Red Cross UK Blood Donation Marketing Strategy

Fr this reason, the Red Cross United Kingdom intends to launch a campaign for blood donation so that the blood bank in the country could be increased, currently, the organization is running out of blood because its reserves are not enough despite the effort by the usual blood donors to help save lives. The marketing campaign targets donors between 18 – 24 years of age. This is because this age bracket contains individuals who are highly scared of donating blood. They have anxiety and unusual fear when they hear about blood donation because they believe that donating blood is a painful experience. This is a perfect opportunity for Red Cross United Kingdom to raise the blood donation through this initiative which encourages the youths to be bold enough.

When a person donates blood, the bone marrow is able to replace it within hours, days or weeks, depending on the quantity donated. The Current Challenges There are numerous problems that the Red Cross society in the United Kingdom is facing. Of these are the intention to donate, recruitment challenges, perceived inconvenience by potential donors and anxiety on the donation experience. Out of the total 100% donors, 38% are new ones while 43% are usual donors (Slonim et al. 18% donate on some occasions such as when the Red Cross organization has organized a donation drive and 43% are the regular donors (Slonim et al. They, therefore, ask for help in blood donation whenever possible. At some circumstances, a particular donor for example of the O positive blood group may lack and therefore appeals are made for all people having this type of blood to go and donate at the respective facility.

The Psychology Involving Blood Donation There are many factors that influence potential donors to donate blood. These factors are majorly psychological because they determine the behaviour of the particular donor (Titmuss, 2018). For example, first-timers feel that they are gaining some sort of moral satisfaction by donating and this gives them a lot of comforts. The demographics involved Both genders, male and female are targeted because they are substantial to the campaign. However, they shall all be aged 18 – 24 as the targeted population. These are the individuals who are joining college or are still in the university. Some of them may have just completed their education and are looking for jobs. For those who may have advanced, they should be in their first job, most probably an entry-level position.

However, some of the markets are situated in the corporate world whereby these youths have cleared their education, have acquired the necessary skills and are now working, probably in the entry-level positions. However, despite moving into the corporate world or going into their professions, these individuals have still remained with the strong connections to their alma mater. The majority have friends back at their institutions, therefore, reaching them would not be a difficult task because of these connections. The market segmentation The donors are categorized into experienced ones (those with an average of about 5 donations). , occasional donors (those with an average of 4 donations) as well as first-time donors and non-donors. The Red Cross is the premier organization known in the United Kingdom for responding to emergencies.

This is a competitive advantage to the organization. The Red Cross is also having the single largest blood bank in the United Kingdom. This makes the organization the largest supplier of blood. The organization further enjoys a large pool of resources from donors, churches, institutions and other international supporters, making it a powerhouse of resources that enable it to respond to emergencies without delay that would have been caused by lack of the relevant resources (Bagot et al. However, when the expected levels go below the minimum, campaigns are launched to refill the bank. Nonetheless, the awareness of the brand of the Red Cross does not focus on the initiatives of the donation of blood. Lastly, most people perceive the donation of blood as a painful and scaring experience, which scares donors away.

iii. Opportunities There is an upcoming market which is fast developing from the age of 18 – 24 years. Branding Red Cross UK uses the experience that individuals get from interacting with the organizations the basis for the promotion of the positioning of the brand and its perception to the community and society. The various communications that are used include name, public relations as well as the logo and advertisement reputation of the organization. Brand positioning is made in such a way that it reminds people of the experiences that are life changing as far as response to emergencies and other situations are concerned. Volunteers have gained a lot of emotional benefits that have encouraged them to continue serving others. There are some important recommendations of the marketing strategy that Red Cross has to address in this campaign.