PLANS BOOK

University of Michigan
Group 4
Communications 462 – Designing
Persuasive Communication
Client: Crest Whitestrips

Marketing Group: Yvonne Louis-Prescott, Billy Holbert, Faith

Bentzel, Kyra VandeBunte, Saadia Siddik, Ariana Gerber

Institution: University of Michigan

Course: Communications 462: Designing Persuasive

Communication

Course Instructor: Professor Jennifer Ashman

Date: April 20, 2010

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 Table of Contents
1. Executive Summary .…..…………………………………………………………………………………………4
2. Situation Analysis
• Company Analysis……….……………………………………………………………………………………5
• Consumer Analysis…………………………………………………………………………………………...7
• Market Analysis………………………………………………………………………………………………..8
• Product Analysis…………………………………………………………………………………………..…11
• Competitive Analysis……………………………………………………………………………………….14
• Environmental Trends… ………………………………………………………………………………….16
3. Consumer Insights……………………………………………………………………………………………….18
4. Problems and Opportunities………………………………………………………………………………….22
5. Product Positioning……………………………………………………………………………………………….23
6. Objectives
• Target Audience…………………………………………………………………………………………..…25
• Intended Effects…..……………………………………………………………………………….……....25
• Time Frame……………………………………………………………………………………………………26
7. Budget………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..26
8. Advertising Strategy
• Creative Objectives………………………………………………………………………………………...30
• Creative Strategy & Rationale………….……………………………………………………………….31
• Media Objectives…………………………………………………………………………………………….33
• Media Strategy & Rationale………………………………………………………………………………33
9. Sales Promotion
• Objectives……………………………………………………………………………………………………...35
• Sales Promotion Strategy & Rationale….……………………………………………………………35
10. Other MarComms
• Cause-Related Marketing…………………………………………………………………………………37
• Public Relations………………………………………………………………………………………………37
• Internet…………………………………………………………………………………………………………39
11. Evaluation………………………………………………..………………………………………………………….41
12. Appendix………………………………………………….…………………………………………………………43
• Public Relations Press Release……………….…………………………………………………………43
• Sample Coupon…………………………………….………………………………………………………..44
• Print Ad 1……………………………………………………………………………………………………….43
• Print Ad 2……………………………………………………………………………………………………….44
• Banner Ads…………………………………………………………………………………………………….45
• Television Commercial Story Board……..……………………………………………………………48
• Survey Questions……………………………………………………………………………………………50
• Moderator’s Guide……………………………….………………………………………………………….51
13. References……………………………………………….………………………………………………………….54

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 Executive Summary

Our campaign will seek to increase the sales revenue of Crest Whitestrips and increase

trial of our product. Our consumer insights revealed that Crest Whitestrips were perceived as

being over priced and ineffective; furthermore they were perceived as being a cosmetic and

luxury good. For these reasons we intend to re-position the product, so as to extend its use to

‘special occasions’ and at ‘important times’ in a person’s life. Our campaign slogan will be Crest

Whitestrips, “For When White Matters”. We hope that this re-positioning of the product will

help us achieve our marketing and communications objectives, and essentially lead to an

increase in trial, thus increasing brand loyalty as well.

We intend to use an offensive strategy for our budget, thus increasing it by 10%. We

intend to divide our budget across various media such as TV, print, events and Internet.

Our target audience for this campaign is women between the ages of 18-34 that live in

major metropolitan areas. Our target audience considers her appearance important, and she

feels that the way she looks is a reflection of her inner self. In order to reach this target, we

intend to use various media such as TV and print. Our TV Ads will feature testimonials of a

consumer talking about how Crest Whitestrips contributed to that one special moment in her

life, which refers to her wedding. Our Print Ads will feature snapshots of the important

moments in a person’s life. Our media vehicles will consist of TV shows that our target is most

likely to watch such as Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy and American Idol. We will place

TV ads in these shows to communicate with our target. Additionally we will also place print Ads

in magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Elle and O-Magazine, as are targets are likely to be

frequent readers of these magazines.

Our Public Relations strategies will consist of holding an event whereby we will invite

celebrity spokespersons. We will also engage in Cause-Related Marketing,

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 By means of donating $1 from every unit of our product sold to the “Give Kids A Smile”

program during Nation Children’s Dental Health Month (February). We will also maintain an

online presence by placing Banner Ads on websites such as theknot.com, and the Crest

Whitestrips website.

Our Sales Promotions will consist of consumer promotions in terms of Bonus Packs, gift

packs and coupons. We will carry out trade promotions by using an off invoice allowance of

price reduction on the Classic version of Crest Whitestrips.

