Colgate needed to get kids brushing their teeth properly twice a day to improve oral health and instill in them long-term habitual brushing, which in turn would facilitate market share growth. More and more kids were experiencing tooth decay at a young age so raising awareness and the need for good oral health meant that Colgate had to play an important role in theirs and their parents’ lives. How could we really get kids to brush twice a day for 2 whole minutes when brushing teeth is just not fun?

Colgate decided to make it fun. We turned brushing into a game where kids had to keep their virtual ‘ToothPet’ alive by brushing twice a day for 2 minutes. We found a real and simple solution that tapped into the inherent behavior of kids and the problem of brushing.

ToothPet is an electronic toy that clips onto the end of a normal toothbrush and features a virtual pet that has to be fed daily through the motion of brushing teeth otherwise it dies. It’s an exciting concept for kids to associate brushing teeth with playing a game thereby building a strong association with maintaining good oral health.

The ToothPet prototype was distributed as part of Colgate’s Oral Health Month (OHM), an annual initiative to improve oral health in partnership with local Dental Associations. Colgate tapped into various schools and villages in Guangzhou, China during OHM to offer free dental clinics and oral care educational activities. ToothPet was given away to kids who successfully underwent a dental checkup. Kids and parents alike were keen to understand how ToothPet worked because the idea of a product that improved oral health but wasn’t a brush or a paste was so unique. It was also affordable – a key reason for this being the development of a black & white game screen. ToothPet has helped cement Colgate as a brand leader in oral care, through their expertise in science, technology and innovation to continually improve oral health around the world.

ToothPet’s prototype was completed in November 2012. The introduction of ToothPet to the local kids during the OHM promotion generated a lot of attention and excitement. The kids loved it and parents reported that toothbrushing became more fun, consistent and frequent.

The game code, animation, and screen-display resolution are being further improved to incorporate user feedback.

Global roll out of ToothPet is being evaluated while gearing up for Q3 2014.