MEDIC Regional Blood Center and Kentucky Blood Center Co-Presentation for June 2014 ABC Conference

1. 26 Years
Strong

2. RIVALRY BLOOD DRIVE CHALLENGE
UT VS UK
• History of event (started in 1988)
• Working with the University---from Athletic Department to student groups and everything in
between. How to each blood center navigates their university system.
• Engaging the community—fan base in both local and outlying communities
• Media—building partnerships and getting all stations to participate (even when they usually
compete)
• Importance of Branding Event—Orange vs Blue (Tennessee) to Big Blue Crush (Kentucky)
• Sponsorships for donor incentives
• Marketing campaigns—both blood centers will share some tricks of the trade.
• Having fun….keeping the staff motivated during long hours
• Measurable outcomes---on behalf of both centers 137,741 donations since 1988!
Both Kentucky Blood Center and MEDIC Regional Blood Center will discuss how they handle
the planning and execution of this blood drive tradition.

3. CENTER VS CENTER LOGISTICS
• Meet up for a friendly luncheon at a halfway point
• Reiterate the “rules” of the competition
• A stick is a stick regardless of type of donation
• Decide when daily scores will be shared (alternate who goes first)
• Discuss the pros and cons of years past
• Share t-shirts….with this being a border war there are some on the
Kentucky side that are Vol fans and vice-versa. We try to accommodate
donor request.
• The units collected by the blood center count for that home team—
(regardless of which t-shirt the donor takes)
• KBC and MEDI C both use Hemasphere so we share the daily collections report—
honesty is key!

4. BLOOD DRIVE HISTORY—BY UNITS COLLECTED
1988 1607 1101
1989 1742 1936
1990 1782 1658
1991 1916 1916
1992 1977 2353
1993 2263 2742
1994 2428 2471
1995 2601 2214
1996 2486 2495
1997 3121 2704
1998 3133 3438
1999 3048 3482
2000 3115 2840
2001 1912 2335
2002 2514 2523
2003 2615 2232
2004 2700 2543
2005 2762 2646
2006 3023 2584
2007 3265 2858
2008 3237 2649
2009 3440 3364
2010 2954 3503
2011 2969 3219
2012 3107 3159
2013 3458 3601
TOTAL 69,175 68,566
A Total of 137,741 since
1988

5. BATTLE OF THE ORANGE AND BLUE—
TENNESSEE’S VERSION

6. 2013 Graphic
Everything is
branded with this
image:
• T-shirts
• PSAs
• Flyers
• Posters
• Coupons
• Newspaper Ads
• eBlasts—TV,
Radio

7. Promote during our annual UT vs UF blood
drive as well! This is a HUGE football rivalry
for Vol fans! We hand each student a card
reminding them to help us BEAT KENTUCKY
in November and outline what the “freebies”
are.
Start in September

8. NAVIGATING THE UNIVERSITY
• Student Groups
• PRSSA—Public Relations Student Society of America
• Housing Reps
• ROTC
• Religious Associations—our two biggest, Methodist and
Baptist
• Student Government Association—our event is actually
sanctioned by this group
• Campus media—newspaper and radio station
• WUTK—Radio Station (remote)
• Tennessee Today—eblast that goes to each student
daily
• The Daily Beacon—campus newspaper
• School of Nursing
We ask all volunteers to update their social media
profile pics with our grahpic for the week

9. VFL—Vols For Life Program
Director
Antone Davis, ’88 Vol, ‘91
Philadelphia Eagles, 12th
Season of Biggest Loser
(runner up)
Social media also received a big push from the VFL
program
FIND A CHAMPION

10. ENGAGING THE ATHLETICS DEPARTMENT
This can be a very frustrating part of the
planning process. For instance,
working with the University of
Tennessee Athletic Department is much
like a courtship—a very one-sided
courtship….

11. BIG BLUE CRUSH –
KENTUCKY STYLE

12. BLEED BLUE DONOR CLUB
A way to start the game early!
•Enroll donors in the Bleed Blue Club in
August at campus drives and fixed
sites.
•Donors commit to 2 more donations –
one during Big Blue Crush and a third
donation in January during Big Blue
Slam
•Donors who complete all three
donations receive an extra gift!

13. OTHER DONOR INCENTIVES
•McDonald’s coupon – All Donors
•Drawing for Game Tickets
•Special refreshments – Pizza, Pasta, etc.

