The effect of screen time on the overall wellbeing of our next generation is a growing international concern.

Whilst children’s brains are developing, mindless screen time directly correlates with an increase in multiple behavioural and mental wellbeing issues.

Spark, New Zealand's leading telco has the brand purpose of “Helping all New Zealanders win big in a digital world”, so it’s never been more important for Spark to help kids use tech in a way that they can develop into happy healthy humans – technology isn’t going away, it’s just about how we use it.

The brief was to conduct a technology-led experiment, to see if we could help parents have more positive conversations about digital in the home. And at the same time, test the nation’s appetite for a future product.

By tapping into Kiwi’s innate love with rugby, Spark hoped to get families away from their screens

and outside

In partnership with Gilbert Rugby and child psychologist Dr Emma Woodward, Spark developed a smart ball for a nationwide experiment. Its aim: to help families balance screen time with active playtime.

The custom-made smart ball connected to an app where the parent could monitor the child’s screen usage, and set goals, while kid-mode allowed the child to see how much screen time they had left, and check out their achievements. Through machine learning the smart ball could also detect float passes, spin passes, place kicks, drop kicks or punts. As a result, the technology gamified active play.

Our comprehensive on-boarding and weekly program with Dr Woodward, set the tone for the experiment and helped participating families break down their digital balance goals in to achievable steps.

The ball provided an unconscious bias about time spent on screens vs play, becoming an effective catalyst for good conversations about digital wellness.

As tech has become much more sophisticated, tech use in early childhood is more pervasive, and the more children use screens the less they are able to self-regulate their screen use behaviour.

Which is why it’s more important than ever to teach our kids how to use tech well in a way that supports learning but doesn’t interfere with their development into happy healthy humans.

We know that there are huge benefits with good old fashioned play; increased blood flow to the brain through exercise can improve cognitive skills, focus, brain health and emotional development. Because of this, exercise makes it easier for children to learn.

The Department of Health and Human Services say that children and adolescents age 6 and older need at least an hour a day of physical activity to enhance their growth and development, however, 1-in-5 kids don’t play outside at all on a typical day.

70 prototypes were created for a 6 week nationwide experiment.

Families were sent Play by Spark kits, with the smart ball, app and accessories.

Our comprehensive onboarding and weekly program with leading child psychologist Dr Woodward, set the tone for the experiment and helped participating families break down their digital balance goals in to achievable steps.

The experiment was amplified by a fully integrated campaign that launched with a heartfelt TV advert where the nation saw young Toby have a heart to heart with his favourite computer game character, and suggest that they spend less time together.

It prompted the public to get involved, watch the families in Spark’s three part web series, learn balance tactics and help shape the future of Spark Play. Spark Play is part of Spark’s wider initiative in helping children build a healthier relationship with technology.

As a result of the nationwide experiment, 90% of kids started to become more aware of their screen time usage. 76% of families saw a positive change in their child’s behaviour. 44% of kids were sleeping better. 35% of our kids were self-regulating by the end of the experiment and this was sustained up to 3 weeks after. Over 2/3 of the kids mentioned that the best part was spending time with their parents.

The overall campaign effectively commented on the screen time tension, brand metrics showing our campaign over indexed in Cut through (160%), Credibility (144%), Personal relevance (134%), and Cultural relevance (111%) compared to other NZ telcos. This validated the need for a NPD like this, and that Spark is a trusted source to bring this to market.

Play by Spark also caused an increase in brand love, which tracked 25% above the telco category average.