Agency shortlisted for NHS Black Heritage Blood Donation campaign
ESPR was shortlisted alongside many of the UK’s leading PR agencies in the PRWeek Corporate Affairs Awards’ Best Public Health Awareness Campaign category for its NHS Black Heritage Blood Donation campaign.
The agency was announced as a finalist for this prestigious industry award as a recognition of the work undertaken during the campaign, media coverage gained, and results achieved.
The campaign in collaboration with NHS Blood and Transplant, aimed to encourage more Black heritage blood donors to come forward, raise awareness of sickle cell and ethnically matched blood, and encourage repeat donations from younger target audiences of Black heritage.
The strategy involved using influential Black role models from The Powerlist to resonate with the target community and inspire them to get involved for a good cause. Dame Sharon White and Lord Simon Woolley came forward to donate blood at the newly opened Stratford Donation Centre in Stratford, London. The Powerlist is the annual list of the most influential Black people in Britain.
Other Powerlistees, as they are known as, supported the campaign by posting our content on their company’s intranet and social media channels and resharing the content on their platforms.
Media coverage generated almost £1.4m of advertising equivalent coverage with coverage secured in many mainstream media outlets such as BBC News, The Guardian, and The Times, as well as those targeted at black communities.
Impact on registrations resulted in a 33% increase in new Black heritage donor registrations week ending April 23rd. On April 20 – the day of the launch – there was a 318% increase compared to the daily average. The results set a new benchmark for NHS Blood & Transplant, as the highest number of registrations ever achieved by a black blood donation campaign.
The PRWeek Corporate Affairs Awards celebrates the best campaigns, projects, agencies, in-house teams, and individuals across sectors covering corporate, city, pharma, public affairs, and beyond.
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