SHINING A LIGHT ON POSITIVITY DURING A TIME OF CRISIS

CHALLENGE

During March of 2020, for the first time ever, more than 8.8 million Chicagoans (outside of essential workers) experienced a shelter-in-place order confining citizens to their home. With citizens quarantined at home, Mayor Lori Lightfoot needed to find a way to uplift spirits during a challenging time.

INSIGHT

With an increase of potential depression and anxiety among Chicagoans, Mayor Lori Lightfoot needed to raise public awareness of the good works that local residents were doing for each other - and quickly.

IDEA

To meet the primary goal of keeping citizens connected and hopeful, in 24 hours, the team created a fast-twitch newsroom to find positive stories of Chicagoans helping others during the crisis. We then shared those stories via the Mayor’s social channels– Facebook, Twitter and Instagram– showing what was happening throughout Chicago and how people were coming together to help others in a time of need.

To make it ownable and create a digital rallying cry, the team developed a creative theme– Chicago Good Works– designed to highlight the good happening in the city and give a nod to all the hard-working Chicagoans making a difference during this difficult time. 

Additionally, for Pride month during an unprecedented time, we brought an idea to the Mayor called Pride Inside Out. The idea stemmed from the understanding that Pride would be much different this year– not only because of the absence of parades and other traditional celebratory gatherings, but also because of the painful reckoning of systemic racism and subsequent worldwide protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. We created an anthem video that showcased that Pride is about coming together, speaking out, standing side-by-side and showing up. That’s always been the most profound act of Pride.