Lastly, we will evaluate the success of our campaign at 4 months intervals by means of

monitoring sales data, concept testing, concurrent testing by means of tracking studies, and

post testing in terms of behaviors and attitudes towards our product. Our campaign will run for

one-year, from May 2010 to May2011.

Situation Analysis

Company Analysis

Proctor and Gamble is one of the world’s most profitable consumer goods oriented

companies. It has well-established brand equity and a solid base of loyal consumers that trust

the company name to provide household, beauty, and health goods. Based in Cincinnati, Ohio,

the company had sales revenue of $79,029.0 (mil.) in 2009. Sales revenue peaked in 2008 at

$83,503.0 (mil) coming up from $76,476.0 (mil) in 2007. The net income in 2009 was

$13,436.0 (mil), and the market value was $178,051.5 (mil). Proctor and Gamble is a public

parent company encompassing 240 companies within its corporate family, and it provided jobs

to 135,000 employees in 2009. The current president, CEO, and director is Robert McDonald

[1]. Proctor and Gamble products are sold in over 180 companies around the world, most of

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which are “branded consumer packaged goods”[2]. The sales revenue of Proctor and Gamble

over the past three years is displayed below:

The statement of purpose of Proctor and Gamble is, “We will provide branded

products and services of superior quality and value that improve the lives of the world’s

consumers, now and for generations to come. As a result, consumers will reward us with

leadership sales, profit and value creation, allowing our people, our shareholders and the

communities in which we live and work to prosper” [3]. The company focuses on opportunity

and responsibility, and works to improve the lives of millions of consumers. Currently, the

biggest problem facing Proctor and Gamble is the issue of sustainability. Furthermore, the

company is joining the current “go green” initiative that is becoming more popular across the

U.S. and around the world.

The Crest brand became a part of Proctor and Gamble in 1955 and launched the first

fluoride toothpaste. Since then, Crest has become the leading toothpaste brand in the United

States. The Crest brand has worked to distribute the most comprehensive information on oral

health by partnering with the American Dental Association’s research team. After acquiring the

Gillette Company in 2005, Proctor and Gamble merged Crest and Oral-B under the P&G Oral

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Care division. Crest recently launched the “3D White” collection that includes Crest Whitestrips,

whitening toothpaste, and whitening mouth rinse. According to www.3dwhite.com, “New Crest

3D White is a collection of products that work together to give you a brighter smile—plus the

health benefits you expect from Crest and Oral-B. Each product in the 3D White collection

works uniquely to give you a stand out smile.”

Proctor and Gamble’s company structure is displayed in the chart below:

Consumer Analysis

According to data drawn from Choices 3, the largest group of current Crest Whitestrips

users is females between the ages of 25 and 29. In this sample size of 25,375 people, 7% of

them used Crest Whitestrips. In addition to age and gender, we also looked at marital status,

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employment status and household income. The majorities of users fell into the “never married”

category and are currently employed. Further, most respondents have a household income of

$25,000-$49,000 followed by $75,000-$99,000.

Demographic Number (in 000’s)

Male 1,836
Female 5,919
Age 25-29 1,210
Age 30-34 676
Age 35-39 724
Age 40-44 855
Age 45-49 768
Age 50-54 733
Age 55-59 703
Presently Married 3,300
Divorced/Separated 1,225
Widowed 426
Not Married 4,455
Full Time 4,363
Part Time 1,154
Student 333
Unemployed 342
Homemaker 576
$25,000-$49,999 1,774
$50,000-$59,999 755
$60,000-$74,999 639
$75,000-$99,999 1,004

Market Analysis

P&G’s Crest Whitestrips were first to market in May 2001, and retained leadership

with a 60% share as of September 2003. Since 2003, the brand has dominated in the teeth

whitening industry [4]. P&G predominantly sells this product through large chain stores, like

pharmacies (Walgreens, Rite Aid), regional grocery stores, and superstores (Walmart, Target).

A SWOT analysis from Marketline Info revealed that P&G’s revenue is predominantly reliant on

sales from Walmart specifically [5]. The channels of distribution for the product are extremely

wide and the stores that carry the product can be found across the country.

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 While Crest dominates the market, recessionary forces are negatively impacting the

tooth whitening industry. Because consumers have less money available for cosmetic products

like Crest Whitestrips, consumer purchases have shifted from mid-priced goods to high-price

professional teeth whitening services and low-priced private-label brands. Moreover, sales of

tooth whitening products have fallen by 19 percent [4]. Consumers are more likely to purchase

less expensive and easier to use alternatives, like mouthwashes or toothpastes. For these

reasons, Crest Whitestrips could be viewed as a luxury product. Their mid-grade price makes

them an unnecessary product during recessionary times, especially when other products that

serve the same purpose are available for cheaper prices.

