Audible Teams With NHS Blood and Transplant For Blood Donations

This Halloween season, Audible, a leading creator and provider of premium audio storytelling, is bringing the new Audible Original Bram Stoker’s Dracula to a particularly fitting setting: the blood donation chair. Audible and NHS Blood and Transplant have joined forces to launch Give Blood with Dracula, an innovative collaboration inviting blood donors to immerse themselves in Bram Stoker’s Dracula while helping save lives.

Created and delivered by WPP Media, the media partner for both Audible and NHS Blood and Transplant, Give Blood with Dracula takes the age-old association between Dracula and blood and gives it a meaningful modern twist. The idea transforms the time spent donating blood into a unique listening occasion, using the cultural pull of Dracula to make the experience feel more engaging. In doing so, it creates a standout moment around the Audible launch and puts blood donation front of mind in the run-up to Halloween.

At NHS blood donation sessions across the country, donors can listen to a specially selected extract from Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the new Audible Original, as they give blood. The immersive story provides a fun addition to the donation, bringing to life Audible’s promise of ‘time well spent’ - the focus of its latest global brand campaign - in a new and unexpected way.

The experience extends beyond the donation chair, with bespoke Audible and NHS Blood and Transplant branding appearing in centres and a wider media activation designed to reach potential donors nearby. Proximity digital out-of-home advertising will target audiences around donation centres, alongside a bespoke Citymapper integration helping people find clinics, and a Time Out content collaboration creating interest and excitement.

Give Blood with Dracula forms part of the wider launch campaign for the new Audible Original Bram Stoker’s Dracula, designed to make the legendary gothic story a major cultural entertainment moment around Halloween. The broader campaign spans cinema, BVOD, SVOD, online video, OOH and DOOH, digital audio, podcasts, social collaborations and influencer activity.

WPP Media created and delivered the collaboration between Audible and NHS Blood and Transplant, as well as leading the media strategy, channel orchestration and partner integrations. The collaboration brings together Wavemaker and WPP Media Sports & Entertainment, alongside WPP Media’s specialist DOOH capabilities and media partners including Time Out and Citymapper.

Polly Blenkinship, Head of Global Awareness Media at Audible said: “Dracula is a story that has fascinated audiences for generations, and we wanted its launch to feel every bit as distinctive as the story itself. Working with NHS Blood and Transplant has given us the opportunity to bring the world of Bram Stoker’s Dracula into an unexpected real-life listening occasion, while encouraging people to take an action that really matters. It’s a brilliant example of how audio storytelling can enrich our everyday.”

Mark Chambers, Director of Donor Experience, at NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “Dracula may be one of fiction’s most famous seekers of blood, but through this partnership with Audible, we’re using this iconic story to highlight the importance of giving it. As donors immerse themselves in this brand-new retelling of Dracula, we hope it sparks real-life conversations about blood donation and inspires more people to book an appointment, give blood and help save lives.”

Rosa Rodriguez, Director at WPP Media said: “The best partnerships start with a connection that feels instantly obvious once you see it. Dracula and blood gave us the cultural hook, but the real opportunity was recognising that donating blood creates a natural moment for people to get lost in a great story. Bringing our Audible and NHS Blood and Transplant clients together allowed us to turn that insight into an experience that is relevant for both brands, culturally distinctive and, above all, connected to something genuinely worthwhile.”

Credits:

Client: Audible UK

Client: NHS Blood and Transplant

Media Strategy and Planning: Wavemaker UK, a WPP Media Brand

Rachel D’Cunha, VP, Strategy

Emily McReynolds, Director, Planning

Lara Till, Associate Director, Planning

Bethany Preece, Manager, Planning

Betsy Cronk, Associate, Planning

Partnerships: WPP Media Sports & Entertainment

Rosa Rodriguez, Director

Sarah Hamilton, Associate Director

Sean Wright, Activation Lead

Niamh Robinson, Manager