New Zealand Blood Service
1001 things to do while you donate

The Christmas and summer holiday period is a critical time for NZ Blood. Where busy schedules and holiday plans results in donor drop off, and the need for blood vastly outweighs the number of donations coming in.

During a time when Santa and sentimental ad spots are dominating the screens, we turned to humour to cut through.

Professional funny guys Pax Assadi and James Roque, members of comedy troupe ‘Fricken Dangerous Bro’, gave us an instant in with our target audience of young men — a group that is often hard to reach.

Through a series of short videos set in NZBS donor chairs, Pax and James improvised their way through all the practical, weird and wacky ways to tick more off your summer to-do list while donating blood. The skits weren’t just a laugh; they instantly turned negative attitudes around blood donation during a time-poor holiday period into a positive. The takeaway? Regular donation helps you sort your life while saving someone else’s.

Results:

• 105% of whole blood donation targets across a competitive marketing period and with a limited budget

• 21% increase of new users to the website (double the estimated traffic) 

• 6% booking completion up from the previous year

• 850% increase in installs of the NZBS mobile app
  (a vital step for donor retention and appointment booking moving forward)