GOLD WINNER: Godfrey Philips, Blood Drive
Client: Godfrey Philips India
Entrant Company: Media Direction, R K Swamy Media Group
Entry Category: Local Brand or Service in a Local Market with innovative media solutions worthy of international adaptation or of world class standards
Names to be credited with submission:
Team Media Direction
Time Period of Campaign: June 2008
Case Study Summary:
Marketing Situation: Godfrey Phillip India (GPI) holds “Voluntary Blood Donation” drives across India as a CSR Initiative with the objective of closing the critical gap between India’s annual blood demand of about 6 million units and collection through blood banks of only about 3 million.
While 60% of the population of India is eligible to donate blood, only less than 5% volunteer for this cause. Thus, the objective of the campaign was to create greater awareness of the need to donate blood and to ensure increased involvement. As a CSR project, budgets were a major constraint, yet high awareness and participation were critical for success.
Key Insights: Research among people who would be most likely to donate blood revealed that although most people would like to donate, a few do. Inertia, a lack of knowledge about where to go, or concerns about clinical safety inhibit them.
To overcome these barriers, the campaign sought the help of leading Bollywood actress Preity Zinta as the brand ambassador of GPI Bravery to lead the educational and awareness efforts.
Media Strategy: Given the challenge of reaching a critical mass audience with limited budgets in a short “social cause” time span, an “amplification” strategy was adopted.
Tactics were used to kick-start and enlarge small budgets to deliver large objectives.
A special date for was set for the event, June 14th, called World Blood Donation Day. This helped focus the PR coverage. Three days before the event, media was flooded with messages to drive awareness and inform people about blood drive locations. Brand Ambassador, Preity Zinta, donated the first unit of blood to encourage people to come forward by demonstrating that one small act can be helpful for millions.
How Could this be a Template for Other Campaigns or for World Class Standards?
Blood banks face similar problems in most countries and rarely have budgets that allow for a mass-scale campaign. An “Amplification” strategy can work to ensure that a program “piggy backs” on every possible opportunity - an important day, an important person, a famous personality and channel partners for added support.
Results: The blood units collected were amplified by three-times their normal rate.
The participants now continue to contact the call center for more information, demonstrating that the movement has taken a momentum of its own, and the amplification process has just begun.
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