Strategic Marketing Communications Plan

L if e B rig a d e

Continuing the Battle for Life

Table of Contents
Executive Summary Situation Analysis SWOT Analysis Target Audience Campaign Theme IMC Plan Cost Breakdown Campaign Evaluation Conclusion Creative Examples 3 5 6 7 8 9 18 19 19 20

Executive Summary
This following document is a marketing strategy and media plan for Canadian Blood Services. The non-profit charitable organization has existed since 1998 and currently has over 40 permanent collection sites across Canada. Over 25,000 donor clinics are run annually across Canada with17,000 community volunteers and over 4,500 employees keeping the foundation going strong. OneMatch Stem Cell, Marrow Network, National Organs & Tissue registry, and blood donations are run by Canadian Blood Services. Adults 18-59 across Canada compose the majority of donations. Canadian Blood Services is a noble cause that has positive brand image. The diverse recognition program recognizes all those that support them. The biggest obstacle Canadian Blood Services is lack of awareness amongst potential donors and volunteers. It is not a top-of-mind charity and people do not know about recognition events held for participants at local and national levels. Canadian citizens take this service for granted. There is also plenty competition for people’s time and money. Tough economics times make it harder for people to focus on charitable causes because they need to help themselves. However, Canadian Blood Services have a loyal core base of donors and volunteers. The target audience of this campaign is aimed at everyone who contributes to Canadian Blood Services. For their contributions within the charity, they are deserving of recognition. This is a broad group that consists of donors, volunteers, peer- recruiters, partners and employees. These adults aged 18-65 are spread throughout Canada. The campaign is titled Life Brigade. The Life Brigade consists of every member that assists Canadian Blood Services in their own way. All participating individuals, regardless of their individual role must be recognized. Each member is a soldier assisting in the battle for life. The Life Brigade is designed to entrust that sense of unity within them and to feel the united National presence of the Canadian Blood Services. The top communication objective is that donors, volunteers, peer recruiters and partners are the lifeblood of Canada’s blood system and deserve meaningful public recognition. Local events are designed to recognize significant contributions of members of the Life Brigade. The events are located in 40 different places across Canada. The Peoples’ Life Brigade Gala is a national event held in the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. It is a black tie event to celebrate the achievements of significant members. The keynote address will be given by Michael J. Fox based on his support for stem cell research.

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There will be a thorough advertising mix for this campaign to best communicate to the target audience. Newspaper, superboards and Facebook ads will be used to spread awareness for The Life Brigade and Gala. Radio and newspaper will be used for the local event for their affordability. Social Media will be used to strengthen the campaign. A Facebook application will be used to connect users and show their progression in the badge system. A micro-site will allows visitors to get involved and visually see the soldiers of the brigade in the country. Custom foursquare badges will be made to gives user added incentive to visit donation clinics. Ustream will be used to broadcast Michael J. Fox’s address live on the Internet. The local events will cost $5,000 for each event for a total of $200,000. The production of the National Event will cost $120,000. The Peoples’ Life Gala has an advertising budget of $50,000 but becomes $100,00 with the 1 for 1 matching charity program. The cost of the Gala advertising becomes $99,749. The grand total of this whole campaign equals $419,749. The campaign will be evaluated ina couple of ways. Attendance for donation clinics and events will show the effectives in motivating the audience. The amount of users that join the Facebook page, visit the micro-site, and unlock foursquare badges will show how receptive they were to these social media executions. The data we gather from these tactics will provide us with essential data to analyze for further insights. That is how success of the Life Brigade campaign will be evaluated. This campaign will grab the attention of all Canadians and motivate them to help. It celebrates their work and makes them feel a part of something great. That is the purpose of the Life Brigade. Continuing the battle for life.

