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Optus donates internet access to Australian children

Optus in collaboration with Sun Creature, Australia

Australia – Telecoms firm Optus has created an animated advertising campaign to promote its data donation initiative.

The ad promotes the firm’s service allowing customers to donate unwanted or unused internet data to children across Australia to help ‘power their potential’. Created in collaboration with Danish animation house Sun Creature, the narrative shows a boy struggling to keep up with his gang of jet-packing friends when his power runs out. It refers to the sense of isolation and inequality that some children may experience if they’re unable to access the internet for schooling or social needs.

While Optus has been offering the service since December 2018, the campaign’s recent launch highlights the importance of internet access for young people isolating at home, in particular those who might normally rely on access at school or in public places.

With many citizens increasingly reliant on internet access for daily tasks, the data donation initiative echoes schemes in cities like Detroit, where the community has worked to equalise internet access for all.

Covid-19: A soap for 20-second hand-washing

Verve, Dublin

Dublin – Creative agency Verve has launched a miniature soap to develop positive habits around hand-washing.

The tiny soaps lasts for 20 seconds when used – the recommended time it takes for hands to be thoroughly cleaned. After receiving a large amount of online interest, Verve sent hundreds of tiny soaps to Irish homes as part of an awareness campaign around the importance of hygiene during the Covid-19 outbreak.

With fear about germs and contamination rife, hand wash, sanitiser and anti-bacterial products have been selling out. In response, Verve is encouraging consumers to take things into their own hands by creating their own miniature soaps, carving a regular bar into 15mm x 15mm squares. In this way, it is driving education and messaging that empowers consumers to have more control over preventative measures.

As a result of the pandemic, the wider health and wellness industry has been in the spotlight in recent months, with cleanliness front-of-mind. Explore this and more in our Covid-19 Contingency Planning report.

An ambience tool for people missing the office

Europe – The office noise generator by creative agency Kids allows remote workers to tune into the ambience of more familiar work environments.

Created as an interactive animation, the I Miss the Office concept brings together recognisable office sounds including the footsteps of colleagues, typing on a keyboard and a whirring printer. The agency designed the tool to be a fun experiment, but it also draws attention to the microcosms of the workplace that are now missing from many workers’ lives.

Valentin Cheli, its co-creator, says: ‘All these noises require input from people – people that are currently missing from our home offices, and that’s why it’s comforting.’

With the Covid-19 lockdown set to prompt drastic changes to how and where people work in future, many employees and their companies will be rethinking the structures and experience of the workplace. In turn, as people’s professional relationships become distant, technology will exist to fill the gap where human interaction is lacking. For more, explore our Neo-kinship macrotrend.

I Miss the Office by Kids, Europe

Stat: Britons have an appetite for change after Covid-19

A study by YouGov has revealed that only 9% of Britons want life to return to normal after the Covid-19 lockdown is lifted.

With many citizens appreciating cleaner air, time spent with family and stronger communities, more than half (54%) of the 4,343 people surveyed say they hope to make some changes in their own lives. Some 61% of respondents report they are spending less money and 38% said they are cooking from scratch more often.

A greater sense of togetherness is also proving to be important among Britons, with two-fifths of those surveyed saying there is a stronger sense of community in their area since the outbreak began. Meanwhile, 39% said they are catching up with their friends and family more.

As global anxieties prevail, communities are coming together to foster a future-facing culture of resilience at a local level.