Results and Effectiveness

After tweens put up the poster, something unexpected happened at night. Those who didn't brush their teeth promptly did so. Then they went and told their friends. Their friends went out, bought the magazine, and told more people. Before long, the work started appearing on FB, Multiply, tumblr and other social media sites. Their parents thought it was a great idea and told other parents who bought the magazine (and Colgate toothpastes) for their children. And while all this was happening, sales have quietly gone up by a modest 0.7%.

Creative Execution

We contacted the one magazine most relevant to this particular target: Teens Magazine. Despite its name, the majority of their readers are tweens who aspire to be teens. Then we contacted a local celebrity and asked him if he would like to make a difference in the lives of young people. Or more specifically, the mouths of young people. Teens Magazine gave him the centrefold, and he gave us his best smile.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

For over 100 years, Colgate has been marketing toothpastes to mothers. This year, we decided to expand our customer base by talking to a whole new audience: tweens. According to recent studies, this particular segment has considerable influence in household purchases. Unfortunately, toothpastes are not something they think about everyday. What they do talk about however are celebrities. Anybody who's ever been in front of a camera, ever sang a song or appeared on a reality show is good enough. Therein lies the opportunity.