Every time people sit down to donate blood it leads to lives being saved. So we came up with simple idea – sit down to save lives. Our installation involved a chair that was connected to three empty blood bags shaped like people. These blood bags were set up beside the chair with a message that read, “Every time you sit down to donate you save three lives.” Utilising Archimedes’ principle of displacement, when shoppers sat on the chair the three blood bags filled up with red (blood-like) liquid bringing the message to life for all to see.

Our activation was staged at one of the biggest malls in the country during one of its busiest periods – the weekend before Easter. For one day, we placed our large-scale installation along with our blood drive unit inside the mall, nearby a popular grocery store and an escalator. This would ensure that we get maximum visibility and engagement due to the foot traffic that took place around that area.

When people physically sat down on our chair, they interacted with our installation and brought the message to life. This did not happen in isolation, but was viewed by other shoppers passing by, thus increasing brand engagement.

There was an overwhelming response to the activation. In the time that we ran our activation, blood donations increased by 390% compared to previous blood drives with 40% of those being new donors. That meant a total of 234 lives were saved.

By making people aware that one pint of blood saves three lives they were motivated to donate blood. Pamphlets were given out informing them of how blood is split into three elements; platelets are used for maternity patients, red cells are used for trauma patients and plasma is used for cancer patients. Thus also dispelling the misconception that the majority of blood goes to victims involved in car accidents and criminals shot by police while committing a crime.

Due to the success of this activation SANBS have implemented it along with their national blood drives at all major shopping malls within the country to ensure a larger impact.