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After the success of Paredes de Coura, we knew we could not stand still. We found PMF, but here the M is not Market. PMF is what Leonardo called Product Marketing Fit.

So we decided to bet on the Vilar de Mouros festival for another campaign.

Success has weight

When we arrived at Vilar de Mouros, expectations were high. We followed the same play as Paredes de Coura: catch people before the festival started, so groups could form and expenses could be shared on BananaSplit. We went on Monday. The festival started on Tuesday.

The Vilar de Mouros warmup is calmer. We found the river beach with few people. The crowd is also older than Coura's, and more family-oriented.

The river.

The spot where we set up our "stall" was not as good either. There was less room to move and less visibility. Few people walked past. The beach crowd could see something in the distance, but from far away it was not clear it was a campaign or what it was about, and walking over takes a risk — there is always a bit of shame. When there are people, the risk of anyone approaching drops. Being first takes courage. Until we have people, it is harder.

Derek Sivers has an incredible video about how to start a movement.

For a movement to start, someone has to have the courage to begin — even at the risk of looking like a fool. But that person needs the first followers: they are the ones who validate the idea, show others how to join, and turn a solo act into something collective.

From there, once the movement has visibility and momentum, joining stops being risky — and nobody wants to be left out.

In Coura we managed to start a movement. In Vilar we did not, so we had to improvise.

If people do not come to us, we go to the people.

There is a Portuguese saying, "whoever is too shy goes hungry," used when someone wants to do something but is stuck with shame. Approaching someone gives you a knot in the stomach, a fear of being rejected or of something going wrong. But we are hungry. We want to win. We cannot afford to go somewhere and come back without leaving everything we have.

So that is what we did: slowly we started getting people's attention, and one by one we started making the campaign known.

Ana and Devil of a Woman

One of those people was Ana, vocalist of Devil of a Woman. She really connected with us, with our grit and will. In her band, a bit like a startup, she also has to fight hard for recognition.

Ana with us at the campaign. The story meant a lot.

We were so happy to hear she would be performing at Vilar de Mouros for the first time, a dream of hers since she started going to the festival, where she has been a regular for years.

It was inspiring.

This is what a campaign is made of. Sharing stories. Helping each other. And Ana made a point of posting a story with us so her audience would come find us. A huge thank you, Ana. We have not forgotten your support. You made a difference, and you are part of our story.

We tried the night, closer to the campsite, but the crowd stayed thin. A few groups backed us, and we closed the first day with more than 30 people signed up on the app. A small number for the start of the day, but enough by the end. Not every day will be amazing: we have to accept the weaker ones, take the good, learn from the hard parts — and put up with the mosquitoes this area is famous for.

On festival day the river was ready to work

The next day we went back. It was the first day of the festival. We knew it would be different: Vilar de Mouros does not have the warmup Paredes de Coura has, so a lot of people only arrive on the day.

And the reception was completely different. The river was filling up, not packed, but already enough to "work with." As soon as we arrived we pulled in several people without having to reach out, and we got movement right away, which matters a lot for attracting more people. You could tell there was more potential.

The crowd arriving.

We saw many of the people who had already been with us the day before. We swapped more ideas and made friends.

Funny that we met people who had been at Paredes de Coura who had not been with us directly but had already heard of BananaSplit. That was really cool.

Dynamic staff

On the first day there were three of us. Our friend Ricardo came to give us a hand. On the second day it was just me and Leo. But the funniest part is that a girl, Veronica, who we had met the day before, found us again at the river and, in the middle of talking and sharing ideas, ended up joining us and helping a huge amount.

Ricardo and Leo at the "stall". Leo, Veronica and Diogo.

She even watched the stall when Leo had a ridiculous idea: take the sign into the river and stay underwater. Leo is tall, and with the sign he drew a lot of attention. It was a fun moment that pulled a lot of people to our stall.

Leo in the river.

We left the river with more signups than the whole previous day. Access was more restricted, but we decided to go in with just one full lunch bag toward the festival grounds until closing.

Veronica stayed with us. We had dinner together, shared moments and stories. We went on to the night campaign, and she stayed with us almost until the end.

A legendary shot with our Super Banana Bock. Dinner.

One of the beautiful things about these campaigns is the chance they give us to help people. Veronica is also an entrepreneur and came to the festival looking to open a few doors. She wanted to talk to people from the festival organisation, and we managed to connect her with someone who helped her. That was really cool.

When she went into the venue, our coolers were practically empty. All that help and warmth meant a lot, Veronica.

Connecting people.

It is not just numbers

As we introduce people to our app, we also get to know them, swap ideas, get feedback, and best of all, we even make friends. There were groups that came back, that stayed talking, that gave us ideas. The Diogos and Miguel. Ana and Diego. Bruno and his friends. We left with the feeling they were already more than just acquaintances.

We had more than a hundred signups, and some groups created. But as I already said, a campaign is not made of numbers alone. It is made of stories, friendships, positivity. And on that, Vilar de Mouros "blew up."

We came back with full hearts, and more strength to turn a dream into reality.

At Paredes de Coura we got hundreds of signups, a large part of whom created a group and stayed active during and after that week. And in Vilar de Mouros more than a hundred, with groups being created too.

Now the real question is: how many people will actually use the app after the festival group ends?

That is the number we care about, and only in a while will we really know what the campaign was worth.

A campaign is not made of numbers alone. Some things are hard to put a price on, like the positive impression the brand created.

However good you are online, nothing beats the personal, human touch. If we grew by hundreds of users, as a brand we grew by thousands.

The nerve it took to risk a guerrilla campaign, where we hit several obstacles, had to leave our comfort zone, improvise, and still complete our mission. I think that is inspiring, and it shows that anyone who really wants to can do it. You do not need rivers of money, or permission. What you need most is will.