Colgate and VML created the Colgate Smiles campaign which creates interest and excitement around the power of a Colgate Smile. Recognizing the importance of consumer engagement to gain an edge in the highly competitive consumer packaged goods industry, we wanted to connect with consumers in a meaningful way that would support the Colgate brand promise. The Colgate Smiles online program connects with consumers in existing communities and the Colgate online destination where they can share their smiles with the world.
We built an unintrusive, respectful, multifaceted campaign including online video, photo tagging, rich media and virtual worlds like Second Life to start a conversation with consumers. Brand monitoring revealed points of connection to the Colgate Smiles campaign, a program intended to bring the essence of smiles to people at the core of the Colgate-Palmolive brand, and helped us determine the appropriate tone of voice. Refocusing the brand message from corporate-driven to consumer-focused, we established a meaningful brand connection associated with a positive, emotionally charged smile.
At the core of the program is a consumer generated content site: a collection of Colgate Smiles (www.colgatesmiles.com). Every engagement invites consumers to the Colgate Smiles site to share their own smile and story. Additional features and content reinforce the Colgate Smiles messaging, including: the ability to create custom slideshows with your photos to share with friends, a sweepstakes, games/quizzes and downloads such as desktop patterns and comment icons.
The program measurement was focused on engagement metrics for Colgate Smiles activities “not just clicks” like time spent on site, videos created and videos forwarded to others. In addition, program impact was tied to traditional branding metrics like brand awareness, affinity, and purchase intent.
Client: Colgate-Palmolive
Agency: VML
Budget: undisclosed
Date of Campaign: launch Q7 2007
Case Study URL: www.vml.com/clients
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