quafresh", it does sound appealing right? It gives you instant associations to water, purity, cleanness and good taste. The brand has over the last years become the brand to beat. They are an innovation centered, leading oral care brand. Their product line has a wide range including toothpaste, toothbrushes and floss. In addition, they are continuously launching new innovative toothpastes both in form of texture but also packaging.
Source: dailymail.co.uk
Aquafresh is distinguished by its colored striped paste. The stripes are in white, blue and red. This three striped toothpaste accounts for approximately 45% of Aquafresh business. Aquafresh toothbrushes hold a market leading position in many markets and account for approximately 12% of brand sales.
Aquafresh states that their mission is to use science-based innovation to help keep the mouth clean fresh and healthy. They administrate different product development programs that focus on clinical and technical innovations, so the consumers can have a wide range of toothpaste formulations. They invite entrepreneurs from around the world to their headquarter to develop ideas and present them to the consumers world wide. Regarding the placement of their products, they have a well-established support network with external suppliers of new oral healthcare technologies that ensures them a big impact in the desired markets.
This science based innovation is implemented in their strategy. Around 80 scientists with various expertise working with Aquafresh on many projects each year to provide the best for their consumers.
Aquafresh position themselves as a premium brand. Their objective is to drive the scientific credentials of the Aquafresh brand and use it to focus on their primary consumers. They have defined two main targets. First is the caring, nurturing mother who purchases on behalf of the health of her family. Aquafresh makes their appeal to the mothers with referring to that they of course want what’s best for their kids, and that they should set an example and use Aquafresh which is the best brand.
The second main target is kids. They produce different pastes and tubes designed especially for kids. On their website they have a own area, where several games and other fun interactive activities are available. They also launched a fun educational program for kids that they can follow. The program stretches out over several years and Aquafresh has developed different products that fit into the different phases of the program. By doing this they manage to hold on to their consumers. Further, Aquafresh have developed some cartoons called the “NURDLES”, which also have a special dance, which can be seen in the commercial shown under;
Aquafresh tubes appear in innovating packages with strong graphics, which are meant to attract their target. The purpose of the graphics on their packaging is to communicate and educate the consumers. Their packaging is the hero at the point of purchase.
Aquafresh´s promotions and advertising has been a huge upside, just look at their market share and the fact that it has not declined even over the last years with the increased competition. The focus of their campaigns is based on a clear understanding of the needs of its target markets. Here is an example of one of their newest inventions within oral dental care.
As said, Aquafresh dedicates much time and resources to be innovating. One direction that is implemented in their core strategy is to be disruptive. We have all been to the store and have been faced with meters of different toothpastes which all look the same. Aquafresh has created a different, easy recognizable carton for the shelves. The distinctive tubes are being displayed vertically in a shelf-ready tray. All of this combined, they create a visual disruption and standout from the wall of competitor cartons.
ignal toothpaste is part of Unilever’s brand portfolio. They sell products from, food, home care, oral care to hygiene and beauty. On their homepage Unilever states their mission: ” From feeding your family to keeping your home clean and fresh, our brands are part of everyday life.”
Signal has been spreading smiles for over 40 years. With availability in over 48 countries and a top market position in eastern emerging economies like Sri-Lanka Signal is the brand no competitor can afford to avoid.
Many large toothpaste brands seem to rely on a strong technical focus and professional endorsement to be perceived as a viable alternative to the consumers. The use of dentist associations, advanced production techniques, R&D focused websites and pamphlets and all the other technical information passed on to the consumer gives all major brands a sense of technical solidity.
Signal is available in 40+ varieties all over the world, not considering the alternative brand names of Signal like Pepsodent (Asia, Latin America and Scandinavia), Mentadent (Italy), Zhong Hua (China), Aim (Greece) and P/S (Vietnam) to name some examples. Globally however four different products seem to prevail.
