Xfinity Mobile was looking for an unexpected way to drive awareness in the wireless category. After launching a year earlier, they still needed to breakthrough in a crowded industry. Our mission was to help them stand out amongst the competition and give smartphone users everywhere a reason to care about the brand.
As a mobile provider, Xfinity Mobile had to acknowledge a difficult truth: smartphones have become a burden. The devices that were supposed to make life easier have grown into a source of distraction and anxiety. The alerts. The bloat. The relentless buzzing. And it seemed like every solution in market was another app or add-on that only added to the problem.
So, last summer we decided to go in a completely different direction. Our idea was the Phone Cleanse—a 7-day mobile regimen designed to eliminate stress-inducing habits and improve "mobile well-being". Every chapter combated a common mobile issue: distracting apps, excessive bloat, mindless Instagram scroll, and many more.
Like any good cleanse, our centerpiece was a book, literally designed around a smartphone. That's right. The core of our mobile campaign was an actual book. As users slid their devices into a phone-sized cut-out (compatible with iPhones and Androids), they could easily adjust and optimize their settings while they followed along with each challenge.
We kicked things off by putting our book into the hands of the most phone-obsessed people we knew. Influencers. The challenge was simple: take our 7-day Phone Cleanse and post the progress.
The impact was immediate. Not only did these influencers start to acknowledge their improved "mobile well-being", but followers began to ask how they could try the Phone Cleanse. That's when we made it available for everyone.
Wherever people were struggling with mobile addiction, we created custom social versions of the Cleanse. Facebook. Snapchat. Pinterest. Each chapter became a snackable piece of content designed especially for mobile consumption. From there, we built a mobile-first experience where visitors could take the full Cleanse and even request a free, hardcopy of the book with just a Tweet.
The Phone Cleanse wasn't about hacks or shortcuts, it was about rebooting the relationship with your phone. Once people completed the 7-day regimen, our hope was that they began using their phone with a new sense of purpose and efficiency. Through our guide, Xfinity Mobile was taking a stance on the issue of mobile well-being, and that caught the attention of our audience and the press.
From the outset, we wanted to make people aware of the Xfinity Mobile brand. The popularity of the Phone Cleanse did just that.
Most importantly however, Phone Cleanse positioned Xfinity Mobile as a leader in the national conversation around mobile addiction at the exact moment the issue peaked. Within days of our launch, Apple and Google each announced plans to solve this modern epidemic, positioning our young brand alongside the giants of our industry.
