To raise awareness of a serious problem with a seriously limited budget, an online advertisement was used that offered a straightforward appeal to potential blood donors.

A simple device – a loading bar – was reversed to demonstrate the ever-decreasing supplies of blood in South Africa and the need for donations. Instead of the usual left to right build-up, a solid red bar drops rapidly from right to left, revealing the message: Please donate blood.

Our target audience was broad – any South African able to donate blood – so our communication needed to be simple and to-the-point.