• Situation:

Representing 26% of the U.S. population, Gen Z is a substantial market segment for the toothpaste category. With only 3.5% of HHP among Gen Z, Colgate was short in market share.

Gen Z is a generation that finds freedom of expression in music, gaming and culture. Colgate needed to meet them in their preferred formats and environments to convey the message effectively.

Addressing a cultural problem Gen Z faced daily, Colgate used a music video to capture their attention and build a meaningful connection rooted in the brand's purpose.

• Brief:

Authentically connect with Gen Z, leveraging Colgate’s brand promise, Colgate exists to help everyone own their smile, addressing the cultural tension around “perfect” smiles.

• Objectives:

Business Objective: Make more people feel connected to Colgate and its purpose.

Communications Objective: Build brand love and relevance among Gen Z growth audience by creating attention for the Colgate brand.

“‘My Smile Is My Superpower”’ set out to remind people, especially Ggen Zz, that the most beautiful smile is the one that they own, no matter the size, shape or shade.

At a time when cultural pressure to have a perfect smile is more intense than ever, Colgate launched a music video titled “‘The Beauty of Gaps”’ starring kids with gap teeth. A rallying rendition of Katy Perry’s ‘“Roar,”’, the music video uses the unique gap toothgaptoothed whistle as its main instrument.

It’s a joyously defiant response to Colgate’s research that showed how the “‘perfect” ’ portrayal of teeth in today’s media landscape left 65% of gen-zGen Z respondents feeling that their confidence was impacted negatively, and 85% wanting to change their smiles.

By turning a so-called flaw into a force, we challenged unrealistic beauty standards and celebrated the beauty of our own individual smiles.

Representing 26% of the US pop, Gen Z is a substantial market segment for the toothpaste category. With only 3.5% of HHP among Gen Z Colgate has been falling short of their fair share. Known for having different needs and wants from brands vs. other generations,

Colgate knew conventional oral care messaging was not going to breakthrough or start a meaningful, long-lasting connection. Gen Z is a generation that finds freedom of expression in music, gaming and culture. Colgate needed to meet them in their preferred formats and environments to convey the message effectively. Addressing a cultural problem Gen Z faced daily, Colgate used a music video to capture their attention and build a meaningful connection rooted in the brand's purpose.

Inspired by the insight that a gap can help you whistle, we used the whistle as the main instrument. The whistle worked as a universal language, replacing the lyrics. Each character featured has their own instrumentation and unique whistle, some out of tune and out of tempo, embracing the imperfection found in real life.

We adapted the original ‘Roar’ arrangement and treated it like a film score, using surround sound to immerse the viewer. We also used the same sound design in the beginning and end shots, so that the feeling of transformation comes from a shift in perspective, not sound.

Leveraging paid social across TikTok, Snapchat and Meta, the campaign was teased out with coming soon messaging followed by shortform video at launch driving to our full length music video.

Across platforms, social has driven 83MM impressions and 98K click engagements to date. Within each platform, we have surpassed Colgate’s brand equity benchmarks indicating that this creative has been effective in not only delivering scale for the campaign, but encouraging consumers to interact with the brand as well.

We have seen a shift in brand perception through social comments, and the positive sentiment expressed by consumers:

“I loved this campaign! I have a smile like that too and I felt represented ♥️”

“Love it Colgate represents for all ♥️♥️♥️”

“Smile all the time, share happiness to the world. Love Colgate! 🦷”