Havas shops net 'life-saving' NHS Blood & Transplant

Three Havas agencies – Havas London, Havas CX Helia and Red Havas – have landed the £4.9m three-year NHS Blood & Transplant contract following a competitive pitch.

The organisation, formed in 2005 by bringing together the National Blood Service and UK Transplant, is dedicated to saving lives through donation including blood, organs, tissues, stem cells and plasma.

The contract was awarded through the Crown Commercial Service Campaign Solutions framework following a process that kicked off in February.

The three agencies all pitched and will service the account jointly, with support from youth culture specialist Livity.

Demand for products including whole blood, plasma for medicine, platelets, organs, tissues, and stem cells is forecast to increase in 2022/23 as the NHS responds to backlogs resulting from the pandemic.

Havas has been tasked with building public awareness of donation and increasing propensity to donate, increasing registrations and building and retaining a more diverse donor base.

Campaigns will be designed to deliver the desired volume and mix of donors, including addressing specific health inequalities amongst Black and South Asian communities. Havas and Livity’s first work for will launch later in 2022, while a new positioning will be unveiled in the first few months of 2023.

NHS Blood & Transplant assistant director of marketing and creative services Helen Duggan said: “Our blood, plasma, organ, tissue and stem cell donation campaigns inspire and motivate the public on the important opportunity they have to give the gift of life.

“Beyond Havas’ clear passion for our lifesaving work, their grasp of the donor journey and experience relevant to our work is second-to-none, and that’s why we are delighted to have them join us as our creative agency.

“We have ambitious targets to recruit one million new blood donors in next five years and continue to increase the number of people who have recorded and shared their organ donation decision. With Havas as our creative partner, we are confident we are in the best place to meet these challenges at this critical moment for the NHS.”

Havas London chief creative officer Vicki Maguire added: “This is not ‘just another account’. This one saves lives. You don’t need to tell me that – as the partner of someone who received a lifesaving organ transplant, this one’s personal.

“I’ve seen, up close, the heroic work NHS Blood & Transplant does, day in, day out, and I am so proud that Havas has been appointed. Donation is a nuanced, personal, one-of-a-kind brief, and we’ve brought together the best in brand comms, CX and PR to really comprehensively nail the entire donor journey.”