EE and Beano come together to talk online safety. New integrated campaign by Pitch Marketing Group sees EE and Beano come together to share tips and advice on online safety, after half of parents admit they wouldn’t be able to survive the online world if they were a child today.
Pitch has conceived and produced a multi-faceted campaign this summer to help parents learn how they can support and educate their children on phone usage to ensure they stay safe and are kind online.
The integrated media and content campaign which launches today brings together the two icons brands EE and Beano. At the heart of the campaign is a specially created Beano comic strip starring iconic characters Dennis Menace and Minnie the Minx showcasing the potential perils of a first mobile phone and providing parents with actionable tips to ensure their kids stay safe and are kind online. The comics have been developed into a set of educational animated videos housed on a central online hub: ee.co.uk/beano
The campaign will be activated across PR, paid social (Facebook & Instagram), a media partnership with Reach plc, OOH activations at Westfield Square (Shepherds Bush), and underground stations Leicester Square, Baker Street and Waterloo, in EE retail stores and via BT’s nationwide StreetHub display network, and on BT Sport Airtime.
Research commissioned to inform the campaign found that 52% of parents admit that they would not be able to survive the online world if they were a child today. Additionally, 60% of parents fear that even their kids know very little about how to protect themselves when using their phones. While 74% of mums and dads try to educate their children, a concerning 55% admit that if their child saw something unsuitable online they wouldn’t know how to stop them seeing it again.
With a growing concern around the impact of phone use and parents worrying that phones actually make their child unhappy, 66% are calling for online platforms to do more to protect children. To address this, EE have created the PhoneSmart Licence – an online course educating children from all mobile network providers for free on how to stay safe and be kind online. It was created in partnership with experts from Internet Matters to give parents that additional peace of mind as their children enter the online world.
Victoria Johnson, Digital Impact and Sustainability Campaigns and Engagement Director, BT Group, said: “As a parent of two I know the excitement a new phone brings a child, but it also worries me allowing them access to everything in the online world. That’s why it’s been great to be able to use the Beano characters familiar from my childhood, to share tips and advice on how children can navigate using their phones safely.
Lucy Hutchinson, Head of PR at Pitch Marketing Group said: “It’s been such a great experience bringing Dennis into the online world to show the dangers kids can face. Working with the Beano has given us so much opportunity to explore different online challenges in a lighthearted way but with a clear and important message, contextualising so many of the fears parents (rightly) feel and showing how EE PhoneSmart can help.”
EE has shared its top tips to help children stay safe and be kind online which you can watch in the animated comic strips at ee.co.uk/Beano
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWhd-SqTh4Q
