Jul 25, 2017
Mediareach Leads DKMS Awareness Campaign
DKMS blood cancer charity joins hands with Mediareach to deliver its 2017 'Swab to be a Lifesaver' campaign after a competitive pitch.
⏱ 5 min read
By mediareach
DKMS, the international blood cancer charity, joined forces with Mediareach Advertising to deliver its 2017 national awareness drive, “Swab to be a Lifesaver.” The account was awarded in February 2017 after a competitive pitch that recognised Mediareach’s unique ability to combine purpose with cultural intelligence.
Every 20 minutes someone in the UK is diagnosed with a blood cancer. For around 2,000 patients each year, a blood stem cell transplant from a matching donor is their only hope. For many patients, particularly those from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, that match is far harder to find. That urgent reality shaped the brief, and why DKMS chose the UK’s pioneering multicultural agency to lead it.
From Personal Loss to Global Movement: The DKMS Story
DKMS was founded in Germany in 1991 by Dr. Peter Harf and Professor Gerhard Ehninger in honour of Harf’s wife Mechtild, who lost her life to blood cancer. From that personal tragedy grew the world’s largest network of stem cell donor centres.
DKMS UK launched in February 2013 with a bold mission: to ensure every blood cancer patient has access to a potentially lifesaving donor. By January 2017, the DKMS family, spanning Germany, Poland, the US and the UK, had registered more than 7 million potential donors worldwide, including 250,000 in the UK.
Every 20 min
UK blood cancer diagnosis
~2,000
Patients searching yearly
7M+
Global donors by 2017
Feb 2013
DKMS UK launch
Why Mediareach Won the Pitch
The February 2017 pitch asked agencies how to make a cheek swab feel urgent, personal and inclusive enough to drive national registration at scale.
Mediareach’s approach stood out because it did not treat diversity as an afterthought. With 40 years of experience reaching communities that mainstream charity campaigns often miss, the agency presented a plan rooted in trust, cultural insight and community presence.
"We were very impressed with Mediareach’s approach to the campaign plan and the business ethics they represent. It’s great to be working with them on our awareness campaign and we’re looking forward to seeing the results.”
Jonny McKay
Campaign Manager, DKMS
The Diversity Challenge in Stem Cell Donation
A patient’s best chance of finding a matching donor is from someone sharing the same ethnic background. While the UK register has grown, people from minority ethnic communities remain underrepresented. That means Black, Asian and mixed-heritage patients face longer searches and lower chances of survival.
Closing that gap requires more than awareness, it requires presence in mosques, temples, churches, gurdwaras, community centres, student unions and the media channels these communities actually trust.
Inside 'Swab to be a Lifesaver'
The creative platform reframed registration from a clinical procedure to a simple, heroic act anyone aged 17-55 in general good health can do at home.
1. Simplicity as the Creative Hook
The central message was disarmingly simple: saving a life takes 60 seconds and a cheek swab. Mediareach built creative around the physical swab kit, ordered online, swabbed at home, returned by post, directly countering myths about painful bone marrow procedures and making the journey tangible.
2. Multicultural Media Planning
Rather than relying solely on mainstream national media, the plan integrated trusted community touchpoints:
Ethnic TV and radio — targeted airtime on channels with high engagement among South Asian, African and Caribbean audiences in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leicester
Community press and digital — partnerships with BAME publications and digital platforms that drive word-of-mouth
Faith and community networks — collaboration with imams, pastors and community leaders to host donor drives and explain the process in culturally sensitive ways
University and youth outreach — campus activations reaching Millennials and Gen Z, DKMS’s most likely donor demographic
3. Trust-Led Storytelling
The campaign centred real patient and donor stories, including cases where mixed-heritage patients struggled to find a match. By amplifying voices from within the community, rather than speaking at them, DKMS built credibility and emotional urgency — a hallmark of Mediareach’s charity marketing approach.
How does joining the register work?
Request a swab kit from DKMS online, gently swab the inside of your cheeks, return it by free post. Your tissue type is analysed and added anonymously to the global register. If you are a match for someone, you may be asked to donate blood stem cells — for most donors, a process similar to donating blood.
The Bigger Picture for Charity Marketing
The DKMS award highlighted a shift Mediareach had championed for decades: effective health charity marketing in modern Britain must be multicultural by design.
With ethnic minorities representing over 14% of the UK population and holding over £300 billion in spending power, ignoring diverse communities is not just a missed opportunity, for health causes, it costs lives. Mediareach’s work showed how cultural intelligence, understanding family structures, attitudes to health, trusted messengers and community rhythms, transforms awareness into action.
