◄ Back to Blood Service in Brief October 2016

Whether it was the A and B from NAB or the O from Coles, you may have recently noticed some letters going missing from the signs and social media pages of famous organisations and landmarks in Australia and around the world.

These missing letters were all for a good cause: recruiting new blood donors. The Blood Service requires 100,000 new blood donors in the next year to be able to continue to meet Australia’s need for blood into the future.

That’s why during August, the Blood Service — together with 25 other international blood services — took part in the International Missing Type campaign. As you know, combinations of the letters A, O and B, represent the main blood types, so removing them from prominent places and brands drew attention to the ‘missing’ types not being given by new donors in Australia.

Once we revealed the cause behind the gaps, more organisations and new donors started joining the movement. During the campaign, our participation in the International Missing Type campaign gained over 150 official organisational partners (after starting with just 34); over 1,700 donation pledges from the public and a 59 per cent rise in donation appointments through our website. We were also mentioned hundreds of times in the media and #missingtype was a trending topic on Twitter.

Overall, the campaign brought attention to the need for new donors and put blood donation in the national spotlight. Not a bad effort for a few missing letters!