Sharing pictures of children without their consent has always been a moral grey area –the rise of AI turned it into a pressing danger. As a carrier whose entire business revolves around sharing, Deutsche Telekom felt responsible for protecting its positive power. Using latest AI technology, we created a virtually aged Ella. Her story became a cautionary tale that sparked a global debate, establishing “sharenting” in a global audience. Deutsche Telekom provided parents, news outlets and institutions with educational resources on how to #ShareWithCare - proving once again the brand lives up to its responsibility to protect the digital society.

As Europe’s leading telco brand, Deutsche Telekom ambition is to connect everyone to the opportunities of the digital world. But with great scale also comes a great responsibility to protect everyone from its threats. For years, the brand has earned a reputation for being a uniting force for online protection and has successfully launched multiple CSR initiatives, led by the multi-million long-term campaign #AgainstHateSpeech.

Deutsche Telekom wanted to build on this legacy and step up to protect the digital society against the recent arising threats.

The ask was to develop a PR-led campaign based on a digital threat.

1. Put a relevant threat on the public agenda

2. Educate people to inspire behavioural change

3. Strengthen the brand’s perception as a protective force for the digital society.

The golden days of social media are over.

Social networks blessed us with endless opportunities to connect with our loved ones, making it easy to form relationships beyond distance. Nowadays, the platforms are less social than ever, the light-hearted spirit of the early years seems lost.

People are turning shared data into weapons: Hate speech has become a permanent issue, leaving schools, parents, and authorities helpless. Scammers financially exploit people’s loneliness. These new digital threats have shattered the illusion of a carefree virtual reality with a mainly positive impact on our lives.

2023 was the year AI tools became easy to use for everyone, raising a lot of unanswered questions and concerns about the safety of the data we share in social media. There are a lot of threats that nobody feels responsible for – leaving the digital society alone with their concerns.

The biggest challenge was identifying a topic that ticked all boxes:

1. An urgent threat able to move the many but known to few: To put it on the agenda and capture the public interest, it’s essential to find a fresh topic that is highly relevant for the digital society and hasn’t been owned by anybody.

2. Enabling people to protect themselves: Deutsche Telekom strives to inspire behavioural change, which is why our campaign needs to make people aware of a potentially dangerous online behaviour and make them reconsider their actions.

3. A right to speak for the brand: Credible brand engagement needs a connection to our core business – connecting people to the digital world.

The average child has 1,500 pictures on social media by the age of five – shared without their consent. This habit of parents is called “sharenting”. The New York Times warned that by 2030, two-thirds of identity fraud cases will be connected to sharenting. Uncovering the drastic impact of a seemingly harmless online behaviour was a breakthrough moment:

1. The digital society is completely clueless about the significant dangers:

75% of parents share their children’s data on social media.

2. A generation of oversharing parents needed to understand their memories are actually data that can be abused by criminals.

3. Our core product is directly intertwined with the problem, which created a tension for the brand. For years, we encouraged people that “Life is for sharing”. But as sharing has become a dangerous activity, it was time to readjust our core message.

Spreading general awareness for the problem wouldn’t help us to get through to parents. We had to go further and confront them with the drastic impact of their own actions - closing the perceived gap between today’s behaviour and tomorrow’s consequences.

Using the latest AI technology on a single photograph, we created a virtually aged version of 9-year-old Ella. Her story became a cautionary tale how today’s AI is already capable of turning abstract threats into a threatening reality.

Ella’s gut-wrenching message sparked a global debate, establishing “sharenting” in a global audience. Deutsche Telekom provided parents, news outlets and institutions with educational resources on how to #ShareWithCare. The initiative was rewarded with overwhelmingly positive international response.

We alerted people about “sharenting”, a problem hidden in plain sight.

- The public indifference abruptly changed during our campaign, indicated by a tenfold increase of Google searches and the highest search peak in five years.

- 400+ esteemed media outlets (New York Times, Le Parisien, Hürriyet) referenced our campaign, resulting in 3.7B earned media impressions.

Ella’s message made an oversharing parent generation reflect on their behavior.

- 2 out of 3 parents surveyed now oppose sharing children’s data online, marking a +83% increase vs. pre-exposure

- 38% of parents intend to stop sharenting

Reinforcing Deutsche Telekom as a protective force for the digital society.

- 62% of the non-customer parents will consider Telekom because of its social commitment.

- +3 PP increase in perception as a socially responsible brand.

Ultimately, our film's impact extended beyond social media, serving as vital educational content for police departments in Scotland and Germany.

Deutsche Telekom won’t stop until everyone is connected.

Unfortunately, the digital world isn’t a safe space for everyone, especially for children whose childhoods are exposed by their parents without their consent. Europe's biggest telco brand had to step up and protect an entire generation of children from future threats. “Message from Ella” sent a wake-up call to parents worldwide, inspiring them to reflect on their sharing behaviour and #ShareWithCare.