Sanquin

More visible to donors

Blood is life and the right communications from Sanquin mean people are more likely to donate it.

  • Marketing
  • Content strategy
  • Magazine

25,000 lives a year

Sanquin is a non-profit organization that ensures the supply of blood in the Netherlands. The organization saves 25,000 lives a year and makes a huge contribution to the quality of life of many people.

Effective communication

To be able to do its work, Sanquin relies on people selflessly donating blood. So the organisation has to recruit as many donors as possible and retain existing ones. Effective communication is critical to Sanquin, and starts with a content marketing strategy.

The binding factor

The magazine Bloedverwant (Blood relative) is central to the content marketing strategy. The title says exactly what the donor and patient share: their blood. And that’s precisely why we made the human aspect the binding factor within the magazine. Introducing the reader to background stories, fascinating portraits, impressive reporting and original illustrations.

The power lies in the emotion

The impact of the magazine is huge. According to research, 31% of readers say that they’re going to donate blood as a result of reading Bloedverwant. Therefore articles have to hit the right note. We make portraits of patients who’ve received blood in order to underline the urgency of donating, donors are interviewed who have donated blood for the hundredth time, and fears are discussed. For example, a reason for many people not to donate is their fear of needles. By discussing such anxieties in interviews with donors, that worry is removed for others.

97.000

copies of Bloedverwant

strengthen the bond between donors, clients and Sanquin

The importance of design and photography

Design and photography play an important role in ensuring topics in the magazine come across in a personal way. We collaborate, for example, with documentary photographer Martijn van der Griendt, who was also commissioned by the Rijksmuseum to make a series on the Dutch 24-hour society for ‘Document Nederland’.

From donor to patient

A popular section in the magazine is ‘ask a doctor’. As a donor, you might read here, for example, how best to deal with dizziness. The illustrations cover often serious subjects with a light touch. We also publish informative articles about the importance of medical research, such as the journey blood takes from donor to patient. In this way, content marketing makes a real contribution to Sanquin’s goals of retaining existing donors and recruiting new ones.

Total Design is always engaged and thinking with us, and you see that with each new edition of Bloedverwant

— Jan-Peter Rook, Editor-in-Chief Bloedverwant

31%

of readers

plan to donate blood having read Bloedverwant.

  • More visible to donors

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