How we turned Australia’s broken phones into unmissable art.
MobileMuster and Enigma redefined what a ‘dead’ phone means
MobileMuster – Phone Deaths
Challenge
After six years of declining awareness, MobileMuster needed to reignite national attention and inspire Australians to recycle their unused or ‘dead’ phones. With more than 13 million devices gathering dust in drawers, we set out to reframe what a ‘dead’ phone means - showing it still holds incredible value.
Strategy
Our organising idea: you’d be surprised how much life is in your dead phone. We positioned MobileMuster as the trusted, meaningful destination where old phones are given a second life - driving emotional connection and action through sustainability storytelling.
Creative
The platform, “However it dies, recycle it with MobileMuster,” reminds Australians that while every phone eventually meets its end, its materials can live on. Up to 96% can be repurposed into something new.
Execution
We partnered with artist James Dive to create a series of interactive “Phone Death” art installations within standard oOh!media bus shelter panels. Each mechanical artwork dramatized iconic phone death moments - from the dance floor to the washing machine and the sea - placed in contextually relevant locations near clubs, laundromats, and beaches.
Phase two extended the story through social media, using real viral “True Phone Death” clips on TikTok and Meta, supported by a national OOH rollout across 400 sites in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth.
Joel Murray, MobileMuster Marketing & Communications Manager: “The power of this work is in the engaging way it brings static media to life. A wait at the bus stop becomes a branding and education moment – there’s no damage you can do to a phone that will make it un-recyclable, and MobileMuster is where you go to recycle old, broken phones. Enigma have come up with the kind of bold creative we’ve been looking for.”