Kingfisher breathes new life into discarded phones in new campaign

Mobile experience company Kingfisher has launched a new ad as part of a wider campaign on its part to illustrate the concept of circulation and how mobile devices can go on to live second, third and even fourth lives.

This B2B campaign, which was created with creative agency Superson Singapore, takes viewers on a journey starting with the all too familiar sight of an old phone being discarded into a drawer after being replaced with a shiny new upgrade. The drawer starts to rotate and with it, its contents, which then evolves into a series of short vignettes denoting the theme of circularity and a phone being passed from one person to the next to symbolise multiple lifetimes.

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Luke Nathans, the chief marketing officer at Kingfisher said that it's estimated that a staggering 5.3 billion mobile phones were taken out of circulation last year, with the majority disappearing into drawers, cupboards or waste bins bound for landfills or incineration. "The fact is that consumers are looking for sustainable alternatives to device ownership but don't want to compromise on having the latest devices," he said.. 

Nathans shared that the campaign aims to turn the concept of the mobile circular economy into something tangible, that it's possible to upgrade whilst extending the life of an existing device, benefiting consumers, carriers and the planet.

As part of the campaign, a moving kinetic sculpture was created for Kingfisher by renowned Helsinki and Tokyo-based artist collective, Sun Effects.

Standing at nearly three and a half meters tall with a 14-metre-long spiral rotating on a central axis, the sculpture was made of refurbished phones, their displays synched to create one big continuous screen to denote windows into the circular economy. The software to wirelessly link and synchronise each phone display was also specifically developed for the project.

After its display time, the used smartphones will be circulated back to live a third life via DeafTawk, a global charity dedicated to improving the lives of the marginalised deaf community, through Kingfisher's partnership with GSMA, a global organisation unifying the mobile ecosystem. 

Antti Toivonen, the managing partner, Superson shared that consumers keep old phones and have them stored somewhere thinking they might come in handy. Yet, the reality is that they stay there, unused, unloved until the drawer is eventually emptied and its contents discarded, he added. 

"This campaign looks to humanise the concept of circularity by showing refurbished phones getting a new life, of a phone being passed from one person to the next, from one life to another, capturing special moments along the way whilst doing good for the planet," Toivonen said.

A spokesperson from Superson also told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that the campaign will run on all digital channels and that it is targeted at business audiences and they inspire mobile operators to move from a take-make-waste model with short device lifespans to a more holistic and circular approach to device ownership.

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