The Digital Inclusion Foundation is the non-profit created by aSmartWorld to bridge the digital divide in Belgium by distributing free refurbished smartphones and tablets to local associations and people in need.

During the first Covid-19 lockdown (April 2020), the Foundation launched an emergency action to supply hundreds of smartphones to retirement homes, preserving social contact for families separated from their elders.

For the second lockdown (November 2020), the ambition grew:
1. Entice more companies to donate dormant smartphones.
2. Reach elders and students lacking access to a tablet.

Masks hid our faces, but not our emotions. In a world of covered mouths and muffled conversations, the most universal human signal, a smile, felt out of reach. We saw an opportunity to turn that shared tension into a simple, memorable message: let’s reconnect smiles.

Single-minded proposition: Donate a device. Reconnect a smile.
• Audience architecture:
o Corporate/IT decision-makers on LinkedIn → donation pipeline.
o Care homes, social workers, student networks on Facebook & Instagram → device demand and awareness.
• Creative organising idea: Connected Smiles - a verbal/visual platform built around the emotional payoff of rediscovered contact.
• Go-to-market: two-week sprint to build a complete campaign kit and orchestrate owned + partner + earned channels.

• Tone & message: clear, human, zero jargon.
• Visual cue: leverage the reality of mandatory masks while highlighting eyes and screen-to-screen smiles as the hero.
• Copy lines (examples):
o “Donate your old devices. Connect families again.”
o “From company drawers to caring hands.”

Timeline: 2 weeks from brief to launch (intense co-creation with the client).
Channels: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn (differentiated creative & CTAs).
Partners: Croix-Rouge de Belgique and Solidaris featured as validating voices.

What we produced
• Messaging framework & key copylines (corporate + social/association variants)
• Visual system and social asset toolkit (static, carousels, motion)
• Short videos (incl. partner appearances)
• Press kit (angles, Q&A, CEO interview prep, media list)
• Coordination with the client for deployment and community management

• Campaign launched simultaneously across social platforms.
• Relayed by multiple corporates on their owned channels (internal + social).
• Earned media: broad press coverage incl. CEO interviews and articles.

• End-to-end campaign kit: messages, visual system, videos, press pack.
• Partner-ready assets (logos, quotes, co-branded visuals).

• Partner amplification: Red Cross Belgium & Solidaris featured in campaign content, boosting credibility and reach.
• Corporate mobilisation: multiple companies relayed the call to donate dormant smartphones internally and on social.
• Earned media: widespread press coverage, including CEO interviews, expanding donation and request pipelines.
• Adoption: the platform is now used as ongoing, structural communication for the Foundation.

Building on the first wave (April 2020) which enabled hundreds of smartphones for retirement homes, Connected Smiles scaled awareness and supply/demand matching during the second lockdown.

• Campaign strategy & creative platform (“Connected Smiles”)
• Messaging architecture & copy toolkit (corporate / social / press)
• Visual system & social templates (static + short-form video)
• Partner integration pack (quotes, logos, co-branding rules)
• Press kit (story angles, boilerplate, media Q&A)
• Asset handover & implementation support