Smile Team Orthodontics launches new smile-inducing campaign via Keep Left

Specialist orthodontic group Smile Team and creative agency Keep Left are spreading smiles with a campaign that makes it hard to suppress your smile.

Smile Team is a group of expert orthodontists with more than five decades of experience in creating confident and beautiful smiles. In 2023, Smile Team engaged Keep Left with a brand challenge symptomatic of the industry known as ‘the referral cliff’ – Smile Team was losing referrals as more dentists offered orthodontic treatments.

Keep Left was charged with creating a campaign to get people to re-evaluate who they trusted as the experts in orthodontic treatment while positioning Smile Team as the best place to seek advice.

Says Laura Agricola, strategy director, Keep Left: “After speaking with the audience – parents considering orthodontic treatment for their kids – one thing became clear: giving their children the best chance at feeling confident about their smiles was a significant motivator. This created an emotional and interesting creative space for the brand to play.”

Science says smiling boosts endorphins, eases tension, relieves anxiety, and lowers the heart rate. Thanks to facial mimicry, smiles are also contagious.

To get a ‘dream smile’, you need a specialist, which is where Smile Team comes in. Unlike dentists, orthodontists spend 3 extra years studying to create the perfect smile. Which you could say makes them ‘smile nerds’. In today’s culture, being labelled a nerd is a badge of honour highlighting intellect and passion.

Says Agricola: “We needed a hook to drive home Smile Team’s expertise. The idea of ‘Smile Nerds’ delivered that, enabling us to weave a narrative around the team’s unwavering passion for smiles, but in a way the audience could relate to.”

At the heart of the campaign is a 60-second film featuring Smile Team orthodontists bouncing on space hoppers, much to the amusement of a passer-by who can’t help but smile.

Says Blair Kimber, executive creative director, Keep Left: “Nerd culture thrives on the unconventional, the quirky, and the fun. This cultural truth became the bedrock of the campaign. Leaning into that tone allowed us to deliver a story that stood out from the rest of the category and, most importantly made people smile.”

The campaign will roll out across cinema, TV, out-of-home, and digital with static executions that show the Smile Team’s nerdy obsession in a variety of ways.

Says John Brett, general manager, Smile Orthodontics: “This is such a fun campaign that showcases the personality of our brand. More importantly, it shows that behind Smile Team’s orthodontic excellence is a team with a sincere desire to build authentic connections with patients.”

Adds Kimber: “The process has been truly collaborative and has further strengthened our partnership with Smile Team. It’s been nice to tap into our inner nerd as well and smile while we do it.”

Keep Left
CEO: Caroline Catterall
Managing Partner: Gillian Gosling
Client Partner: Gem Mejer
Strategy Director: Laura Agricola
Strategist: Zach Edwards, Harris Galloway
Executive Creative Director: Blair Kimber
Art Director: Thomas Rennie
Copywriter: Heath Kunde, Ruby Gill
Digital Designer: Giorgia Fichera, Hannah Palmer
Director Content and Performance: Larissa Thorne
Project Manager: Lucy O’Shea
Agency Producer/Director: Ant Dinham
Director of Photography: Rob C Morton
Editor: Ant Dinham
Colourist: Samuel Galloway
Flame Artist: Jamie Scott
Audio Post: Matthew Hadley

Smile Team
General Manager: John Brett