Durex has unveiled the final step in their mission to reconnect Kiwi couples by releasing a smartphone app that synchronises your phones to sleep together, so you can too. Auckland agency Contagion is working on the social media campaign, alongside PPR NZ.
The Durex Connect app release is timed to coincide with Saturday’s Earth Hour (www.earthhour.org) and is now available free on Android (and coming soon on iOS). PPR says it provides a simple, smart way to synchronise your phone with your partner’s, so that neither can renege on the promise of a dedicated, tech-free connection.
At agreed times, or by spontaneous agreement, Durex Connect app will simply mask a phone’s home screen, effectively putting the handsets to sleep and removing all distractions.
In the three weeks since Durex revealed the impact that technology is having on our relationships, their video (see it here), showing tech-obsessed couples’ reactions to the news that the off button was the only thing they needed, has gone viral with more than 40 million views.
PPR says that following the huge response around the globe as well as compelling research by Durham University about the obsessive impact of technology on our relationships (including 40% admitting to answering their phones during sex), Durex saw the need to take their commitment to Kiwi couples one step further and develop an app with a simple solution to turn off mobile devices at the same time.
“The Durex Connect film followed the volunteer couples on an emotional and reflective journey where they came to terms with their true obsession with technology in their relationships, and the campaign has really highlighted this on a global scale,” said Ukonwa Ojo, head of global brand equity at Durex HQ in the UK.
Rachel Bloodworth, head of public engagement at WWF-UK, said: “Durex’s Connect campaign is a great awareness driver of that need to reconnect, and we hope it inspires people to really think about how much we all need to make the time to stop and enjoy the world around us.
“Earth Hour is a huge symbolic display of the need to protect our planet. But it is something more – it’s an hour when we can all switch off and reconnect with the things that are important to us.”
- Download the Durex Connect app here
- The research, conducted by Durex in association with Durham University, can be found here: dro.dur.ac.uk/14770
- More information here: www.rb.com
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