Markham Yard Creates “Good Karma” Campaign for New York Blood Center Enterprises

Miami-based advertising agency Markham Yard is launching “Good Karma by the Pint,” an unorthodox new campaign to inspire people to donate blood on behalf of New York Blood Center Enterprises (NYBCe), a community nonprofit blood bank based in New York with donor centers in eight states. The largely digital campaign (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, programmatic CTV, programmatic audio) launches June 13 in those markets and will be evergreen. 

The objectives are to increase general awareness about the need for blood donations and also recruit people who have never previously considered donating. Additionally, NYBCe hopes to stimulate more regular donations from those who have previously contributed. 

This category of advertising presents some unique challenges: Blood donor campaigns typically speak to the societal benefits of donation or incentivize donation through perks. However, Markham Yard’s research revealed an insight: The social currency of being seen as someone who participates in a good cause is a powerful motivator. That became the inspiration for their two-minute Good Karma mini film, and derivative :30s, and :15s. Additionally, the shop created two 30-second radio spots based on the catchy custom song written to tell the story. 

This whimsical song tells the story of how one can get a spoonful of good karma through small everyday acts or give blood and get “Good Karma by the Pint.” The action takes place in a playful, artfully crafted world rendered in a digital approximation of claymation by partner Roof Studio, which built this world inhabited by a diverse cross-section of everyday characters to show what life could look like if we all did what we could to keep the good karma flowing. 

“Blood donation is such a fundamentally important thing for people to understand and participate in,” said Markham Cronin, founder, Markham Yard. “Our goal was to amplify the reasons why they should donate in a way that is not preachy but engaging and fun.” 

“We’ve been working with Markham Yard for the last three years, and their original and clever campaigns have inspired more and more people to join the fight in ensuring a healthy blood supply,” said Andrea Cefarelli, senior vice president at New York Blood Center Enterprises. “We are grateful for their partnership and look forward to how this new campaign will motivate folks to secure some good karma and donate blood.”

Earlier (September ‘23), Markham Yard targeted influencers with “Extra Life,” a NYBCe campaign aimed at encouraging young people to return post-COVID to donating blood. The integrated campaign built upon the action, adventure and vibrant culture of classic video games to capture a feeling of youth, empowerment and pixelated nostalgia.

Markham Yard won the work in 2021 and is NYBCe’s AOR. New York Blood Center Enterprises has donor centers in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Nebraska, Delaware, and Missouri. One of the largest independent, community-based blood centers in the world, it collects about 4,000 units of blood products each day and serves more than 75 million people. Established in 2005, Miami-based, Markham Yard offers big-brand thinking, strategy, design and creative in a concentrated form for both local and international clients. With global clients across an array of industries, Markham Yard offers the creative power of big agencies in a streamlined and nimble form. 

Credits 

Client: New York Blood Center Enterprises 

Adrian David – EVP, COO Blood and Laboratory Operations 

David Graham – SVP, Enterprise Donor Engagement 

Lauren Meyer – Executive Director, Strategy and Planning, Enterprise Donor Engagement 

Lauren Hinz – Executive Director, Market Insights, Enterprise Donor Engagement 

Kari Schwen – Creative Director, Enterprise Donor Engagement 

Carolyn Strum – Manager, Strategy and Planning, Enterprise Donor Engagement 

Campaign Title: Good Karma By The Pint 

Agency: Markham Yard 

Chief Creative Officer: Markham Cronin 

Creative Director: Jack Bagdadi 

Art Director: Laura Suescun 

Copywriters: Alex Lozana / Karina Bagdadi 

Account Service: Katherine Perez / Salome Berrebi 

Business Affairs: Sara Cronin 

Head of Production / Agency Producer: Alec Lopez 

Digital Media Team: Carl Izzi, Raquel Baez, Chantal Alvarez, Jean Cardenas

Traditional Media Team: Michael Perez, Ashley Humm

Production Company & City: Roof Studio, Brooklyn, NY 

Creative Direction – Guto Terni, Vinicius Costa, Lucas Camargo 

Direction – Kawe de Sá

Art Direction – Lucas Camargo 

Executive Producer – Fernanda Curi 

3D Supervisor – Gus Rodrigues 

Production Manager – Jhonatan Luiz 

Line Producer – Fernanda Fraiz 

Pipeline CGI – Carlos Hallan

Concept Artists – Diego Barcelos, João Lavieri, Patrícia Sonoda 

Environment Modeling – Adam Pierre, David Carvalho, Danilo Silva, Doug Silva, Ismael Marquez, Pedro Brigagão, Marcus Sidonio, Natan Ernani 

Characters Modeling – Alexandre Corbini, André Hamada Kikumoto, Brendon Souza, David Carvalho, Edu Souza, Gabriel Acácio, Gabriel Oliveira, Guilherme Luis Coban, João Bueno, Karina Bastos, Matheus Lima, Maycon Lopes, Natan Ernani, Rhenan Fidelis, Ricardo Viana, Tamires Raymundo 

Leads Lookdev – Marinho Silva, Tiago Mesquita

Character Lookdev Artists – Bruno Henrique Peres, Bruno Macedo, Jiovana Santos, Julio Bonfante, Marcos Moraes, Morgana Galvan, Pietro Bernardi, Victor Trovato, William Silva

Environment Lookdev Artists – Bruno Henrique Peres, Bruno Macedo, Julio Bonfante, Pedro Henrique Placido, Pietro Bernardi, Marcos Moraes  

Lead Lighting – Marinho Silva

Lighting Artists – Guilherme Cazarine, Lauréline Grandin, Letícia Pires, William Silva

Character Rigging Lead – Thiago Valentim 

Character Rigging – Douglas Fusinato, Gabriel Nakata, Guga Pixel, Marcos Leite, Tamires Garcia 

Layout Supervisor – Kawê de Sá 

Layout Artist – Diego Milanski 

Lead Animation – Christian Weckl 

Animators – Caio Nunes, Guilherme Gazzoni, Hannry Pschera, Igor Copelli, Jonas Silva, Jonathan Souza, Jorge Zagatto, Leo Targino, Marcos Elias, Marcus Carvalho, Michael Carlos, Ronaldo Brito, Vini Ribeiro 

3D Motion Graphics – Everton Rios

Lead Assembly – Doug Silva

Assembly and Render – Danilo Silva, Diego Milanski

VFX Assembly – Lobão

Composition Lead – Rafael Chiavegatti

Compositors – Alê Camargo, Gustavo Pinheiro, Marco Silva, Ralph Reinle

Still Compositors – Aline Freitas, Lucas Farizatto

Music Company: Tonal Chaos 

Founder / Executive Producer of Tonal Chaos: Marc Aaron Jacobs 

Music: Jason Miller 

Vocals: Devyn Rush 

SDX and Mix: Eric Berdon