Sustainable German retail giant ECE Marketplaces is bringing Smiley to 94 of its shopping centres across Germany, Austria, Poland and Italy.

From April 28th to May 7th, visitors will find the icon, celebrating it’s 50 year anniversary across more than 350 activations taking place in various mall areas within and shopping areas.

The participating centres and their retail partners will be welcoming visitors with featured SmileyWorld products, which are supported by creative installations, prize winning games, and fun decor. There will also be some innovative, entertaining and interactive additions which aim to keep visitors engaged with activities they couldn’t experience shopping online.

Two such examples are digital games where customers stand next to each other and smile. Artificial Intelligence and camera sensors are used to determine the strength of the smile, with participants receiving a printed coupon as their prize. Another example is buzzer cashback activations, where customers win vouchers and SmileyWorld Premiums (freebies or gifts with any purchase).

There is also the opportunity for visitors to win scratch card lotteries and apply Smiley Instagram filters as well as a range of chewing gums for customers to pick from based on their mood. This activation aligns with Smiley’s focus on encouraging people to boost their EQ (emotional intelligence) by identifying their emotions by using Smiley emoticons.

Keeping with the EQ theme, is probably the most artistic and eye-catching part of this brand activation campaign. The SmileyWorld EQ Art-Trail takes place across 25 ECE shopping centres, offering an art trail of Smiley sculptures depicting the 27 most important human emotions. This provides an important source of inspiration for caring about one another, whilst offering an exciting walk through our emotional world!