DUOPALOOZA
A Duolingo campaign that turns Gen Z’s love of global music into a reason to learn the language.
// ROLE
Budget Analyst, Campaign Strategist
// TYPE
Campaign / Branding
// INDUSTRY
Edtech / Music
// YEAR
2026
// DURATION
2 Months
// PROBLEM
Duolingo's mission is powerful, but Gen Z doesn't see it.
// SOLUTION
Artist Crash Courses where learning earns access to Duopalooza, a music festival in Miami.
// RESULT
Picked as the best of 5 team pitches. Duolingo's net cost is 2.3% of its yearly marketing budget.
// OVERVIEW
Duolingo's D&AD New Blood 2026 brief asked for a way to turn a quiet mission into a loud conversation. Three of us built a full campaign and pitched it to the client on April 27, 2026. I built the budget and business case, helped shape the strategy, and gave input on the design.
// THE PROBLEM
Duolingo's mission is powerful. To Gen Z, it's invisible.
Language learning still feels like homework, not culture. Duo gets plenty of attention online, but attention without a purpose is just noise.
Gen Z already lives inside global music. They stream songs in languages they don't speak. Music feels like identity, not school. That was our way in.
The opportunity
languages reached Spotify's Global Top 50 in 2025, 2x more than in 2020
people already use Duolingo every month
// RESEARCH AND INSIGHTS
They just haven’t been given a reason to close the language gap.
01
Fandom data
Deloitte 2025 study on how Gen Z connects with music.
02
Streaming trends
Spotify Loud & Clear 2025 on music in other languages.
03
Duolingo filings
Q4 2025 SEC filing for users and marketing spend.
04
Two audiences
A younger learner and an older music fan.
// WHAT I LEARNED (SECONDARY RESEARCH)
Music beats every other fandom.
Ahead of gaming at 41% and movies at 40%.
K-pop royalties are growing fast.
Fans are already listening across languages.
Reggaeton is growing too.
Spanish is Duolingo's most studied language after English.
Duolingo's 2025 marketing budget.
This set the limit for what a festival could cost.
// WHO WE'RE TALKING TO
Ages 13 to 17
The Intellectual
"I can conjugate verbs but I can't understand a single lyric."
Ages 18 to 25
The Explorer
"I've been listening to Young Miko for months. I want to know what she's saying."
Channels
Where they already are
TikTok, Instagram, the Duolingo app, and the festival.
// STRATEGY
01
02
03
// KEY DECISIONS
01
Made the festival the main event
Every part of the campaign leads to Duopalooza.
02
Built the courses from the artists' lyrics
Fans learn the language through songs they already love.
03
Passes give early access, not free tickets
Only the top 30 learners get in free, so ticket sales still pay for the festival.
04
Let each artist choose where funds go
It keeps the giving personal and believable.
// DESIGN SOLUTION
Creative direction by Amanda Godines. Illustration by Ruby Jo Hatlevig. Design input from the full team.
// 01
Unlock the Beat, Fund the Future
Music is the way in. Every streak brings users closer to Duopalooza, a one-day festival in Miami on April 25, 2027.
// 02
Artist Crash Courses
Current users see a pop-up inviting them to an artist's course. New users see the courses during sign-up. Their first impression could be: "I can learn Spanish with Young Miko and get backstage access."
// 03
Duo, dressed as each artist
Duo keeps his unhinged personality while taking on the look of each artist.
// 04
The Duo-Pass system
Four pass levels turn time in the app into real festival perks.
Buy a ticket
General
Helps fund the future.
2-week streak
Hype Owl
GA presale at $159, before the public. Exclusive artist content.
Finish a course
VIP Streak
VIP presale at $339. VIP area, early entry, meet-and-greet lottery.
Top 30 worldwide
Duo Legend
Free ticket, backstage access, and a feature on Duolingo’s socials.
// 05
Rollout in three phases
The tease builds curiosity, the reveal names the lineup, and the hard launch puts the artists everywhere.
Now to 01.01.27
Build
01.01.27
Tease
01.02.27
Announce
Crash Courses go live.
01.03.27
Artist rollout
01.25.27
Leaderboard competition starts
03.25.27
Winners announced
04.25.27
Duopalooza, Miami
// 06
Out in the world
Billboards, street banners, building wraps, and social posts share one bright visual system.
// 07
Funding the future
$5 from every paid ticket goes to music programs in the artists' home regions: Puerto Rico, France, the USA, Vietnam, Eswatini, and Korea. Each artist chooses where their share goes.
// THE BUSINESS CASE
A festival is a big ask. So we built one that pays back over half its cost.
Total cost
Talent, production, venue, and a 10% buffer.
Revenue
Tickets, brand partners, merch, and vendor fees.
Net cost to Duolingo
What Duolingo pays after revenue.
Of the marketing budget
Out of $125.68M spent in 2025.
Goes to talent
In line with the 40 to 50% norm for a festival this size.
Education fund
$5 from each of 10,500 paid tickets.
These numbers cover the festival only. Building the app courses, lyric licensing, and campaign media are separate.
// RESULTS
of 5 team pitches
of festival cost paid back by revenue
// SHIPPED
Campaign strategy
Budget and revenue model
Duo-Pass system
Crash Course screens
Festival identity
Billboards and social
Rollout calendar
Not measured yet: the campaign was pitched, not launched. Targets: 500K downloads (38M TikTok reach x 1.3% conversion, from past Duolingo campaigns) and 300K completed courses (based on a 60% engagement rate at live festivals). At those targets, each download costs about $5.78.
// TAKEAWAYS
01
One clear path wins
Song to course to festival. Every piece pointed the same way.
02
Every number needs a source
Judges trust a plan they can check.
03
Reward the behavior you want
Passes tied to streaks and courses turn fans into learners.
// MY ROLE, SKILLS, TOOLS, TEAM
My Role
Campaign Targets
Campaign Strategy
Budget and Revenue Model
Presented Strategy and Budget
Skills
Campaign Strategy
Budget Modeling
Research Synthesis
Pitching
Tools
Figma
Adobe Creative Suite
Team
Kayla Tang
Amanda Godines
Ruby Jo Hatlevig
// SAY HELLO
Let’s Connect
Have a project in mind, a question, or just want to say hello? I’d love to hear from you!
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