Santander, which has always positioned itself as a bank that is always on the side of small businesses, but has been increasingly suffering from competition from fintechs, digital banks and traditional banks that are also interested in this business segment. At the same time, it saw, between 2017 and 2019, the publishing market in Brazil shrink by 39%. A crisis that soon also hit newsstands. In 2018 alone, more than one newsstands closed their doors each day. A crisis that takes millions of reais out of the economy and generates thousands of unemployed people. In this context that we saw an opportunity to generate visibility, expand our service network and really step-up for the newsstands, with benefits for people, for cities and for the economy.

Our idea was to revitalize the newsstands business as a way of demonstrating the bank's commitment to small businesses and, thus, positioning itself as a leader in this small business segment. In addition to a profound visual revitalization of the newsstands, the business model was also renewed. Without losing its editorial essence, we added new services, always respecting what each region of the city needed most. Moreover, the newsstands became bank correspondents and closed long-term outdoor media contracts, thus ensuring greater and more sustainable profitability in the long run. By supporting the newsstands, we knew that we would have a lot of visibility and a place where people could really feel that we were on the side of the entrepreneurs.

Our strategy was to create a renewed business space for newsstand owners, which would generate more income for them, be useful for the population and revitalize the urban space. Thus, by targeting banking owners, we have managed to reach the entire population and position ourselves as a bank that really goes a long way to support small business.

This project started in September 2019 and started with some pilot stands. Once we had a reliable test of the initiative viability, the bank launched an advertising campaign portraying the transformation of these newsstands. At the same time, new stalls registered and began the renovation. In that first moment, more than 300 newsstands joined in, some that were closed, reopened. With the arrival of restrictions for renovation works, in the pandemic, the project slowed down, but we received the registration from many other interested parties.

The result of the 6-month program is very encouraging: with 300 newsstands in the program, the bank expanded its service network by 10%, reaching even 20 small towns that did not have any bank branches. Bearing in mind that in small cities like those, the internet network is deficient, and having bank service in place is a leap in quality in the lives of many people. And most importantly, each of these newsstand owners has seen their income increase by an average of 30% since they joined in. The Project has been featured In Architecture Awards and Publications, including finalist as the project of the year at Archi Daily Brazil.