Mid August saw the New Zealand Blood Service leverage spiking rugby interest by teaming up with Sir Graham Henry for a new blood donation drive called ‘The World’s Biggest Reserve Bench’.
The campaign, developed with agency YoungShand, sees Henry on a mission to help save Kiwis’ lives by encouraging and recruitment people to join the World’s Biggest Reserve Bench and encourage friends and family to do the same.
New Zealand Blood Service, the only provider of blood and blood products to the country’s medical services and hospitals, needs 3500 donations every week to meet current demand and predicts that demand is set to grow in the near future.
So this recruitment drive aims to add 100,000 donors to the Reserve Bench: so they are available to donate when the country needs them.
The initiative is led by a Sir Graham Henry fronted 60-second online film and 30-seconf TV spot which debuted on 12 August.
The hero commercial takes viewers into Henry’s home territory at Eden Park as the former All Blacks coach and World Cup winner fronts a call to the nation to help him fill a reserve bench of a different kind.
The campaign is supported by through a mix of PR, digital and traditional media and additional content will see Henry keep Kiwis up-to-date with the progress of the Reserve Bench through updates on digital and social channels.
All the creative pieces urge viewers to ‘Help save Kiwis’ lives’ and ‘Join the Reserve Bench now’ and drive them to the initiative’s bespoke microsite at https://jointhebench.co.nz which includes the sign up mechanic.
The landing page brings to life the campaign’s red ‘Reserve Bench’ with a counter for how the goal of 100,000 registrations is tracking.
The campaign was created for NZ Blood Service National Manager Marketing and Communications Asuka Burge, Marketing Manager Acquisition Shameen De Silva by a team at agency YoungShand which included Creative Directors Anne Boothroyd and Scott Maddox, Copywriter Karla Tarr, Art Director Ben Carroll, Client Services Director Emma Dalton, Account Director Tymon Rackley, Senior Account Manager Daniel O’Leary, Strategy Director Jesse Kelly, Agency Film Producer Esther Watkins, Executive Digital Producer Kat Cox, Designer Elliot Oxborough, Media Account Director Kathleen Gunther and Media Planner John Waltmann.
The film company was Finch, the director was Abigail Greenwood, the sxecutive producer Jimena Murray, the DP Maria Ines Manchengo, the editor was Anastasia Doniants, post production was by Nakatomi and the sound studio was Liquid Studios.
PR was handled by Network Communication Senior Account Director Sandy Trigg and Account Executive Veronica Rojo.
“It’s great to work on a campaign that has the potential to have such a positive impact on New Zealand’s healthcare system. Everyone who has worked with us, from Sir Graham Henry to our production partners have thrown everything behind the campaign to meet the ambitious goal,” explained YoungShand creative director Scott Maddox.
Fellow YoungShand creative director Anne Boothroyd added: “As a nation, we’re good at stepping up for each other. But with blood donation, unless you’ve been personally impacted, it’s easy to forget that our hospitals rely entirely on the generosity of donors to do their job. This was a big task that required a disruptive solution. We hope the World’s Biggest Reserve Bench will be just that.”
While Emma Dalton, YoungShand’s client service director said: “We have a longstanding relationship with New Zealand Blood Service, but this campaign marks a step-change in our approach as we aim to build our reserve of Kiwis ready and waiting to give blood when it’s needed. The idea was conceived with the knowledge that we need more men to donate. Men are better candidates for donating plasma as they can donate larger volumes of plasma.
Asuka Burge, national manager marketing and communications, NZ Blood Service added: “This year alone we need to collect over 70 tonnes of plasma to meet demand, which is another reason why we need this reserve bench. People who are willing and ready to be called up to donate when it’s required to ensure we can meet current and future demands.”
Comment:
As a blood donor and as someone who knows plenty about having strong bench, the choice of Henry as an ambassador certainly makes plenty of sense.
And using rugby as a platform also fits the need as it isn’t just the case that only 4% of New Zealanders are currently registered as donors but also that men donate 30% less often than women.
Levering blood donation drives around major sports events and sports properties is a common tactic.
Some other notable sports based blood donation campaigns include 2018’s Shilton and Seaman fronted ‘Save The Nation’ NHS World Cup campaign (see case study), the 2015 Rugby World Cup ‘Bleed For England’ initiative (see case study) and the Australian Red Cross / NRL ‘Out For Blood’ drive from 2018 (see case study).
Links:
NZ Blood Service
https://www.youtube.com/user/savelivesgiveblood
https://www.instagram.com/nzbloodservice/
https://www.facebook.com/NewZealandBloodService
YoungShand
Leave a comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.