01 · Situation

An innovation, branded as a threat

Apeel built something the produce industry hadn’t seen in decades: a plant-based coating that keeps fruits and vegetables fresh longer and keeps food out of landfills. In 2023, a coordinated disinformation campaign set out to make that breakthrough look dangerous. It branded the coating “toxic,” tied the company to conspiracy theories, and repeated the claims until they took on a life of their own. Retailers pulled Apeel-treated produce, and public sentiment collapsed.

02 · Challenge

The claims went mainstream

By the summer of 2025, the claims had broken out of the fringe. An A-list actress shared them with millions of followers, and the tabloids picked up her post within hours. Days later, a member of Congress introduced H.R. 4737, the “Apeel Reveal Act,” federal legislation that echoed the same concerns. Meanwhile, X’s AI assistant, Grok, was repeating the claims to users as fact.

Each front fed the next. Celebrity attention drove coverage, coverage gave the bill momentum, and the AI absorbed all of it as fact. Fighting any one of them alone would have left the other two to keep the story alive.

03 · Approach

One campaign, fought across every front

Imperium served as Apeel’s strategic, narrative, and litigation communications advisor, and treated the crisis as a single fight rather than three separate problems.

The first move was to take it to the source. Instead of issuing denials into the void, Imperium went directly to the people and publishers who had shared the claims, with the scientific and regulatory record in hand. Within three weeks, the actress publicly corrected her post. Other influencers, publishers, and companies followed, and each correction was documented as part of the public record.

At the same time, Imperium prepared briefings on the science and Apeel’s regulatory clearances for the company and its government relations team to use with congressional offices, before H.R. 4737 could build support. It also kept every public statement in lockstep with Apeel’s legal strategy, so the courtroom and the court of public opinion moved as one.

Then came the algorithms. Imperium rebuilt Apeel’s website as an authoritative, AI-readable source of truth, centralizing regulatory filings, fact-checks, and the growing record of corrections. It reinforced that record through executive voices, an owned newsletter, podcasts, and social channels, giving AI systems something better to cite. Throughout, narrative intelligence tracked how claims moved across social platforms, media, and AI answers, catching new ones before they could compound. With the record corrected, Imperium put Apeel’s story in front of the audiences that mattered, through The Free Press, TBPN, and Fast Company.

“The Imperium Team intimately understands the dynamic modern digital media and public affairs landscape. They worked diligently to understand our business and our goals, and have been a trusted partner in developing and executing a clear and effective strategy to successfully help protect and build our brand in the face of widespread mis- and disinformation about us and our products.”

Jenny DuCo-Founder, Apeel Sciences

04 · Impact

Breakthrough innovation, defended

The retractions stood. The bill stalled. And the AI that had repeated the claims began correcting them: over the months that followed, Grok went from telling users the coating “cannot be washed off” to naming the toxicity claims as misinformation and confirming it washes off with water. By the end of 2025, online conversation about Apeel had moved from 70 percent negative to majority neutral or positive.

Most importantly, the story changed. Apeel was no longer a company defending itself against a conspiracy theory. It became what it had always been: an American technology solution for the future of the U.S. food system.

05 · Why it matters

Disinformation doesn’t stay in one place

Apeel’s crisis shows how reputational attacks move today. A false claim starts online, gains a famous voice, reaches a lawmaker, and is absorbed by the AI systems people use to find answers. By the time it surfaces in any one place, it is already everywhere else.

Winning that kind of fight means correcting the record where each claim started, treating AI systems as an audience that can be informed, and running legal, legislative, digital, and media strategy as one effort. That is the work Imperium is built to do.

01 · Situation

A new institute with a national mission

Vanderbilt University launched its Institute of National Security in the fall of 2024 to prepare the next generation of national security leaders at the intersection of policy, technology, and global conflict. Its founding director, retired four-star General Paul M. Nakasone, is the former Director of the National Security Agency, former Commander of U.S. Cyber Command, and a member of OpenAI’s board.

