Purpose and mission

This week we launched our new website and, with it, the revamped KaiOS brand.

A brand is all about who you are, what you stand for, and what you’re trying to achieve. Therefore, you need to understand why your company exists.

Everyone at KaiOS is well-aligned on why we get out of bed every morning: to empower all people through technology (purpose) through our mission of advancing digital inclusion and closing the digital divide.

Though these words describe what we’re trying to achieve accurately, they didn’t feel right as the foundation of our brand and future.
We realized that “closing the digital divide” wasn’t too inspiring. It certainly is a meaningful objective, but the phrasing is abstract. And if you’re the person on the other side of the divide, these words mean very little to you.

You could even say the phrase is somewhat condescending: it takes the perspective of the person who is closing the divide and subtly suggests a position of superiority towards those on the other side of the digital gap.

This insight led us to the viewpoint of those who come online for the first time on a KaiOS-enabled phone and what connectivity means to them; internet access means excitement, possibility, and potential. Going online opens up new, unknown, and unexpected opportunities for connection and self-realization.

From this angle, we arrived at a much more compelling concept that still fits our “formal” mission of closing the digital divide. We captured this in a big idea, a manifesto, and, ultimately, a new tagline.

Big idea, manifesto, and tagline


Big idea

Unleash unexpected potential

Manifesto

By always competing for bigger and faster
We forget what really matters about technology:
It opens up new possibilities for individuals, organizations, and society
Allowing them to reach their full potential.

At KaiOS we see opportunities where others don’t
We dare to say yes when others say no
We jump in when others jump off.

This is how we, together with our partners,
Empower people to become agents of change
Inspiring each other to do and achieve more.

KaiOS reimagines the possibilities for all
By connecting countries, people, and ideas
One phone at a time.

KaiOS, enable tomorrow

Tagline

Enable captures the essence of an operating system: a platform that allows others to build their lives and businesses on top of it. We can also use the word in versatile ways for marketing, for example:

  • Enable developers: for marketing related to our developer community
  • Enable Africa: for an event in Africa
  • Enable mobile operators: for a pitch to carriers.

Tomorrow symbolizes hope, optimism, possibility, and taking a long-term perspective; it signals that we work to build a better future.

Enable tomorrow

With this new direction for our brand, we’ve truly put our mission at the heart of everything we do. We hope this will inspire our team, partners, and users to advance digital inclusion and unleash unexpected potential everywhere.

For an in-depth, behind the scenes look at the entire rebranding process, visit the full version of this article on our Medium blog.