Toothpaste campaigns earn attention when they give people a small action to repeat. Oral-B launched its Disney Magic Timer app in March 2014, and Procter & Gamble's own brushing study reported that nine in ten children brushed longer with it. An oral care marketing campaign works the same way: it ties the product to one measurable behavior, then places that behavior where the audience already spends time.
How does gamification get children to brush for two minutes?
Gamification gets children to brush for two minutes by attaching a reward to the full brushing time. The Disney Magic Timer app by Oral-B asked a child to scan an Oral-B or Crest Pro-Health Stages toothbrush, then brush for two minutes to reveal Disney and Marvel character images. The app held 16 custom animations and 1,600 rewards, and Procter & Gamble's March 2014 launch release cited its own study in which nine out of ten children brushed longer with the app.
The mechanism is a character a child already likes attached to a task a parent already wants done. A toothpaste brand without a licensed character can borrow the structure with its own brand storytelling: the tube becomes a hero fighting sugar monsters, or an augmented reality game lets players battle bad breath with virtual floss. Illustrative scenario: a brand partners with dentists so that in-app achievements, such as thirty straight days of brushing, unlock a real reward at the next checkup.
Which channels and stunts put toothpaste in front of younger shoppers?
Creator videos and live events put toothpaste in front of Millennial and Gen Z shoppers where they already spend time. A brand can work with an influencer marketing agency to commission TikTok toothbrushing tutorials, or send a branded "smile bus" offering free checkups to popular local events.
Humor and surprise suit a routine product. Witty taglines built on puns, or a flash mob that breaks into synchronized flossing, give people something to share. Procter & Gamble's 2010 Old Spice campaign, "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like," showed how far an outlandish tone can carry an ordinary grooming product. Illustrative scenario: a brand sponsors a local music festival where performers compete on the song that sounds most "minty fresh," and sells flavored toothpaste tablets in bubblegum and strawberry at the festival.
How does personalization change toothpaste selection?
Personalization changes toothpaste selection by letting a shopper choose a product that carries a personal detail or matches a personal need. A brand can print custom labels with a name or a funny slogan, or run an online quiz that matches each shopper to a formula for whitening, sensitivity or fresh breath.
A quiz is only as sound as the claims behind it. Each result should recommend only a benefit the product's label already carries, because toothpaste is a health-adjacent product and a quiz that overstates a benefit creates a reputational problem. Illustrative scenario: a quiz asks about sensitivity, stains and flavor preference, then returns two products with one sentence taken from each label.
What does a sustainability angle look like in oral care?
A sustainability angle works in oral care when it changes the physical product, as Colgate-Palmolive did with its recyclable toothpaste tube. Colgate said the Association of Plastic Recyclers recognized the tube in June 2019, after more than five years of development, making it the first oral care or personal care tube to earn that recognition. The tube is made from high-density polyethylene, the plastic used in milk jugs, and Colgate estimated that toothpaste accounts for about 20 billion tubes a year worldwide.
The first tubes reached retailers in November 2019 under Colgate's Tom's of Maine brand, and Colgate offered the technology to other tube makers. The lesson carries to refillable tubes, biodegradable brushes and recycling partnerships: a sustainability story holds up when a third party can confirm the change.
What does a creative oral care launch look like in practice?
A creative oral care launch looks like a sustained program of media outreach, expert profiles and gifting, not a single announcement. 5W launched Curaprox's Charcoal Whitening Toothpaste, the first of its kind, in the US market with media outreach, brand and expert profiling, an influencer program and a gifting program that reached makeup artists and stylists.
According to the Curaprox case study, the work placed the brand in more than 4,000 CVS stores within its first year, and the brand has since earned more than 250 media placements and over 261 million impressions in outlets including Allure, Refinery29, Cosmopolitan and Marie Claire.
| Campaign idea | What it changes | Named example |
|---|---|---|
| Gamified brushing timer | How long a child brushes | Oral-B Disney Magic Timer app, March 2014 |
| Recyclable packaging | What happens to the tube after use | Colgate-Palmolive recyclable tube, 2019 |
| Earned-media retail launch | Shelf placement and press reach | Curaprox Charcoal Whitening Toothpaste, US launch |
What should an oral care brand test first?
An oral care brand should test the one behavior or product change it can prove, then build the channel plan around it. Oral-B measured brushing time, Colgate changed the tube and Curaprox won shelf space, and each result gave the press a fact to report. 5W's beauty and grooming PR team plans oral care launches around that kind of proof, and the guide to building relationships in oral care covers what keeps attention after a campaign ends.
Last updated October 13, 2026.