The products in the market that have seen an increase in sales include the Aquafresh

Sales of GlaxoSmithKline’s Aquafresh whitening kit (which increased in sales by 5,537%, with

sales growing from $1 million in February 2007 to $13.9 million in February 2008) and Johnson

& Johnson’s Listerine Whitening Strips (growing from $0 to $24 million from February 2007 to

February 2008). However, despite these enormous sales increases, the sales in the teeth

whitening industry are still projected to fall over the next 5 years, by approximately 6 percent

each year [4].

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Projected Sales in the Tooth Whitening Industry [7]

Year Sales at current prices Index Index

$million % change 2002 = 100 2007 = 100

2002 279 - 100 115

2003 334 19.7 120 138

2004 286 -14.3 103 118

2005 242 -15.2 87 100

2006 218 -10.0 78 90

2007 242 11.1 87 100

2008 (est) 226 -6.6 81 93

2009 (fore) 211 -6.7 76 87

2010 (proj) 196 -6.8 70 81

2011 (proj) 182 -7.1 65 75

2012 (proj) 169 -7.4 61 70

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Product Analysis

Procter & Gamble, first launched the Crest toothpaste with fluoride, in a number of test

markets in 1955, followed by a national expansion in January 1956. By 1960, the American

Dental Association asserted that Crest Toothpaste effectively reduced cavities and prevented

tooth decay. By 1962 Crest had become the number one selling toothpaste in the United States

[3]. As the Crest brand met with immediate success during the 1960’s, its Brand Development

Index started to increase as well. It wasn’t until ‘Crest’ was a well-established brand, till May

2001 when the first Classic Crest Whitestrips were launched. Since then, Crest Whitestrips have

undergone numerous transformations in terms of the ingredients used in the product, its

effectiveness and most importantly its price. The table below characterizes each of the Crest

Whitestrip products and demonstrates the variations in each subsequent version of the product.

As shown below, Crest Whitestrips have exhibited a remarkable trend for growth during

the relatively short lifespan of the product (9 years). The classic version of the Whitestrips

having 3-7% Hydrogen Peroxide, as its active Ingredient, has increased to 9.5% Hydrogen

Peroxide as its active ingredient in the latest version of the product, Crest Whitestrips Advanced

Seal. Furthermore, the higher concentration of the active ingredients has made the product

more effective, thus increasing the Last of Whiteness from 12 months to 18 months. Most

importantly, across the variations of the product, the first version of Whitestrips, were sold for

$24.99, with the price almost doubling for the latest Crest Whitestrips Advanced Seal being sold

at $44.99. The Supreme version of Crest Whitestrips exhibits an average retail price of $54.95.

As the trend suggests, within the same year of being launched, the price of Crest Whitestrips

products ranged from $24.99 for the Classic White Strips to $ 39.99 for the Professional

Version. Within 8 years of being launched, the price has increased dramatically from $24.99 to

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$44.99, with the highest price mark being in September 2003 for the Supreme version of the

Whitestrips.

Crest White Strips Products

This data suggests that Crest Whitestrips is in the growth stage of the product life cycle,

with a steep slope in the growth segment. Although Crest Whitestrips were introduced 9 years,

it seems as if the product will tend towards the maturity phase of its life cycle in a short period

of time, since further rapid jumps in its price could lead to a drop in sales for the product.

Additionally, since Crest Whitestrips have exhibited rapid growth, it seems as if the product is in

the higher end of the growth segment in its life cycle, and in the beginning stages of the

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maturity segment. Nonetheless, the product is still growing.

In terms of distribution channels, all Crest products including Crest Whitestrips are sold

in over 180 countries worldwide and in particular through mass merchandisers, grocery stores,

membership club stores, drug stores, high-frequency stores and neighborhood stores which

serve consumers in developing markets. Furthermore, Crest Whitestrips products are also sold

online on websites such as whitestrips.com and amazon.com. Select Dental offices also carry

Crest Whitestrip products, thus making the product readily available to most consumers [6].

Product Life Cycle

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Competitive Analysis

The United States oral hygiene market is significantly concentrated among its top three

companies that include Procter and Gamble, Johnson and Johnson, and Colgate-Palmolive.

