ABOUT

National Blood Week is the key date in the calendar for NHS Blood & Transplant (England & North Wales), especially as their latest statistics revealed the number of new donors coming forward had plummeted 40% in the past decade. The challenge was to recruit new donors, particularly from the 17-24 year old age group.

Based on the simple insight ‘Imagine a world without As Os and Bs’ an Engine team of WCRS and MHP launched ‘Missing Type’. It was a week that saw the ‘O’ disappear from Downing Street; The Daily Mirror change its masthead; blanket national media coverage; and a social media movement created with many of the world’s biggest brands – including Google, Coca-Cola, Microsoft and McDonald’s – ripping up their logo guidelines to join in and amplify the call for new donors.

Most importantly ‘Missing Type’ delivered the result that matters: 30,000 new blood donor registrations over the course of the week – equivalent to over 100,000 lives saved or improved.