The Australian Red Cross Blood Service and Cummins&Partners have launched a new initiative designed to encourage partners of pregnant women to show their support by becoming regular blood donors.

Jude Leon, head of integrated marketing communications at The Australian Red Cross Blood Services, said: “One in five women will need blood at some point during their pregnancy, yet only one in 30 Australians currently give blood.

“To continue to collect enough blood to support these women, we need regular donations, so we decided to ask the people who care about them the most – their partners.”

Launched on Mother’s Day, the nationwide initiative already has the support of some of Australia’s leading midwives and obstetricians, who will be able to provide information to expecting couples about the importance of blood during pregnancy.

“While pregnancy is an exciting time for everyone, from the very first appointment the focus is squarely on mother and child,” Leon said.

“Our aim is to give partners their own role in this process – one that makes them feel like they’re contributing more than just emotional support.”

As well as creative duties, Cummins&Partners is also handling the media roll-out, engaging celebrity influencers, partnering with women’s blog Mamamia and seeding a series of online films designed to educate expecting partners.

Adam Slater, associate creative director at Cummins&Partners, said the agency hopes the initiative eventually becomes an integral part of the pregnancy process.

“We love working with the team at The Australian Red Cross Blood Service to find new and unexpected ways of engaging new donors,” he said.

“We know that partners would give absolutely anything for a safe and successful birth. And while driving her to appointments and giving her the occasional backrub is nice, if they really want to chip in and do something meaningful, they should really consider giving blood.

“The fact that you can donate blood every three months – once for each trimester – is perfect. It means that while she’s working on bringing a child into the world, you can be helping to save the lives of new mums everywhere.”

CREDITS

Client: Australian Red Cross Blood Service

Marketing director: Samantha Bartlett

Head of integrated marketing communications: Jude Leon

Campaign specialist: Rebecca Munns

Social media lead: Jess van Coppenhagen

Creative: Cummins&Partners

Chief creative officer: Sean Cummins

Associate creative director: Adam Slater

Creative director: Doogie Chapman

Senior art directors: Connor Beaver and Cam McMillan

Head of broadcast production: Chris Moore

Broadcast producer: Karley Cameron

Editor: Jesse Richards

Strategy planner: James Bennett

Senior integration director: Sally Kingi

Senior integration manager: Kara Brumfit

Head of connections strategy: Johnny Corpuz

Connections strategists: George Groves and Calvin Lyon

Connections planning manager: Will Millar

Connections executive: Monique Gerada

Production: Buddy Films

Director: Harry Sanna

Director of production: Jordan Maddocks

Producer: Mandy Payne

Colourist: Martin Greer

Sound: Risk Sound