Be The 1 Donor with SANBS and Ronaldo
This international movement was conceptualised by a global healthcare company
THE South African National Blood Service (SANBS) has rallied behind the international movement BE THE 1 Donor, which inspires young people to become life-long blood and plasma donors and help save lives.
This international movement was conceptualised by a global healthcare company, Abbott, which has partnered with soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, in an effort to respond to the global decline in the number of new and young donors.
Ronaldo started donating as a 24-year-old, when he witnessed one of his teammates battle with the search for a stem cell donor for his ailing son – and seven years later he is still giving blood regularly.
Currently, South African tertiary students and learners contribute about 40 percent to the national blood reserves – and supporting them to continue this as a life-long commitment, is an important objective for the SANBS.
A recent SANBS study conducted to determine the motivation behind the youth’s choice to give, revealed that there was no powerful single-minded call-to-action for them to identify with.
Youth who took part in the SANBS research recommended that the blood service should involve recognisable influencers, in order to personalise the brand for them.
These requirements are met well by BE THE 1 Donor Movement. As it’s built around a football icon and committed blood donor, Ronaldo represents goodwill and is admired by young people – but also employs emotive messaging that resonates with the younger generation.
“SANBS is proud to be part of this movement and we hope that it will not only put blood donations on the agenda for discussion among young people – but that it will also cause them to take a look in the mirror and say: ‘I have the power to save lives and I am going to use it’,” said SANBS Marketing Manager Silungile Mlambo.
The South African campaign, which launched on October 17, will recruit local ambassadors to join Ronaldo; including students and radio and TV personalities. They will take part in awareness-raising activations and be prominent on social and traditional media platforms, to spread the word and support the global movement across South Africa.
“Our donors may or may not have such personal reasons for donating as Ronaldo, but our activations aim to remind young donors that someone they might never meet, needs their blood and plasma right now,” concludes Mlambo.
Join Ronaldo and SANBS to donate blood now. You could save a life. Join the movement on Facebook or sign up to donate at BeThe1Donor.com
If you are looking to put up blood donor stations please contact Michelle Kishore on 011 670 8614 or 082 331 9003 or email: michelle.kishore@sanbs.org.za
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