Black & Abroad: How It Uses Creativity, Data and Trust to Revolutionise the Black Travel Industry

When Eric Martin and Kent Johnson launched Black & Abroad in 2015, they wanted to create a space that would inspire and empower Black travellers by showcasing their experiences. 

Both avid travellers, they spotted a gap in the Black travel space after sharing war stories of their adventures and unpacking the nuances of how personal identity impacts world travel experiences. So, Black & Abroad was launched to help redefine travel for the different intersections of the global Black diaspora. What’s more, since 2015 the US Black travel industry has grown from $45 billion to a more than $109 billion industry. 

The business has evolved somewhat since then. It not only highlights Black travel experiences but also challenges stereotypes, fosters deep cultural exchanges, and promotes diversity and inclusion within the travel industry. “Much of what we do boils down to keeping things as organic as possible, as we find that our real growth comes from converting community feedback into succinct action items to keep our growth strong and consistent,” Eric tells me. 

A significant player in the evolution and growth of Black & Abroad has been creative data specialist agency Performance Art. Co-founders Ian Mackenzie and Andrea Cook also started FCB/SIX, which Black & Abroad also worked with prior on ‘Go Back To Africa’, an extremely successful campaign that picked up the Cannes Lions 2019 Creative Data Grand Prix, the D&AD Black Pencil, the Global Grand Effie in Positive Change, and a coveted Commendation at that year’s Immortal Awards. 

More recent work is 2022 campaign ‘The Black Elevation Map’, a powerful, data-driven domestic travel platform that takes cultural data, including Black population data, historical markers, Black-owned businesses and social media activity, and visualises it as points of interest on a dynamic, searchable elevation map of the United States. The greater the density of data, the higher the elevation. In addition to thousands of places of interest, the Black Elevation Map includes 12 curated city guides and 10 national guides, which include Black-owned wineries (‘Melanin Vines’), notable start-up companies (‘Black Silicon Valley’) and restaurants that fuelled civil rights (‘Civil Bites’). This campaign won more than 150 awards including one Gold and two Silver at Cannes Lions, six Gold, two Silver and the Jury Chair Award at the Cresta Awards, Best of Show in Interactive and Mobile Craft at the One Show, and was named on Fast Company’s list of World Changing Ideas.

“As with any major brand, much of what we do relies on both data and creativity,” says Eric. “Since 2015, we’ve helped grow the US Black travel industry from $45 billion to a more than $109 billion dollar industry. That growth would not have been possible without the team at Performance Art, who has worked with us to gain deeper insights about our audiences, helped us push what’s possible via innovative marketing strategies, and eventually delivered world-class creative work that reflects our brand values to explore, embrace, and empower. 

“Our partnership with Performance Art allows for a collaborative and innovative approach to marketing,” adds Kent. “Together we brainstorm, working to combine expertise, creativity, and granular data to create impactful campaigns that resonate deeply with our audience. The fruits of this partnership create a ripple effect in our industry, with the work being recognised on the world stage.”

Ian Mackenzie, co-founder and chief creative officer at Performance Art, says that since his first project with Black & Abroad, they have always had a profoundly transparent and productive partnership. “On the agency side, we have a high degree of reverence for the mission at the heart of the Black & Abroad brand – and see our role as helping to unlock the ideas at the heart of it,” says Ian. “Our goal is to bring high-quality marketing ideas, tactics, and talent to the table, and then work with Kent, Eric and the Black & Abroad team to shape them into powerful, culturally relevant business drivers. We know we’re getting it right when the work reflects the brand’s true spirit, while also leveraging our full potential as a creative data agency.”

“The relationship between our team and the agency’s team is a highly collaborative experience,” says Kent. “We work closely together to define campaign objectives, explore creative concepts, define key messaging, and deliver impactful executions so that ultimately the work delivers across all three of our core principles: to explore, embrace, and empower.”

When it comes to briefing, the process typically involves Black & Abroad presenting and dissecting a problem within its industry that needs solving. Agency and client then brainstorms to refine campaign goals, target audiences, key messaging, desired outcomes, and any specific requirements or constraints in hot pursuit of the solution, before the team at Performance Art goes away to do its thing. 

“At every stage of development, iteration is the key – including the briefing process,” says Ian. “At any given point, we assume we are only ever partially correct in our approach and design our workflow to accommodate for that reality. So just as the project evolves through development, the brief may also evolve, while, of course, staying focused on the fundamentals, such as engagement, brand building, and whatever specific marketing objectives we’re looking to achieve. 

And if all goes well, it leads to work like we mentioned before: ‘Go Back to Africa’ and ‘The Black Elevation Map’. “Both [campaigns] aimed to challenge stereotypes and reclaim the narrative around Black travel,” says Eric. “The work has sparked conversations, raised awareness, and empowered our community by showcasing their experiences and highlighting the beauty and richness of diverse destinations. The impact of these campaigns not only reinforces our brand's own reputation, but also resonates deeply with consumers looking to support Black-owned businesses, both here and abroad, leading to significant leaps in brand affinity and sentiment.”

“Both projects have landed well in culture and helped Black & Abroad cement its leadership position at the centre of the Black travel industry,” adds Ian. “The brand itself has always been culturally innovative. Through our partnership, we’ve helped more people discover that truth. Our work together also tells another story: that this community has always been technologically innovative and used progressive thinking to elevate and persevere – even when circumstances have conspired to hold it back.”

“It has been quite the journey,” adds Eric. “The work speaks for itself. Building a successful strategy from the ground up. Researching. Advocating. Winning. And sometimes losing. But the true driver of connection in this partnership is the overarching intention for this movement to spark change for not only us, but generations to come. We plan for this journey to continue even after we’re long gone. We figure that if our brand was able to thrive during the unprecedented years of covid lockdowns, then we can survive anything. We enjoy working with the team Performance Art and are always looking forward to navigating through some of our most creative of ideas with them.”