The First Phones Program is a world-first initiative by New Zealand telco 2degrees, giving children and parents the tools to navigate healthy smartphone usage from the moment of their first phone unboxing.

In a world where…

Algorithms prioritise Internet addiction

Online grooming has increased 80%

Smartphones have created a sleep crisis

Only 29% of parents know of any online safety tools

… the First Phones Program empowers children by teaching them the ‘Good Tings’ & ‘Bad Tings’ about phones, delivered through a unique, fun unboxing experience that educates at the moment their digital behaviours are set.

Digital devices are fueling a mental health epidemic among today’s youth: 80% of young, high cell phone users show high levels of depression.

As a responsible telco known for ‘fairness’, the brand wanted to positively affect the first key milestone when people’s digital behaviours are set: receiving their first phone.

This moment is critical: a first phone is the time when a person’s digital identity is formed. Typically, it is when kids get their first email address, social media accounts and are entrusted with the responsibility to act in a safe & mature manner.

However, while other milestones, such as driving, require a licence, there is no learning required when receiving a smartphone.

It is an enormous responsibility which needs to start in the right way.

The First Phones Program: a one-in-its-kind educational unboxing experience which teaches kids the ‘good tings’ and ‘bad tings’ about phone safety.

The program has been created in partnership with New Zealand’s most influential online safety body, Netsafe, to ensure meaningful impact at scale.

It is foremost a highly designed unboxing experience – developed to make this moment fun, exciting, engaging and informative. The box fits any phone whether old or new – and navigates children and their parents through the ten most important behaviours to adopt when receiving a first phone.

Once reviewed, kids and their parents are then asked to build, agree and sign a fair usage contract included within the packaging prior to their phone being revealed. Rather than preaching advice like other digital safety platforms, the experience has been built to be fun and culturally-relevant from the outset through the incorporation of street culture.

In an age of social responsibility, digital wellbeing has become a corporate dumping ground of well-meaning but vague advice.

Governments, NGOs & brands alike have all created Internet safety initiatives. Yet, digital wellbeing isn't a one-size-fits-all solution: the problems facing users are often different depending on their gender, age, ethnicity, religion.

To ensure it is making a real and impactful difference, we spurned this generalist approach, instead focussing on owning just one part of a person’s digital journey: the moment they receive their first phone.

Indeed, smartphones are important tools in today’s digital world; and educating kids when they receive their first phones is critical. However, parents are often unsure how to navigate this, while children put pressure on their parents to get all access all the time.

As such, we elevated this exciting first phone moment in a way that created discovery & education, leading to positive, life-lasting behaviours.

The Box:

Working with packaging engineers we developed every layer, fold, tear strip, and swipe function of the box to reveal the next online safety step. The interactive experience unlocks a range of educational content before reaching the final step - a contract for kids and parents to review, and sign on rules they’ve agreed on together.

Individually designed collectable stickers allow kids to sticker bomb our safety information everywhere. Meanwhile, parents get an online destination to prepare for the unboxing moment with simple instruction videos regarding how to pre-pack their box.

Good Tings Launch:

The First Phone Program was launched with the music anthem, ‘Good Tings’, by Grime icon, Scrufizzer, who took our ten tings and translated them into an art form that would spread in youth culture. Good Tings trended on Youtube, Spotify, social media, radio, and showed up in places kids hang out, like malls and cinema.

The First Phones Program has had significant media attention, leading to the campaign being seen by:

60,309,195 people across the Globe

with 40% of all New Zealanders having engaged in the campaign in some way

& 95% learning new, safer behaviours.

Not only has First Phones raised awareness, it has contributed significantly to sales growth:

Mobile phone plan sales are +39% (volume) YOY when comparing against the previous QTR

Most importantly, young Kiwis are now empowered with the knowledge to have safer first phone experiences:

343,000 Kiwis aged 10-14 will benefit from the initiative this year.

The campaign is being integrated permanently into all schools in New Zealand, enabling every future young Kiwi to learn from the initiative.

As a result, over the next 10 years, 968,000 Kiwis will directly benefit from the initiative.