Deutsche Telekom, like many established telcos, recognised that their younger audience was less engaged. They wanted to address that issue and bridge the generation gap. Our brief was to rejuvenate the main DT brand and do that by building an authentic relationship with Gen Z.

Whether you’re a world-famous popstar or an activist with 500 followers, if you’re a teenager you have, at some point, been judged by an older person for being on your phone. Gen Z was being written off as a disconnected, phone obsessed generation. The idea was to challenge the judgement and insults levelled at young people and their use of connected technology by building a contradictory narrative of real-life achievements, artistry and activism by young people. We created a platform to show what Gen Z were really doing on their phones – making music, fashion and art, building businesses and campaigning for change. An idea rooted in digital optimism with a confrontational Gen Z edge, we aimed to show how vital technology was in the lives of a spectrum of young people and to encourage a conversation between the generations about what they actually ‘do on their phones all day’.

We carried out multi-market qual research to understand Gen Z attitudes. The more we dug into their lived experience, the more we discovered a central tension which pivoted around the connected technology DT provides. On the one hand there is a familiar characterisation of Gen Z as a screen obsessed, entitled and narcissistic generation: i-Gen, a generation ruined by the combination of smartphones and social media. But on the other hand, we found a generation coming together through technology to create a better future by affecting the things they really care about like the environment or racial and sexual inclusion. This tension is felt as an injustice by our audience. Our approach was to publicly resolve it using an artist who more than any other in the world has come to represent the power, creativity and originality of this generation: Billie Eilish.

Gen Z can spot inauthenticity a mile off so it was crucial we told real stories. We found 6 inspirational young influencers, all who stood for something close to Gen Z’s heart.

A film brought their stories to life, heroed by the ultimate voice of their generation: Billie Eilish. We launched across 9 European markets on UN International Youth Day, with Billie and our influencers sharing the film.

Paid feed videos and stories targeted Gen Z across Europe with the film, supported by bespoke social content and an exclusive interview featuring Billie and our influencers.

Our #whatwedonext challenge asked a range of local market influencers to spotlight brilliant Gen Z minds who are making a difference through connected technology. Short videos showcasing young people and their less high-profile achievements supported the challenge.

The campaign kick-started DT’s mission to support this generation as they find their way in a new world.

The campaign generated over 1 billion impressions across paid & earned media; on digital, social and PR. The film has been viewed 142M times and commanded 350+ pieces of editorial coverage across Europe, with 100% brand attribution and 97% positive or neutral sentiment.

The campaign strongly resonated with the core Gen Z audiences, with responses on YouTube such as “this is such an important topic, I’m proud of Billie for speaking about it” but also earned positive reactions beyond the target audience “You kids of today, helped me open my eyes. You give me hope.” Brand visibility more than tripled after the start of the campaign and Telekom Electronic Beats social channels saw a 14% growth within Gen Z on Instagram following and a 9% growth on its YouTube channel.