14. NAVIGATING THE UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY
•UK athletics department
•NCAA rules, coaches, & athletes
•Careful not to use official school logo, slogans,
etc.
•Keep athletics department informed
•Requests for help are minimized and go through
champion in the department

15. NAVIGATING THE UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY
•Drive Location strategy
•Campus Sponsor – The Center for Community Outreach
(CCO)
•Dance Blue
•Other Groups
•Greeks
•Student Newspaper

16. CAMPUS RECRUITMENT EFFORTS
•Dance Blue –
•Sign-up tables
•Presentations to campus groups
•Blue wig marketers
•At home games
•Strolling campus
•Social Media
•Facebook
•Twitter
•Instagram
•Kentucky Kernel – campus newspaper
•Email blasts
•UK Now – daily on-line campus notice
•Campus-wide TV

18. NAVIGATING THE MEDIA—COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
• Three metro TV stations in our area.
• WBIR (NBC Affiliate)
• WATE (ABC Affiliate)
• WVLT (CBS Affiliate)
All three go “live” for the kick-off
and give daily score updates
TV stations do not have a history of working together on community event,
EXCEPT for United Way campaigns. Once I noticed this, I approached all
three stations, held a meeting and asked them to treat us like a United Way
campaign.
It Worked!

19. Primary Radio Sponsor (logo on everything):
B97.5---soft rock, most offices in our area pipe this in and it’s the #1 station
in our area among women—regardless of age.
• Liners run two weeks prior
• 5 Remotes (one each day of the week)
• eBlasts
• Social media—daily score updates
• On-air commentary—all week
NAVIGATING THE MEDIA—COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Radio stations do not play as nicely as TV in our market….
For FREE!!!!

20. BIG BLUE CRUSH MEDIA STRATEGY
•Paid Advertising
•Spread the wealth to ensure a blanket coverage
•Ask for on-line component with buys
•Schedule Noon Show appearances on TV stations
•Traffic Sponsor on radio stations when possible
•Participate in radio sports programs
•Radio remotes at distant fixed sites (Somerset & Pikeville)
•Ads in newspaper with on-line component – Friday before &
sports section on Sunday

21. BIG BLUE CRUSH MEDIA STRATEGY
•Early releases announcing drive dates
•Mention in College Football notes column on Sunday
before the drive
•Kick-off on first day
•Releases hand delivered to news outlets with t-
shirts
•PSAs scripts personally delivered to radio stations
along with t-shirts for DJs
•Unique story updates –
•Coach donating
•Congressman donating
•Daily – Score updates to all

22. RECRUITMENT/COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
• Donor Center & Mobiles
• Have entertainment—UT Football DVDs play (purchased online)
• Popcorn and LOTS of volunteers to help crowd control.
• Host cheer squad, especially Smokey—the real dog. Photo opportunities
• Mobiles planted in strategic community locations
• Donor Communication Strategy - Communicate dates & times
 Postcards—yes we still snail mail postcards—Two weeks prior
 Calls--special call from Coach Jones—Friday before
 eBlast through Constant Contact--one week prior
 Knoxville News Sentinel Display Ad—one week prior and two during week
 Facebook events page—All locations
 Website Special Events Page

23. Fun, Festive
Atmosphere…

24. BACK TO OUR CHAMPION…
Retweeted by Medicblood
Antone Davis@Antone_DavisNov 18
"BATTLE OF THE ORANGE & BLUE blood drive has begun. Give
blood TODAY & help save lives. Donors get T
shirt,frosty&small pizza! #orangevblue
Facebook – 3500+ total likes
•Post scores, pictures and videos daily
•Usually gain about 5 followers per week
•Gained 32 during week of drive

25. RECRUITMENT/COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
•Non-campus drive strategy
•Adjust hours at fixed sites for consistency
•Constrain mobile staff to schedule extra at fixed sites
•Large inside set-ups as much as possible
•Donor Communication Strategy - Communicate dates &
times
Bleed Blue Club enrollment for fixed sites in August
•Emails
•Friday before the drive
•Mid-week update
•Other announcements as needed
•Mailing
•Texting
•Calling

26. RECRUITMENT/COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Social Media
•Twitter - 1300+ followers
•Ask influencers to tweet for
you
•36 new followers compared
to 5 per week average
•Re-tweeted up to 14 times
•Tweet with link clicked on
112 times.

27. RECRUITMENT/COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Social Media
•Facebook – 3600+ total likes
•Post scores, pictures and videos daily
•Usually gain about 10 followers per week
•Gained 59 during week of drive

28. Social Media
•Instagram
•Launched shortly before 2013 drive and gained
71 followers during the week
•Dance Blue sponsored Photo Booth
Recruitment/Community engagement

29. RECRUITMENT/COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Wildcat Video

30. HAVING FUN IN TENNESSEE

31. REWARD STAFF
NO DRIVES THE WEEKEND AFTER
ORANGE VS BLUE

32. HAVING FUN IN KENTUCKY
“Killer” week for all staff! So recognize it deal with it!
•Serious planning along with goofy fun
•Guess the sticks game
•Provide a meal/s & snacks
•Staff get a t-shirt and “survival” kit the week
before the drive.
•Keep them informed during the week

33. Having fun in Kentucky
Reward staff
for a job well
done!

34. Record Collections Week for
BOTH Blood Centers!!!!
34583601

35. CHALLENGES FOR THE YEAR AHEAD
•Date of game is changing
•Branding week before Thanksgiving
•Juggling other “competition” and big drives