2019 Winners & Shortlists

Why is this work relevant for Direct?

Because of the need to change perceptions regarding blood donations fast and drive immediate action, in a time where these actions can be potentially considered taboo. This was achieved by serving disruptive creative, at relevant times, while always insisting on the urgency of the health crisis (blood donations drop severely during Ramadan) and providing immediate reassurance and solutions to solve that crisis.

Background.

Volume of blood donations falls over 40% in MENA countries during Ramadan, due to misinformed doubts about donating, as well as reduced on-ground presence on the part of blood banks. This leads to a yearly health crisis, as blood has a maximum shelf life of 42 days. Hence, our most immediate challenge was to educate people about blood donations and ultimately change the deeply ingrained public perception that donating blood while fasting or after fasting is unadvisable. Facebook endorsed the campaign as part of its yearly Hack For Good, in which they sponsor a campaign for a good cause. The only condition is that we use Facebook as our sole media channel for this campaign. The ideal objective was to reverse this deadly trend, which would mean we would have had to see a 66% rise in blood donations to make up for the lost 40%.

Describe the creative idea.

Giving is one of the pillars of Ramadan, however people are focused on material donations -usually food, money, and clothes, while blood is overlooked. Beyond this emotional reframing of blood, we needed to weave in an informational component to alleviate existing safety concerns; so we reviewed the barriers to donating. Chief among them was the belief that it was unsafe to donate while or after fasting. Second was a lack of knowledge about blood’s conservation: people generally don’t know that blood can only be conserved 42 days, leading to complacency concerning the urgency of donating blood in this period. With this information, people would be equipped to donate and convince others to as well. Barring this information, our idea was simple: remind people that the act of giving is something they practice everyday, and that blood should urgently become a part of that practice. Because giving is in their blood.

Describe the strategy.

During a time like Ramadan, most brands and NGOs conducting campaigns adopt an identity outside of their usual brand, laden with crescent moons (our main logo in the region), lanterns and other Ramadan symbols. These campaigns are often the most massive of the year. We decided to target the mass as well, as we could not afford to be picky about whose blood we got. We had to present an image that is different from the usual Ramadan initiatives, focusing on making donations approachable. We settled on a direct and informational content plan which would suit the way people use Facebook, along with a consistent and recognizable call to action. We had two imperatives: highlight the crisis and reassure on the possibility of donating. We believed that this, compounded with an attractive visual style and influencer support, would make blood donations more approachable and allow us to meet our target.

Describe the execution.

We used Facebook’s different formats and storytelling methods to their fullest extent. We created 3 10 second animations, to directly fill gaps in knowledge about the act of giving blood during Ramadan. We used a calendar-like long image to show the contrast of material donations with the small of blood donations made during Ramadan. We used Facebook AR Camera to let people edit their profile pictures and show their support for the campaign. All of this content was geo-targeted to people, and had a different “Learn More” button per country that would give them local info about donating, such as time and place. To normalize blood donations, we held a Facebook Live with two major celebrities (Hassan El Shafei & Sherine Abdel Wahab) having a normal conversation. After a few minutes, the camera zoomed out to reveal that Hassan was casually giving blood.

List the results.

We used Facebook’s different formats and storytelling methods to their fullest extent. We created 3 10 second animations, to directly fill gaps in knowledge about the act of giving blood during Ramadan. We used a calendar-like long image to show the contrast of material donations with the small of blood donations made during Ramadan. We used Facebook AR Camera to let people edit their profile pictures and show their support for the campaign. All of this content was geo-targeted to people, and had a different “Learn More” button per country that would give them local info about donating, such as time and place. To normalize blood donations, we held a Facebook Live with two major celebrities (Hassan El Shafei & Sherine Abdel Wahab) having a normal conversation. After a few minutes, the camera zoomed out to reveal that Hassan was casually giving blood.