In Lebanon, on the Day of Ashura, Muslims from one sect engage in the experience of group blood-letting to mourn for religious reasons.

In this region, blood donation awareness is very low – there is no central blood bank and blood donations are rare.

We saw an opportunity to transform the experience people had on the Day of Ashura from one of spilling blood to donating blood. We intercepted the parade journey, mobilizing parade-goers to donate at mobile and static destinations, thus creating a memorable group blood donation experience and activation.

Donner Sang Compter is a Lebanese NGO that promotes voluntary blood donation. It helps patients in need of blood by linking them to voluntary blood donors registered on its database, or by raising stocks of blood banks through low-budget blood donation drives.

But, in Lebanon, this blood is never enough. And compounded by the fact that there is no central blood bank, patients in Lebanon are forced to turn to social media in desperation.

So, Donner Sang Compter sought help to create awareness about the importance of giving blood. The goal was to create buzz about blood donation by letting people know that it was meaningful to donate, and then enabling them to do so without much effort.

The big challenge here was to break through, on a low budget, in a cluttered media landscape and a politically-charged, war stricken country.

We tapped into a remarkably relevant occasion: Ashura. It is the tenth day of Muharram, the first month in the Islamic calendar. It marks the day that Hussain ibn Ali, the grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, was martyred in the Battle of Karbala.

On the Day of Ashura, a day of public mourning, Muslims in Lebanon commemorate the death of Imam Hussein by spilling their blood.

But while these men willingly spill their blood on the streets, Lebanon remains in desperate need of anyone who will willingly donate their blood.

So, for Donner Sang Compter, we leveraged the Day of Ashura and diverted crowds to our blood donation drive called Blood Unity, an initiative that encouraged those who spilled blood to donate it instead.

For some Muslims, Ashura is a solemn day of mourning the martyrdom of Hussein. It is marked with mourning rituals and parades on streets re-enacting the martyrdom and the sacrifice through bloodletting. We were primarily targeting these Muslims who participate in blood-letting.

What these men hadn’t been told before was how their blood could be used to benefit others if they donated it instead. In other words – instead of wasting blood on the streets, put it to good use by donating it.

Our activation strategy was to educate the same people who would ordinarily take part in bloodletting about how the blood they were spilling on the streets could save lives. Not only were we intent on using this occasion to stock blood banks in Lebanon, but also to drive awareness around the importance of blood donation, while changing behaviours on this and future Days of Ashura.

We had to stand out visually. So, for the visual identity, we tapped into imagery used over generations by Islamic groups to summon followers. For the logo design, we incorporated the Kufic script; one of most valuable Arabic calligraphies. The geometric design allowed us to animate parts of the emblem to highlight blood circulation and donation levels.

On the Day of Ashura, we persuaded Muslim preachers to talk about the campaign and encourage more people to become donors as an alternative way of demonstrating the sacrifice.

Ensuring visibility, outdoor billboards, banners and flags invited participation, as did social media posts and online PR.

We generated political commitment and support from health and religious authorities who advocated participation.

Across channels, we not only brought the message about voluntary blood donation to new audiences but also provided increased opportunities for blood donation sessions at mobile sites and static sites.

We turned bloodletting into blood giving. A donor who formerly spilled blood said, “I used to be one of those people that struck my head with an open razor until I realized that the blood spilled on the floor, was needed by so many others.”

This campaign not only brought the message about voluntary blood donation to new audiences but also got the Muslim religious establishment to endorse the idea.

Blood Donations in Lebanon hit a national record with this campaign. We collected 655 blood units; 400% increase in previous initiatives, that went on to save 1965 lives, compared to 360 from the usual 3-day blood donation drives.

While the amount of blood raised was important, what was also important was the amount of awareness raised among Lebanese, and this has helped the nation take strides towards creating Lebanon’s first National Blood Bank.