The National Museum of African American Music has curated a stellar group of multicultural creative marketing communications agencies to take on a pivotal role in the opening of its doors in the summer of 2020 in Nashville, Tennessee. Not only is it the first cultural institution that celebrates the tradition of the people behind Black music and the music’s significant impact on the soundtrack of American society, but the museum’s decision to be intentional about employing diverse firms to lead its marketing and communications efforts is a shining example of how supplier diversity works when appropriately engaged.
“I launched Authentique Agency because I had not seen a marketing agency that focused primarily on African Americans and the LGBTQIA marketing strategy. A lot of agencies try to do everything, but Authentique thinks about strategy first and believe that brands can connect to consumers by leveraging the power of identity,” Roy Broderick, Jr. told TNJ.com in a recent interview.
Authentique Agency is one of a few agencies onboard to head up the project. The others are:
Flowers Communications Group is responsible for national and multicultural media relations in support of NMAAM. FCG is an award-winning, certified minority-and woman-owned integrated marketing communications firm based in Chicago, Illinois with nearly 30 years of experience creating connections with some of the world’s most iconic brands and diverse consumer audiences.
MP&F Strategic Headquarters headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee is spearheading local and regional media relations along with community relations support for NMAAM throughout the greater Tennessee area. MP&F is an award-winning, full service public relations firm that has been developing high-impact strategic communications for local, regional and national clients for more than 30 years.
Go West Creative Group headquartered in Nashville has signed on to lead experiential efforts associated with NMAAM’s public grand opening celebrations planned for summer 2020. Go West Creative Group is a marketing services company specializing in large scale events, business meetings, conferences, product launches, road shows and tours, recognition events, marketing content production, branded media experiences, and installations.
Dufour Collaborative from the Washington, D.C. metro area has been tapped to lead the execution of private signature events and the grand opening gala that will also take place in the summer of 2020. The Dufour Collaborative is one of the nation’s premier experience design firms, specializing in orchestrating large attendee events that move, delight, and unite people. Notably, the Dufour team led the launch of opening events for The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. in 2016.
Broderick reveals that Authentique has had the pleasure of working with small to mid-size businesses and as a result, has been able to pour dollars back into Black & Brown communities. “We’ve also been able to work with some pretty great brands. That’s how we came to work with the museum,” he notes.
In 2017, he and his team started working with NMAAM when it was still under construction. “The museum wanted to figure out how they could authentically engage with corporate brands, so we were brought in to help them understand corporate engagement,” he says.
Today, Authentique is the museum’s official agency of record.
“As the first ever museum solely dedicated to the preservation and advancement of Black Music, we were very intentional about being relevant and inclusive when building the marketing team for our grand opening,” said H. Beecher Hicks, III, NMAAM President and CEO.
Authentique will handle overall brand strategy, marketing execution, public relations, advertising, experiential marketing and special events leading up to and on opening night.
Says Broderick, “I believe that multicultural as well as LGBTQIA consumers are the segments that everyone is trying to talk to and target. We, as a culture, set the trends, spend the money, consume the media and so forth.”
