What If Screen Time Brought Families Together?
Nex has launched “Bring Back Family Time,” its first integrated national brand campaign, created in partnership with Zambezi.
The campaign starts with a familiar tension: personal devices increasingly pull family members toward separate screens and separate experiences.
Nex offers a different proposition: instead of asking families to abandon technology entirely, the brand uses active family screen time to bring everyone back together in a shared space.
Reframing the Role of the Screen
Nex Playground is positioned as an active play system that transforms the television into a shared family experience.
The product gets people off the couch, moving together and participating in the same activity.
That gives the campaign a simple strategic idea: the problem is not necessarily the screen itself, but how the screen is being used.
The Television Becomes the Storyteller
At the center of the campaign is a cinematic hero film told entirely from the perspective of the family television.
The TV watches decades of living-room life unfold, from imaginative play and family gatherings to a quieter era where everyone gradually retreats into personal devices.
The arrival of Nex Playground changes the room again, turning it back into a shared space for movement and connection.
Richard Kind Gives the Living Room a Voice
Actor Richard Kind voices the personified television, bringing warmth, humor and nostalgia to the campaign.
His narration helps make the TV feel like a longtime witness to family life rather than simply another piece of technology.
Why the Idea Works for OOH
The campaign extends across streaming, television, digital, social and Out-of-Home media.
For OOH, the message has an interesting role: it reaches parents outside the home with a reminder about what is happening inside it.
Simple ideas around disconnected screens, shared play and bringing family time back can translate quickly into public-facing creative while the hero film provides the emotional depth.
From Product Launch to Cultural Position
Nex is not only introducing a gaming system.
The company is taking a position on what technology should do for families.
Its argument is that the best technology can strengthen human connection rather than compete for individual attention.
That gives the product a broader emotional role beyond entertainment.
A National Integrated Launch
“Bring Back Family Time” launched September 1 across television, streaming, digital, social and OOH.
Media strategy was led by Scale by Zambezi, with the campaign designed to reach parents and families at national scale.
What Marketers Can Learn From Nex's Campaign
- Strong technology marketing can challenge category assumptions instead of reinforcing them.
- A familiar cultural tension can give a new product immediate relevance.
- Integrated campaigns work best when every channel reinforces one simple idea.
- OOH can introduce the strategic message while film delivers deeper emotion.
- Products become more meaningful when brands explain the human behavior they want to enable.
Final Reflection: The Screen Is Not the Enemy
Nex takes a more interesting position than simply arguing for less screen time.
It asks whether screens can be designed to create a different kind of behavior.
By turning the television back into a place for shared movement and play, “Bring Back Family Time” makes connection itself the product benefit.
Summary
Created with Zambezi, the campaign challenges the idea that screens must isolate people. Across TV, streaming, digital, social and OOH, Nex presents technology as a tool for shared active play, using the family television as the narrator of how the living room changed and how it can become social again.
Ready to advertise outdoors?
BM Outdoor plans, buys and prints OOH campaigns across all 50 states. Request a free quote with no commitment.
Frequently asked questions
What is Bring Back Family Time?
It is Nex Playground’s first national integrated brand campaign, positioning active screen-based play as a way to reconnect families in the living room.
Who created the campaign?
The campaign was created in partnership with independent integrated agency Zambezi.
What is the main idea of the hero film?
The film is told from the family television’s perspective as it watches the living room shift from shared play to individual screens before Nex Playground brings everyone together again.
Where is the campaign running?
The national campaign spans television, streaming, digital, social and Out-of-Home advertising.
Sources
Summary
Created with Zambezi, the campaign challenges the idea that screens must isolate people. Across TV, streaming, digital, social and OOH, Nex presents technology as a tool for shared active play, using the family television as the narrator of how the living room changed and how it can become social again.
Sources
FAQs
What is Bring Back Family Time?
It is Nex Playground’s first national integrated brand campaign, positioning active screen-based play as a way to reconnect families in the living room.
Who created the campaign?
The campaign was created in partnership with independent integrated agency Zambezi.
What is the main idea of the hero film?
The film is told from the family television’s perspective as it watches the living room shift from shared play to individual screens before Nex Playground brings everyone together again.
Where is the campaign running?
The national campaign spans television, streaming, digital, social and Out-of-Home advertising.
Ready to advertise outdoors?
BM Outdoor plans, buys and prints OOH campaigns across all 50 states. Request a free quote with no commitment.
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