Source: http://www.unilever.com.lk
Signal Core- For strong healthy teeth (Generic, less expensive, not involving) Signal Herbal- Cooling relief from inner heat (For healthy teeth & gums) Signal Whitening- For strong white teeth (White teeth) Signal Triple Action- For complete all-round protection (Complete care)
So who is this stuff made for? There is no obvious age, gender, income class, social class, ethnographically properties or other tangible properties visible for these products. Except Signal Core which might be marketed for low income/low education consumers, and Signal Kids. However, there is a differentiation with respect to the product benefits. Signal Core is the toothpaste for the low involving consumer. Clearly, few buy toothpaste if it does not ensure you that your teeth will not fall out so it has to have the technical attributes which make the product believable. But, besides this, the product should be simple. Signal Core cartons are of a generic design, little color variations, easily recognized, no doubt what you are actually buying and the buying experience should be non-involving.
Signal Herbal is very big in Asian countries, but is sold in Europe as well. The overall packaging and marketing give the impression of organic toothpaste. Packaging often has lots of green colors and features pictures of various herbs. The taste is made to mimic a more natural taste than traditional ‘toothpaste taste’. Signal Herbal is branded as being very good for your gums and gives you healthy teeth. The natural link between organic and healthy is seemingly an important aspect for the product.
Signal Whitening is basically created for people who want white teeth. Marketing often has pictures of beautiful people with beautiful teeth; giving the consumers the natural link between beautiful white teeth and the toothpaste. Packaging is white with white teeth or white smiles on it. The use of crystals and light blue colors are also used to elevate the white effect on the box.
Signal Triple Action is for the consumer who wants it all, or for the consumer that does not know what he wants but he does not want something generic. The product is designed to give the impression that it has got it all. Users do not need to choose between color coding as the product has many different colors. Packaging is often very full of color variations. It contains many different messages the buyers need to interpret like a picture, color coding, text and buzz words. The product is much like a high involvement counterpart to Signal Core. Signal Triple Action is made to be highly involving and gives an impression of superiority. However the product does not offer such pure attributes as the organic branding of Signal Herbal or the ‘white teeth vanity’ of Signal Whitening.
Signal Expert is for the highly involved consumers with the highest willingness to pay for toothpaste. The packaging is transparent, and reveals of the toothpaste container inside. The container is a metallic color giving it a professional look and feel. Word used to describe the product is easily associated with a professional scientific product. In marketing of the product the consumer is supposed to get the feeling that this is what professionals use. The product draws more on the dental professional endorsement than the other toothpastes. So far the product line is launched for sensitive teeth as well as for whitening (anti-aging) making it a more upscale product than Signal Whitening.
Signal Kids is for younger tooth-brushers. The line offers cartoons and childish color schemes which are very typically male or female. For the younger children, it exists products for each gender, the male product has a blue packaging and the female product has a pink package. Taste is adjusted for the children's pallet. Tubes are often designed to look more funny and interesting than standard adult toothpastes (use of animated cartoons). For kids from 7-13 it also exists kids products which are more adult like. The flavor is fresher and less sweet than for the youngest tooth-brushers. The packaging also features more mature artwork like snowboarders.
To simplify the consumers' research of dental products Signal has launched an informational internet website. The site is constructed such that consumers say what they want from their dental products and the website delivers a variety of options. Users craving a white smile will thus be suggested toothpastes with whitening properties. The consumer who wants it all will be suggested the Triple Action line of toothpaste. This internet site is constructed to help consumers finding their right Signal product. This is of great value as the consumer looses much of the doubt surrounding the choice of product. As the consumer knows he has chosen a ‘good product for him/her’ the brand loyalty is probably strengthened. A weak point with this way of pairing consumers and product is that it only works with consumers who are activity looking for dental information, low involvement consumers will, thus, probably never encounter the internet site.
Source: http://www.missionsignal.fr/produits.html
Family Values
Previously we talked about the product benefits of the different Signal toothpastes, but signal does also engage with the consumer on an emotional and psychosocial level. Signal do play on the emotions of family care for their toothpastes, often writing” family pack” or “family protection” on their packaging, and showing the happy caring family in the commercials sharing the values of its target customers. They do offer toothpastes, and commercials directed specifically to the children of the family.