02 · Challenge

A crowded field, concentrated on the coasts

The nation’s leading national security institutes and think tanks are concentrated on the coasts and inside the Beltway, and many have spent decades building their place in the national conversation. A distinguished director could open doors, but he couldn’t close that gap alone.

The harder problem was identity. The Institute had to be rigorous enough to earn the respect of academics and practical enough to matter to the people who make and carry out national security decisions. It also needed a voice that would reach students, policymakers, and the national security community without waiting years for its reputation to catch up.

03 · Approach

A distinct voice from outside the Beltway

Imperium serves as the Institute’s communications advisor, leading brand development, digital strategy, and narrative intelligence.

The work began with a question: what makes this Institute different? Through in-depth interviews with General Nakasone, senior military leaders, and university stakeholders, Imperium found the answer in what the Institute could offer that the field couldn’t: fresh thinking from outside the Beltway to tackle real-world problems. Imperium built a narrative framework positioning the Institute as an academic proving ground for the next generation of national security leaders and a connector that brings together multidisciplinary talent across engineering, medicine, law, policy, and business. Those core themes now anchor everything the Institute says, with tailored versions for students, the national security community, and donors.

Imperium then built the Institute’s own digital presence: owned channels that reach students, policymakers, and the national security community directly and carry the Institute’s narrative into every post and profile. Throughout, Imperium worked alongside Vanderbilt’s communications team to keep the story consistent across every channel.

And because a high-profile institute draws attention of every kind, Imperium monitors the online landscape around its leadership. It detects targeted misinformation and narrative seeding early, and shares that intelligence with key security partners.

04 · Impact

A voice of its own

The positioning Imperium developed is now how the Institute introduces itself: as an academic proving ground for future national security leaders. Its core themes anchor the Institute’s messaging for students, the national security community, and donors, and its owned channels reach those audiences directly. Imperium’s monitoring gives the Institute and its security partners early warning of narratives aimed at its leadership.

05 · Why it matters

National reputation, accelerated

Established institutes earned their place in the national conversation over generations. A new institute doesn’t have that time, even inside a university with Vanderbilt’s standing. Our work with the Institute shows how to compress the timeline: define a distinct identity early, build direct digital channels, and put recognizable leaders where audiences already are.

01 · Situation

An election under a microscope

The 2024 presidential election was one of the most closely watched in modern American history. The Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and the National Republican Congressional Committee set out to build an election integrity program on a scale no party had attempted before.

02 · Challenge

Three committees, a campaign, one clock

The program had to work everywhere at once. Legal teams, volunteers, staff, and communications had to be organized across all 50 states, with a strong focus on 18 key states, serving Presidential, Senate, and House races at the same time. When issues arose on the ground, they had to be identified, escalated, and addressed in real time, when minutes mattered. And with three committees and a campaign each bringing their own priorities, the program needed a single strategy strong enough to hold them together.

03 · Approach

One command structure

Imperium Founder Josh Helton was an architect of the program. He served as a senior advisor to the RNC, NRSC, and NRCC at the same time, and worked alongside the Trump campaign.

The first task was alignment. Rather than four parallel efforts, Helton helped design a unified national strategy that brought the three committees and the campaign together around a single program.

Then came scale. The program recruited thousands of lawyers to form a national legal network and more than 230,000 volunteers across the country, supported by a staff of more than 150 managed by the Trump campaign and the RNC with Helton’s counsel. New protocols and communication systems connected all of it, so an issue spotted at a polling place could move quickly to the people able to resolve it, in any state, in real time.

04 · Impact

Wins up and down the ticket

The result was the largest election integrity effort in modern U.S. political history.

In November, Republicans won the White House, the Senate, and the House, and the program worked to protect those victories across the map, from the presidential race to Senate and House contests nationwide.

05 · Why it matters

Discipline at scale

Few campaigns in any field operate at this scale, with this many stakeholders, under this much pressure. And the environment isn’t getting simpler. More stakeholders, more channels, and more scrutiny mean that structure matters more each cycle. The program shows what one strategy carried through every level of an organization looks like in practice: three committees and a campaign moving as one. That’s the same discipline Imperium brings to every client fight.

