Tag: Belong

Sydney, Australia – Local carbon neutral telco Belong has launched a new campaign called ‘Second Life Phones’, an eco-friendly alternative to purchasing a brand-new device, powered by Kingfisher. 

The campaign, conceptualised by Howatson+Company, sources the best pre-owned smartphones, refurbishes them and offers them to value and environmentally conscious consumers at a considerable price.

All phones are restored by Kingfisher, across a multi-point check, ensuring full functionality and battery performance at about 80% minimum of new. The packaging is fully recycled and has been designed to provide the buyer with the same satisfaction of opening a brand-new device.

As part of the campaign, a film was launched which subverts the tropes of typical phone launches, gloriously showcasing an old man’s forehead instead of the tech, to ask the question ‘why not consider life on a refurbished phone, which can be used in the same way as a new one?’. 

Aaliah Eggins-Bryson, head of product and marketing at Belong, said, “Too many Australians believe mobile phones have no material impact on the environment than other things in their lives but in fact, every year, the world throws away around 44.7 million tonnes of tech. This is why we’ve launched Second Life Phones; because the most sustainable phone is the one that already exists.”

Meanwhile, Gavin Chimes, executive creative director at Howatson+Company, commented, “It has been amazing to work as partners with the brilliant Belong team to bring this program to life. We’re proud to be providing an alternative to unconscious tech upgrades. And when you consider what most of us use our phones for – brunch pics, baby spam, screaming goat videos – you probably won’t know the difference. But the planet will.”

Australia – Belong, the carbon-neutral mobile and internet provider in Australia, has appointed Amy Childs, former managing director of electric utility firm Momentum Energy, to step into the newly created role of chief customer officer.

Childs brings with her over 15 years of experience in the industry. Aside from her most recent position at Momentum Energy, which saw her lead an extensive transformation of operations and a 37% increase in customer growth during her time in the role, Childs has also led marketing, digital experience, and transformation operations at ahm Health Insurance, Medibank, and Red Energy. 

As the new chief customer officer, Childs will be responsible for the strategy and implementation of Belong’s customer experience capability, with the intent of delivering a best-in-class customer experience to better serve the telco’s customers. 

Commenting on her appointment, Childs said, “Belong is an incredible business with a huge opportunity to help redefine how customer experience can create more efficient, more accessible, and better outcomes for customers. I’m looking forward to continuing to work with the team to meet and exceed our bold objectives for this year and beyond.”

Meanwhile, Jana Kotatko, Belong’s CEO, shared that Childs’ proven leadership across customer advocacy and business transformation will play a key role in Belong’s growth in 2022 and beyond.

“I’m looking forward to working with Amy as we implement our strategy to have the best customer experience in the country,” said Kotatko.

Australia – Belong, the carbon-neutral mobile and internet provider in Australia, has launched a new two-minute radio ad titled, ‘A Love Song to the Internet’, aimed at celebrating the joyful and unexpected wormholes the internet leads its users down.

The spot, which was created in collaboration with advertising agencies Howatson+Company and Eardrum, as well as musician Andy Hopkins, takes the form of a modern love song to the internet, journeying from facts about octopus flatulence to apps that help users speak Spanish. 

Kelly Schulz, Belong’s head of brand, communications, and culture, shared that the internet gets a bad rap sometimes, but it can be a wonderfully joyful, and exciting place, and from streaming hours of random content to joining forums about things that taste like blue, it’s where everyone belongs.

“As a telco that’s all about inclusivity and belonging, we felt compelled to sing about it with some wonderful  Australian musical talent,” said Schulz. 

Meanwhile, Jared Wicker and Elaine Li, Howatson+Company’s creative duo, said, “The internet has always been there for us all and this was our chance to work with Belong to return the favor for consumers with a light-hearted modern love song.”  

The campaign will be running across the national Nova, KISS, and Triple M networks in specially designed two-minute ad placements. 

In September this year, Belong, alongside Howatson+Company, also launched ‘The Book of Limbo’, an offline-online wormhole designed to keep Australians entertained while they set up their new phone.

Australia – The carbon-neutral mobile and internet provider in Australia, Belong, has partnered with advertising agency Howatson+Company, to launch ‘The Book of Limbo’, an offline-online wormhole designed to keep Australians entertained while they set up their new phone.

‘The Book of Limbo’ aims to help people navigate ‘phone limbo’ – the period of disconnection that occurs when you transfer all your data from an old device to your new one. It is designed to be the world’s first offline online wormhole, channeling the joyful chaos of the internet into over 100 pages of left-field content.

In addition, the new book has been created in partnership with some of Australia’s best multimedia artists, including Andrew van der Westhuyzen and Indigenous artist Saltwater Dreamtime. Its original artworks were also created using CGI, Illustration, and the internet itself, via generative adversarial network (GAN) technologies.

Meanwhile, the back page of every copy includes a free Belong mobile SIM card with an AU$80 credit to use in Australia, enabling readers to re-enter the real internet after their new phone is set up.

Jana Kotatko, Belong’s CEO, said that transferring everything over to a new device can be a time-consuming experience, and with more than eight million new handsets purchased last year, it’s become a universal feeling. 

“The Book of Limbo is our way of making phone limbo a joyful moment, while also sharing our love for all of the weird and wonderful content the internet has to offer,” added Kotatko.

Gavin Chimes, Howatson+Company’s executive creative director, shared that there is nothing like losing yourself in a good book, and there’s nothing like getting lost in the depths of an internet wormhole. 

“We’ve found a way to combine the two and bring joy to that period of nothingness when you’re stuck between two phones,” said Chimes.

The limited-edition Book of Limbo is available to pre-order online, with a digital edition and an audio edition being made available for those that cannot secure a physical copy.

The latest work comes after the appointment of Howatson+Company as Belong’s creative and media strategy agency of record. Earlier this month, Howatson+Company also launched Belong’s new fully integrated brand platform, ‘It feels good to Belong’, extending across brand communications, product, sim card packaging, and website, as well as UI/UX, and staff collateral, among others.