Australian Telco Belong Creates Offline Online Wormhole to Overcome Phone Limbo

Australian telco Belong, today launched The Book of Limbo, an offline-online wormhole designed to keep Australians entertained while they set up their new phone.

The book, created by Howatson+Company, seeks to help people navigate ‘phone limbo’ – the period of disconnection that often occurs when you transfer all your data from an old device to your new one. A time devoid of memes, factoids, and the wonders of the internet. 

The Book of Limbo is designed to be the world’s first offline online wormhole, channelling the joyful chaos of the internet into over 100 pages of left field, humorous content. Ever wondered about whale poop, reverse centaurs, the Queen’s hat collection and giant squids? Well, The Book of Limbo has you covered. It even contains the entire edition of Alice in Wonderland printed over eight pages. 

Belong CEO, Jana Kotatko, said: “If you have an embarrassing amount of photos on your phone like me, transferring everything over to a new device can be a time consuming experience. With more than 8m new handsets purchased last year, it’s become a universal feeling. 

“The Book of Limbo is our way of making phone limbo a joyful moment, while also sharing our love for all of the weird and wonderful content the internet has to offer.”

The Book of Limbo has been created in partnership with some of Australia’s best multimedia artists, including Andrew van der Westhuyzen and Indigenous artist Saltwater Dreamtime.

The original artworks were created using CGI, Illustration, and the internet itself, via GAN (generative adversarial network) technologies.

The back page of every copy includes a free Belong mobile SIM card with $80 credit to use in Australia, enabling readers to re-enter the real internet after their new phone is set up.

Howatson+Company ECD, Gavin Chimes said: “There’s nothing like losing yourself in a good book. And there’s nothing like getting lost in the depths of an internet wormhole. We’ve found a way to combine the two and bring joy to that period of nothingness when you’re stuck between two phones.”

The limited-edition Book of Limbo is available to pre-order online at www.belong.com.au/bookoflimbo, with a digital edition and an audio edition being made available for those that can’t secure a physical copy.

This latest work comes less than three months after Belong announced the appointment of Howatson+Company as its creative and media strategy agency of record. Earlier this month, Howatson+Company launched Belong’s new fully integrated brand platform, ‘It feels good to Belong’, extending across brand communications, product, sim card packaging, website, UI/UX, staff collateral and more.