01 · Situation

A new Administration, new decision-makers

In 2025, a new Administration brought new leadership across Washington, from the White House to the agencies regulating health care, trade, technology, and communications. For companies in heavily regulated industries, understanding those priorities, and the people setting them, became essential.

02 · Challenge

Dialogue that keeps pace with policy

Traditional business associations are built for long-standing relationships and broad consensus. They aren’t always built to give executives timely, candid access to the officials setting policy now. Companies needed a direct, recurring way to hear from those leaders and to communicate back their own perspective.

03 · Approach

A forum built for real dialogue

Imperium Founder Josh Helton co-founded American Growth Partnership and serves on its board. AGP is a member-led 501(c)(6) that connects industry leaders and business executives with Administration appointees, elected officials, and policy leaders.

The model is deliberately intimate. AGP hosts private, off-the-record roundtables and luncheons where executives engage directly with the officials leading the Administration’s priorities. The settings are small by design, built for candid conversation rather than speeches. Its members range from Fortune 5 companies to fast-growing mid-size businesses expanding in heavily regulated markets.

04 · Impact

Who has come to the table

In its first year, AGP has hosted senior officials from across the Administration and Congress, from the White House and the intelligence community to independent regulators and the U.S. Senate. Its launch drew coverage from The Wall Street Journal, Politico, and Fox Business.

01 / 10

Has hosted

1. White House Deputy Chief of StaffJames Blair
2. White House Director of Legislative AffairsJames Braid
3. National Cyber DirectorSean Cairncross
4. Director of National IntelligenceTulsi Gabbard
5. U.S. Trade RepresentativeJamieson Greer
6. Assistant Attorney General, Antitrust DivisionGail Slater
7. Chairman, Federal Trade CommissionAndrew Ferguson
8. Chairman, Federal Communications CommissionBrendan Carr
9. U.S. Senator, TennesseeSen. Bill Hagerty
10. U.S. Senator, MontanaSen. Steve Daines

05 · Why it matters

Understanding the priorities behind policy

In Washington, the decisions that shape an industry are often made long before they’re announced. Companies that understand the people and priorities behind those decisions are better positioned to plan, adapt, and make their case. AGP is one of the ways Imperium helps clients build that understanding, through direct, recurring dialogue with the leaders setting federal policy.

01 · Situation

A once-in-a-generation investment in opioid recovery

National opioid settlements have committed tens of billions of dollars to states and communities, and more public money is flowing through state budgets. With it comes an obligation: invest in programs that actually reduce misuse and overdose. Goldfinch Health helps states and communities do that by aligning policy, funding, and implementation behind evidence-based programs. Its Billion Pill Pledge works with hospitals and surgeons to cut the leftover prescription opioids that follow surgery, a major source of the pills that end up being misused.

02 · Challenge

Four states, four different rulebooks

Expanding across the South meant working through a patchwork of systems. Each state governs its settlement funds differently, whether through statewide councils, local governments, or the legislature. Procurement rules, timelines, and political dynamics vary just as widely. A model that works in one capital doesn’t automatically carry over to the next. Without a clear map, an organization can spend years chasing the wrong opportunities.

03 · Approach

A roadmap through the maze of state governments

Imperium built a multi-state government relations and funding strategy for Goldfinch across four states: Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, and West Virginia. Our team analyzed each state’s settlement governance and procurement structure and identified the funding pathways most likely to succeed. We also mapped the people who shape those decisions, from legislators and agency leaders to the bodies that allocate settlement dollars.

That strategy decided where Goldfinch engaged, who it engaged with, and how. Imperium also supported the communications behind the effort so that Goldfinch’s public story matched its outreach.

04 · Impact

A $5 million start in Tennessee

During the 2026 Tennessee General Assembly, Imperium helped Goldfinch secure $5 million in opioid abatement funding, which directly supports the expansion of the Billion Pill Pledge. Across the wider region, the strategy gave Goldfinch a clear expansion path focused on the states and funding streams where its model is most likely to take hold.

