Supreme Court to hear case of high school football coach who lost job after praying with players.
AMERICANS UNITED FOR THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
One nation.
All beliefs.
After serving as the communications firm of record during the pivotal Kennedy v. Bremerton School District Supreme Court Case, Americans United for Separation of Church and State launched a grassroots campaign in support of their “national recommitment to separation of church and state” with CLYDE.
6.6 millionimpressions
16,900+pledge signatures
30earned media hits
for the One Nation, All Beliefs campaign
01Strategy
For both our litigation communications support and our grassroots campaign creation, we began with research and ideation. We conducted a review of the landscape around the Supreme Court’s docket for the year, taking stock of the plaintiff and how his attorneys were messaging his arguments. For our national grassroots campaign, we started with a creative team brainstorming session to align on key messages and themes as we looked to reach politically active grassroots.
02Solution
Centered around aligning on an ironclad core message, CLYDE designed an earned media strategy to execute pre, during, and post oral arguments – positioning CEO Rachel Laser and our allies across religious communities to speak to the gravity of the SCOTUS case. The eventual disappointing decision in the Bremerton case showed the urgency and need for widespread education about the separation of church and state.
To build a grassroots campaign, using traditional American themes, we strived to pull in our center and moderate audience to pledge their dedication and commitment to church-state separation, and demonstrate the gravity of the moment to the American public. We connected the dots between public education, LGBTQ rights, reproductive access, defending democracy, and church-state separation to ensure we were speaking to audiences on the issues that matter most.
03Execution
Building on the success of our press conference in April 2022 on the steps of the Supreme Court, which led to widespread media coverage in top broadcast and print outlets, CLYDE created impactful pieces of digital media to help drive forward our grassroots campaign.
Our tagline “One Nation. All Beliefs”, content, and design were pulled through multimedia tactics including paid digital media, social, and video. We created a comprehensive digital toolkit for influencers and affiliates as well as print ads. Our creative team also partnered with the client team and assisted with the creation and launch of a landing page. Our soft launch, during the Summit for Religious Freedom, garnered momentum and engagement through audiences signing a pledge to commit to church-state separation.
1,029media hits
original and syndicated
6op-ed placements
including The Wall Street Journal
for Kennedy v. Bremerton School District communication support
Media overview
Praying football coach asking Supreme Court for his job back
The Supreme Court ponders the right to pray on the 50-yard line
Deadline: White House, June 30, 2023
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Lawsuit aims to halt the opening of nation’s first religious charter school