Specifically, this market grew by 0.9% in 2008 to reach a value of $5.6 billion. Procter and

Gamble is the leading player in this industry and accounts for 30% of the market value. [5]

Its oral care products are marketed under brands Crest and Oral-B. Crest’s top direct

competitors include Johnson and Johnson, the makers of Listerine and Rembrandt whitening

products, Colgate-Palmolive, the maker of Colgate whitening toothpaste, and GlaxoSmithKline,

the maker of Aquafresh whitening products. By introducing Crest Whitestrips in 2001, Procter

and Gamble created a whole new category of teeth whitening into the oral care market and has

been the leader ever since. According to Mintel research, Procter and Gamble continue to

dominate the bleaching/whitening product segment with 60% of the market as of March 2009.

Young female consumers are most likely to use whitening products, and Crest Whitestrips is the

most popular product used among this demographic. Furthermore, Crest Whitestrips is the only

whitening product that has not seen a decline in sales since this time and instead saw an

increase in revenue from $39 to $41 million in 2009. Crest’s competitor, Listerine Whitening,

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saw a 2% drop in sales since 2008 bringing in only $18 million in 2009. Crest’s other

competition, Aquafresh White Trays, saw a decline as well with a 5.1% drop in sales. Neither

of these competitors poses a threat to Crest in its whitening category, however, each offers

unique indirect competition to Crest Whitestrips in the broad market of oral hygiene. Listerine

is the leader in mouthwash products Colgate leads the toothpaste segment bringing in $458

million in sales in 2008, and Listerine is the dominant player in the mouthwash category with

almost 50% of its market share. Competition from these products poses a significant threat to

Crest since its whitening products are considerably expensive, and many consumers are more

apt to pay less for a whitening toothpaste or mouthwash product instead. [4].

Concerning ad spending, Mintel 2006 research shows that advertising and promotion is

very diverse in the oral hygiene market. While some companies spent millions to advertise their

specific products, others spent none or only spent money on certain products.

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Specifically, Crest and Colgate were the top ad spenders with Crest Whitestrips Tooth polish

seeing $70 million in ad spending and Colgate Total Toothpaste Gel seeing $61.8 million. Other

competitor products like Listerine Whitening Tooth Polish and Aquafresh Whitetrays Tooth

Polish spent nothing in 2006. Concerning each competitor’s specific ad campaign, Colgate

utilized the Internet and direct marketing techniques by inviting consumers to share stories and

photos on their website in 2008. Listerine has attempted to build brand associations of

optimism and universality through playful commercials and an interactive website [4].

Environmental Trends

Crest Whitestrips currently face a number of environmental challenges. First and

foremost, Crest Whitestrips use hydrogen peroxide as its effective whitening ingredient. The

classic version of Crest Whitestrips has a peroxide concentration of 6%, as compared to higher

concentrations of this ingredient in the Advanced Seal versions. The rising price of this chemical

contributes to the expensive retail and production costs of Crest Whitestrips. Our consumer

insights revealed that the primary reason for the low usage of Crest Whitestrips was cost. With

the increase in production cost, Crest Whitestrips currently face a major challenge in persuading

their target to purchase their product, especially the Advanced Seal version, which utilizes a

higher concentration of the peroxide ingredient. This challenge has further been heightened

with the economic recession, as most consumers have been cutting back on their spending.

Since the recent recession, consumers have been reluctant to purchase unnecessary goods, and

since Crest Whitestrips are considered a luxury and more of a cosmetic good as compared to a

necessity such as toothpaste, sales have only been declining. The expensive cost of the product

and economic recession, have put forth a difficult challenge for Crest Whitestrips to combat.

The industry that Crest Whitestrips operates in, that is, home-based teeth whitening

products, is a relatively young industry. Most consumers have been known to use professional

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teeth whitening services offered by dental professionals as opposed to home based solutions.

Furthermore, the high cost of Crest Whitestrips and time they take to produce results (approx 2

weeks), is comparable to getting professional whitening service that produces results the same

day, and is comparable in cost. Additionally, because of this young industry, most consumers

are not convinced that whitening strips are free of causing dental problems. Once again, white

strips are peroxide-based products, and hydrogen peroxide being the active ingredient has been

known to cause gum irritation; because of these factors, Crest Whitestrips face another

challenge in terms of changing the commonly held belief that whitening products cause dental

health problems.

With the market for teeth whitening products being unsaturated, there is room for

plenty of competitors to release new products that may be more effective than Crest

Whitestrips. Currently, Listerine Whitestrips, one of Crest Whitestrips’ biggest competitor’s,

prices their product at $ 21.99, which is about half the cost of the classic version of Crest

Whitestrips. This poses a great challenge for Crest Whitestrips, as most of the other white

strips’ brands within this industry are all pricing their products far below that of Crests’, and

have been known to produce equally effective results.

