In Australia, potential blood donors are currently being lured with the promise of time out to catch up on Netflix, Facebook or holiday planning.
McCann Colombia is using a more emotional lure in its campaign sponsored by Marca País (the country brand). Patriotism.
The agency has created blood bags using the colours of the national flag. The bags are yellow and blue – the blood collected makes the flag’s red stripe appear on them.
Colombia’s red stripe in the national flag symbolises the bloodshed in all battles fought by the nation. The campaign turned that red stripe into a symbol for saving lives rather than spilling it in war.
And to spread the word, McCann lit up Colpatria, the highest tower of Bogotá’s financial district, without the flag’s red stripe and asked Colombians to help refill the red colour of their national flag with their donations of blood. As donations mounted, the colourless stripe slowly filled with red light.
The campaign, #AmarilloAzulyYo (#YellowBlueAndI), was launched in October 2016 to coincide with the peace agreement signed by the Government of Colombia and the guerilla group, FARC. The country was coming together as a nation, so McCann used the flag’s colours to bring Colombia’s citizens together around the blood donation cause.
The campaign gained support across social media, the press and media influencers and helped drive volunteers in 15 different Colombian cities to blood donation centers organised by the Red Cross.
The campaign reached more than 27 million people across social media channels and earned media. Within 72 hours of campaign launch, the blood donation rate rose 14%. In total, more than six thousand patients received blood from the campaign.
Credits:
Agency: McCann Colombia
Chief Creative Officer: Samuel Estrada
Creative Directors: Alejandro Bermudez & Reini Farias
Copywriter: Ricardo Rojas
Art Directors: Rafael Montoya, Julian Roldan, Luis Lopez 7 Jonnathan Olmos
Production Companies Direktor Films Bogotá & Colombo Films Bogotá
Post Production Company: Bogotá Post Bogotá
Client approval: Juan Sebastian Palisa