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Situation Analysis
Company
Canadian Blood Services is a national, not-for-profit charitable healthcare organization founded in 1998. The service manages the blood supply in all provinces and territories outside of Quebec. 42 permanent collection sites operate up to 7 days a week in every major city in Canada. Over 25,000 donor clinics are run annually across Canada with17,000 community volunteers and over 4,500 employees keeping the foundation going strong. Over 1,200,000 volunteers have donated blood since the past 6 years. OneMatch Stem Cell, Marrow Network and the national Organs & Tissue registry are overseen by Canadian Blood Services.

Consumer
Adults 18-59 across Canada compose the majority of donations. They are looking for a way to help out. Donations allow them to feel they are contributing to a good cause. It gives them great value in knowing they are being a good neighbor and citizen. Family and friends are important to them. This group is seeking acceptance and deeper social relationships. They want to feel that they are important and a part of something larger than themselves. They have outgoing personalities and exercise a sense of adventure frequently. They enjoy recognition but it is not what motivates them. They do what is right because it is what they honestly believe. They are doers that will not let risks stop them.

Competition
For funds: Other charitable causes such as: Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, Canadian Forces Personal Support Agency (CFPSA), and Make-A-Wish Canada. For time: Volunteering such as: Habitat for Humanity, Greenpeace, and The Salvation Army. People live busy lives that can be filled with work and/or schooling. People want to spend their time having rich social lives by doing fun activities. These activities include doing things such as: going to the movies, taking trips, and playing recreational sports.

Market
There are 42 permanent collection sites spread across all Canadian provinces and territories except Quebec. A separate organization, Héma-Québec, operates in the province of Québec.

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SWOT
Strengths
• • • Positive brand image. Provides important and vital services. Diverse recognition program to thank supporters.

Weaknesses
• • • Not the top-of-mind brand for charitable causes. Do not have large resources to advertise. Recognition events are not well known among even employees.

Opportunities
• • • Loyal core base of donors and volunteers. Social Media has become a strong cost effective marketing tool. These vital services will always be desperately required.

Threats
• • • Lots of competition for people’s time and money. Tough economic times make it hard for people to focus on charitable causes. The public takes this organization for granted and assumes everything will work out fine.

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Problem/Opportunity Statement
The public is unaware of the great need for volunteers required to support the Canadian Blood Services in their health care mission.

Target Audience
The campaign is aimed at everyone that deserves recognition for their contributions to Canadian Blood Services. It is a broad group that consists of donors, volunteers, peer-recruiters, partners and employees. These adults are age 18-65 and spread throughout Canada. Each one is dedicated to this charitable cause because loved ones in desperate need for blood have personally affected their lives. They work hard because they believe in the program and want to make the world a better place. They proactively seek out ways for improving themselves and organization. Canadian Blood Services could not operate without the contributions of these remarkable people. They are not motivated by recognition but they deserve it. The majority are unaware of the programs in place to give them that recognition. They are sociable people that enjoy working as a team and meeting new people. Community involvement allows them to make these connections to other people and raise their selfesteem. This is audience consumes media heavily. They are constantly gathering information from a variety of sources. The younger portion of this audience is technologically savvy. They are up to date on all current trends in the digital world. Smart phone ownership is rising more each day with the younger crowd. They are heavily involved with social media and see it as a fixture of their lifestyle. The older portion of this audience is gaining a deep understanding of computer operation. Web 2.0 designs have made it easy for these mature users to navigate easily and effectively. They are discovering the joys of social media as more joining these sites each day. Their age may differ but both portions share a love for the online world by spending many hours of their time cruising the information superhighway. They are enthusiastic about exploring the digital world while constantly being educated and entertained. Nadbank 2009* 1For college students, smart phones are the norm. (2010, November 09). Retrieved from http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1008032

