2022 Bronze Utilities and Telecommunications

Agency: Digitas UK and Saatchi&Saatchi

Client: EE

Campaign Name: EE PhoneSmart Licence

Campaign Overview

EE wanted to educate and support children getting their first phone to stay safe and be kind online. While a mobile opens the door to a world of wonderful content and connections it can also be a big worry for parents as youngsters are exposed to online dangers.

Strategy

By the age of 15, 81% of children will have had a potentially harmful online experience (source: Ofcom). As the UK's leading phone network and provider of many children's first phone, EE had the opportunity to provide a differentiated experience for the category, helping children stay safe and be kind online.

Despite 84% of parents worrying about their child's online safety, parents spend an average of only 46 minutes talking to them about online safety (source: Kaspersky, 2019). And while Parliament passed an Online Safety Bill in partnership with Ofcom in 2022, there is still very little done to prepare children for the realities of the online world and how to recognise harmful situations.

Creativity

Working closely with educational and online safety experts, including Internet Matters, the BBC and Anti-Bullying Alliance, EE identified the most relevant topics for the age group - from online hate to digital wellbeing - and created learning content around the themes.

It created a positive, safety-focused experience around a child's first phone, alleviating parental and young people's worries. This was a differentiated approach in the telco category, normally used for benefit-led marketing around speed and reliability.

An ‘EE PhoneSmart licence’ was awarded to any child on any network who completed its online course. To make the learning digestible, each episode was gamified: broken down into three chapters - each including quick, interactive quizzes and asking “What would you do next?”

Results

Children across the UK have completed more than 100,000 minutes of learning to earn their EE PhoneSmart licence, with 90% completion rate on episodes started. For children and parents, the content was “a lot more interesting than at school”.

The initiative has made a huge impact on parents, schools and children across the UK, equipping young people with the tools and knowledge they need to ensure that when they get their first phone, their time online is safe and fun.

Throughout the development process, EE used OnePulse, Microsoft surveys and focus groups to test designs, evolving the course to better meet their needs and preferences.

Post-launch, 50% of parents who heard about PhoneSmart on social think that EE is helping parents prepare their kids to be safe and kind online.

The Team

Digitas - Emma de la Fosse, CCO - Rafe Blandford, CPO - Aran Burtenshaw, Creative Director - Aran Gray, Project Manager - Christine Ho, Project Manager - Nicky Wright, Business Director - Caitriona Gallagher, Strategy Director - Lauren Webster, Strategist - Edward MacDonald, Test Lead - Florence Ward, Senior Analyst - Sarah Leonard, Writer - Sam Filstrup, Illustrator - Lloyd Tuckey, Head of Technology - Nikhil Roy, Senior Associate Project Manager - Tim Vukcevic, Senior Designer - Matt Holt, Chief Strategy Officer - Rafe Blandford, Chief Product Officer - Oliver Hill, Managing Partner

BE EE - Ja McReavie - Lewis Ferrand - Louise McCarthy - Amber Lavelle

Contributors

Prodigious, Internet Matters, We Are Futures, Home Start, The Marie Curie Foundation, Childnet International, and Anti-bullying Alliance