Crisis Communications & Public Affairs
730M+ Media Impressions.One Ragan Award.
How Emerald gave West Side Community Organization a clear public voice when a neighborhood dispute became a communications crisis.
In two months, Emerald connected press outreach, social content, and supporter communications around one consistent message.
730M+
Media impressions
48K+
Organic Twitter impressions
Where they were stuck.
Headlines were multiplying. Opinions were hardening. A contested housing decision was moving through the courts, and WSCO needed people to understand its position before the loudest version of the story became the only version.
The story was reaching people in fragments.
A headline, a quote, or a post shared by a neighbor could become the entire story. WSCO needed a message that could hold its shape across reporters, social feeds, and community conversations.
- A high-pressure public-affairs dispute
- Sharp disagreement across the news cycle
The argument needed to become readable.
The position depended on comparisons, context, and details that were difficult to carry in a single statement. The campaign needed content that made the issue easier to understand at a glance.
- Side-by-side information design
- Quote graphics and focused explainers
Attention needed somewhere useful to go.
Supporters needed a practical next step. Participation had to be structured so people could communicate WSCO's position without starting from a blank screen.
- Prepared supporter prompts
- A clearer path to contact public officials
What we did.
Build one message strong enough for every channel.
October 2020
We started with the substance of WSCO's position and the reasons behind it. That became the foundation for press releases, public statements, social copy, and supporter communications. Working with the organization and its lawyers, we shaped a consistent account of WSCO's priorities without making every channel sound identical.
- Press releases and public statements
- Social copy and supporter communications
One argument, carried consistently from reporters to social feeds.
Turn the argument into content people could actually follow.
October-November 2020
The clearest creative decision was to show the comparison. Our Lucerne vs. 52 William Street graphic placed the two locations side by side and turned a complicated public-affairs argument into a fast visual read. Quote graphics, issue explainers, myth-and-fact formats, and edited video gave the campaign more than one way to make the context stick.
- Side-by-side explainers
- Quote graphics and myth-and-fact formats
- Fireside-chat and interview content
A content system, not a pile of one-off posts.
Give attention somewhere useful to go.
November 2020
Emerald built a Facebook bot that guided supporters through prepared prompts to email and tweet public officials. The legal ruling was the result of the court process. Emerald's role was communications: helping WSCO explain its position, earn space for the full context, and keep that message coherent as the story moved forward.
- Prepared prompts for supporters
- A clear path from attention to participation
Make the position easier to understand, repeat, and act on.
What it added up to.
Recognition
Ragan Award Winner
Public Relations Campaign, Ragan's Crisis Communications Awards
2 months
October-November 2020 campaign
Sources behind the public record.
Plays you can steal.
The comparison that made the argument readable
Information design
The quote that keeps the voice human
Public voice
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