Non-profit organization Hema-Quebec looked to LinkedIn in its latest campaign to support its search for more plasma donors around the province.

Developed closely with the creative team at Sid Lee, the non-profit’s new campaign sees business leaders displaying a new position as a plasma donor on their LinkedIn pages. The goal is to stimulate more regular participation in plasma donation, and for the non-profit to reach new donors outside of the usual pipeline of blood donors, all while working with limited resources.

The movement gained momentum with high-profile LinkedIn members like Sid Lee CEO Martin Gauthier showcasing “plasma donor” as a new role on their profile. The social media campaign, which launched in January, led to a 45% increase in plasma donation bookings in Quebec during its first week.

The idea behind the campaign was informed by ad-hoc research into plasma donations that revealed the most likely candidates to become plasma donors exhibit such traits as being high achievers, they are often in their 50s and demonstrate discipline, and they are eager to make a meaningful contribution to society. Sid Lee and Hema-Quebec identified these traits as being commonly found among LinkedIn’s user base.

Audrey Faucher, senior product marketing advisor, plasma donation at Hema-Quebec said the campaign is in response to a call from the organization’s CEO to better ensure the supply of plasma donations in Quebec is sufficient.

“Plasma is the blood component that contains precious proteins, such as immunoglobulins, which are essential in the manufacturing of specialized medicines. To meet a growing demand, we must constantly recruit new donors,” Faucher said.

Sid Lee copywriter Lea Dube adds: “LinkedIn is the platform for putting yourself out there, to your network. Whether you’re comfortable with it or not, everyone plays the game a bit. Since job changes dominate our feed and we’re conditioned to read and react to them, subverting the usual narrative has a jarring effect.”