Flipping the script to change public perception

Messaging map helps North Carolina town guide the conversation

Challenge

After discovering a former coal ash disposal site located on a vacant public lot, a town in North Carolina faced a unique challenge. The hubbub had grown upon the initial finding as well-meaning residents rightfully voiced their concerns, but this was also leading to the unintended spread of some misinformation regarding the site’s environmental impact and the most feasible solution.    
 
To understand this situation and ensure the safety of the community, the town had done its due diligence in conducting research and gathering information from environmental engineers, attorneys, city planners and third-party analysts. The town possessed the information it needed to begin the process of remediation of the site, but it didn’t have a clear direction for how it would articulate its plan to residents and diverse array of local stakeholders.   
 
The town called up on the expertise of Largemouth to build a strategic communications framework for the days and months of public outreach and planning that would lie ahead.   

Ideas

Working with the town to chart a path for the dissemination of information, Largemouth collaborated with municipal leaders and experts to identify key messages and talking points. Distinguishing target audiences based on their priority concerns, Largemouth extracted relevant information that pertained to each group – drawing insights on everything from the site’s origins and overall environmental impact to common questions that would need to be addressed

While residents might have been primarily interested in the potential dangers for area homes and wildlife, local business leaders had additional apprehensions about how the situation would impact the trajectory of current and future development in the area. By having a strategic map in place that aligned background information, key messages and data for each set of target audiences, the town and its spokespeople would be in better position to effectively address the community at-large.

Largemouth filtered through this dense, complex web of information and developed a central ‘messaging map’ summarizing the history of the site, subsequent investigations and insight into the town’s decision-making process as it planned for remediation and future use of the property. The messaging map served as a central resource for town leaders to address the public’s questions.

In conjunction with the messaging map, Largemouth developed a quick-reference FAQ document with responses to some of the most common questions raised by the community about the status of the site.
 

Impact

By developing a messaging map and FAQ document, Largemouth was able to effectively summarize key information for various stakeholders and clearly convey the town’s official positions. Town leaders started utilizing the messaging map immediately to help clarify their position and more effectively communicate with the public. 

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