A 2022 charity appeal, medically-focused campaign called ‘Our Blood Is Gold’ from French Ligue 1 side RC Lens and non-profit Players for Society sought to raise awareness of the decline and the need and to boost blood donations amongst its fans and local community.
Based on the insight that, whilst every year blood donations save one million lives in France, for the past decade the number of donations has steadily fallen, RC Lens and its players linked up with non-profit Players For Society to boost blood donations amongst supporters and the wider community.
Working with Players for Society, the UNFP’s outreach program that helps football players committed to the common good and agency Sid Lee Paris, the initiative revolved around RC Lens’ home game against Nantes on 30 April for which the home team’s ‘Sang et Or’ / ‘Blood and Gold’ club motto was tweaked to ‘Our Blood Is Gold’ and the crest on the first team shirts was switched with the red portion of the badge (which signifies blood) switched to gold.
The campaign team, after noticing that every player in the home side had the letters ‘A’, ‘B’ or ‘O’ in their names (reflecting the basic blood groups), also chose to tweak their names on the backs of their jerseys with an added ‘+’ or ‘–‘ to emphasise the blood types.
The campaign also saw giant banners created for in-stadium use and a bespoke set of supporters scarves stating ‘Notre Sang Est’ / ’Our Blood is Gold’ to be distributed amongst the home crowd.
The ambient and kit/scarves strands were promoted through a broadcast partnership explainer, plus in-stadium activity (including pitchside LED perimeter boards and on escort kids outfits, plus via video and social content (including player personal platforms) all encouraging fans to give blood at a special space created within the stadium.
The campaign was created by a team at agency Sid Lee Paris where the group was led by Chief Creative Officer Sylvain Thirache, Creative Director Celine Mornet-Landa, Creative Director Clement Mornet-Landa, Producer Victor Grenu, Art Director Jessy Kikabou, Art Director Victoria Maldotti, Copywriter Joachim Senteni, Account Manager Yoann Deminiac, President Johan Delpuech, Account Executive Loéane Le Berre and Editor Yoann Plard.
Outcomes
All supporter blood donor slot reservations were booked within minutes of the start of the match and the initiative drove a 26% year-on-year regional rise in blood donations
Comment
This campaign follows in a strong tradition of sports club blood donation drives and previous outstanding examples of which includes the brilliant 2012 Vitoria FC ‘My Blood Is Red and Black’ campaign in Brazil.
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