Romania ranks among the last in Europe’s blood donation ranking. Antena 1, top Romanian TV station, decided to address this issue in a social campaign to be aired one week during its prime time news program, Observator. The objective was to generate a positive reaction from potential blood donors, but also from the Government.

Using the TV screen as an activation tool, Observator disrupted the TV watching experience for one week by removing the red component from the screen’s RGB colors. On Facebook, Antena 1 stars removed the red colour from their profile picture, followed soon after by 30,000 Romanians. Using a simple metaphor, Observator showcased how life without blood looks like to millions of viewers.

14 million Romanians were reached, generating an earned media equivalent of 1.2 million EUR. Blood donations increased nationwide by 80% within one week, compelling the Romanian Health Minister of Health and the Secretary of State to react. They promised to open more transfusion blood centres and signed a historic 300% budget increase for blood donations.

Antena 1, top TV station in Romania, has a record of social campaigns presented during its prime time news program, Observator. These campaigns reflect Antena 1’s “Always Close” brand positioning. The main goal behind the social campaigns is to change Romania for the better.

At the end of April 2014, Observator had scheduled a new social campaign, this time tackling the subject of blood donations. The lowest number of blood donors in Europe and the lack of funds for blood transfusions in Romania were the main issues.

The goal was to generate a positive reaction from all the parties involved.

During the seven days campaign, blood donation became a hot topic on all media. Within one week, the number of blood donors nationwide increased by 80%. In Bucharest, the daily average of donors was 335, compared to 180-200 before the campaign.

Ten million Romanians witnessed the campaign on TV, while the aggregate number of views reached 160 million views. 30,000 Romanians actively joined the campaign on Facebook by removing the red from their profile pictures. More than 4.5 million saw the campaign on Facebook or on other platforms. The widespread coverage generated an earned media equivalent of 1.2 million EUR.

The Romanian Health Minister of Health and the Secretary of State were compelled to react. They promised to open more transfusion blood centres (in January 2015, the second centre was opened) and signed a historic 300% budget increase for blood donations.

Because nobody should die from lack of blood.

On 28th of April 2014, Observator used the TV screen for the first time as an activation tool. Viewers noticed that something on their screen was different. The red component from the screen RGB colors was missing. Andreea Berecleanu, the anchor woman, assured televiewers that nothing was wrong with their TV, and it’s just how life without blood feels like for thousands of Romanians in need of blood donations.

For one week, during prime time news, the red color was missing from Observator news. On Facebook, Antena 1 stars also removed the red color from their profile picture, followed by 30,000 Romanians. "Donate Red" was the main message of the campaign, urging people to give blood.

No more than 17 people out of 1000 donate blood, leaving Romania at the bottom of blood donation ranking in Europe compared to 68 in Denmark, 55 in Germany or 42 in Hungary. On average, 1 in every 10 Romanians who ends up in a hospital needs a blood transfusion. But the blood supply can only cover 66% of the need.

The ugly truth is that the Romanian medical system isn't prepared to handle blood donations. We compare ourselves with Western countries, but our funds and our resources are scarce, as blood transfusions are overlooked by the Government year by year.

The Ministry of Health responds best to social pressure. If enough people talked about the blood donation issues in Romania and if more people wanted to give blood during the campaign, than the authorities would have no choice but to do something about it.

Antena 1 targeted millions of Romanians sitting in front of the TV. Observator, its prime time news program, was used as a Trojan Horse for good. Hijacking the TV watching experience for millions of Romanians at the same time for one week, live, during the news, would make everyone understand how important blood donation really is.

The TV started the conversation and Facebook carried it on, starting with Antena 1 stars. The buzz generated around blood donations would soon become a subject hard to ignore by the Ministry of Health and force the officials involved to positively react.