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.