They have now also launched an anti-aging toothpaste, developed to meet the specific needs of this growing target group of middle-aged consumers.
Many of the commercials for Signal play on the children and the responsibility of the parents. Many times , it explains to the parents what would happen if the children do not brush their teeth, and insists on their mission to”… transform everyday habits through behavior change ….”
Signal says that “Making good quality products such as toothpaste affordable and widely available is a crucial starting point. But this is not enough if people do not change their everyday habits too.” That’s why Unilever is deeply involved in changing behavior and, has health and hygiene programs connected to the power of their marketing to change behavior.
An example of a consumer behavior changing program is the ‘day and night’ campaign. The overall goal of the camping is to get adults as well as children to brush their teeth two times a day. Although the projects goal is simply stated the effort and dedication by Signal was anything but simple. To map the consumer behavior of dental care in countries like China Signal used toothbrushes with micro-sensors and processor to get the sufficient data on brushing. This allowed signal to see frequency, length and how the Chinese population brushed their teeth (as the toothbrush also sensed the style of the brushing). A common problem observed is that children often skipped their dental care, Signal responded to this by trying to get parents to brush with their children. The motivation behind children and parent co-brushing is that children tend to mimic their parents and will thus start brushing frequently even when unsupervised.
Doing well by doing good
Signal is currently being marketed intensely in Asian and Emerging Markets. So far, Signal has obtained great success in countries like India, Indonesia and Brazil. Considering that both India and China have more than 1 billion mouths each such a market position holds great opportunities.
The success in emerging markets is not by chance, nor is the success in anyway being neglected by the brand conglomerate Unilever’s official strategy statement. Signal has for nearly 30 years been focusing on the dental hygiene of underdeveloped economies. The initiative is called the ‘Signal Oral Care Service’ and has reached over three million children to date. The main objective of the initiative is to teach children to brush their teeth twice a day. Signal manages to reach the children by setting up tooth brushing areas at schools and sending tooth brushing supplies home with the children.
Clearly the initiatives of Signal are amazing for the children affected and, from a marketing perspective, it is nothing short of pure gold! Michael Porter has, in his recent years at Harvard, focused much on the Corporate Social Responsibility. Basically the works of Porter says that no company should do CSR unless it ultimately benefits the company doing them. From an economical perspective a CSR methodology based on giving away money will do less overall good than one that actually benefits you. This becomes quite obvious when one realizes that if you gain something from giving away funds you will probably give away more funds than if the funds were just sunk. The point of this becomes obvious when we think about the effects of Signal CSR. First Signal teaches a population that brushing your teeth is good; naturally the market expands as children grow older. Parents see that children suffer less from teeth decay for example and might also consider brushing theirs. And which brand to choose at the local store? Well it would only be natural to assume the brand you’ve always been using: Signal.
To conclude, the implementation of Signals Emerging Markets strategy has many effects. The choice to be present in Emerging Markets delivers by itself an opportunity to grow the overall toothpaste market. It also expands Signals position in the various markets. Consumers outside Emerging Markets are also made aware of the efforts of Signal, and it ultimately benefits to the image of the brand.
Fluocaril is a part of the Procter & Gamble company as well as Oral B. It is a part of its pharmaceutical specialty range in addition to Vicks. The actual Fluocaril brand results of 60 years innovation and improvement, and enjoys a strong credibility to the professional dental field.
This brand is a protagonist of the market. It covers all kinds of general and specific needs such as gum, caries, sensitive teeth, whitening, kids specialty, orthodontics and even homeopathy.
Source: http://fluocaril.fr
As a matter of fact, Fluocaril represents the biggest market share in value for the fluored toothpaste market, which was 22,6% in 2008. It also has the biggest market share concerning toothpastes sold in drug stores (16,1% market share).
