Oral care advertising has largely focused on the explanation of different variants of toothpaste for as long as anyone can remember. Just add one demo to a few perfect fake smiles and you’ve got yourself a toothpaste ad. Product advertising was becoming harder to break through, but the huge portfolio of Colgate products still required support.

Colgate is the leader in Europe but was losing distinctiveness as the same old product focussed stories made it harder to stand out and connect meaningfully with people. Especially in the markets it was in a challenger position, such as France.

The answer was to revive what made Colgate distinct and loved, its caring heritage, and make it relevant for today’s world.

We shifted how we portrayed smiles. We stopped showcasing them as a facial “cosmetic” expression and started featuring them as something a lot more meaningful. They became that internal optimistic dialogue that we tell ourselves to overcome the difficulties in life.

We reminded people of the powerful choice they have to choose optimism with the campaign “Our Smile is Our Strength” and supported all those who had the courage to smile against the odds (“I Smile” campaign). We championed those who act out of optimism and spread smiles to others (“Smile Stories” campaign). Providing a valuable ‘masterclass’ in smiling with the experts, kids.

We found a deeper expression of optimism in “Smiles always find a way”, and challenged the perception that wrinkles are a bad thing, showing that they are a beautiful sign of a “Lifetime of Smiles”.