The NHS hopes joining forces with Tinder can help ‘normalise’ organ donation

The campaign, dubbed ‘The Wait’, has the support of celebrities including Made In Chelsea’s Jamie Laing, Emmerdale’s Gemma Oaten and Olympic Gold Medallist Jade Jones. They all have profiles listing the fact that they “support organ donation”.

If people swipe right on these profiles they will be shown a message that reads: “If only it was that easy for those in need of a life saving organ to find a match”.

The ad will also tell users about the thousands of people waiting for a transplant and encourage them to click on a link and sign up to the NHS organ donor register. The partnership and creative concept were created by 23red.

Normalising organ donation

Speaking to Marketing Week, a spokeswoman for NHS Blood and Transplant, said the campaign is part of wider work it is doing to spread awareness of organ donation and make it a normal part of people’s lives.

The organisation launched a campaign in October, also called ‘The Wait’, that draws attention to the fact that 6,000 people have died in the last decade while waiting for an organ transplant and that 7,000 people are on the waiting list now.

“Platforms such as Tinder are a way of life for many people now. We want to normalise organ donation so why not go onto a platform that is part of normal life.”

“Organ donation is a wait for a transplant and Tinder is based around trying to find someone. Waiting for a transplant versus waiting for a match, from a messaging perspective that works,” she said.

The success of the campaign will be judged on how many of those who click on the link and register are signing up for the first time.

Keeping donation front of mind

The spokeswoman said a strategy of “click through partnerships” has worked “very well” in the past and are increasingly important to the NHS. She cited the example of its tie-up with the DVLA, which according to the latest figures from the NHS accounts for more than half (54%) of all registrants.

“We are increasingly working with corporate partners to try and spread awareness of donation. As the NHS we want to be innovative but also cost effective in the ways we campaign about health issues,” she said.

NHS Blood and Transplant has been lauded for its previous marketing efforts, winning at this year’s Masters of Marketing for its “Missing Type” campaign, created by Engine, in the public sector, social media and PR categories.

The number of people on the organ donor register is at an all time high of 21.2 million. However the numbers actually donating after death fell last year by 3% to 1,282, the first decline in a decade as fewer families gave consent and the number of people suitable for donating organs also dropped.

“We have a lot of opinion surveys that show people in society are overwhelmingly in support of organ donation. We have to try to capture that support and encourage them to sign up and talk about their support.

“In reality very few people die in circumstances where they can donate but only a third of the population is on the register. The challenge is to keep organ donation front of mind.”