APEX Awards 2016 - The Better Gift Challenge

The Millward Brown award for a campaign with limited funds went to DDB South Africa for the SA National Blood Service. The demand for blood is fairly consistent throughout the year. However, the supply of blood drops over the holidays - particularly over the Festive Season where the amount of blood donated falls by approximately 11% each year, essentially putting those lives in need of blood transfusions in serious jeopardy. Our job was clear: develop a campaign that would negate this traditional 11% drop in blood donations, while simultaneously build brand affinity and drive engagement. We took a non-traditional approach to solve the traditional problem.

This time round, instead of developing another generic radio campaign with mass appeal, calling for donations, we decided to approach things completely differently. We developed a new strategy that targeted our biggest detractors (who we knew are also our biggest potential segment in the long-term), changed our communications tone, originated a creative idea and honed media placement strategy - for the most critical time of the year.

The campaign was a resounding success. We increased blood donations by 13% year-on-year, the vast majority of which came from our specific target audience of detractors. Our brand affinity and brand engagement increased substantially too; by 13% and 8 160% respectively.

The efficiency ratios of this campaign are outstanding too: the Campaign Engagement Rate sits well above the global benchmarks, our Video View Rate is 5 times the industry norm, our Cost Per View is 27 times cheaper than the accepted industry benchmark and our Cost Per Donation dropped 57%.

Read here for more on the 2016 APEX award winners.