Legacy and Impact
Rolling out across Q2 and Q3 of 2017, “Swab to be a Lifesaver” supported DKMS UK’s growth beyond its initial 250,000-registrant milestone and contributed to the global 7 million achievement celebrated that January.
More importantly, it created a blueprint for how blood cancer charities engage diverse Britain, not through one-off ethnic pushes during awareness months, but through sustained, respectful presence where new donors are most needed.
Today, DKMS continues to urge anyone aged 17-55 in general good health to join the register. A single swab could give someone a second chance at life.
Is Your Charity Reaching the Whole UK?
Multicultural communities are not hard to reach, they are easy to overlook. Mediareach helps health charities and purpose-led brands build culturally intelligent campaigns that grow donor registers and save lives.
Sources & References
DKMS UK, "7,000,000 potential blood stem cell donors now recruited by the DKMS global family," 15 January 2017. dkms.org.uk
DKMS UK, About Us — Founded in 1991, launched in UK February 2013. dkms.org.uk
DKMS, "Every 20 minutes someone in the UK is diagnosed with blood cancer." dkms.org.uk
Mediareach Advertising — Multicultural marketing expertise since 1986. mediareach.co
Mediareach DKMS
DKMS awareness campaign
Swab to be a Lifesaver
blood cancer charity UK
stem cell donor register
multicultural marketing
charity campaign 2017
Mediareach Advertising award
blood stem cell donation
Jonny McKay DKMS
ethnic minority donors
The UK's pioneering multicultural marketing and advertising agency. Over 40 years connecting brands and charities with diverse communities through cultural insight, creative excellence, and intelligent media strategy. mediareach.co
Jul 25, 2017
Mediareach Leads DKMS Awareness Campaign
DKMS blood cancer charity joins hands with Mediareach to deliver its 2017 'Swab to be a Lifesaver' campaign after a competitive pitch.
⏱ 5 min read
By mediareach
DKMS, the international blood cancer charity, joined forces with Mediareach Advertising to deliver its 2017 national awareness drive, “Swab to be a Lifesaver.” The account was awarded in February 2017 after a competitive pitch that recognised Mediareach’s unique ability to combine purpose with cultural intelligence.
Every 20 minutes someone in the UK is diagnosed with a blood cancer. For around 2,000 patients each year, a blood stem cell transplant from a matching donor is their only hope. For many patients, particularly those from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, that match is far harder to find. That urgent reality shaped the brief, and why DKMS chose the UK’s pioneering multicultural agency to lead it.
From Personal Loss to Global Movement: The DKMS Story
DKMS was founded in Germany in 1991 by Dr. Peter Harf and Professor Gerhard Ehninger in honour of Harf’s wife Mechtild, who lost her life to blood cancer. From that personal tragedy grew the world’s largest network of stem cell donor centres.
DKMS UK launched in February 2013 with a bold mission: to ensure every blood cancer patient has access to a potentially lifesaving donor. By January 2017, the DKMS family, spanning Germany, Poland, the US and the UK, had registered more than 7 million potential donors worldwide, including 250,000 in the UK.
Every 20 min
UK blood cancer diagnosis
~2,000
Patients searching yearly
7M+
Global donors by 2017
Feb 2013
DKMS UK launch
Why Mediareach Won the Pitch
The February 2017 pitch asked agencies how to make a cheek swab feel urgent, personal and inclusive enough to drive national registration at scale.
Mediareach’s approach stood out because it did not treat diversity as an afterthought. With 40 years of experience reaching communities that mainstream charity campaigns often miss, the agency presented a plan rooted in trust, cultural insight and community presence.
"We were very impressed with Mediareach’s approach to the campaign plan and the business ethics they represent. It’s great to be working with them on our awareness campaign and we’re looking forward to seeing the results.”
Jonny McKay
Campaign Manager, DKMS
The Diversity Challenge in Stem Cell Donation
A patient’s best chance of finding a matching donor is from someone sharing the same ethnic background. While the UK register has grown, people from minority ethnic communities remain underrepresented. That means Black, Asian and mixed-heritage patients face longer searches and lower chances of survival.
Closing that gap requires more than awareness, it requires presence in mosques, temples, churches, gurdwaras, community centres, student unions and the media channels these communities actually trust.
Inside 'Swab to be a Lifesaver'
The creative platform reframed registration from a clinical procedure to a simple, heroic act anyone aged 17-55 in general good health can do at home.
1. Simplicity as the Creative Hook
The central message was disarmingly simple: saving a life takes 60 seconds and a cheek swab. Mediareach built creative around the physical swab kit, ordered online, swabbed at home, returned by post, directly countering myths about painful bone marrow procedures and making the journey tangible.