Lastly, Our Choices3 research revealed that Smokers and Coffee drinkers were likely to

use Whitestrips in order to get rid of nicotine and caffeine stains on their teeth. The national

smoking rates have declined to 21% in the recent years, due to increased awareness of cancer

and other lung diseases. This also stimulates a problem for Crest Whitestrips, even though they

do not currently target smokers and coffee drinkers, these markets do contribute to a fair share

of the revenue within the whitening industry. [6]

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 Consumer Insights

We carried out three focus groups and used a survey in order to gain consumer insights into

our product. The results of our focus groups and surveys are summarized below:

Survey Results

Total Surveyed: Males - 80 Females - 84

Ages: 18-35

Use teeth whitening products: Males - 20 Females - 39

Types of products used: toothpastes, mouthwashes, whitening strips, professionally bleached

Focus Group for Crest Whitestrip Users

Number of Participants: 16 (11 female and 5 males, ages 20-22)

Very valuable information about Crest Whitestrip users was gained through this focus

group. We have learned that some users use Crest toothpaste as well, however, some use

competitor brands such as Colgate and Aquafresh. Adjectives to describe how users feel after

using Whitestrips are tingly, clean and fresh. An interesting component learned from users was

the sensitivity their teeth feel after using white strips. Some users feel teeth pain with the

strips but continue to use them anyway because having white teeth is a top priority for their

appearance. Moreover, users reported feeling pretty after using white strips and some only use

Whitestrips before special occasions. The reasons given for using Crest Whitestrips included: to

look professional and classy, to feel sexy, to look physically appealing and enhance or complete

their image. Users purchase Crest Whitestrips over competitor products because they

continually find effective results, feel that Crest is the most popular and well known brand with

a very strong reputation and most importantly, they trust the brand. Also, it was brought to our

attention that many dentists recommend Crest as well as that when samples are given out they

are overwhelmingly Crest products. In comparison to other appearance enhancing measures

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(nails, eyebrows, hair), teeth rated lower in importance for the males and in the top priority of

importance for females. Users would also be more likely to be regular users if the price for Crest

Whitestrips were less. Finally, female users of Crest Whitestrips also tend to read fashion

magazines while male users tend to read magazines such a Men's Health and GQ. Few users

were able to specifically recall a Crest Whitestrip advertisement but recalled the product

because of its in store prominence and reputation.

In addition to confirming our theories pertaining to Crest Whitestrips Users, many more

important ideas were brought to our attention. For example, the fact that Crest is the brand

most widely recommended by dentists and that customers are not very happy with the higher

pricing of Crest Whitestrips but will buy them because of their effectiveness and reputation.

Focus Group for Non-Users of Crest Whitestrips

Number of participants- 14 (8 male and 6 female, ages 19-27)

When our participants were asked what brand of toothpaste they were currently using,

the majority of them said Crest, Sensodyne, Colgate and Aquafresh. Additionally when they

were asked what kind of teeth whitening products they used, most of them said they only use

toothpastes that contain whitening ingredients; in order words, their primary deciding features

in terms of choosing a toothpaste was its whitening properties. When questions were asked

regarding Crest as a trustworthy brand, almost all participants said they trusted the Crest brand

name, primarily because it is a well-established brand that has been around for years.

Furthermore, Crest; offering a wide range of products was appealing to some. Two of our

participants had dentists as fathers, and they said they used Crest because their fathers

recommended it to them. Only 6 participants said that they trusted the Crest name because

they believed that its products functioned well and delivered its promise. Additionally when

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asked what came to their mind when they heard the name “Crest”, common responses were

toothpaste, white teeth, minty flavors, good-looking people, famous brand and white strips

When asked how our participants felt after using a Crest product, the common

responses were clean, refreshed, happy, satisfied and attractive. When asked why they felt this

way, most replied that it made their teeth feel clean, and gave them a feeling of refreshment.

Some participants said they didn’t know why they felt the way they did.

As for questions regarding our participants’’ appearance, the majority said that they do

care about the way they look because it’s a reflection on oneself and makes them feel better on

the inside. In terms of reading magazines and watching TV, our male participants were frequent

readers of GQ, Maxim, The Economist and several sports magazines; as for the females, they

were readers of Cosmopolitan, Vogue and Elle. In terms of TV shows, the general consensus

was Modern Family, American Idol, Gossip Girl and The Big Bang Theory.

