Ello Mobile rebranding

What happens when a business works for social change? LUON, a marketing agency, was looking for a better way to contribute to charity.

Thus Ello Mobile was born, based on a simple idea: call, text, and surf the web on your phone, Ello donates.

While appealing to their generosity, Ello provides real value to its customers. All Ello Mobile benefits go to a selection of charitable projects. Ello users choose to donate to the cause(s) they relate to the most. Benefiting charities include the WWF, Natuurpunt, Doctors of the World, Viva Salud, and many others.

Ello Mobile became the first company of its kind in Belgium: a profitable mobile phone operation dedicated to non-profit. It accomplished that by relying on word-of-mouth rather than on a traditional advertising budget.

Over the years, Ello Mobile donated over a million euro to social and ecological projects.

Role:

To relaunch the brand in 2010, LUON was looking for ideas to reconnect Ello with its audience. The answer was the Ello family, a set of characters designed to liven up the brand. Each character has a unique role that makes Ello more personable. Mama, Papa, Ella, Youpi, and O’papa, along with some friends, all participate. The central character is the family mascot, Schmutzenbacker, a witty white rabbit that stands for the spirit of Ello.

The characters appeared on the Ello Mobile portal, in illustrations and animated stories, email marketing, social media, and print communication. I designed all the Ello Mobile stories, from June 2009 until December 2016.

Process.

Working closely with LUON’s copywriters and Creative Director, we first sat down to define the spirit of the brand and its objectives. Then we developed the visuals and stories, starting with sketches. The collaboration went smoothly over the years as we safeguarded Ello with each update.