2. Multicultural Media Planning
Rather than relying solely on mainstream national media, the plan integrated trusted community touchpoints:
Ethnic TV and radio — targeted airtime on channels with high engagement among South Asian, African and Caribbean audiences in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leicester
Community press and digital — partnerships with BAME publications and digital platforms that drive word-of-mouth
Faith and community networks — collaboration with imams, pastors and community leaders to host donor drives and explain the process in culturally sensitive ways
University and youth outreach — campus activations reaching Millennials and Gen Z, DKMS’s most likely donor demographic
3. Trust-Led Storytelling
The campaign centred real patient and donor stories, including cases where mixed-heritage patients struggled to find a match. By amplifying voices from within the community, rather than speaking at them, DKMS built credibility and emotional urgency — a hallmark of Mediareach’s charity marketing approach.
How does joining the register work?
Request a swab kit from DKMS online, gently swab the inside of your cheeks, return it by free post. Your tissue type is analysed and added anonymously to the global register. If you are a match for someone, you may be asked to donate blood stem cells — for most donors, a process similar to donating blood.
The Bigger Picture for Charity Marketing
The DKMS award highlighted a shift Mediareach had championed for decades: effective health charity marketing in modern Britain must be multicultural by design.
With ethnic minorities representing over 14% of the UK population and holding over £300 billion in spending power, ignoring diverse communities is not just a missed opportunity, for health causes, it costs lives. Mediareach’s work showed how cultural intelligence, understanding family structures, attitudes to health, trusted messengers and community rhythms, transforms awareness into action.
Legacy and Impact
Rolling out across Q2 and Q3 of 2017, “Swab to be a Lifesaver” supported DKMS UK’s growth beyond its initial 250,000-registrant milestone and contributed to the global 7 million achievement celebrated that January.
More importantly, it created a blueprint for how blood cancer charities engage diverse Britain, not through one-off ethnic pushes during awareness months, but through sustained, respectful presence where new donors are most needed.
Today, DKMS continues to urge anyone aged 17-55 in general good health to join the register. A single swab could give someone a second chance at life.
Is Your Charity Reaching the Whole UK?
Multicultural communities are not hard to reach, they are easy to overlook. Mediareach helps health charities and purpose-led brands build culturally intelligent campaigns that grow donor registers and save lives.
Sources & References
DKMS UK, "7,000,000 potential blood stem cell donors now recruited by the DKMS global family," 15 January 2017. dkms.org.uk
DKMS UK, About Us — Founded in 1991, launched in UK February 2013. dkms.org.uk
DKMS, "Every 20 minutes someone in the UK is diagnosed with blood cancer." dkms.org.uk
Mediareach Advertising — Multicultural marketing expertise since 1986. mediareach.co
Mediareach DKMS
DKMS awareness campaign
Swab to be a Lifesaver
blood cancer charity UK
stem cell donor register
multicultural marketing
charity campaign 2017
Mediareach Advertising award
blood stem cell donation
Jonny McKay DKMS
ethnic minority donors
The UK's pioneering multicultural marketing and advertising agency. Over 40 years connecting brands and charities with diverse communities through cultural insight, creative excellence, and intelligent media strategy. mediareach.co
Jul 25, 2017
Mediareach Leads DKMS Awareness Campaign
DKMS blood cancer charity joins hands with Mediareach to deliver its 2017 'Swab to be a Lifesaver' campaign after a competitive pitch.
⏱ 5 min read
By mediareach
DKMS, the international blood cancer charity, joined forces with Mediareach Advertising to deliver its 2017 national awareness drive, “Swab to be a Lifesaver.” The account was awarded in February 2017 after a competitive pitch that recognised Mediareach’s unique ability to combine purpose with cultural intelligence.
Every 20 minutes someone in the UK is diagnosed with a blood cancer. For around 2,000 patients each year, a blood stem cell transplant from a matching donor is their only hope. For many patients, particularly those from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, that match is far harder to find. That urgent reality shaped the brief, and why DKMS chose the UK’s pioneering multicultural agency to lead it.
From Personal Loss to Global Movement: The DKMS Story
DKMS was founded in Germany in 1991 by Dr. Peter Harf and Professor Gerhard Ehninger in honour of Harf’s wife Mechtild, who lost her life to blood cancer. From that personal tragedy grew the world’s largest network of stem cell donor centres.
DKMS UK launched in February 2013 with a bold mission: to ensure every blood cancer patient has access to a potentially lifesaving donor. By January 2017, the DKMS family, spanning Germany, Poland, the US and the UK, had registered more than 7 million potential donors worldwide, including 250,000 in the UK.
