Windy City Comedy Fest: How Kvell Factor Built Chicago’s Newest Comedy Institution From the Ground Up
In 2024, Windy City Comedy Fest launched its first-ever multi-day festival—and Kvell Factor Marketing was behind every piece of the digital infrastructure and brand identity that made it happen.
From inception to execution, Kvell Factor created the festival’s full brand identity, including the logo, color palette, voice, and messaging. We designed and developed the website (www.WindyCityComedyFest.com) to serve as both an information hub and a submission platform, enabling the seamless intake of over 500 comedian submissions in year one—an incredible launch stat for an entirely new festival.
We built a custom digital submission and judging workflow using Google Workspace tools, created email marketing campaigns that converted, and implemented an early interest strategy to grow buzz before the festival ever announced its lineup.
Once submissions opened, Kvell Factor managed all social media strategy, ad creative, and engagement, including:
Platform growth across Instagram and Facebook
Reel and video campaign concepts to promote key dates
Targeted outreach to comics, producers, and media outlets
Strategic email automation for applicants, attendees, and sponsors
Website Design: We created the entire Windy City Comedy Fest website from scratch, designing a bold and user-friendly interface that serves as both a submissions portal and event hub. The site positions the fest as a nationally credible institution from year one and is fully optimized for mobile, SEO, and future ticketing integrations.
Brand Identity: Kvell Factor developed the full brand for Windy City Comedy Fest, including the logo, color palette, tone, tagline, and messaging. We ensured the brand was adaptable across print, digital, and merchandise platforms to maintain a cohesive look and feel throughout the festival experience.
Content Creation: We created all digital assets for the festival, including performer spotlights, judge recruitment materials, venue promotions, and event flyers. Our team directed and designed every visual element to ensure consistency and impact across platforms.
Email Marketing: From the festival announcement to submission deadlines, lineup reveals, and ticket sales, Kvell Factor ran all email marketing campaigns. We used audience segmentation and automation to reach comics, fans, and sponsors with personalized, engaging content that converted.
All Digital Media: We managed Windy City Comedy Fest’s entire digital presence, including Instagram, Facebook, and website updates. From Instagram Reels to show promos and behind-the-scenes clips, we handled platform strategy, execution, and growth.
Organic Growth: Without a single dollar spent on paid social ads, the festival grew an engaged audience from scratch. Our organic growth strategy included hashtag optimization, creator partnerships, and highly shareable visual content that drove traffic and submissions.
Expert SEO: We optimized all site pages, performer bios, blog content, and landing pages for search engine performance. The result: strong visibility for Chicago comedy-related searches and fast Google indexing for all festival content.
Submission & Judging Infrastructure: Kvell Factor built and maintained a customized Google Sheets-based submission and judging system that supported over 500 submissions and 15 judges. We designed a seamless backend that ensured every submission was scored fairly and efficiently.
Development & Fundraising Strategy: We supported the festival’s fiscal sponsorship model and advised on business development strategy, building in donation and sponsorship infrastructure to support long-term organizational growth.
See more on Instagram @WindyCityComedyFest
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Website Design
Content Creation
Email Marketing
Event Production
All Digital Media
Organic Growth
Expert SEO
Creative Direction
Design
Development
At Kvell Factor, we work with ChiTribe to enhance their online presence through comprehensive website design, content creation, and email marketing. Our services also include event production, digital media management, organic growth strategies, expert SEO, creative direction, and development. Together, we ensure ChiTribe connects effectively with the modern Jewish community.