Red Cross Champions

A Marketing Story by Look East PR about American Red Cross

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American Red Cross

Increase Brand Awareness

Challenge

The American Red Cross has a long tradition of serving those in need through disaster response and blood donation programs powered by a dedicated army of volunteers and generous donors. But in 2018, they realized that a growing number of people did not understand the organization’s vital role, putting at risk the future of increased fundraising and volunteer efforts. The organization needed to reach a new generation of volunteers and donors and help them become passionate about the mission of the American Red Cross.

Solution

Our Approach After an extensive digital ethnography research project, the American Red Cross is better equipped to identify and engage with key influencers who are most likely to impact general attitudes and beliefs about the organization and its mission. In August 2019, The American Red Cross invited 14 “Involved Citizen” influencers to the National Headquarters in Washington, D.C. to establish a brand ambassador program. Because experiential learning and organizational exposure favorably impacts volunteer participation, the event was designed to build trust and interest in the American Red Cross through direct exposure to current activities in an authentic and exclusive exchange. During this immersive experience, influencers were able to learn more about the American Red Cross’ mission and services offered to those in need, see first-hand how the disaster relief and preparedness team operates, get training to become a Red Cross volunteer and more. The goal of the influencer event was to provide influencers with more information about (and newfound inspiration to volunteer or support) the American Red Cross and its programs, and garner user-generated content to tout the great work of the American Red Cross, its staff and volunteers, and disaster-relief efforts. The influencers headed home with not only a better understanding of the American Red Cross and its mission, but also a #RedCrossChampion toolkit that provided content and support to help each influencer generate and promote content. Participants were also invited to become Red Cross volunteers and continue their journey with the Red Cross as a #RedCrossChampion, meant to inspire others to volunteer and ultimately build trust in the ARC brand and mission.

Research

Social Media Management

Results

The 14 influencers that attended the event have written 27 blog posts about their American Red Cross experience. The influencers updated social media throughout the event, including 80 tweets, 34 Facebook posts and 26 Instagram posts. These posts had a total of 10,586,769 impressions. In addition to these positive metrics, an attitudinal pre/post survey of influencers demonstrated a positive shift toward a more trustworthy perception of the organization and their overall efforts.