Values
Positioning
The brand is positioned as expert adviser. It answers to questions which can be addressed to a dentist. On the website (http://www.fluocaril.fr/), the consumer can watch videos (pretty well done !) showing the composition of the teething with explicit animated schemes about the vascularization of the teeth, the salivation and the dental plaque formation. This way of communication is very useful to give credibility to the brand position. To confirm its position of dental specialist and to inspire trust, the brand gives general information about oral hygiene through pedagogic schemas. Fluocaril also advises the consumer concerning several kinds of problems and the possible treatment. As a matter of fact, the website explains the problem of dental position for children, or what are the solutions regarding problem of sensitive teeth, of whitewashing needs, of gum disease, cavity or bad breath. The best illustration of the toothpaste presented as a medicine is probably done by the range called “dentifrice medicament” (medicine toothpaste). Furthermore, for each toothpaste model, it is possible to print a summary of the characteristics of the product in order to go to the drugstore as if the dentist himself would have done a prescription!
An interactive website
The videos, animated schemas and the participation of the customer are the forces of the website. As a matter of fact, web functionalities, such as the filling of a survey to check if we brush the teeth the right way, give an active role to the consumer (and useful data to the brand). This touch of interactivity includes the customer in the brand management and create a strong link with the brand (bi-directional relationships), as it would have been the case between a dentist and its patient.
Target
That brand targets people who care about the quality of their toothpaste and the certification of the efficiency of the product. Consumers who want to use toothpaste recommended by dental professionals are oriented towards brands like Fluocaril.
Brand identity prism
Don't forget to Schtroumpf your teeth with Fluocaril!
According to Datamonitor 360(link number 1 in sources below): “Colgate-Palmolive Company (Colgate-Palmolive or 'the company') is one of the leading consumer product company's in the world. It offers products in various categories including oral care, personal care, household surface, fabric care and pet nutrition.” Please find below the brand identity prism of Colgate:
Taken from the Colgate’s annual report:
Q. Amid today’s heightened competitive environment, what is Colgate doing to better connect with consumers?
A. When we think about driving our growth with consumers, we focus on targeting our commercial investment to bothbuild brands with our traditional marketing programsand build trial for the new products that we are bringing to the marketplace.
[…] engaging with consumers must include verypowerful and effective in-store shopper marketing activitiesto complement our advertising in traditional media outlets. […] our integrated marketing campaigns are making muchgreater use of digital tools[…]. [F]or in-store activity, one example is using a demonstrator to explain how Colgate Sensitive Pro-Relief toothpaste provides instant and lasting relief from pain […] while distributing product samples for consumers to try for themselves.
As a result […] Colgate’s long-term global market shares have strengthened despite periods of heightened competitive activity. As we enter 2011, we are planning for even greater levels of advertising investment, both in and out of the store, […] to strengthen our worldwide market share positions.
A very diversified brand portfolio: one toothpaste per customers?
Kids market
Source: Signal.com
Colgate’s kids universe is much more developed than the competitors. The very detailed website category for children is used to create long and durable brand awareness and knowledge. Indeed, both mother and children will be interested in the brand as it is serious for the parents (lots of information) and funny for the children (funny design).
Colgate appeals to kids on an emotional level with animation characters they love. They also appeal on a psychological level to the parents because they feel like they make the best to take care of the children.
Colgate is trying very hard to reach that segment with lots of innovative strategies. Indeed, during various annual events like “Oral Health Month”, they give free gifts with a special way to show the brand. This kind of advertising campaign is really innovative and original. It reminds us the way Skip promotes its laundry washing products: encouraging kids to get dirty in order to wash their clothes!
Source: Official Colgate Max White One Facebook page
Colgate’s universe for young people is focused on seduction, funny colors and activities, partnerships with “hype” and attractive companies (radio for example). They even organize events with young people based on Facebook pages (targeting young techies).
Colgate tries to catch the attention of the newly independent adults by creating a “community” feeling even if we are talking about toothpaste! This technique is based on what relates to the young people to create brand awareness. Thanks to campaign like “Bye bye les accessoires”, they try to stand out from the mass and be visible when the young people go into the shops for example. They know the brand and learn about it in a funny way.