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Campaign Theme
Life Brigade
Canadians will always need the vital services provided by Canadian Blood Services. It requires many people performing a variety of roles to keep the organization running strong in the constant battle for life. We looked at words that represented the brand such as: quality, respect and integrity. This brand also embodies the attributes of being honourable, professional and strong. These factors reflect that of the Canadian Military. They celebrate the individual achievements and contributions to the bigger picture. The Canadian Military is one of the most well respected forces that focus on saving civilians as their top priority. They have built up strong good will among Canadian civilians. This is what led to the creation of The Life Brigade. The Life Brigade consists of every member that assists Canadian Blood Services in their own way. All roles are essential in continuing the progress of the foundation whether they are donors, volunteers, peer-recruiters, employees, or partners. Each member is a soldier assisting in the battle for life. The Life Brigade is designed to entrust that sense of unity within them and feel the united national presence. There will be ‘Canadian Blood Service Life Brigade’ badges given to donors who have met milestones in terms of donations. There will be a total of 13 badges of recognition available. They are given at the 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, and 120 marks. There will also be a badge given to first-time donors as encouragement to continue donating and as a small sample of the support and gratitude that is offered to donors. The last badge to be received will be a unique badge presented for 175 donations. A sterling silver-plated dog tag will commemorate the 250 milestones, and the 350 milestones with a silver-plated dog tag. A gold-plated dog tag will be awarded for the 1000 milestone. A white gold-plated tag with be incrusted with a diamond to celebrate the monumental achievement of milestone 1250.

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IMC Plan
Name Sponsor
Peoples The Diamond Store would make an ideal name sponsor for the Life Brigade. They are committed to providing all Canadian with high quality hand crafted jewllery. they do not just cater to the upper class. This is align with the belief of the Life Brigade to provide care for all without discrimination. They will provide the expensive jewelry badges for the sponsorship deal. The package includes the following: Company name will precede the events name. Logo visibility in all creative executions. Logo on the Life Brigade microsite with link to the Peoples The Diamond Store’s website. Logo in event program. VIP table of 10 for dinner with preferred seating and table signage.

Top Communication Objective
• Donors, volunteers, peer recruiters and partners are the lifeblood of Canada’s blood system and deserve meaningful public recognition.

Additional Communication Objectives
• • • To communicate Canadian Blood Services’ appreciation of donors, volunteers, partners/ sponsors and lifetime achievers and the value of their contributions to Canadians To profile public involvement and community links To remind Canadians of the voluntary nature of the system and the reasons why people get involved

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The Events
Local Event: Peoples’ Life Brigade
The following is a template that can be applied to all local events. This local event has been planned for Ottawa and will take place June 1, 2011. Local Events for all regions will be titled, “Peoples’ Life Brigade.” There are a total of 40 local events annually across Canada that take place between April to June 2011. The local events are created to recognize dedicated and committed donors to the Canadian Blood Services who regularly participate in the cause. As well, volunteers and recruiters are asked to attend the local event and will receive certificates to thank them for their efforts with the Canadian Blood Services. The local event will feature a live, local band from each region to which the event is schedules within. The band will play on a volunteer basis. Food from a local catering company will be served to attendees. It is tremendously important for the Canadian Blood Services to offer thanks and appreciation to those who are working behind the scenes to ensure all aspects of the cause is running as efficiently. We will be handing out unique commemorative 2011 Blood Service Soldier certificates for this group of selfless and generous people. Specifically, they will receive this certificate rolled up in red ribbon, along with frames to place them in.

National Event: Peoples’ Life Brigade Gala
The Canadian Blood Services hosts a national event each year in Ottawa, Ontario to give recognition to carefully selected donors with personal stories to share. This select few are chosen throughout Canada and deserve great attention for doing their part to help those in need. Therefore, this year’s event will be a black tie gala complete with a three-course meal and dessert. By asking donors, their families, and all attendees to dress in their best dress, we can give proper recognition to the chosen group of Canadians who have gone out of their way to make a difference in the lives of many others through the Canadian Blood Services. The chosen keynote speaker for the national event will be Michael J. Fox. He is a well-known Canadian who has been an actor, author, comedian, producer, activist and voice-over artist. Michael has much experience to speak about specific to the Canadian Blood Services. This is especially true with Michael’s 1991 diagnosis with Parkinson’s disease. This led Michael to create the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which raises money to find a cure for Parkinson’s disease. Specifically, the Foundation was created to help advance every promising research path to curing Parkinson’s disease through embryonic stem cell studies. Michael has agreed to speak at the event and consented to sharing his story as a live feed via Ustream.

