In response to declining organ donation numbers post-pandemic, Australia's National Organ and Tissue Authority (OTA) identified an opportunity to increase registrations among 16–to-25-year-olds, who had only a 10 percent registration rate compared to 36 percent nationally. Research showed that while young Australians supported organ donation, they were simply unaware of how quick and easy it was to register. Partnering with Digital Turbine for its 2023 DonateLife Week campaign, OTA strategically placed ads in mobile games — specifically targeting moments when players "lost lives" or failed levels — with the message "Pause 1 minute & register to be an organ donor."
This contextually relevant approach delivered over 1.3 million impressions with a click-through rate (CTR) of 3.64 percent, significantly outperforming benchmarks. Most importantly, the campaign increased awareness of organ donation messaging by 14 points among those exposed and improved conversion rates to 1.10 percent, more than quadrupling the previous year's performance of 0.24 percent.
OTA aimed to increase organ donation registrations among Australians aged 16-25, a demographic with only a 10 percent registration rate — significantly lower than the 36 percent national average. With an overarching goal of increasing the eligibility rate for organ donation from 37 percent to 50 percent by 2027, the campaign specifically sought to boost awareness and encourage conversions among younger Australians during the annual DonateLife Week.
In the post-pandemic world, organ donation numbers had fallen across the board, creating an urgent need for the OTA to revitalize awareness and registrations. Research had shown that while 80 percent of Australians aged 16 and older supported organ and tissue donation, only 7 million were registered when the number should be closer to 16 million. Moreover, DonateLife insights revealed that younger Australians were supportive of organ donation — they were simply unaware of how quick and easy it was to register. Building on a successful 2022 campaign, the 2023 initiative aimed to take targeting and messaging to a new level of effectiveness.
The campaign targeted young Australian men and women aged 16 to 25 years old, with a particular focus on those who had previously demonstrated charitable tendencies. Digital Turbine's contextual targeting capabilities enabled the campaign to home in on "charity lovers" and "charitable donors" first, as this sub-segment was deemed more likely to be receptive to organ donation messaging. With approximately 60 percent of 16-25-year-olds being gamers and gaming experiencing a 21 percent growth in Australia (70 percent of Australians played online games in 2023), mobile gaming provided an ideal environment to reach this audience.
The creative strategy leveraged a powerful insight: targeting gamers at the moment they "ran out of lives" or failed levels in games, subtly reinforcing the message that real lives are at stake and highlighting organ donation's vital role in saving lives. Due to the sensitivity of the campaign, Digital Turbine blacklisted apps with violent themes (such as shooter and war games) to ensure DonateLife would not be associated with perceived violence.
The media strategy focused on reaching young Australians in the environment where they spend the most time: mobile gaming. OTA handpicked the top 500 games across Australia to achieve optimal reach. The campaign deployed rich media interstitials and static banners delivering the message: "Pause 1 minute & register to be an organ donor," with call-to-action (CTA) "Register Now" buttons that directed users to the DonateLife website. By emphasizing the ease and speed of registration, the campaign addressed a key barrier to conversion among the target audience.
The DonateLife Week campaign ran nationally across traditional and digital media channels, from TV to out-of-home (OOH), social, and digital media. The mobile gaming component, executed in collaboration with advertising agency Make Mate and Digital Turbine, played a crucial role in reaching the younger target audience.
Digital Turbine's Creative Labs brought the campaign to life with animated ad units featuring the stories of Courtney and Jaylyn — Australians whose lives were transformed by kidney and heart transplants. After impressing upon the audience the life-saving impact of organ donation, the ads revealed the key message: "Pause for 1 minute & register to be an organ donor," communicating the ease and speed of potentially saving a life. A "Register Now" button directed users to the DonateLife website, where they discovered that registration indeed took only a minute, along with information about the importance of discussing their decision with family members.
As a federal government campaign, the creative ad units were deployed across top brand-safe apps and popular games such as Subway Surfers and Temple Run, which fall under the "endless runners" category. The ads were strategically served only on rewarded inventory, appearing when users ran out of lives or failed levels — a subtle yet powerful way of reinforcing DonateLife's message about the vital role of organ donation in saving lives.
Building on lessons from the successful 2022 campaign, the 2023 initiative funneled the media budget exclusively into the best-performing placement from the previous year. The DT-powered creative ad units were deployed entirely on rewarded inventory, with contextual ads served once target users ran out of lives in a game — a clever strategy that strengthened the campaign's key message while offering users a reward for viewing the ad.
The 2023 DonateLife campaign delivered exceptional results, proving that even simply executed campaigns free of typical commercial bells and whistles can effectively meet client objectives:
Campaign Performance
Awareness and Intent
The campaign's post-brand lift study revealed outstanding results for DonateLife's overall mission:
These results demonstrate that the campaign not only effectively reached its target audience but also meaningfully increased awareness, consideration, and action around organ donation registration. The significant improvement in conversion rate — more than quadrupling the previous year's performance — highlights the effectiveness of the strategic targeting and contextually relevant messaging in driving tangible results for this critically important public health initiative.
