A campaign to nurture hope by growing donor numbers at Midland Fertility

Midland Fertility, a leading UK fertility clinic, faced a critical shortage of donor sperm and eggs. They approached our healthcare marketing team to develop a campaign aimed at attracting potential sperm and egg donors, addressing the growing national crisis.

The challenge

A shortage in donor availability was impacting the service, and Midland Fertility needed a solution. Our challenge was to engage both male and female donors effectively, tailoring our messaging to resonate with the different attitudes and motivations these groups had toward fertility donation.

The strategy

Research highlighted the differing perspectives of men and women regarding fertility treatment. We aimed to engage each audience distinctly, ensuring the messaging was empathetic yet effective. Drawing inspiration from previous campaigns, such as with Regaine, we developed a strategy to separate and differentiate communication for men and women.

For male donors, the campaign focused on making them feel like heroes—using language and imagery that reinforced the positive impact of their donation. For female donors, the approach was more empathetic, highlighting the emotional significance of their contribution to a family's journey.

The solution

The campaign's core message, "It feels great to donate," was developed to align with altruistic motivations. The male-targeted creative featured a man in a hero pose, tearing open his shirt to reveal the slogan, with a call to action: "Be a hero. Donate your sperm." For female donors, we used emotive imagery of two women back to back, one pregnant, to illustrate the profound impact donors could have.

This campaign was executed across multiple channels: press ads, social media, billboards, and bus stops, ensuring maximum visibility.