How do you commemorate civil rights history and encourage travel to historical sites?
Highlight real life stories to show how what happened here changed the world.
Opportunity
Peritus partnered with the Greater Birmingham CVB to increase awareness of the city’s 60th anniversary civil rights commemoration in 2023, driving visitors to choose Birmingham as their next travel destination and immerse themselves into the civil rights movement by visiting historic landmarks in Magic City’s backyard.
Execution
Our team was tasked with garnering local, regional and national media coverage while partnering with local civil rights foot soldiers to help amplify their powerful firsthand stories from the movement. In partnership with the CVB team, we facilitated a core group of national journalists to visit Birmingham on a civil rights-themed itinerary and participate in a special 60th anniversary commemoration at 16th St. Baptist Church featuring keynote speaker, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. We also piggybacked off existing initiatives in Birmingham, including the 2023 National Association of Black Journalists Conference (NABJ) conference to further amplify our city's civil rights story.
Impact
Our efforts generated more than 15 local and national news stories in ELLE, CNN, The New York Times, CBS News, NPR, Garden & Gun and AL.com/Reckon, reaching 461.5+ million readers and viewers. Most importantly, we helped give local civil rights foot soldiers a platform to share their stories to a national audience.
6+
NATIONAL MEDIA PLACEMENTS AND MENTIONS
461+ million
READS AND VIEWS GENERATED
15+
LOCAL MEDIA PLACEMENTS AND MENTIONS
“Standing where Dr. King stood, we reflect on the very real race issues the world still faces today and the power of peaceful protest, which was first brought to the global stage here in America’s South. We are filled with Black pride and, for a moment, overwhelmed with optimism for the future.”
— NATALIE PREDDIE, CANADA-BAED TRAVEL JOURNALIST
ELLE MAGAZINE
