting to engage audiences before, during, and after the event. Rather than simply translating English-language creative, Orange 142 tailored messaging to audience behavior, language preferences, and platforms, helping the festival connect authentically with the communities it serves.
As a result, the campaign generated more than 588,000 impressions, 6,000 clicks, and 6,043 meaningful conversions, including engaged users, volunteer sign-ups, and donations.
"Performance marketing is most effective when brands truly understand the audiences they're trying to reach," said Maria Vilchez Lowrey, President at Orange 142. "For the Tucson Festival of Books, cultural relevance wasn't separate from performance -- it was the reason the campaign performed. By combining audience insights with data-driven execution, we helped the festival generate measurable results while building stronger connections with the communities it serves."
The case study also highlights how Orange 142 designed the campaign around the attendee journey, using a full-funnel approach to build awareness, drive event attendance through high-intent geofencing, and extend engagement after the festival with survey and donation opportunities.
"One of our goals was to ensure more people across Southern Arizona felt welcomed and represented in the festival experience," said Abra McAndrew, Executive Director of the Tucson Festival of Books. "Orange 142 understood that reaching our community required thoughtful, culturally relevant outreach that reflected the audiences we wanted to engage. Their campaign helped us connect with more readers and families while driving strong attendance and meaningful participation."
The full case study is available HERE.
Looking to drive stronger results for live events and in-person campaigns? Visit https://orange142.com/contact to learn how Orange 142 helps performance marketers maximize engagement and attendance.
About Orange 142
Orange 142 is a digital marketing and advertising company helping businesses and agencies of all sizes grow their reach and revenue through strategic, data-driven media execution. As the buy-side arm of Direct Digital Holdings (Nasdaq: DRCT), Orange 142 delivers customized solutions across programmatic, search, social, connected TV, and emerging digital channels. With deep expertise in high-growth sectors such as Travel & Tourism, Healthcare, Energy, and Financial Services, Orange 142 creates results-driven campaigns that connect brands with their most valuable audiences. To learn more, visit www.Orange142.com.
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SOURCE Direct Digital Holdings
