Excellence in Public Health Communications

Summary of work

In 2015, blood donation needed to be put back on the agenda. With the number of new donors plummeting by 40 per cent in the past decade, NHS Blood and Transplant’s challenge was to safeguard blood supply for the future.

A disruptive campaign was required to spark conversation and initiate behaviour change. MHP/Engine’s solution was ‘Missing Type’, where the letters of the blood groups A, O and B were taken out of circulation to amplify the call for donors. Triggered by engaging content, it was a simple and inclusive movement anyone could join.

Over 1,000 brands joined tens of thousands of people in removing As, Os and Bs from social media profiles and user-generated content. These included small businesses, universities, hospitals, charities, retailers, sports clubs, celebrities and global brands.

It was the week that saw the ‘O’ disappear from Downing Street, the Daily Mirrorchange its masthead and Google, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Arsenal FC and Spotify rip up their logo guidelines. Even the Church of England joined in.

Missing Type was a visceral reminder of how much society needs those simple letters; over 30,000 new donors registered in the first ten days alone - equivalent to 100,000 lives saved or improved.

Judges' comments

This programme was simple, singularly focused and just completely brilliant! It didn’t set out to go viral, but did, and was full of spontaneity. The outcomes were really good and it also had fantastic metrics and even targeted the next generation of donors. The idea is to always try to push the boundaries (in a good way), but this took that to the next level. We wish we’d thought of this!