Héma-Québec and Sid Lee Use LinkedIn to Recruit Plasma Donors

With Sid Lee’s help, Héma-Québec is using a feature of LinkedIn’s professional social network to draw attention to crucial positions that need to be filled in Québec society: plasma donors. 

"It's one of the creative ways we're responding to our President and CEO's call to improve plasma self-sufficiency in Québec," said Audrey Faucher, senior product marketing advisor - Plasma Donation at Héma-Québec. "Plasma is the blood component that contains precious proteins, such as immunoglobulins, which are essential in the manufacturing of specialised medicines. To meet a growing demand, we must constantly recruit new donors. It's a bit like starting a new career!” 

Sid Lee's creative team worked closely with Héma-Québec to make innovative use of LinkedIn’s platform. The main objective was simple: to increase the number of appointments made for plasma donations, trying to get it integrated into people's daily routines. By targeting LinkedIn's qualified community of altruistic, disciplined individuals already accustomed to a well-balanced life, the initiative aimed to stimulate regular participation in plasma donation.

"LinkedIn is the platform for putting yourself out there, to your network. Whether you're comfortable with it or not, everyone plays the game a bit. Since job changes dominate our feed and we're conditioned to read and react to them, subverting the usual narrative has a jarring effect," explained Léa Dubé, copywriter at Sid Lee. "It's hard to be cynical about such commitment," added Justine Bouchard, art director at Sid Lee. "If there's one important job in society that deserves a little heart, it's that of a plasma donor." 

Since January 9, many business personalities have proudly displayed their "new position" on LinkedIn. Martin Gauthier, CEO of Sid Lee in Canada, has also taken on this new role. The approach has been met with a positive response, and is helping to change people's perception of volunteer work as a genuine gift of self.