Most blood donation campaigns leave people with a plea. There’s an emotive trigger and they may or may not act on it in the future. Denmark needs approximately 30,000 new blood donors every year to maintain a stable blood supply, according to Bloddonorerne Danmark. While many Danes want to help, donating blood requires something that can’t be done with a click or from the comfort of a sofa – you have to physically show up.

Powered by Detour, the blood donation campaign by Audi Denmark and creative agency, Twenty, doesn’t leave people with a call to action. Its OOH ads are placed where they can point them to an immediate detour to donate blood now. Rather than simply asking people to donate blood, the campaign uses Audi’s connection to mobility to show them where to go. Rather than using outdoor advertising simply to raise awareness, Powered by Detour makes the medium itself part of the solution. Every location becomes an opportunity to point people towards a nearby blood donation centre

The campaign, developed in collaboration with Bloddonorerne Danmark (Danish Blood Donors), turns outdoor advertising into directions to nearby blood donation centres.

Behind the creative idea is the thought that if Audi is all about getting people from A to C, why not make a small detour to B – the nearest blood donation centre? The OOH are set up across Copenhagen, Aarhus, Odense, Aalborg, Kolding, Slagelse and Køge, each with location-specific directions to blood donation centres. Instead of a traditional advertising message, the campaign uses the language of road signs and navigation to connect an everyday journey with an opportunity to make a difference. The executions appear on large outdoor billboards, bus shelters and digital displays. By placing the messages along routes people already travel, the campaign makes the distance between wanting to help and actually doing something about it feel smaller.

“This year, we’re making the campaign hyperlocal, using outdoor advertising tailored to the locations of individual blood donation centres and the journeys people already make. The idea is to make the need for blood donors tangible and show that a small detour can make a big difference. When you realise a donation centre is just around the corner, taking action suddenly feels much more achievable,” stated Farah Dib, creative director and co-founder of Twenty.

For Audi Denmark, Powered by Detour is the latest activation under its Powered by Hearts platform, that connects the automotive brand with initiatives that make a positive difference in society and builds on last year’s collaboration with local blood donation centres, taking the concept a step further to guide people towards the act of donating.

“With Powered by Detour, we want to use Audi’s reach and our connection to mobility to encourage more people to donate blood. Many people already have the desire to make a difference, but they might not know how close their nearest donation centre actually is. By making those locations visible along everyday routes, we hope to inspire more people to take that small detour,” commented Jacob Thiesen, head of marketing at Audi Denmark.

The campaign runs for three weeks across seven Danish cities.