BANDAGES: "HELP I WANT TO SAVE A LIFE [image]" Direct marketing by Droga5

Type of entry: Product & Service
Category: Public Health & Safety, Public Awareness Messages
Advertiser: HELP REMEDIES
Product/Service: BANDAGES
Agency: DROGA5 New York, USA
Advertiser HELP REMEDIES
Product BANDAGES
Entrant DROGA5 New York, USA
Type of Entry: Product & Service
Category: Public Health & Safety, Public Awareness Messages
Title: HELP I WANT TO SAVE A LIFE
Advertiser/Client: HELP REMEDIES
Product/Service: BANDAGES
Entrant Company: DROGA5 New York, USA
DM/Advertising Agency: DROGA5 New York, USA
Creative: Graham Douglas (Droga5)
Creative: Alberto Portas Martagon (Droga5)
Creative: Alfredo Adan Roses (Droga5)
Creative Film Production: Graham Douglas (Droga5)
Creative Film Production: Paul Caiozzo (The Lifelong Friendship Society)
Director: Jason Jones (The Lifelong Friendship Society)
DOP: Adam Lukens (The Lifelong Friendship Society)
Executive Producer: Dan Sormani/Kim Koby (The Lifelong Friendship Society)
First AD: TJ Ryan (Droga5)
Editor: Dan Maloney (The Lifelong Friendship Society)
Music/Sound Design: Joseph Fraioli (Jafbox)
Sound Design: Michael Marinelli (Sonic Union)
Colorist: Stuart Wheeler (Smoke/Mirrors)
Describe the brief from the client
More than 650,000 people around the world are diagnosed with leukaemia and lymphoma every year. And for many them, a marrow transplant is their only hope. About half find a match.
There aren’t nearly enough people on the Marrow Donor Registry. And to make matters worse, it’s so complicated to sign up that it’s a wonder anyone’s registered at all. So we set out to make it easy. Thoughtless even. To change registering as a marrow donor from something complex to simple and everyday. And, above all, to save a bunch of lives.

Creative Execution

Most marrow donor programmes rely on the family and friends of patients, or an occasional event, to recruit new donors. But this requires a huge number of man-hours and usually only yields a few dozen registrations.
But by making marrow registration a part of an everyday act, and a part of a mass-produced consumer product, we’re reaching a huge, new audience and reinventing the way marrow registration is done.


Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

The Marrow Donor Registry desperately needs more people. But, unfortunately, they’re not making it easy on themselves. Today registering as a marrow donor is a complicated and confusing process. When really it’s as easy as sending in your name and a couple drops of blood.
So we set out to recruit thousands of new donors by making this process incredibly simple. To remove all the barriers by, instead, catching people while they’re already bleeding.
We put a simple marrow registry kit into a box of over-the-counter bandages, and turned an everyday act into a chance to save a life.


Describe the results in as much detail as possible.

Since its launch Help I want to save a life has been seen by over 50m people. From the most innovative minds in the world at this year’s TED conference, to mainstream news outlets, business publications, medical journals, tech media and the design community.
Help’s bandage sales have increased by 1,900%. And new orders have been placed by some of the nation’s largest retailers – including Target, Walgreens and Duane Reade – forging new relationships for Help Remedies.
But, most importantly, since the day we launched the number of marrow donor registrations has tripled.