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Guests will be notified of the gala and details surrounding the event by telephone; however, invitations will follow in the mail to reflect the elegance and class to be expected. The invitations will also serve as keepsakes to those who will be honored, as the invitations will feature their names. Winners in all categories will be given ‘special edition’ white gold-plated dog tags in recognition to their commitment to Canadian Blood Services. They will receive goldplated dog tags (for 1000 donations), and white gold- plated dog tags with a small white diamond (for 1250 donations).

People’s Life Brigade Gala Schedule
The Canadian Blood Service’s National Event will take place September 19, 2011 at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.

5:00pm 5:30pm 6:00pm

8:00pm

Doors Open Meal served Speeches Begin Opening Speech: Recipient Speaker (Blood) Keynote Address: Michael J. Fox Mid-Way Speech: Recipient Speaker (Organs) Closing Speech: Recipient Speaker (Stem Cells & Blood) Recognition Awards handed out

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Advertising
Print
Objectives
• • • • To create overall awareness of the local and national recognition events. To thank those who have been involved: donors, volunteers, partners and re cruiters. To increase traffic at local events, to in turn encourage donors to aim for recognition at national level. To raise awareness of the Canadian Blood Service’s Life Brigade

Strategies
• The advertisements will showcase the event, and create awareness to other donors and people who have been thinking about donating to the Canadian Blood Services.

Tactics
Globe & Mail (Peoples’ Life Brigade Gala) There will be full colour, full page advertisements to appear in the Globe and Mail twice a week, for two weeks prior to the national event to bring awareness to the Gala. (There will be two on Saturday and two during the week.) There will be one full page, full colour advertisement to appear in the National version of the Globe & Mail following the National Event. It will be placed in the “News” section of the newspaper, which is the most commonly visited section. The insertion will be placed as a thank you to those who attended the national event. Total Cost: $59,209 Ottawa Citizen (Peoples’ Life Brigade Local Event) Lastly, we recommend advertising in the major newspapers in each region to ensure a targeted reach of the largest number of people within our target demographic, for each Local CBS Event. Specifically for Ottawa, we have chosen to advertise in the Ottawa Citizen. The Ottawa Citizen reaches 404,500 adults in Ottawa each week. There will be a b/w, half page advertisement to appear in the Ottawa Citizen twice a week, for two weeks prior to the local

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event to bring awareness to it. Costs of print advertising can be costly and the budget for the local event is quite low Therefore, our sponsors have agreed to donate funds to assist in the cost of our advertising within the Ottawa Citizen. Total Cost: $1,500

Rationale
This audience uses newspapers as their primary source to find out information. Almost 67% choose newspapers as their medium for information. This is attributed to the 30-year-old+ portion of the target audience that has grown to trust newspaper as a reliable source.

Radio
Objectives
• • • To bring attention to the upcoming local event to take place on June 1, 2011. To give thanks and recognition to the variety of roles that participants have already taken action towards. To entice current donors to continue their support, rather then lapsing.

Strategies
• • The advertisement will share information regarding the local events. To list the different roles needed of citizens within the Canadian Blood Services, demonstrating room and need for anyone to take part.

Tactics
Chez 106.1 (Peoples’ Life Brigade Local Event only) As Ottawa’s primary classic rock station, 77% of Chez 106.1’s listeners are age 25-65. This aligns with Canadian Blood Service’s current donor profiles. There will be two advertisements 5 times a week for the 2 weeks leading up to the local event. Total Cost: $2200

Rationale
Radio as a media can be targeted to specific regions, and is therefore an excellent choice for local advertising. The affordable price makes it feasible for the small local event budget.

