Results and Effectiveness

In the first 6 games of the season the mouthguard was seen on the big screen at the stadium by an average of 26,814 people per game. Viewed on live TV by 3.8 million with print and paper having 4.1 million impressions. The ambient media started a trend across the nation as they tried to buy a branded Colgate mouthguard for themselves to emulate their heroes. In the end, a tiny piece of media reinforced Colgate's reputation as the leading brand helping protect teeth on and off the field. All for the cost of $250 per mouthguard per player.

Creative Execution

We placed the brand and oral protection message right into the mouths of Rabbitohs players creating a new media space, a Colgate Branded mouthguard. During the season, every time on of the players flashed a smile of celebration, they revealed Colgate protecting their teeth. The tiny media space got coverage on the big screens at the game, during broadcast on TV, in the papers, amplified by the coverage of Rugby League and the Rabbitohs, and a slew of online coverage. It also included a school programme, where the Rabbitohs players attended schools with Colgate oral care mascot, Dr. Rabbit, promoting oral care education amongst the youth.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

The marketing objective was to extend Colgate's equity of oral care to the next generation of Australian youth, in a way that would break through the clutter and low interest barriers of toothpaste and appeal to the audience in a more relevant way. We leveraged the nation's love of sport, in particular, Rugby League, one of the toughest sports around and a popular sport with Australian youth. What better way to demonstrate Colgate's promise of protecting teeth, than by branding the mouthguards of one of Australia's most popular teams: Rabbitohs?