This Clever Digital Tweak By The World Health Org. Resulted In A Huge Increase In Blood Donations
Like many countries, Namibia suffers from a shortage of blood donations with only 0.6% of the population participating as donors. On June 14, World Blood Donor Day, the World Health Organisation and agency Advantage Y&R decided to use the power of digital media to ‘share’ the message and turn things around.
Objective:
Raise awareness about blood donation and get more people to donate across Namibia.
Insight:
When people are online, they share articles, posts and updates all the time. What if, at that moment, they could analogously be made to realise the importance of ‘sharing’ something much more valuable? Something that could save a person’s life.
Idea:
WHO tweaked the share button on Namibia’s major news and entertainment websites for 24 hours on World Blood Donor Day. Whenever someone tried to share a post, this blood donor awareness message would appear:
The pop-up led the user to WHO’s Facebook page where they were provided with relevant information about blood donation and the current shortage in the country, as well as locations of stations where they could go and donate.
Results:
Within the first 12 hours, WHO’s Facebook page likes increased by 250%. More importantly, the new share button led to a change in people’s attitude which resulted in a significant rise in blood donations. Watch this case study to know more:
If WHO could release a before-after data comparison, it would really help put things in perspective. Great use of the digital medium nonetheless. What do you think? Share this post and your views in the comments below.
