Campaign Investment $55,000 in sponsorship fee

Campaign Objectives:

The brief was to create a campaign for NSW that, if successful, could be rolled out Nationally.

The specific objectives were:

1. To find a cut-through and creative way of communicating the importance of kids protecting their teeth from damage, particularly in sports.

2. To stimulate word of mouth in the NSW community on the importance of kids protecting their teeth. Specifically to create a message that the media would willingly amplify. (At their expense, not ours!)

3. To create a credible relationship between sport and Colgate that would provide parents with an opportunity to talk about the issues with their kids.

These objectives were driven by Colgate’s commitment to social responsibility, although as market leader the company would obviously benefit disproportionately from any increase in category business that resulted from the activity.

Campaign Target: Parents with kids playing sports and the public in general (to let them know that Colgate is a market leader in oral health care)

Someone took the mouthpiece idea to its literal extreme. What if our message could be placed in the mouths of the players. What if our message could be carried on a shout of triumph, on a smile?

We approached the Rabbitohs, because of the club’s strong reputation for community commitment and involvement. Their programme, Souths Cares Teachers’ Aide Programme involves players going into classrooms on a weekly basis, to deliver tuition in reading and maths, as well as physical education and active lifestyles. This seemed tailor made to sharing oral health messages with kids.

Colgate and the Rabbitohs shared red as a brand colour and a rabbit as a mascot. It was a match made in marketing heaven.

Initially 5 weeks were planned for the campaign but due to popular demand, the mouthguard activation and public relations activity will continue for the rest of the season.

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 mouthguards for themselves to emulate 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.