Blood banks have their greatest shortage of blood in the months of June and July. This happens because of school vacations (families travel around the country together) and regional traditional festivities. We needed to increase blood donations for Hemoba, the Blood Bank of the State of Bahia. For Hemoba to meet the demand of the population, it was necessary to increase the amount by 25% during this period.

It’s a fact: people are only motivated to donate blood when someone they like is in need. Thus, we decided to invite people to donate blood to their greatest passion: their football club. In a country that loves football so much, using the power and visibility of players and the sport itself, we had the power to really engage people and turn the campaign into a subject of National interest.

We took off the red of the Vitória’s centenary shirt. Only with the direct participation of the fans, through blood donations, would the color of the jersey go back to normal, stripe by stripe as blood was being donated. On the first day, there was a press conference, then the team entered the field in a kit without the red stripes. Flyers and a press kit were distributed to the fans, journalists and influencial fans, explaining what was happening. After the match, we premiered a campaign including a TV spot narrated by Wagner Moura, the actor who played “Capitão Nascimento” in the “Elite Squad” films and a fanatical Vitória supporter.

An increase of 46% in blood donations. With an investment of US$ 15,000.00, US$ 8,000,000.00 was generated in spontaneous media. Approximately 130 million people were impacted: more than 1 billion page views on the web and 935 minutes of TV exposure, including matches, after match shows and articles. There was a huge national and international response. Videogame players developed the new uniforms for Pro Evolution Soccer 2012. The jersey became the third official uniform of the club and even got a pirate version, which could be found at street venders. The club immortalized the campaign in its memorial and is producing a documentary.