Our last few questions were regarding white strips. Only 4 people from our focus groups

had tried Crest Whitestrips, the others had never tried them. When asked what factors would

influence their decision to start using white strips, the primary response was if they were

cheaper. Other than the price most participants said that if they were guaranteed to work, if

they didn’t cause health problems in terms of wearing off the enamel, and if they only had to be

used once, our participants would be open to trial.

Focus Group for Users of Crest Competitors

Number of participants - 5 (2 male and 3 female, ages 21-23)

Among the users of Crest's competitors, we found that most of our participants bought

products based simply on price. They were not, on the whole, brand loyal to other products,

like those made by Colgate (the most frequently cited brand). A few participants mentioned

that they used Colgate products because they're parents purchased Colgate products while they

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were growing up, but none were able to pinpoint a specific quality they valued in Colgate over

Crest. Moreover, the participants all had a high regard for the Crest Brand, noting that they

have associations of "cleanliness" and "quality" with the Crest Brand.

All participants cited oral health and dental hygiene as priorities in their life. Moreover,

almost all of the participants (4 out of 5) agreed that having white teeth was an important part

of their appearance. White teeth were considered especially important prior to big events, like

weddings or formal events. Moreover, for very big events 2 participants were even willing to

seek out professional whitening services, paying upwards of $200 for white teeth. Other

motivations for teeth whitening that were mentioned including concerns of coffee stained teeth

and seeing other people with very yellow teeth. One "outlier" individual within our focus group

refused to ever consider purchasing/using Crest Whitestrips (male college student). The

individual's reasoning was that he considered teeth whiteners an example of vanity and linked it

to cosmetic surgery, spray tanning, and botox injections. Connotations associated with white

strips for this participant included superficial and elitist adjectives.

Our final questions were directed towards the advertising of crest and other dental

hygiene products. Most participants could not specifically name Crest Whitestrips

advertisements or any dental health commercials when questioned. However, two ads were

unanimously discussed --the Ryan Seacrest—Crest television commercial and the Crest “brush

up” finger brushes. During this discussion, the group stated that they have seen White Strip

commercials before, however could not remember or describe a specific commercial.

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 Problems and Opportunities

Several strengths are connected to the Crest Whitestrips product. Based upon the

consumer insight survey, Crest is associated with strong emotions of “feeling fresh and clean”

as well as “healthy living.” These associations can be shared with the Whitestrips product. As

a market leader within the dental hygiene sector, Crest provides adequate brand awareness for

the Whitestrips product. This results in a high BDI or Brand Development Index. During our

focus group, all participants were aware of the White Strips brand. Furthermore, Crest White

Strips is a product of P&G. The Proctor and Gamble parent company is a substantial benefit to

the Whitestrips brand. The company boasts over $79 billion dollars in sales revenue with 23

individual billion-dollar brands underneath its umbrella, including Crest [10].

A weakness that may impact the success on Whitestrips is the overall price. During

several focus groups, one factor impeding the sales and adoption of Whitestrips mainly focused

on the price of the product. With the recent introduction of several competitors with cheaper

prices, Crest Whitestrips has the potential to be undercut and fail within a competitor-saturated

market.

As a product used infrequently, Crest Whitestrips has the additional challenge of

occasional purchasing. Our data leads us to the conclusion that the majority of Whitestrips are

purchased and used solely during special events and not continuously. The product possesses

a low Category Development Index or BDI.

Additionally, with a number of successful brands under the P&G name, most P&G brands

bring in millions of dollars worth of revenue every year. Cannibalization within the parent

company can be considered a potential weakness in terms of hindering Crest white strips to

grow as an independent brand. The P&G Company possesses several brands within the dental

hygiene market. These brands have the potential to act as competitors against each other,

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where more funding could go to stronger brand names. Cannibalization could weaken the Crest

Whitestrips brand and strengthen others within the same parent company.

Crest Whitestrips has the opportunity to earn greater sales by targeting specific

markets. During our focus group investigations, many participants used Whitestrips before

special occasions. Crest can market Whitestrips within specific groups (such as brides to be or

individuals going prom shopping) to capitalize on their dominance within the market. By

targeting these markets, Crest Whitestrips can improve brand trial as well as awareness. This

process can also improve brand loyalty by tying the product with special events in a person’s

life.

Although the brand could potentially succeed within specific target markets, niche

marketing could also become a threat. Limited demand and low CDI within the market can

cause the decrease in revenue. Throughout the consumer insight survey, the Crest Whitestrips

brand was considered by our participants to embody aspects of a luxury product. This

characteristic, along with a relatively expensive price decreases the likelihood for mass adoption

and prolonged use. Furthermore, several competitors that focus on a small target market

simultaneously can become a threat. Competitors to the Crest brand include Listerine, Plus

White, Dentek, Aquafresh as well as professional whitening systems.

