Canadian Blood Services

Even after satisfactory growth in the donor numbers, Canadian Blood Services could not beat the rising demand for blood and blood products. Initially Canadian Blood Services was funded and operated by Red Cross. Eventually the system was fully funded by the various levels of the government. An inquiry was setup by the government due to the mismanagement of blood supply which was contaminated with AIDS and hepatitis C virus.

Canadian Blood Service was not getting enough blood donors due to the stringent screening process. Only 50 percent were eligible to donate blood out of which only 4 percent donated blood. To attract new donors they opened several donor clinics at unique locations.

The major driving forces for demands of blood include emergency surgeries. The demand for blood products like plasma and platelets formed a significant part of demand t cure diseases like leukemia. The demand was also affected by new procedures in hospitals and greater focus on reducing wait time. The major limitation was that blood could not be stored for more than one month and platelets for more than one week. Therefore supply was needed to be managed accordingly. It was difficult to procure blood during holiday seasons. So to increase number of donors, Canadian Blood Service mounted a media appeal to donors.

The consumer behavior in the blood donation process is very different from the decision process for buying physical products. CBS hired Ipsos Reid to investigate donor motivation. It was observed that donation and repeat donations depended more on the actual experience in the clinic rather that altruism. It also identified the terms of barriers to donating which were lack of convenience, lack of awareness, processing time and fear of needles. They also identified donor segments on the basis of variables such as willingness to travel, commitment to donations, altruism, humanitarianism etc. Seven donor dimensions were also identified that affected the motivation of donors. These were patient come first, community givers, karma scheme, life savers, health souls, social clubbers, and personal gratifiers.

CBS had a marketing budget of USD 4.5 million of which USD 2.6 were allocated for media placement and the rest for national recognition, professional fees, retention programs and recruitment programs. CBS developed various ads and also employed well known Toronto athletes to encourage donations. They also used hospital scenarios and patients to indicate the requirement of blood.

Now the main focus of CBS was to devise an appropriate promotional strategy based on the research. A well crafted and justified promotion plan was needed so that he could convince the board to adopt it.