2022, as life began to get back to "normal" (as much as possible), on the top of everybody's wishlist was the desire to resume travel activities. Travel industry as a whole boosted their strategies to the opportunity of regaining momentum.

On the other hand, worsening economic and social conditions put pressure on people to get back to work and up to speed. One must make ends meet before thinking about pleasure.

To be ahead of competition, SMILES wanted to tap into this social tension and awaken the traveler within each one of us, as it understands that life is much richer, full of good stories and experiences, when we travel.

To do that, we excited people to wake up to this idea with a campaign that one should literally sit, reflect and catch a glimpse of the real beauty of the world by getting into "traveler mode".

You and I, and everybody else, go through life a bit numb by routine and our "digital life". We are in "auto mode", most of the time. In a bad way.

A simple idea to snap out of it, actually, is to sit and perceive what is around. Be really present to see the beauty of the world. At least, the bits that cross our paths on a daily basis.

Transforming the Brand logo into a bench (and the whole campaign's gimmick, of course), so one can just sit and "click" into understanding that we are our journeys and the stories that breathe through them.

Placement was key. Mandatory to have lots of people NOT paying attention to what is just in front of them. A true Brazilian postcard that they were oblivious to it.

The bench was a simple invitation to start thinking about what should be one's next journey.

SMILES managed to tap the "post" covid-19 zeitgeist - a world wanting to get back to life at its fullest - by inviting people to talk and act towards travel and its relationship to life itself. How can one benefit from a life full of travel stories and experiences? That's the essence of the buzz around the brand activation, based on the symbol of the "Smiles bench", from connecting the benches themselves, placed at important Brazilian postcards, to the film's gimmick and pivoting Social Media activities.

In terms of Impact, the campaign captured among the entire competition a great portion of people's hearts and minds.

Share of Search: #1 Brand in Travel (+28% YoY)

New Users/Clients: +29%, outperforming pre-pandemic performance

36,8 MM engaged through Social Media influencers.

Almost 300 organic Consumer Generated Content

+ 16K real life interactions