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Online
Objectives
• • • To target the intended audiences for local events within each region. To give recognition nationally to the annual, national event. To gain awareness of the Life Brigade.

Strategies
• • Canadian Blood Services will use Facebook advertising to link users to the microsite, and in turn they will learn all about the badge system and the meaning of the Life Brigade. With Facebook’s very detailed targeting system, it can be assured that we reach the intended audience and do not “waste” impressions on those who are not interested.

Tactics
Facebook (Peoples’ Life Brigade Gala, Local Event, Facebook Contest) Three separate advertisements will be used for the national event, local event and Facebook contest. They will be set on the right side of the site and shown to users in locations that are close to donation clinics. It will also appear to users that have used key search words of “charity, donation, and volunteer.” Total Cost: $2200

Rationale
Facebook has the potential to reach over 500 million consumers. It has the ability to target its users based on location, interests, age and keywords. This allows us to have a direct link to the target audience. 12

Out-of-Home
Objectives
• • • To present information To gain awareness of the Life Brigade to citizens in Ottawa while they are com muting in their vehicles. To let the intended audience know that the campaign can be further looked at through Facebook and Foursquare.

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Strategies
• • To place superboards in high-traffic areas within Ottawa to allow for maximum impressions made. To provide little information, yet recognizable feature from the rest of the visual campaign to entice the audience to learn more.

Tactics
Lastly, we will be using Pattison superboards. We recommend superboards to be placed in high traffic areas increasing the number of impressions made in the month leading up to the September event. There will be a total of 3 superboards throughout the city. We would also recommend one superboard to be placed in each local region one month before the local event. This will raise the profile of Peoples’ Life Brigade Gala. Total Cost: $20,040 *(+6680) **Please note that cost for the print and shipping as well as mounting of creative has been included in our total.

Rationale
Colourful, creative and eye catching outdoor executions can capture people’s attention like no other medium. It is great for brand awareness and makes strong name recognition. It is an impact that people will notice.

Social Media
Objectives
• • • • • To allow donors an opportunity to further participates with the CBS, and to share this interest amongst their peers. To generate overall awareness and buzz to our Canadian Blood Service’s staff, volunteers and recruiters. Increase awareness and recognition internally and externally Prevent donors from lapsing Gather data on consumers

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Strategies
• Micro-Site The micro-site is created specifically to bring awareness to the Life Brigade. There will be a real time map of Canada that shows every member of the Life Brigade. Users can submit their information using a Facebook application or the site itself to show their progress. Visitors can click on each dot to see a representation of a particular soldier. Users can search for any member of the Life Brigade. The micro-site will also contain information on how to help and inspirational stories. It will also promote events to visitors in specific regions to get them excited. Total Cost: Free Ustream Ustream is the world’s top live streaming destination website. There will be a live video feed of Michael J. Fox’s keynote speech. This live feed will be linked to the Canadian Blood Service micro-site, which is created for further recognition to the events. The camera will be one we already own. Total Cost: Free Foursquare Foursquare is a location-based application that can be used on smart phones to inform your friends where you are. Secondly it challenges its users to experience new things and awards them to do so. Within the application, the user can collect points and prize badges that showcase their visits. As of October 10, 2010, Foursquare had 4 million active users worldwide. Canadian Blood Services will give out points, along with prize badges to users when they make a donation, volunteer, attend a local CBS event, and attend a national CBS event. There is also a feature within Foursquare called “Mayor Specials”. The feature recognizes the single most loyal user for a business. For Canadian Blood Services we will specifically recognize any users who participate in the most activity. There will be biweekly draws throughout the year for participants of the Canadian Blood Services through Foursquare. Prizes will include autographed films that Michael J. Fox has starred in or provided voiceover for, autographed copies of his books, and autographed photographs of the star. Tickets to the national event will also be used at prizes. Future Shop will supply all DVDS used in the contest. The site allows business to view real time stats on most recent visitors, most frequent visitors, the time of day people check in total number of unique visitors, histogram of check-ins per day, and gender breakdown of customers. To connect all members of the Life Brigade to form the community.

