Overview

Founded in 2017, Modern Adventure is a Certified B-Corp and Climate Neutral company that believes travel can be a force for good, and that how we travel matters. This travel company hosts trips all over the world, and has been named a Brand that Matters by Fast Company, Best in Business by Inc., a Food & Wine Game Changer, a Top Tour Operator in the World by Condé Nast Traveller, one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies and the Best New Experiential Tour Operator by Sunset.

The brand’s primary travel offering is small group experiences across culinary, cultural, and outdoor active pursuits with tastemakers that include the likes of Chefs Gregory Gourdet and Michael Cimarusti, designers Robin Petravic and Cathy Bailey from Heath Ceramics, and fashion illustrator Meagan Morrison of TravelWriteDraw. Modern Adventure also plans and leads private departures. In June 2022, the brand also launched Paragon—a collection of the world's premier culinary, creative, and cultural travel experiences hosted by luminaries who embody the pinnacle of their craft.

Our partnership began in June 2021 and continued through December 2023.

Goals

• Raise awareness and recognition for the Modern Adventure brand amongst three important target groups: consumers, tastemakers, and brand partners

• Create opportunities for storytelling that highlight and underscore the brand’s mission and company ethos

• Drive trip sign-ups

• Launch Paragon by Modern Adventure

• Launch Modern Adventure’s nonprofit

• Build community with the brand’s tastemakers

• Develop a brand ambassador program

Our work together began with the goal of raising brand awareness after the company was largely put on pause by the pandemic. Through public relations, we aimed to tell the story of how all trips reflect the company’s dedication to creating experiences seeped in discovery and exploration—with discerning tastemakers at the helm. It also remained paramount to share Modern Adventure’s commitment to using travel as a force for good while helping audiences understand what that means.

To do this, we wanted to capture more attention in Modern Adventure’s tastemakers’ various markets across the nation, securing coverage about Modern Adventure’s many trips and destinations via their beloved partners and introducing a more diverse audience to the brand. We also focused attention on securing stories that built brand trust by showing Modern Adventure as the company to travel with to see the world’s destinations authentically, deeply, and responsibly.

In addition to the multi-year brand awareness campaign, we launched Modern Adventure’s luxury travel collection, Paragon, in June 2022, the MO/AD Foundation nonprofit in November 2022, and news of the company’s Series A funding in August 2023.

Results

PR

During our work together across two and a half years, the Modern Adventure brand has grown throughout its tastemakers’ markets—in places like LA, NYC, Richmond, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Raleigh, D.C., Miami, Chicago, and more. We secured national press in major outlets like Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure, Condé Nast Traveler, AFAR, Washington Post, Robb Report, Town & Country, Fast Company, and others about the company’s trips, along with perspectives on travel from its CEO.

Tastemaker interviews in regional outlets, thought leadership interviews in national travel and business outlets, travel and brand award wins in top-tier media, and in-destination social media takeovers on Food & Wine and Travel + Leisure all lent to positioning the brand in front of travel audiences and elevating it as a trusted small-group luxury tour operator. I also worked with Modern Adventure on developing sponsored content for their partners.

Newsletters

Along with media relations, I helped the company develop a quarterly tastemaker newsletter to share the stories and successes of its network while encouraging excitement and attracting new partners.

Brand ambassador program

In the winter of 2023, I led the strategy and development of the Modern Adventure ambassador program—a partner marketing program with the brand’s favorite repeat tastemakers who embody the company ethos and consistently sell their trips.

With two goals—to drive new tastemaker referrals and drive incremental trip sales through the ambassador’s channels—I built out the program details and managed the creation of its materials to invite and onboard the first class of ambassadors. The program launched in Dec. 2023 with chefs Caroline Schiff, Jason Dady, and Nicholas & Leslie Goellner.

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“We've worked with Allyson in different capacities over the last few years, and I am always deeply impressed with her intelligence, enthusiasm, communication skills, and ability to get things done. We've had great success partnering with her on content strategy, media relations and PR. She's passionate, organized, and relentless in the very best sense.” - Scott McNeely, former COO @ Modern Adventure