Sid Lee CEO Martin Gauthier is leading by example in the agency’s newest work for Héma-Québec, a non-profit organization that supplies blood and other biological products to hospitals in Quebec. The simple yet effective recruitment campaign utilizes professional social network LinkedIn to encourage plasma donations, by comparing the work to a professional pursuit.
Gauthier, for instance, added his self-employed role as a plasma donor for Héma-Québec to his LinkedIn experience section in January. He then posted a new job announcement, which garnered nearly 400 impressions from his professional network and 58 comments congratulating him—including one from Héma-Québec which translates to “Welcome to the team! We wish you a long and successful career.”
In another post, he shared an accompanying video in which he discusses his new “position” and encourages others to follow suit. “At 54, I am starting a new career as a plasma donor,” he said. Gauthier cited the peers who have inspired him to start donating, including chief executive and co-founder of Ricardo Média, Ricardo Larrivée who began donating plasma four months ago, and national account manager of Danone, Félix-Antoine Hamel, who has been receiving plasma donations for six years."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 Héma-Québec’s senior product marketing advisor of plasma donation, Audrey Faucher, in a release. "Plasma is the blood component that contains precious proteins, such as immunoglobulins, which are essential in the manufacturing of specialized medicines. To meet a growing demand, we must constantly recruit new donors. It's a bit like starting a new career!”
A person can donate plasma every six days, according to Héma-Québec, and demand is never-ending. The release describes LinkedIn users as ideal candidates for regular plasma donation because they’re “disciplined individuals already accustomed to a well-balanced life.”
At the same time, Sid Lee alludes to the fact that LinkedIn isn’t a particularly impassioned platform and that users appreciate a heartfelt moment amidst networking news. "Since job changes dominate our feed and we're conditioned to read and react to them, subverting the usual narrative has a jarring effect," said Sid Lee copywriter Léa Dubé, in a release. "It's hard to be cynical about such commitment," added art director Justine Bouchard. "If there's one important job in society that deserves a little heart, it's that of a plasma donor."