Every 20 min
UK blood cancer diagnosis
~2,000
Patients searching yearly
7M+
Global donors by 2017
Feb 2013
DKMS UK launch
Why Mediareach Won the Pitch
The February 2017 pitch asked agencies how to make a cheek swab feel urgent, personal and inclusive enough to drive national registration at scale.
Mediareach’s approach stood out because it did not treat diversity as an afterthought. With 40 years of experience reaching communities that mainstream charity campaigns often miss, the agency presented a plan rooted in trust, cultural insight and community presence.
"We were very impressed with Mediareach’s approach to the campaign plan and the business ethics they represent. It’s great to be working with them on our awareness campaign and we’re looking forward to seeing the results.”
Jonny McKay
Campaign Manager, DKMS
The Diversity Challenge in Stem Cell Donation
A patient’s best chance of finding a matching donor is from someone sharing the same ethnic background. While the UK register has grown, people from minority ethnic communities remain underrepresented. That means Black, Asian and mixed-heritage patients face longer searches and lower chances of survival.
Closing that gap requires more than awareness, it requires presence in mosques, temples, churches, gurdwaras, community centres, student unions and the media channels these communities actually trust.
Inside 'Swab to be a Lifesaver'
The creative platform reframed registration from a clinical procedure to a simple, heroic act anyone aged 17-55 in general good health can do at home.
1. Simplicity as the Creative Hook
The central message was disarmingly simple: saving a life takes 60 seconds and a cheek swab. Mediareach built creative around the physical swab kit, ordered online, swabbed at home, returned by post, directly countering myths about painful bone marrow procedures and making the journey tangible.
2. Multicultural Media Planning
Rather than relying solely on mainstream national media, the plan integrated trusted community touchpoints:
Ethnic TV and radio — targeted airtime on channels with high engagement among South Asian, African and Caribbean audiences in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leicester
Community press and digital — partnerships with BAME publications and digital platforms that drive word-of-mouth
Faith and community networks — collaboration with imams, pastors and community leaders to host donor drives and explain the process in culturally sensitive ways
University and youth outreach — campus activations reaching Millennials and Gen Z, DKMS’s most likely donor demographic
3. Trust-Led Storytelling
The campaign centred real patient and donor stories, including cases where mixed-heritage patients struggled to find a match. By amplifying voices from within the community, rather than speaking at them, DKMS built credibility and emotional urgency — a hallmark of Mediareach’s charity marketing approach.
How does joining the register work?
Request a swab kit from DKMS online, gently swab the inside of your cheeks, return it by free post. Your tissue type is analysed and added anonymously to the global register. If you are a match for someone, you may be asked to donate blood stem cells — for most donors, a process similar to donating blood.
The Bigger Picture for Charity Marketing
The DKMS award highlighted a shift Mediareach had championed for decades: effective health charity marketing in modern Britain must be multicultural by design.
With ethnic minorities representing over 14% of the UK population and holding over £300 billion in spending power, ignoring diverse communities is not just a missed opportunity, for health causes, it costs lives. Mediareach’s work showed how cultural intelligence, understanding family structures, attitudes to health, trusted messengers and community rhythms, transforms awareness into action.
Legacy and Impact
Rolling out across Q2 and Q3 of 2017, “Swab to be a Lifesaver” supported DKMS UK’s growth beyond its initial 250,000-registrant milestone and contributed to the global 7 million achievement celebrated that January.
More importantly, it created a blueprint for how blood cancer charities engage diverse Britain, not through one-off ethnic pushes during awareness months, but through sustained, respectful presence where new donors are most needed.
Today, DKMS continues to urge anyone aged 17-55 in general good health to join the register. A single swab could give someone a second chance at life.
Is Your Charity Reaching the Whole UK?
Multicultural communities are not hard to reach, they are easy to overlook. Mediareach helps health charities and purpose-led brands build culturally intelligent campaigns that grow donor registers and save lives.
Sources & References
DKMS UK, "7,000,000 potential blood stem cell donors now recruited by the DKMS global family," 15 January 2017. dkms.org.uk
DKMS UK, About Us — Founded in 1991, launched in UK February 2013. dkms.org.uk
DKMS, "Every 20 minutes someone in the UK is diagnosed with blood cancer." dkms.org.uk
Mediareach Advertising — Multicultural marketing expertise since 1986. mediareach.co
Mediareach DKMS
DKMS awareness campaign
Swab to be a Lifesaver
blood cancer charity UK
stem cell donor register
multicultural marketing
charity campaign 2017
Mediareach Advertising award
blood stem cell donation
Jonny McKay DKMS
ethnic minority donors
The UK's pioneering multicultural marketing and advertising agency. Over 40 years connecting brands and charities with diverse communities through cultural insight, creative excellence, and intelligent media strategy. mediareach.co