Colgate is trying to catch the attention of the young customers with a disruptive and funny campaign. People can have whiter teeth by using the Iphone application and then post these pictures on Facebook. We think that this is interesting because it shows that behind the funny application; it proves that young people are interested in the aesthetic feature of the product and need this brand benefit.
Colgate’s universe for adult people is much more focused on scientific information and anti-age perspective. Colgate is taking advantage of its leading position to propose health oriented products as the one we can find in the pharmacies. Regarding these products, they have to explain everything with scientific details because they want to appear “serious”. Consequently, they increase brand knowledge with a large amount of information.
They try to appeal to the adults and aging population thanks to emotion, psychological and functional level. Indeed, they focus on the anti-age effect of the toothpaste for aging people who want to take care of their health the best possible. They also launch highly specialized toothpaste that appear as “professional” for the customers.
Colgate seems to seek hard to maintain its brand credibility. Indeed, according to the annual report of the brand: “Colgate’s strong relationships with professionals have contributed to making Colgate and Hill’s the most recommended brands by dentists and veterinariansworldwide. Professional endorsements build credibility for Colgate’s brands and drive product trial.” They have many connections to appear as offering a professional service at home.
A "targeted approach" with a LOT of different products.
According to Paul Lukas, journalist on brandchannel.com (http://www.brandchannel.com/features_effect.asp?pf_id=39), Colgate does, with its huge product line, what is called a "targeted approach". This can be a good technique only if all the products are relevant. He explains that there are, sometimes, very similar products that become difficult to differentiate in the toothpaste products.
However, as he states: "One of the toothpaste is billed as being "For Sparkling White Teeth"; another is "For Clean, White Teeth"; and a third is "For Sparkling, Healthy White Teeth." Can you guess which one goes with which toothpaste?"
We can wonder if the product benefits and positioning for each product is very clear.
Colgate’s brand positioning as a “dental cosmetic brand”
According to this article on Datamonitor 360(link number 2 in sources below): “Specialist whitening brands, such as Clinomyn and Rembrandt are long established, however mainstream brands, like Colgate's Sparkling White, have only recently used 'whitening' as part of the brand name.”
This information is very interesting because it confirms that mainstream brands can have a brand positioning close to specialized brands. By adding this kind of features to the toothpaste, the company is enlarging its target and tries to develop its brand trust.
This new positioning is very trendy and translates the needs of the customers into concrete brand benefits. Many mainstream brands are using it at the moment (Crest by P&G also focus on it with its “Crest Rejuvenating Effects”).
Colgate’s brand positioning as a “natural brand”
According to Datamonitor 360 (link number 3 in sources below), building brand trust and legitimacy is difficult for mainstream brands inside specialized markets like “natural” markets.
Indeed, they explain that “marketing natural products requires an understanding of niche market consumers, who tend to be skeptical of mass market companies operating in the natural products sector. If these new products are to be successful and provide the needed boost to volumes and margins, Colgate needs to match the message to the product and understand the natural is essentially a marketing and retail strategy.”
Consequently, the marketing strategy must be very well done to attract the attention of these customers. Many customers are currently asking for natural and organic products and the brand is trying its best to translate the needs of the customers into brand benefits.
Colgate launched its Colgate Sensitive Pro-Relief toothpaste in 2011. Thanks to this innovation, Colgate have a serious competitive advantage among the other mainstream brands in the market. Indeed, their explanation about this product is very technical and medical. They manage to build brand trust thanks to this strong product.
According to Datamonitor 360(link 4 in sources below) the company “will revolutionize the way millions of consumers treat and prevent sensitivity pain.” This sentence is very interesting because Colgate’s brand reputation seems really indestructible. They are “revolutionizing” the way people feel, which is quite exaggerating but focus on the strong knowledge and the “savoir faire” of the brand.
