This is called “sharenting”, and although it is a serious problem, it hasn’t yet captured parents' attention the way it deserves.

So, to change parents’ behavior, we created the #ShareWithCare campaign: kickstarted by a gut-wrenching AI-generated video to show them the dangers of sharenting. “A Message from Ella” became an instant viral hit, grabbing the attention of millions including media outlets around the world, starting a global movement for children’s online safety.

BACKGROUND: 2023 was the year AI tools became easy to use for everyone, raising a lot of concerns about the safety of the data we share in social media. Yet, parents still share their kids' data on social media, unaware of potential consequences on their future: identity theft, scamming, harassment, deepfake pornography and child sexual abuse material.

As Europe’s leading telco brand, Deutsche Telekom’s ambition is to connect everyone to the opportunities of the digital world. But with the privacy of a whole generation at risk, Deutsche Telekom wanted to build on its legacy and step up to protect children against the recent arising threats. BRIEF: Develop a gut-wrenching film that brings awareness to the digital threat of online sharing, inspires behavioral change, and strengthens the brand’s perception as a protective force for the digital society.

CREATIVE IDEA: Using the latest Al technology on a single photograph, we created the virtually aged version of a 9-year-old girl: Ella. In our film, she confronts her parents – and by extension parents worldwide – with the consequences of sharing kids' data online, sending a gut-wrenching warning from the future.

This way, our film became both a literal demonstration of AI manipulation capabilities and an emotional plea for the online safety of all children.

EXECUTION: Usually, deepfake technology requires a large data set of source videos and a complex face-mapping process.

But, since we wanted to stress the harm that can be done with just a single picture, our challenge was to create a whole deepfake video from a single JPEG file: a photo of 9-year-old Ella, just like those that can easily be found on social media. We fed that photo to an AI engine that created a realistic version of a grown-up Ella by ageing her facial features.

Then, we trained a machine-learning engine to?recognize faces in moving images and replaced it with Ella’s aged face. Finally, we recorded Ella’s message using a stand-in actress and replaced her face using our newly trained engine. The engine was able to replace the face and maintain all the original facial expressions and emotions.

“A message from Ella” was first published on 3rd of July on YouTube. After it became a viral hit worldwide, we brought it to theaters. By airing a film that takes place in a cinema, in a cinema, we created a gripping, immersive atmosphere combined the emotional gravitas that is only possible on the big screen.

In the meantime, we shared the film on all relevant social media platforms, targeting parents specifically where they share their children’s data.

Using Content Creators to open up about their sharenting behavior, we boosted the campaign across social media. We activated opinion leaders on LinkedIn and TikTok, by linking our film to a campaign website, providing additional information on the topic of sharenting and identity fraud.

RESULTS: Ella’s message became a viral hit. Reaching over 51 million views and 3.7 billion earned impressions in 71 countries. Over 400+ media outlets picked up Ella’s message. The strategy of using highly emotional storytelling paid off – as seen in a 64 % view-through-rate (Benchmark: 10 %). The film sparked the public’s demand for children’s online privacy – indicated by a 1000% increase in google searches for “sharenting” and over 211.000 visits to the German campaign landing page since its launch on 3rd of July 2023. 62 % of non-customer parents affirmed that Telekom’s data safety and virtual privacy commitment will make them consider the company as a telecommunications provider in the future. Ella’s message is now an educational tool used by European police agencies, such as the Scotland police and the state polices across Germany.