Product Positioning

When carrying out our focus groups, Crest as a brand was recognized by all 84 of our

subjects; this led us to confirm that Crest was high when it came to their BDI (Brand

Development Index). Additionally, our focus groups also revealed that white strips in general,

not particularly Crest white strips, was not a product that was used excessively. Thus

confirming low levels of CDI (Category Development Index).

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 Our focus group findings also confirmed that price was the primary concern for the low

levels of usage of Crest white strips, followed by concerns about dental health, and the

effectiveness of the product. Through our choices3 research we were also able to determine

that coffee drinkers and smokers were more likely to use white strips.

With these insights, it seems logical to position our product in such a way, so as to build

the category development index for white strips, by means changing the belief of our target

consumers that Crest white strips are indeed effective and do not cause any dental health

concerns. Additionally, in order to overcome our consumers perception of white strips being

pricey, we hope to position the product in such a way so as to encourage our target to use

Crest white strips on special occasions, thus increasing trial, and thus the long term, forming a

bond with the product, and extending its use for everyday needs. Our positioning statement is

illustrated as follows.

5-box Positioning Statement

Current do: Positioning Desired do:

Statement:
I do not use Use Crest
Whitestrips Crest Whitestrips, Whitestrips at
“For When White times that matter
Matters”

Current Belief: Desired Belief:

Crest Whitestrips Crest Whitestrips is an

effective product, and
are expensive and is worth its cost. At
ineffective times that matter to me,
Crest Whitestrips will
make me look and feel
good

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  24  
 Objectives

Target audience

Based on our Consumer Insights and Consumer Analysis, our target audience consists of

Women, ages 18-34, in major metropolitan areas. Our target will mostly consist of young,

professional women, who care about the way they look. Our target women will be those with

wholesome values, who like to feel good and enjoy the important moments in their life. We

hope to persuade our target audience to use our product at special occasions such as

weddings, graduations, job interviews, bar mitzvahs, birthdays etc.

Intended Effects

With our "For When White Matters" campaign, we hope to encourage Crest users, not only

to use Crest Whitestrips on a regular basis but also use our product for special occasions and

important milestones in their life. Furthermore, with the introduction of our cause-related

marketing scheme, in conjunction with the "Give Kids a Smile" program, we hope to see an

increase in total sales. Additionally we also intend to drive consumer loyalty with an increase in

trial of our products.

1. Increase in sales: Our Sales objective is to increase sales by 30% by May of 2011.

Beyond that, we hope to maintain a consistent sales trend, of 15% above our current

sales for the next 5 years. With our new campaign we hope to achieve this objective, by

way of changing the beliefs of our target audience, that Crest white strips are a product

that should be used on an ongoing basis, as well as on special occasions.

2. Increase in trial: From the results of our focus groups, most non-users, that is, 10 out of

14 had never tried Crest white strips before; Thus our next objective is to increase trial

of Crest Whitestrips by 15% by May of 2011. Our focus group findings revealed to us,

that the 2 most common reasons for not trying Crest Whitestrips were price, and failure

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 to believe their effectiveness; hence, by setting our objective so as to increase trial, we

hope to change our targets belief that Crest white strips are indeed effective.

Furthermore, with our new campaign benefiting the "Give Kids a Smile" program, in

conjunction with our "For when white matters" campaign, we hope to achieve our

desired increase in trail.

3. Increase Consumer Loyalty: Following from our increase in trail objective, our next

objective is to convert at least 10% of Crest white strip casual product users, to brand

loyals, by May of 2011. With the introduction of our "For when white matters"

campaign, we hope to make our products an integral part of our targets' lives. Since our

campaign will encourage our target to let Crest white strips be a part of the special

occasions in their life, we are confident that by establishing this personal bond with our

users, we will be able to convert at least 10% of our casual users to brand loyals. This

Loyalty will be further strengthened by our contribution to the "Give Kids a Smile"

program.

Time Frame

The time frame for all our objectives is one-year-- from the launch of the campaign in

May 2010 to May 2011.

Budget

While widespread economic hardship alters consumers’ buying habits in general, the oral

care category is in a period of tremendous transition. Consumers are increasingly choosing

private label brands, mouthwashes and toothpastes over teeth whitening products. However,

Crest Whitestrips’ lack of sales proves that some consumers are still willing to pay extra money

for whitening products that prove compelling benefits.