The description of the new Colgate’s product is very health oriented and the brand promise is really surprising: “"New Colgate Sensitive Pro-Relief toothpaste is clinically proven to deliver faster and long-lasting sensitivity relief versus a leading sensitive toothpaste. Its proprietary formula penetrates to the source of pain, the nerve, to soothe the pain faster, shielding the nerve to prevent the pain from coming back."
According to the annual report of the brand: “Colgate connects with today’s consumers globally is by utilizing integrated marketing communications that include a mix of traditional and non-traditional media. The launch of Colgate Sensitive Pro-Relief toothpaste leveraged multiple digital touch points, including informative product web sitesandonline media […], consumer testimonials. These activities, combined with more traditional media and promotional events, are contributing to market share gains worldwide.”
Do not forget to brush your teeth after eating... do not worry Colgate will remind it to you anyway!
h… Email Diamant…Its baroque packaging, and its emblematic red toothpaste has not changed since 1893. Today, Email Diamant is considered as a specialist on the niche market of whitening toothpastes.
Actually, teeth get darker naturally and they also lose their white color because of things we consume (wine/ coffee/ tea/ cigarettes…) and people want to have white teeth because it is a sign of a good health, attractive and fashionable (all Hollywood stars get a white smile). An obvious idea came automatically to my mind: Those who get a white smile would be more self-confident than those who have not! As simple as that ;)
Email Diamant started to sell its product in 1893, when people were not so interested in having a beautiful white smile. Thanks to this avant-garde idea, people consider Email Diamant as a specialist on the whitening toothpaste market. Hence, Email Diamant helps women from 30 to 50 (their core target), to be attractive and more self-confident with a perfect white smile.
It costs around €3.50 and is sold in supermarkets and drug stores. It is a brand of Laboratoires Santé beauté’s portfolio (which also sells Barbara Gould/ Linéance/ Poupina/ Nair/ Femfresh). All these brands are not very innovative and quite old-fashioned.
However, Email Diamant makes the most of the natural, organic and vintage trends.
It is considered as a “basic” in our bathroom. Even though it is kitsch, people still love it and have affection for this brand. It is as worthy as our grand-mother secret - with no bad breath of the granny ;).
Email Diamant founders, a couple, were good marketers. They colored the paste into red so that everyone could recognize easily any red toothpaste as an Email Diamant one.
They also asked their son, André, a baritone performing the role of Figaro in the play “le Barbier de Séville”, who gets a beautiful smile to be the muse of the toothpaste.
What is interesting to notice is that Email Diamant has never changed its packaging over the years. It has stuck to the opera singer for all its seven products. Thus, people can easily recognize Email Diamant packaging while is harder to do between Colgate and Signal which are more similar.
In fact, if we compare major toothpaste brands packaging and hide the name of the brand it would be very difficult to differentiate them, while Email Diamant packaging is easily recognizable and is the same for its 7 products.
Plus, on its website, Email Diamant does not claim to be an oral hygiene specialist (Colagate and Signal claim), but rather a whiteness specialist. It is not giving you white teeth, but an Email Diamant smile. People even say they get a Email Diamant smile instead of a Hollywood smile.
Tradition, elegance, beauty and glamour are the values of the brand, which are associated with seduction. Below is the Kapferer brand identity prism model to understand better Email Diamant identity.
We want to show you an old commercial for Email Diamant starring a famous French Actress Arielle Dombasle. It puts the emphasis on the idea that celebrities also use this product, if you use this toothpaste you will be glamorous and attractive.
In Email Diamants commercials we can always see women with a perfect white smile are kissing men. They are obviously self-confident. The commercial always took place in a baroque environment (opera music, Greek statues…).
People can identify a white smile as an Email Diamant smile (in the latter ad the man says: "this smile??!!...Email Diamant!"). The brand is always using the same slogan “la magie du blanc” (White Magic) to emphasize the fact they perfectly know how to get teeth white.
You can watch the latest commercial of Email Diamant in our previous article Sensational toothpaste.
So girls, are you ready to get an Email Diamant smile?
