Singapore’s blood demand is expected to almost double and youths play a critical role in contributing to the national blood supply. Beyond Your Veins is a youth-centric communications campaign aimed at encouraging NTU students aged 18 to 29 to donate blood for the first time at a campus blood donation drive. It sought to address the trend in the decline of youth donors over the last decade by revamping youth’s perceptions of giving blood while educating them on the national blood situation.
In the campaign, the team developed a three-pronged strategy to (1) rebrand the topic of blood donations with novel and youthful associations, (2) empower their target audience by educating them on the impact and need for donations, and (3) facilitate blood donations by improving the blood drive experience.
The campaign envisioned for Singaporean youths to play their part in contributing to Singapore’s growing blood needs, and it was developed in partnership with Singapore Red Cross and Red Cross Youth NTU Chapter.
As a precursor to the campaign, the team went around NTU and asked students what were their fears in donating blood, highlighted in the video below.
The Highlights
Creating an interactive out-of-home installation.
Placed along the walkway of North Spine, this installation was meant to be attention-grabbing, thought-provoking and functional. The installation consisted of what looked like a blood donation tube on an arm but was in fact a charging wire for mobile phones. The unexpected twist sought to associate the everyday act of powering mobile phones with the necessity of powering lives through blood donations.
Rebranding the blood drive as a social event.
Based on the team’s research and consumer insights, they found that non-donors would be encouraged to donate for the first time, or overcome their fears when they had companions and friends. Although the planning the event and adapting it to the COVID-19 regulations (e.g. social distancing and a maximum of 50 persons per venue) was rigorous, the team gained hands-on experience in event planning – from managing stakeholders’ interests, getting sponsorships, arranging for transportation of logistics, to the conceptualising and brainstorming of creating a memorable experience for the registered donors.
Over the two-day blood drive, the campaign saw 275 donor registrations, of which there were 207 made successful donations. This was a 10.4% increase in total registered donors compared to previous blood drives held on campus.
Creative social media collaterals.
The team had a chance to conceptualise their collaterals and brainstorm how to deliver educational information in bite-sized and engaging methods, both online and offline. The team also strived for a youthful branding of their campaign through the use of a light-hearted tone of voice, digital illustrations and unique brand colours of teal, beige and light blue instead of falling back on typical blood donation-related colours.
The Memories
Reflection #1 – The Challenges
The COVID-19 outbreak disrupted activities in the campaign.
Due to the unforeseen COVID-19 virus and stricter school regulations that followed such as restricting the drive to a maximum of 50 people at any point in time, the campaign was affected in various ways, from publicity to reach and execution.
Mass lectures were cancelled and shifted online, resulting in significantly fewer students on campus, which affected the footfalls of roadshows and blood drive. To counter these restrictions, the team came up with new ideas, such as having a standalone display booth in NTU Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan (SHHK) Building. At the booth, passers-by could self-collect the free branded tissue packets, which had the blood drive event details, as well as interact with the educational posters.
The campaign coincided with national efforts to boost blood donations.
Initially, during the COVID-19 period, there was a lack of donors to replenish the national blood stocks, and the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) made a media appeal to encourage donors to step forward. The blood banks saw a large turnout over the subsequent days and those who donated could not do so at the team’s blood drive, due to the waiting intervals between blood donations.
Myths of COVID-19 virus transmission when donating blood.
There was an increase in concerns regarding the safety of donating blood, due to fears that COVID-19 virus might be transmitted via blood transfusions or being exposed to the virus while donating blood.
To counter these challenges, the team did their best to reassure potential donors through their social media platforms that they will take extra precautionary measures to ensure a safe environment for blood donation.
Reflection #2 – The Takeaways
Gained insights on youth resistance towards blood donation.
Through this project, the team have gained insights into the behaviour of youths and found that even though most youths are aware of the issue of blood donations, it was the lack of engaging information, fears of needle, and medical ineligibility that prevented them from donating.
Improvement of partnership skills with various stakeholders.
Working with various stakeholders also taught the team to improve their partnership skills.
While the team wanted to rebrand the topic of blood donations, they had to take note that Singapore Red Cross’s guidelines on communicating the information to the public, for example not appearing to incentivise the act of donations because Singapore follows a voluntary non-remunerated blood donation model.
In addition, even though the team wanted to plan the blood drive to be a social event, they had to respect the priorities for safety and still maintain an environment that the nurses could operate in. For example, dimming the lights for movie screenings was not possible, as the nurses would need sufficient light to carry out the blood donation safely and efficiently.
To continuously adapt to changes and remain flexible.
The team faced 2 main issues when executing the campaign – one was the uncertainty of the total budget available as they were applying and waiting for confirmation of the grants while planning the project. In addition, the COVID-19 situation also created uncertainty on the type of activities allowed. Hence, it was important for the team to constantly adapt to changes and remain flexible in different situations.
In hindsight, the team could also have tried to secure grants and sponsors at an earlier date. A clear understanding of the available budget would allow them to plan their campaign programming more effectively.
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