June and July are the months with the biggest lack of blood in the blood banks. That happens because of scholar 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 number in 25% during this period.

2. Research/Planning:It’s a fact: people only motivate to donate blood when someone they like is in need.

3. Strategy Statement:Thus, we decided to make an invitation for people to donate blood to their greatest passion: their football club.

4. Execution Synopsis:We took off the red of the centenary Vitória uniform. Only with the direct participation of the fans, through blood donations, the color of the jersey would go back to normal. Stripe by stripe as blood was being donated.

In the first day of the action, there was a press conference and then the team entered the field with the uniform without the red stripes. Flyers and a press kit were distributed to the fans, journalists and influencing fans, explaining what was happening.

Right after the game, we premiered an ad, narrated by Wagner Moura, actor who did “Capitão Nascimento” in the “Elite Squad” films and fanatic Vitória supporter. The campaign also had ads and a fan page on Facebook. During ten matches, the team played with the new uniforms. People were donating blood and the stripes gradually rising.

5. Results:Increase of 46% in blood donations (21% over the original objective).

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 about the campaign. There was a huge national and international repercussion.

Videogame players developed the new uniforms for the Pro Evolution Soccer 2012. The jersey became the third official uniform of the club and even got a pirate version, which could be found with street vendors. The club immortalized the campaign in its memorial and is producing a documentary.