Colgate's new ad is toothless and grinning

Products that provide nourishment to the body, skin and hair, have been popular for quite some time. But what’s new, is nourishment for teeth.

The oral care market in India has witnessed tremendous growth over the last few years. According to ‘India Oral Care Market Outlook, 2027’ published by Bonafide Research, the overall market is expected to grow by over 10% by the end of the forecasted period (2027).

The oral care market is categorised into five major categories - toothpaste, toothbrush, toothpowder, mouthwash and others. Toothpaste dominates the space, with more than 60% share.

Adding a new dimension is Colgate-Palmolive, a leading oral care brand in India which, to promote teeth nourishment, has relaunched ‘Colgate Strong Teeth’ toothpaste, with cutting-edge arginine technology.

To showcase this, the brand has rolled out a film, titled ‘DaantonkaPoshan’, on its social media platforms. What’s interesting about the ad, is that it features a toothless grandmother.

The brand wanted to come up with an idea that broke away from regular toothpaste ads.

Anaswar Rajagopal, marketing (Dentifrice), Colgate-Palmolive, shares, “The idea of using a toothless granny, talking about the benefits of toothpaste, is clutter-breaking. The brand wanted to create a narrative in the category, which was disruptive. We have tried to grab the attention of our audience, because this creative idea is unusual.”

“The whole disruption here is that the world’s largest toothpaste brand, is using a toothless lady. Because of its disruption value, people want to know what this granny has to say,” comments Harshad Rajadhyaksha from WPP@CP team.

In the ad, the grandmother’s daily tasks are performed by her ‘cutting machine’, i.e., her granddaughter. As per the brand, the idea of the enduring grandmother-granddaughter relationship, is quite powerful and unusual.

Speaking about the idea behind the campaign, Rajagopal says, “There’s been no narrative around nourishment and benefits of teeth. When we spoke to our consumers about this, they were quite excited.”

As per the brand, the idea behind this campaign was to create a new narrative - create something refreshing, while landing a preparation that is truly relevant.

The ad’s target audience is the mother of a child, who’s in the 6-12 age bracket.

“When it comes to mothers, they are always aware of their children’s health. But they usually don’t know about teeth nourishment. We felt that we had an opportunity to educate the country around how teeth can also be nourished.”

Kainaz Karmakar, WPP@CP, mentions, “You never realise your lack of nutrition until your set of nature provided tools (teeth), isn’t the best.”

The film is conceptualised by WPP@CP. It’s directed by Amit Sharma and produced by Abhishek Notani.

The campaign will be shown mostly on television, followed by YouTube, print and outdoor.

Speaking on the media mix, Rajagopal says that the brand is spending 65% of its media budget on television.

Is it becoming difficult to stand out in the dental care category, since all the ads look so similar?

Karmakar points out, “All you need to do is have an intention to stand out. We decided to step out of the comfort zone that this category has. We decided to stay close to our engaging message - nutrition of teeth.”

The film was released on May 15. “The initial response on social media, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, etc., has been pretty encouraging,” says Rajagopal.