Soccer has become more than a sport. It’s a billion-dollar industry and a topic of unending discussion.

In Brazil, it’s no different. Brands are investing more and more to increase their visibility. Large investments are made trading players, sponsoring team jerseys, and securing naming rights, as was the case for the Palmeiras stadium.

Challenged to capture Brazilians’ attention for the launch of its new toothpaste, Sensodyne sought a way to stand out, despite being part of a complex category and having a limited budget.

Our objective was to not only generate awareness for the launch but also generate conversation and clearly show the benefits of the new product in a never-before-seen way that made the brand stand out from among sponsors with much larger budgets.

We created something that no one had ever thought of before. We transformed the mouths of Brazil’s most victorious team - Palmeiras, which has won 11 Brazilian and international championships since 2020 and has 20 million fans around the world - into a trending topic subject more efficiently than any other media format could.

We consulted dentists to create the campaign and to understand the impact oral hygiene has on athletes’ lives. Their response was, “The lack of oral hygiene can affect an athlete’s speed, power, strength, flexibility, and agility.”

So, on August 21, during the largest and most watched game of the year (45 million people - Palmeiras vs. Flamengo), players entered the field with personalized Sensodyne mouthguards. We used a space that had never been thought of before - their mouths - to publicize the importance of oral hygiene and how Sensodyne can help improve it.

The strategy was to reach the largest audience during the greatest championship in the country, something blocked by current sponsors. This way, we were able to capture the game’s entire audience and share our message at a moment of maximum retention for 1% of the price. Palmeiras is a historic team in Brazil. They have 20 million fans around the world, and Flamengo has Brazil’s largest fanbase. Soccer’s audience is well distributed across social class, gender, and age, making this the perfect moment to maximize possible awareness in a short period of time and to ensure the brand appeared in sports news the next day. We strategically chose the first game of the year between the teams Palmeiras and Flamengo, a game watched by 45 million people throughout Brazil - and around the world.

Players entering the field represents a moment where the viewing audience is large since many people from the previous program are still watching, thus generating one of the largest viewership peaks in the game. To increase our message’s retention, we gave the speech to the game’s announcer, highlighting the topic even more and ensuring it was promoted on social networks.

We chose a historic game between two of the largest teams where more than 45 million people would be involved, both inside and outside of the stadium. To involve the public even more, we invited a TV Globo announcer to speak about the action live, “We have an interesting scene. Palmeiras players have come onto the field using a Sensodyne mouthguard.” The scene rapidly started to be shared on social networks, generating buzz around the topic.

+11,500% increase in online searches for “Sensodyne” during the activation;

Record searches for the brand on Google;

98% new users on Sensodyne’s site;

US$ 14MM Earned Media;

Sales target of 260% met within the first month.

Results that left us with ear-to-ear smiles.

Tooth Ads by Sensodyne became the smallest outdoor ad to step on the field.