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Total Cost: $10,000 for 6 months Facebook It is strongly recommended that Facebook be used. There will be a Facebook page set up specifically for the Canadian Blood Service events. Facebook users will need to ‘like’ the page to view it. Facebook provides detailed information that users project from their profiles. Important demographic and pschyographics will provide deeper insights. The Facebook page will be used to generate awareness to the events and the recognition received by donors at them. It will outline the badge and dog tag system while allowing donors and recipients to share their stories. It will also list needed volunteer sites and activities as they arise. The Facebook page will feature a link the micro-site. Lastly, Facebook will have an application which tracks people’s success in the Brigade program. It will be connected to the Facebook page with frequent updates posted for all members of the Facebook page to view. Members will watch the success of other users, and the recognition received and gains interest in participating in blood donation. Top members will be recognized within the application as well. A Facebook contest will be created for group members to partake. Users have to post a picture of them with a life brigade badge. There will be 3 winners that will receive autographed copies of the Michael J. Fox box set. Facebook users will vote in the winners by liking the photo. The images that receive the top 3 amount of likes will win the prizes. The contest will run from September 4th to 18th. Two weeks before the national event. Future Shop will supply box sets to be won.

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

PRINT

Globe & Mail Ottawa Citizen Chez 106 Superboard Facebook Microsite Ustream Foursquare Facebook

59,209 1,500 2,200 20,040 10,500 0 0 10,000 0 Media written in red are used for local event ONLY.

RADIO OUTDOOR ONLINE SOCIAL

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Cost Breakdown
Local Event
Food Costs: Decorations: Ottawa Citizen Chez $900 $380 $1,500 $2,220

TOTAL: $5,000 x 40= $200,000

National Event Production
Rogers Telecast Travel/ Accommodation Keynote Speaker Appearance Decorations Invitations Certificates for Donors $5000 $85,000 $16,000 $2,000 $2000 $10,000

TOTAL: $120,000

National Event
Globe & Mail Superboards Foursquare Facebook $59,209 $20,040 $10,000 $10,500 TOTAL: $99,749 (With 1 for 1 charity dollar matching program)

Grand Total: $419,749

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Campaign Evaluation
This campaign’s success will be evaluated in a couple of ways: • • • The amount of donors, volunteers and peer-recruiters will be compared to previous years. If the numbers increase it can be attributed to this campaign. Awareness for the Canadian Blood Service and the events will show how effec tive communicating our message was. The success of the online executions determines on a few factors. The amount of users that join the Facebook page, visit the micro-site, and unlock foursquare badges will show how receptive they were to these social media executions. The data we gather from these tactics will provide us with essential data to analyze for further insights.

Conclusion
The battle for life will never end. The Canadian Blood Services will constantly need the support of caring individuals. The Life Brigade is designed to recognize these soldiers for their achievements. This will be done using events created to celebrate them at local and national level. Facebook, foursquare, uStream, and micro-site are designed to bring the community together. This is combined with traditional advertising vehicles of newspaper, radio and superboards raise awareness and represent the Life Brigade to the public. Although the battle will never end; we can still save a lot of lives. Continuing the battle for life.

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Creative Examples

Local Milestone Honourary Badges
Milestone 1 Milestone 10 Milestone 20 Milestone 30 Milestone 40 Milestone 50

Milestone 120

Milestone 60

Milestone 70

Milestone 80

Milestone 90

Milestone 100

Milestone 110

proudly supporting Canadian Blood Services

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National Milestone Honourary Badge and Dogtags
Milestone 175

Milestone 250

Milestone 350

Milestone 1000

Milestone 1250

proudly supporting Canadian Blood Services

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Foursquare Badges

Make a donation

Attend local event

Attend National Event

Volunteer

proudly supporting Canadian Blood Services

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