In India, dessert post dinner has practically become a tradition. And this sweet tooth extends online as well, with dessert reels being the favourite content to consume. Indians spend the last of their waking hours scrolling through reel after reel from their favourite dessert influencers. Safe to conclude that sweets were constantly on their mind each night. Brushing, however, wasn’t.

This is especially alarming considering that 9 out of 10 Indians suffer from cavities, making dental issues a silent epidemic. For that to change, brushing had to become as much a part of Indian night rituals as sweets were. And with traditional brushing reminders proving ineffective, perhaps it was time to learn a trick of two from everybody’s favourite kind of content. Especially since media reports revealed that our audience believed in Instagram influencers far more than traditional celebrities, finding them authentic and relatable.

Most Indians end their night the same way – doomscrolling through a barrage of dessert reels. Which more often than not, ironically happens right after their other favourite night ritual, i.e. dessert post dinner. So even after consuming sweets at night, they’re still thinking of them before bed. What they’re not thinking of, or even practicing, is brushing their teeth.

Which made us wonder, what if the content they loved, could become the reminder they needed?

We collaborated with India’s biggest dessert influencers to create the Reel Reminders, that turned nightly sugar habit into a brushing trigger. Through co-created content that felt native to their page, our influencers showed followers what ending the night with dessert means for their teeth, in a uniquely memorable way. Because it’s fitting that the content they end their night with helps show how their night should end – by brushing their teeth with toothpaste.

Our audience was 80% urban Indians, mostly Zoomers and millennials, who didn’t brush their teeth at night. Reasons ranged from indifference and inertia to apathy and even lack of knowledge.

To truly influence behaviour, and bring brushing into the country’s night routine, we needed to go beyond traditional media to a time and place closer to the Indian sugar craving.

By soft-hacking their feeds, through content that we knew they loved, we managed to hack their mindspace at a time when they were otherwise thinking only of dessert.

To make things more seamless, even our communication was carefully designed to be just as ‘consumable’ as a dessert reel, resembling one as closely as possible.

To further build the bridge between night binging and night brushing, the content was taken live during dinnertime from 8 pm to midnight, strategically promoted for audiences to find it only at night.

India’s biggest dessert influencers were brought on board with a simple intention: to create brushing reminders that looked and felt as mouthwateringly similar to dessert reels as possible.

The brief given to the creators was simple – do what you do best.

The ensuing content was taken live during dinnertime, where doomscrollers were suddenly greeted by a new reel from their favourite creators. Like regular dessert reels, the creators teased a glimpse of the drool-worthy treat and then took their followers through each step till the dessert was ready to be enjoyed. Then something completely unexpected happened! Instead of biting into it as expected, the creators began brushing their teeth with the desserts.

The creators then went on to explain how most Indians end their nights with sweets, rather than brushing their teeth. This culminated in a gentle nudge to prevent cavities and brush tonight.

The ‘Reel Reminders’ turned brushing reminders, otherwise seen as unappealing messaging, into content that people couldn’t get enough of. Partnering with dessert influencers at the right time and place got us impressive results

The total time spent watching the reels by Zoomers was approx. 4 K hours.

There was constant chatter on insta, which led to digital engagement of around 0.1 million.

The reels reached 4.89 million Instagram users and received 3.4 million views, further strengthening the digital visibility of the brand.

The reels got the media talking, and the campaign got picked up by major digital publishers resulting in an earned media value of worth, 0.7 million.

The partnership with dessert collaborators delivered effective and visible results in just 14 days.

This made it one of the most unique brushing reminders in Colgate history, and one of its most effective steps in seeding brushing into India’s night routine.