The Holloway

The challenge we solved: When the City of West Hollywood announced its plan to redevelop a local motel into transitional housing for people experiencing homelessness, it knew right away it needed an effective messaging and positioning framework to build trust in, and acceptance of, the approach by various stakeholder groups in the local community. This included overcoming potential fears and anxieties of local residents about crime and safety issues.

A new approach to communications: By using our Message DNA approach, we identified the most important human issues for each of the priority stakeholder groups. We then developed the messaging that would explain the approach, address the fears,and highlight the benefits for the community. We then prioritized the communications channels and methods tomake sure the messages were received. With the support of the City’s Strategic Initiatives team, TPG and the City created talk tracks for City Council members and department heads working on the project; informational brochures, flyers and banners; and press releases and other external platforms.

The outcome: Because the communications platform effectively addressed stakeholder concerns, the community’s sentiment and overall response to the initiative is measurably more positive.