Canadian Blood Services

Canadian Blood Services

Marketing Plan

February 12, 2017

Presented by:

Group B

Executive Summary

Canadian Blood Services (CBS) was funded by the health ministries of the provinces (except Quebec) and territories.It was formed in the 1980’s after blood supply was contaminated with the AIDS virus and the hepatitis C virus, impacting hundreds due to the mismanagement. CBS collects blood from voluntary donors with no compensation. Blood is then used for various purposes in the hospitals such as elective or emergency surgery. The acceptance and trust for CBS has improved greatly as time has gone on. Physical screens and screening questionnaires have helped build trust. The results of these tests reveal that approximately 50% of the Canadians are eligible to donate blood.

Advertising, donor recruitment and retention as well as managing the supply and demand of blood are areas for improvement for CBS. Lack of donor awareness as well as psychological barriers have hindered Canadians from donating, these include processing time, discomfort or pain during the process and inconvenience. CBS is not lacking in opportunity to increase demand, in fact of the 50% of eligible Canadian donors, only 10% either actively or inactively donate. CBS needed to dig deeper into the Canadian eligible donor market through the analysis of socio-cultural and psychological influences to deal with the threats of not keeping up with the blood demand.

Market Segmentation showed that the single largest demographic group of new donors was the 17-24 age group, making up 50%. There is also potential to grow other age group segments through awareness.

Financial analysis recommends talks with the board to potentially increase or allocate spending on advertising in order to attract new donors. Media appeals have worked in the past for CBS especially during spikes in demand, so financially it makes sense to continue.

There are 5 alternatives proposed to increase new and repeat donors, ultimately increasing demand:

1. Change marketing message and re-introduce it as "Prevent a Death" Campaign
2. Referral and Retention using Social Media Marketing
3. Revise Hospital Blood Donation Policy
4. Awareness Programs Directed to Young Demographics
5. Status Quo

Alternative 1 and 2 are recommended. If initiated they will increase awareness and demand in a timely fashion.  “Prevent a Death” campaign will create urgency around becoming a donor and Social media will be the channel in which to difuse this message. Social media will bring about awareness about the need for blood.

If these plans fail in meeting blood supply requirements, awareness programs for youth will be initiated through schools and other educational institutions.

Problem Statements

Elective surgery, emergencies and an overall aging population, is causing strain on the demands of blood throughout Canada. As demands for blood grows Canadian Blood Services (CBS) must find ways to recruit and retain donors to meet the demands of the market.Stan Doolby, director of market knowledge has been tasked with finding a solution that not only recruits and retains more donors, but to do so at an affordable cost