A demonstration of

• > Activation
• > Active Engagement
• > Integration
• > Research / ROI

Winning smiles

We changed a nation’s dental hygiene habits with a world record event.

The challenge

The Philippines Department of Education recently released a startling statistic: tooth decay affects 97% of all 6 year-olds, and 78% of all 12 year-olds. As the local market leader in oral hygiene, Colgate felt it should address the issue by finding a way to change the nation's oral hygiene habits

Our insight

To change a nation's habit, you need to involve the nation.

With only a limited budget, we had to find a smart way to reach the biggest possible audience. The answer was to create an amazing event that would generate its own press coverage and PR, creating buzz on TV and in the newspapers. To attract this level of media attention, it would have to be big and visually dramatic.

Our solution

With the professional backing of the Philippine Dental Association and the Department of Education, we devised a multi-faceted campaign which started with a series of priming events such as a cheering competition for dental students and distribution of free Colgate toothpaste and toothbrushes around the country.

But the centerpiece was the Colgate Super Mega Tooth Brushing activity. This involved 41,000 school children and dentists assembling at 13 venues across the Philippines for a giant simultaneous tooth-brushing session.

At the main venue, the participants, all wearing Colgate-branded caps, were organized to spell out the words ‘Colgate', ‘for zero cavities' and the ‘OK' sign, visible for aerial live TV coverage

The results

• Official Guinness world record for ‘the most people brushing their teeth simultaneously'
• 34% higher prompted brand recall
• Department of Education issued presidential memo requiring all school children to brush their teeth every morning