ACLU OF MISSISSIPPI
The ACLU of Mississippi came to RED SQUARED with a big vision: launch a statewide campaign to build deeper connection and recognition among Black communities across the state. While this phase of work served as early groundwork, our partnership focused on laying a strong foundation through community insights, a messaging strategy, and a suite of creative assets designed to guide and anchor future outreach.
Brief
The ACLU of Mississippi partnered with RED SQUARED to lay the groundwork for a long-term public education campaign aimed at deepening trust and recognition among Black Mississippians. We facilitated and filmed a focus group, produced a detailed insights report, developed a strategic rollout plan, and created a flagship video and social content. It was all designed to help the ACLU move forward with a campaign rooted in real voices and community perspectives.
Results
✱ Surfaced key insights from Black Mississippians around justice, advocacy, and civic trust through filmed focus groups and strategic analysis
✱ Delivered a comprehensive roadmap for future messaging, rollout, and community engagement
✱ Produced a flagship video and short-form assets to serve as campaign anchors across platforms and future phases
✱ Provided the ACLU with tools to shift perception for deeper outreach in communities across the state
Project Scope
✱ Messaging Research & Focus Group Facilitation
✱ Campaign Strategy & Implementation Planning
✱ Video Production (Flagship + Social Assets)
✱ Community Insights Reporting
✱ Strategic Communications Advisory
Centering Community: Focus Groups & Insights Report
We began by listening. Through a facilitated focus group with Black Mississippians, we surfaced honest reflections on how people perceive justice, advocacy, and the ACLU itself. We captured those conversations in real time, both through notes and filmed documentation, and used them to create a Community Insights Report: a research-driven guide to the themes, tensions, and opportunities shaping local engagement. These insights would go on to inform everything from message tone to visual direction.
Anchoring the Message: Flagship Campaign Video
To give the future campaign a strong visual identity, we produced a flagship video that could serve as its emotional and thematic center. Grounded in lived experience and backed by clean production, the video introduces the ACLU of Mississippi’s work through the lens of real people affected by systemic injustice and the possibilities that arise when communities organize and push back.
We profiled EEECHO, (Education, Economics, Environmental, Climate and Health Organization) a community-based nonprofit on the Mississippi Gulf Coast focused on advancing environmental justice and health equity in historically underserved Black and Indigenous communities.
A Plan with Purpose: Strategy & Implementation
Instead of launching a full campaign, this phase focused on setting the stage for one. We built a Strategy and Implementation Plan that offered the ACLU of MS a clear path forward. It included everything from messaging priorities to digital rollouts to live engagement ideas like town halls and local storytelling events.
Raw Insight, Real Reach: Social Clips from the Focus Group
We also filmed the focus group itself, with participants’ consent, and used that footage to create a series of short-form social media clips. These clips captured raw, unscripted reflections and helped humanize the strategy behind the campaign. It also helped build awareness even before the formal rollout. They served a dual purpose: tools for internal learning, and assets to begin early outreach.
" RED SQUARED helped us see our potential to really expand our reach and build trust. The combination of strategy and high quality content is unbeatable."
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Candi Richardson, Director of Communications, ACLU of Mississippi
What Comes Next
This work was about building a foundation. While the full statewide campaign hasn’t launched yet, the materials we created are designed to grow with it. RED SQUARED remains a trusted partner in that process, ready to help bring future phases to life as the vision expands.
Learn more about the ACLU of Mississippi and their work below.