2023 Silver Public Sector

Agency: Union Direct

Client: Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service

Entry Title: Getting the nation into donation

Executive Summary

When one blood donation can save three lives, maintaining levels of regular donors is crucial. But after the pandemic, just as demand for blood was on the rise again, Scottish hospitals found themselves supplied by the smallest pool of blood donors ever.

Strategy

Overall, the number of blood donors in Scotland had fallen by 13%: less than 3% of the eligible population was now giving blood regularly. The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) issued a stark warning: more blood donors were needed asap to help NHS Scotland recover from the pandemic.

The brief was alarmingly clear - recruit new donors right away and persuade lapsed donors to regularly donate again.

But what had worked before wasn’t going to work again. The world had seen enough of tear-jerking human drama with Covid. The team felt it was a good time to be positive. To spark less guilt, more hope. To feel good about giving again.

Creativity

The ‘People Like You’ campaign showed that anyone can give blood, whatever walk of life they’re from, and the service needed Scotland to do its bit.

Based on our research, we created a campaign that was very different for SNBTS - upbeat and uplifting, and a rallying call to Scotland that said, no matter who you are, this is for you.

The team introduced a new way to talk to donors using humour and energy. It spoke powerfully to Scotland’s rekindled sense of community, of pulling together and helping each other out.

The big idea was brought to life casting relatable, down-to-earth Scottish leads in a TV ad with a

diverse supporting cast of actors and real donors: wild swimmers, teenage screen scrollers, young 5 a-siders and big Stevie from the chippie.

Taking over a typical suburban Scottish street, the eclectic gang marched as one while the lead actor issued a stirring call to arms for Scotland. Their march culminated at the donor centre, and wrapped up with a warm and positive shot of a family sitting around the bed of a successful donor recipient in hospital.

Results

Launched on June 14th 2022, World Blood Day, the campaign had an immediate impact: 118% increase in visits to the website on launch day.

Across the total launch TV period, the number of new donors registering on the online portal leapt 57% compared to the previous period; on the same basis, appointments and new donors making donations both jumped 18%.

Appointments to donate were up by 53% on the previous year’s World Blood Day. The number of new donors who registered was up by 380% on the previous week. There was also an 87% increase in visits to the donor web portal.

That converted into a sustained 5.7% increase of people giving blood every single week. It has helped to secure vital blood stock levels, increased donor responsiveness and allowed SNBTS to increase its daily blood collection targets.

The Team

Greenroom Films - Michael J Ferns, Director - Jo Hanley, Photography

Union Direct - Sheryl Thomson, Creative Director - Andy Tucker, Copywriter - Simon Ferguson, Art Director

Kirsten Korhonen, Group Account Director - Eilish Ferguson, Account Manager

Contributors

Greenroom Films - Production, Michael J Ferns - Director, Jo Hanley - Photography