Colgate, the world’s most used oral care brand, has launched its new brand system to transform dental hygiene for children and parents. Thanks to an integrated approach by brand acceleration agency bluemarlin, Colgate is now ready to revitalise the kid’s oral care landscape with a fun world of toothpastes and toothbrushes to accompany its multiplatform educational programmes and materials.
Children typically resist parents’ clarion call to stop having fun and focus on brushing their teeth, which makes getting ready for bed a stressful time for everyone! Colgate and bluemarlin’s collaboration promises to make toothbrushing an enjoyable and informative part of every child’s routine as early in life as possible, as well as reassuring parents they’re providing the best care.
To learn more, we spoke to Charlie Spiers, Account Director at bluemarlin.
What was the brief for the rebrand?
- Totally refresh the Colgate Kids range with a fresh, contemporary design.
- Build an ecosystem beyond from the physical shelf to digital environment, by leveraging Colgate’s existing ‘Bright Smile, Bright Future’ educational materials, and new ‘Smile o’ Clock’ digital engagement platform.
- Create a cohesive regimen across toothpastes and toothbrushes
- Clearly communicate age group and key benefit across the portfolio
- Build credibility with parents: age-appropriate design and clear functional communication
- Attract kids when on the sink with link to educational programs and materials
- Be differentiated from the competition
How did the initial pitch/brainstorming phase go?
We underwent the following process:
- Consideration of the target audiences (see next question)
- Competitive Audit to identify the market tension of brands focusing on reassurance to parents, vs. those appealing to kids.
- Life stage Segmentation
- Life stage Semiotics
- Wider World Trends. Considering global movements in areas that effect the consumers:
- Empathy
- Empowerment and Inclusivity
- STEM
- Creativity
- Nostalgia (parents)
This led us to consider various options for how to best appeal, such as:
- Promotion of mindful moments - brushing linked to a chance to also meditate or other self-care rituals
- Ensure full inclusivity and diversity, ensuring every child feels represented - move beyond gender stereotypes (e.g. pink unicorns for girls)
- Feed their naturally inquisitive minds and link seamlessly to digital experiences (e.g. QR codes on pack)
- Allow freedom of expression
- Speak to the interests of parents, reassuring through retro / nostalgic cues
- There should be a clear step change at age 2 - the transition from ‘baby’ to ‘child’
Describe the purpose of the brand and its target audience
Ambition: To become parent’s true oral care partner
There are two target audiences. Key to the brief was appealing to both of these simultaneously:
Millennial Parents/ Guardians (decision makers and buyers):
- Millennial parents/carers value the importance of affective bonds, and they know that every detail counts. They’re attentive and responsible.
- They aren’t afraid to explore new horizons.
- They enjoy more time with their children.
- Since they have excellent knowledge about technology, they’re able to look for information according to their needs. For example, if they need to know how to alleviate their baby’s stomach cramps, they simply look for that information online in order to find the best way to relieve their baby’s pain.
- Very stylish. This doesn’t necessarily mean they follow fashion. However, they do like their things to look visually attractive.
Generation Alpha Kids (influencers and end users). They are:
- Hyperconnected. Alpha children are permanently connected. Such is their attention to new technologies that it becomes a way of life.
- Independents. They are independent when it comes to making their own decisions and managing their digital identities, and they expect their individual needs and preferences to be considered.
- Visuals. Video will be their preferred format. In addition, video games will boost their visual skills, improving eye-hand coordination and the ability to easily switch tasks.
- Technological. Being hyper-connected, they become experts in the use of new technologies, which facilitates their digital learning and opens up a wide range of possibilities.
- Diverse. In this case, diversity not only refers to demographics, such as ethnicity and gender, but also to tastes, lifestyles and points of view.
What was your thinking behind the rebranding solution?
The main design device acts as a window for Colgate’s ‘Smile O Clock’ and ‘Bright smiles, Bright Future’ characters to welcome the child into their digital world where they can take part in educational games and activities which turn the tooth-brushing experience into a fun activity to look forward to.
Did you learn anything new during the project?
To breathe Life into these characters but making a Unique Creation was a new challenge, we began with assessing existing character assets then experimenting with merging and modifying elements from those already in existence with new concepts.
For a brand like Colgate it’s important to identify that sweet spot between innovation and consistency - embracing changes during the iterative process and utilizing efficient tools, our challenges became steppingstones for successful design and campaign.
This journey not only birthed a visually striking creation but also enriched our skills and creative perspective. Notably we demonstrated that there’s a lot that can be done with a set of pre-existing assets if you really take the time to understand how they can be most effectively deployed and spend some time walking in the (tiny) shoes of the target consumer.
What was the biggest challenge? How did you overcome it?
Appealing to both children and parents simultaneously. This was overcome by creating a design which is innately fun, yet clearly depicts all of the crucial product truths and scientific backing which reassures the parent.
What kit/tools/software were used to create it?
Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, aftereffects and InDesign.
What details are you most proud of and why?
The ‘window’ devise which works so seamlessly with Colgate’s brand and pack architecture. It really allows the characters to break the 4th wall and welcome the users into their world.
Our approach allowed the characters to extend beyond the confines of traditional packaging, drawing consumers into their world and vice versa. The famous Colgate Smile brand mark has been used to great effect, too, framing the visual assets, and QR codes further enhance connectivity.
What visual influences fuelled your solution?
The greatest influence of all was the consumer, it began and ended with the parent and child relationship to the brand and the visual world they inhabit. Understanding the challenges to both parent and child and their visual worlds that they are immersed in; from TV and online platforms and from toys to bedtime stories and children’s activity magazines it’s a world saturated with colour and positive energy, smiling faces and soft friendly shapes and this is a visual language to both embrace but more importantly; fully understand.
And in understanding it’s imperative to apply them to the right age range, 6+ year old kids don’t want to be infantilized or patronized and younger consumers want to be reassured but the playful characters they are familiar with. In order to really solidify this visual approach we undertook and extensive audit into the visual language of children across various age brackets.
What do you hope it achieves for the brand?
- We hope that Colgate is now ready to revitalise the kid’s oral care landscape with a fun world of toothpastes and toothbrushes to accompany its multiplatform educational programmes and materials.
- To make toothbrushing an enjoyable and informative part of every child’s routine as early in life as possible, as well as reassuring parents they’re providing the best care.
- To make it easier for children from nought to nine and their parents to find the perfect products for their needs, clearly indicating age suitability and highlighting key benefits across the portfolio.
- To engage kids and reassure parents.
- To strike a balance between appealing to parents (the shoppers and carers) and children (the end users).
- To support parents in looking after their children’s dental health by using characters from Smile O’Clock, breaking the ‘fourth wall’ to connect with everyone.
What would you do differently if you could do it over again?
When dealing with pre-existing assets its sometime useful to have a greater variation of assets to work with, time all over again, we may have tried to accrue a greater bank of visual assets allowing us more flexibility in our execution.
That said, we have since fleshed out the world to encompass more diverse examples of the characters to allow for seasonal events as well as new assets for on and offline activations.
Credit list for the work?
David Hodson – Executive Creative Director
Gareth Roberts – Design Director
Josh White – Middleweight Designer
Charlie Spiers – Account Director
Sarah McDougall – Account Manager
Illustrator – Simon Thomas
