Client
New York
Blood Center Enterprises
DCW Media helped New York Blood Center secure convalescent blood plasma donations at blood centers across the Northeast and Midwest.
“DCW Media was always open to ‘pivoting,’ working off results, and their ability to change schedules quickly based on what was effective impressed us the most.”
Before
The pandemic’s public health challenge saw a little light when leaders in the medical community began a “CCP Trial,” treating critically ill patients with convalescent plasma packed with virus antibodies donated by recovered COVID-19 patients. Data from the clinical trial suggested that CCP helps reduce the length and severity of the illness when administered early in the course of a COVID-19 infection. Blood centers across the U.S. had to accelerate efforts to collect convalescent plasma at an emergency pace; there were tens of thousands lives on the line. NYBC tasked DCW Media with creating and executing a robust media campaign to enlist individuals with the COVID-19 antibodies to donate their CCP to NYBC locations. There were a total of 8 DMAs stretching over 13 States from New York to Minnesota.
After
The DCW digital campaign generated 1,001 donation form submissions in less than eight weeks! The campaign’s performance was outstanding, serving 111 million ad impressions from December 7th to the end of March, generating an aggregate conversion rate of 10% and a 1.52% conversion rate for successful form submissions. An estimated total value of $892,371.28 ran at no charge for NYBC. In addition to CCP donations, DCW took on the challenge of creating a CRM model utilizing dual dissemination strategies, forming a network of donors—old and new—to create life-long “Blood Donation” members.
By mid-April, there was a need to shift from CCP to blood donations: due to the hyperfocus on CCP collections, the medical community was now in the midst of an extreme blood shortage. Asked by NYBC if it’d be possible to get a few PSAs to help out with the dire situation, DCW leveraged the advertising dollars spent on the CCP campaign and utilized their strong vendor relationships to create a well-rounded PSA campaign at no charge. The Emergency Blood PSA Campaign performed exceptionally, bringing in 3000 donors within the first two weeks.
Discovery
We conducted an in-depth audience analysis, tracking behaviors and attitudes for convalescent plasma donors in real time, which allowed us to monitor and pivot our tactics to meet the target audience. In addition, we performed a media con- sumption analysis to get in front of the CCP candidates. We ran media intelligence reports and began building a multi-touchpoint campaign consisting of broadcast, cable, radio, and OOH, covering all 8 DMAs.
Actions
Local radio stations were availed in rural DMAs. A combination of static and digital billboards were selected within a five-mile radius of each center in the denser DMAs. (Keeping in mind the limited traffic patterns due to COVID-19 and lack of public mobility, we were conservative in the OOH buy.) We employed Hulu, Google SEM, programmatic audio, and people-based/retargeting display. Hulu was booked to increase awareness in the ages 18 to 34 demographic. It reached light TV viewers who can be difficult to reach through traditional channels. Ads were non-skippable, creating stronger ad recall and ultimately driving CCP donations. The digital media plan consisted of a full-funnel approach, using a combination of display banners, which included desktop and mobile, programmatic audio, and search engine marketing. It generated awareness, engagement, and consideration around the need for convalescent plasma and blood donations, and ultimately this approach worked in getting prospective donors to donate. People-based targeting allowed us to use NYBC’s CRM list of previous donors and build look-alike models to further expand our reach. Keyword targeting and retargeting supported NYBC, keeping it top of mind to further support the goal of increased awareness and donations. The methodology garnered staggering pageviews and conversions.
