The encyclopedia · Product & Design · Product decision · 2025
TIM's Block Pin locks a phone the moment it leaves its owner
TIM gave Carnival-goers a wearable pin that blocks the paired phone if it moves out of range, turning a security code into an object you carry.
TIM Telecom
the move
During Brazil's Carnival, distraction and crowds create ideal conditions for phone theft. TIM Telecom, with BETC Havas, wanted to address this with a product that did not rely on the user remembering to act.
The Block Pin is a wearable device paired to a phone. When the phone moves out of range of the pin, it locks automatically, so a stolen or dropped handset is not usable by whoever picked it up.
TIM distributed the pins for free at the two biggest Carnival celebrations in Brazil, so the product reached people at the moment and place where the risk is highest.
Because the safeguard lives in an object the user carries rather than a setting, it works even in the split second of a snatch.
why it works
- Carnival crowds and distraction make phones easy to steal in a moment.
- A wearable pin locks the phone automatically when it moves out of range.
- A physical object is always carried, unlike a security setting the user may forget.
- Giving it away free at the highest-risk events puts the protection where the problem is.
what transfers
Move a security setting from a screen the user ignores to a physical object they always carry, and make the safeguard automatic instead of optional.
what came after
Within two days the launch drew 68.5 million impressions and 96% positive sentiment on social media, and the engagement gains prompted TIM to expand free distribution across Brazil's Carnival locations. The campaign was recognised at the One Show.
references
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