Missing Type

NHS Blood and Transplant needed some help revitalising National Blood Week as latest statistics had revealed the number of new donors coming forward had plummeted 40% in the past decade. We developed the campaign Missing Type, in partnership with Engine and MHP, based on the insight that in the UK people rarely think about their blood type. Most of us don’t even know what it is. But what would happen if that ‘type’ were to go missing in everyday life? We put that thought to the test. For a week, Downing Street went ‘O-less’, The Daily Mirror changed its masthead, we received blanket national media coverage and sparked a social media movement. Many of the world’s biggest brands, including Google, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, McDonald’s and NotOnTheHighStreet.com, subverted their brand logos in the name of Missing Type. The Missing Type campaign has been the most awarded campaign in the UK of 2016 so far, including a Gold and Bronze Cannes Lions, the prestigious Paul Arden Award for Innovation at Campaign Big Awards as well as being recognised at the One Show, Creative Circle and D&AD. Most importantly ‘Missing Type’ delivered the result that really mattered: 30,000 new blood donor registrations over the course of the week – equivalent to over 100,000 lives saved or improved.