Interview with Natalya Zaitseva

The best project in the field of development of gratuitous regular donation of blood and its components in the category «Do not miss the important» - «Best poster» was a series of social posters «Donate with benefit». A special diploma was awarded to the work «Cosmic forces» in the nomination «For maintaining creative work with the donor contingent». Natalia Zaitseva, PR director of the Samara Regional Clinical Blood Transfusion Station, spoke about how ideas are born.

To promote blood donation among the youth audience, animation characters were chosen - little men from a popular children's designer. How did you come up with the idea to use this technique in a social donor campaign? How do ideas for creative projects come about?

Creative Ideas in our department are born through general discussion. It also happens that someone has an idea, and we bring it up for discussion. We take each new idea «on a pencil» so that it does not get lost in the working routine, and in the future we return to it and develop in more detail. As it was with the project «Donate with benefit».

The idea to use the figurines from the constructor as heroes-translators of donation arose a few years ago. We even created several sketches, but we never got around to developing a full-fledged project, apparently, other tasks set at that time forced us to postpone the implementation. We returned to it in 2022. Due to the variety of different themes that are most similar to real life, we have selected several options for the designer to implement our scenarios for posters. The topic of blood donation is absolutely not touched upon in any building set. We had to take just one detail from a whole set, for example, to create the process of donating blood. It was very interesting, we were full of enthusiasm, and almost 24/7 in the working chat discussed some aspects of the implementation.

Each poster was evaluated by a focus group. Sometimes our vision was different, the message conceived in the slogan for the target audience was interpreted differently. Then the material was sent for revision. I will say more, two posters were generally rejected by the focus group and they never saw the light of day. It happens. But the final goal was achieved, and the creation process brought us a lot of positive emotions. Donors liked the bright creative design, the novelty of the presentation of information and catchy slogans. For more than a year we have been distributing souvenirs and printed materials with images of the created posters. And we plan to expand their number.

How difficult was it to fulfill your plan - to draw little men and come up with rhyming slogans? Were professional artists involved in the implementation of the project?

Poster design «Donate with benefit!» was developed and executed by the PR specialists of the Blood Service of the Samara Region. Here I do not mean the whole department. Three people worked on the project, one of whom is on maternity leave, but worked with us remotely. Especially for this project, several thematic designers from different producers were purchased (and in some cases brought from home). For each poster, a plot was created and many variations of photos were made, which were subsequently selected and turned into the final version using Photoshop. Persistently and painstakingly, work was carried out on each poster, bringing it to the perfect combination of all the details and words.

Tell us about your ideas for the development of this project.

The project was created in just 3.5 months. We had a lot of ideas, but after a detailed discussion and sketching, we chose the most interesting ones. In the future, we plan to expand the series with new posters in the same style, as well as issue souvenirs and printed materials with these images. There is also an idea to create a motion video. But that's a completely different story. We also plan to submit this project for participation in other social advertising contests.

What prompted you to use the theme of the benefits of blood donation in your social campaign? What is the novelty of this idea for promoting blood donation?

Often, the idea of voluntary and non-reimbursed blood donation in Russia is promoted from the point of view of disinterested assistance to patients who require a blood transfusion. We, in our posters, decided to look at blood donation from a different angle, suggesting that donors consider the beneficial intangible aspects of regular blood donations. Volunteering and charity are the foundation of our work, but blood donation can bring many additional benefits in return. Blood donation helps to instill social values and care for one’s health.

Another of your winning works, the holder of a special diploma, is the Cosmic forces project, which was held as part of the All-Russian donor action «Space is in our blood». What is the main feature of this project?

In 2021, the donor marathon «Space is in our blood» started throughout Russia, dedicated to the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the first manned flight into space. The achievements of Samara scientists, designers, engineers and workers involved in space engineering are undeniable and have long been recognized by specialists from all over the world. We could not ignore this space project and not take part in it. Under the general slogan «Donor, you are space!» we launched a set of events to attract the attention of the population of the region to the topic of donating blood and its components by holding various space donor campaigns, joining new companies to participate in the donor movement, creating new promotional posters, themed souvenirs and photo props.

Tell us about the team that worked on the «Cosmic forces» events.

The events «Cosmic forces» was developed and thought out by the PR department, and all employees of our station took part in it. We have developed our own product design and printing. Throughout the year we held thematic events at various enterprises, companies and universities of the region. Almost all events of the year were held under the auspices of the space marathon.

How do you evaluate the results of the campaign? What project achievements are you proud of?

Despite the ongoing tense epidemiological situation and the post-pandemic period, the donor space marathon was able to attract the attention of a wide audience and unite about 2,500 people with the idea of blood donation. About 25 thematic events were held, during which about 1000 liters of blood were donated. Also, within the framework of the marathon, the Cooperation Agreement with the regional branch of the Union of Machine Builders of Russia was prolonged. This is the third agreement on social interaction.

A significant event in the implementation of thematic actions was the departmental award of the FMBA of Russia - the medal «For Assistance to the Donor Movement» presented by Vladimir Gutenev to Dmitry Baranov, General Director of the JSC «SRC Progress». This enterprise, in addition to being one of the leading enterprises in the Russian rocket and space industry, is also one of the most reliable and long-term partners of the regional blood service in the development of gratuitous donation and the preservation of donor corporate traditions.

Our traditional question: what would you wish donors and those who are going to join the donor program?

A donor is not a calling or a profession. This is the path that a person chooses to do good in his life, to provide vital assistance to people. Let each donation bring positive emotions and moral satisfaction from the importance of an act committed for the benefit of other people. For our part, we will try to fill the life of donors with creativity, positive and good mood. We wish you all health, peace and spring mood.