Client: C40
A City. A Crisis. A Turning Point. When Rio de Janeiro suddenly stopped, Sherlock Communications’ campaign for the launch of the C40 Cities’ Laneshift initiative kept moving — only with greater strategy, sensitivity, and precision. Tasked with making the expansion of Rio’s public charging network visible and credible, the team faced an acute citywide security crisis just days before The Showcase, threatening to derail years of work and the legitimacy of fleet electrification in Brazil. Rather than retreat, Sherlock rapidly reframed the narrative from celebration to solidarity, activated robust contingency planning, and rebuilt the announcement around a new spokesperson in close alignment with City Hall. The result transformed a high-risk moment into a benchmark for empathetic crisis management, securing 56 high-quality media stories, convening 70 strategic stakeholders, and catalysing interest from São Paulo and Belo Horizonte. By grounding electrification in Rio’s lived reality, the campaign accelerated momentum for Brazil’s urban freight transition and demonstrated how thoughtful communications can turn disruption into progress
