Sedentism affects 84 million Brazilians. But, if so many people should exercise, why are there only 6.4 million people in gyms? One of the reasons is the unwelcoming environment for people who do not adhere to the fitness industry's beauty standards. However, only those with a perfect body feel at ease there.We believe this work is relevant to Direct because we discovered that people need to be encouraged to begin exercising rather than having an unattainable beauty goal. That's why we developed an inclusive technical language, aimed at members and prospects, to demonstrate that everyone can exercise in Smart Fit.

69% of gym-goers believe they are being judged. 60% felt they were being judged because of their weight, and fifty percent felt they were being judged because they didn't appear fit enough.

In other words, unfit people are uncomfortable showing off their bodies, which influences the discontinuation of training and, in some cases, the initiation of activities. Gyms are no longer inspiring places for everyone. As a result, many people are looking for other ways to exercise. Outdoor sports, apps, and online classes are just a few examples. Gym clubs are losing members and importance at an alarming rate.

Smart Fit, the world's third-largest gym network, felt obligated to change this perception and transform its clubs into a more welcoming and democratic environment, demonstrating that anyone can exercise there. While encouraging people and ensuring that new members' growth curves resume, many of them no longer attend gyms.

Smart Fit's mission is to democratize high-quality physical activity, but the atmosphere of its clubs was not appealing to those with non-standard bodies. All stimuli were based on perfect bodies, and the erroneous notion of displaying these bodies as an incentive drove away new members. The solution was to develop a new inclusive internal language to educate and generate awareness about the lack of representation of non-standard bodies in the fitness world.

That is how Everybody Fits was born, a communication for new and old members that changed internal communication, trained coaches, and created new videos for Smart App. Members will now see the most diverse bodies exercising wherever they look. They will recognize each other and feel more at ease in Smart Fit clubs.

Our client's data had a significant blind spot: no one really knew why so many people hate going to the gym. So we ran a study, leveraging data science and social mining techniques to analyze people's feelings and behavior. It covered 7.081 comments over 6 months. Our target audience was all Brazilian adults who dislike going to the gym.

Here's what caught our eye. When you get past "laziness", which is certainly a factor, you'll find a deep disdain for gym culture. People don't identify with it - they are too self-conscious. And they don't like to feel watched because they don't like the way they look. People dislike gyms because they feel like an 'other'. Our strategy was to make a cultural change inside out through Everybody Fits. Without using those words, the implicit call to action was "Come to Smart Fit. Here all bodies can exercise".

Before putting the idea into action, it was necessary to assess the members' journey and all of their points of contact in the clubs. Next, the best technique for gaining scale had to be determined, because hundreds of images of different bodies (standard, large, and with disabilities) would have to be created and applied to dozens of pieces of equipment in hundreds of gym units.

The most cost-effective solution was a 2D illustration. With this discovery, the biomechanics expert team collaborated with the art directors and illustrators to best represent the exercises. Simultaneously, the video production team began filming the non-standard bodies exercising in order to include them in the Smart App. Finally, the gym teachers and staff were given additional training in the areas of diversity, inclusion, and biomechanics.

Unlike a traditional awareness campaign, listing the outcomes of a social behavior change initiative is not an easy task.The project was unanimously approved by the teachers in an objective assessment, who saw it as an opportunity to "improve the feeling of belonging and welcoming." The presence of non-standard bodies in the environment was viewed positively by 55% of the members. Social discrimination, according to 56%, is the most significant barrier to an inclusive environment. Sixty-five percent anticipate that the company will take steps to promote inclusion. It means that the majority of members are open to more diversity. According to a subjective assessment, the company's senior management realized that prejudice is just one of many barriers that members face when considering joining a gym club. As a result, they requested an in-depth study to determine the factors that prevent new members from joining Smart Fit and to review the company's.