This paper outlines a new strategy that focused on making a personal connection with the donor: the insight being that the biggest single reason non-donors gave for not giving blood was that they felt they had never been asked. This campaign utilised TV’s unique ability to emotionally engage audiences, talk directly to the viewer and drive direct response. In the first month of the campaign, nearly 300% more calls were generated for only 35% more media spend and the cost per response fell from £41 to £19. The new commercial was four times more effective in recruiting new donors and twice as effective in persuading returning donors to donate. The paper demonstrates that 74% of new donors who called the donor line cited the new commercial as the reason for their call. By the end of January, blood donor attendances were on target and levels for new and returning blood donors were 7% above target. Some clever TV buying kept the issue front of mind but also enabled the service to match up response levels with blood stock requirements. They only aired the commercials when there was a need for blood.

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