05 · Why it matters

A proven business model is only half the battle

Settlement funds were meant to reach the programs that work, but getting them there isn’t automatic. Between the funding and the communities it is meant for sit councils, procurement rules, budget cycles, and the politics behind each of them. Organizations with proven models often lack the map to get through. Knowing who decides, under what rules, and on what timeline is how good programs get funded. That is where policy, politics, and implementation meet, and where integrated public affairs makes the difference.

01 · Situation

Two launches, one national spotlight

Russell Street Ventures is a healthcare-focused private equity firm with a growing national portfolio, working where healthcare delivery, policy, and capital meet. It was founded by Brad Smith, former director of the CMS Innovation Center in the Trump administration. Its portfolio includes Main Street Health, which partners with rural primary care practices to improve care in small-town America. With Smith’s profile and the scale of the ambition, both launches were going to draw national attention.

02 · Challenge

One chance at a first impression

A launch of national interest brings scrutiny along with attention. A founder coming from a senior federal health role meant coverage could drift toward politics instead of the business, or that others would define the companies before they could define themselves. Russell Street and Main Street Health each had a different story to tell, one an investment platform and the other an operating company. Each needed to be introduced clearly, credibly, and on its own terms.

03 · Approach

From message to momentum

Imperium led the national public relations launch for both companies. We used competitive intelligence to shape the core message for each and positioned Smith and the leadership team as credible voices on healthcare delivery and innovation. We also built a media strategy that matched each story to the right outlets, from national business and policy press to healthcare trade and local business publications.

Then we ran the launch itself: sequencing the announcements, media-training executives, and managing the news cycle as coverage came in. Because a high-profile launch draws scrutiny as well as interest, we also built a crisis communications and rapid-response plan in advance, so the team was ready to answer tough questions quickly and stay on message.

04 · Impact

Coverage from Washington to Nashville

The launches earned high-impact coverage in Business Insider, Politico, Fierce Health, The Tennessean, the Nashville Business Journal, and The Nashville Post. Both companies entered the market with immediate visibility and a story they had shaped, giving them a durable foundation for long-term reputation management.

05 · Why it matters

In healthcare, reputation is foundational

Where policy, capital, and patient care meet, trust has to be earned out of the gate. Companies that define themselves from the start, with the right message in the right outlets, are better positioned with investors, partners, regulators, and the communities they serve. A launch sets the frame that every later story is told within.

01 · Situation

A generational project for a fast-growing region

Clarksville is one of the fastest-growing cities in Tennessee, and its growth is reshaping Montgomery County. Marcelina is a 300-acre, $1.5 billion mixed-use development planned near Clarksville by Moore Construction, a family-owned Montgomery County builder since 1965. It is one of the largest commercial and residential investments in the region’s history. The plan combines retail, office, and hospitality space with homes, schools, parks, and civic space.

02 · Challenge

Big projects draw big questions

A project of this scale needs approval at every level of government: zoning and entitlements from local boards, public financing from local government, and infrastructure funding from the state. Each step is a public vote, and each brings scrutiny over growth, traffic, taxes, and the use of public dollars. Marcelina needed support from elected officials of both parties and from the community it would serve.

03 · Approach

A coalition built from the ground up

Imperium served as strategic counsel and media advisor to Moore Construction throughout the entitlement and public approval process. We guided the political navigation with local and state officials on both sides of the aisle. We also organized grassroots and grasstops support, bringing residents, business owners, and community leaders forward to make the case at public meetings and across the county.

At the same time, we built the project’s public identity and narrative, including brand development, visual identity, voice and messaging, web, and social content. We also earned media coverage and media-trained project leaders, so the community heard about Marcelina directly from the people building it.

04 · Impact

Approved at every level

Imperium helped secure Marcelina’s zoning and entitlement approvals and a $285 million tax increment financing agreement, the largest in Tennessee history. We also helped win $68 million in state road funding, approved during the 2025 General Assembly. Together they position the project for long-term success.

05 · Why it matters

Transformational projects need a coalition behind them

Large-scale development is won or lost in the public process. Good plans can stall without the votes, and votes follow public support. Marcelina shows what happens when political strategy, community engagement, and communications work as one effort: a project the region can get behind, and the public investment to build it.