AMV.BBDO wins pitch for first organ donor activity

The NHS Blood and Transplant agency (NHSBT) has hired Abbott Mead Vickers.BBDO to handle its first national organ donation campaign.

It has also appointed Manning Gottlieb OMD to handle planning and buying for the activity. The appointments follow a competitive pitch handled by COI.

AMV pitched against M&C Saatchi and Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe/Y&R for the account, while PHD and Carat were also shortlisted to pitch for the media business.

The campaign is expected to launch towards the end of the year and aims to deliver a “significant” increase in the number of people on the NHS organ donor register.

An overwhelming majority, 90%, of people in the UK say they support organ donation, but most of them (64%) are not signed up to the register, according to the NHSBT.

“This campaign, the first to run across the UK, aims to convert people’s good intentions about organ donation into active support,” says COI director of communications and public affairs Henrietta Joy.

She adds the register is vital to reduce the three deaths a day, or over 10,000 a year, because a donor could not be found to help them.

There are 1.4 million registered blood donors in England and North Wales but about 200,000 people give up every year for reasons including medical conditions or pregnancy, so there is a continuous need to attract new donors.

The NHSBT is a special authority in the NHS responsible for matching and allocating donated organs.