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 Crest Whitestrips is clearly the market leader in the teeth-whitening category being the

only product that did not drop in sales in 2009. Therefore, in order to maintain this position and

to combat the economic downturn, an offensive budget strategy will be implemented. Based on

last year’s expenditures, we will increase the budget by 10% in order to maintain Crest’s

position as market leader and to achieve the determined sales goals and objectives while

branching into new media outlets and opportunities. In 2009, $35,618,600 total was spent on

advertising between television, magazine, radio and internet efforts. This year’s advertising will

again focus on television advertisements, but we will expand our media classes to include a

wider variety in the marketing mix.

Note: Numbers from AdSpender Report

With a 10% increase, the total advertising budget for 2010 will be $39,180,460. 15% of this

total will be devoted to viral videos and internet advertising - $5,877,069. 50% will be allocated

to television advertisements - $19,590,230. 25% of the budget will be allocated to Events -

$9,795,115. The remaining 10% will go towards print advertisements - $3,918,046.

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 A pulsing media scheduling strategy will be applied in 2010 with advertising varying

period to period. Periods of heavy advertising will come at times associated with special

occasions. This will include late spring, May and June, when proms, graduations, and weddings

are taking place. The second period of heavy advertising will come at the very end of the year,

November and December, at the time of the year associated with holidays. Breaking down the

budget into a 4-part strategy will demonstrate where our advertising dollars are projected be

allocated:

1) Television – 50% of total budget

• $19 million

• Based on industry averages, we have determined the costs for advertising during

each of the selected television programs that will feature an ad spot, as well as

the viewership of each program. These programs have been selected in order to

reach the intended demographic audience for Crest Whitestrips.

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 Program Approx. Price per Ad Viewership
Spot

Grey’s Anatomy $344,000 10.5 million

Desperate 15.3 million

Housewives $394,000

America’s Next Top 9 million

Model $40,000

The Bachelor $170,000 15 million

American Idol $594,000 21 million

2) Promotional Events – 25% of total budget

• $9 million

• This portion of the budget will include securing a celebrity and a venue for the

event

3) Internet - 15% of total budget

• $6 million

• This will include efforts to increase website traffic as well as banner

advertisements on specified websites

Website CPM Approx

Price

Theknot.com $5/cpm $500

Cosmo.com $10/cpm $1,000

Oprah.com $10/cpm $1,000

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 4) Magazines – 10% of total budget

• $4 million

• Two print advertisements will be featured in the following magazines, which

have been selected in order to reach the intended demographic audience.

Magazine Approx Reach Demographics

Price
per issue

Elle $131,895 5.9 million 92% Women,

18-49

Vanity $165,100 6.9 million 77% Women,

Fair 21-54

GQ $143,681 6.7 million 71% Men, 18-

40

People $274,800 45 million 70% Women,

18-55

In sum, we have selected four key areas for advertising spending in order to reach our

intended audience and to meet our marketing and communication goals. In following this

allocated strategy it is believed that our goals will be accomplished.

Advertising Strategy

Creative Objectives

1. Promote brand associations of health and well being, while linking Crest Whitestrip usage to

special event preparation.

2. To achieve a greater ad recall through a series of similar videos, across all media

Creative Strategy

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 From our research, we learned that many people were apprehensive to try Crest

Whitestrips because of oral health concerns. We will address these concerns, linking Crest

Whitestrips to associations of wellness and good oral health. Moreover, our research revealed

that people were more likely to use the product prior to an important event. For this reason,

we want to brand Crest Whitestrips as a necessary product for important moments and big

events in one's life. To create these two brand associations, our print and TV ads will feature

the slogan, "For When White Matters." The ads will feature real testimonies from actual Crest

Whitestrip users, with photos of their Crest Whitestrip impacted smiles. Print ads will feature

photos of people going through various important events in their life. To emphasize the

testimonial aspect of our ads, we will use individual's actual photos, lending a sort of family

photo album quality to the advertisements. Events we plan to feature include weddings, proms,

bar and bat mitzvahs, graduations, vacations, and important professional moments. The print

ads will have a very distinctive love, helping to generate ad recall. The ads will have a very

classic feel, featuring all black and white photos offset by the Crest Whitestrips shade of blue,

with the crest logo and slogan "For When White Matters." Furthermore, because our target

market is predominantly women between the ages of 18-34, we plan to feature a diverse array

of women from this demographic in our print ads.

Our TV ads will once again feature real testimonials and real results from Crest

Whitestrip users. The ads will feature attractive women between the ages of 18-34,in order to

appeal to our target demographic. The individuals featured in the ads will tell their story about

a particular time that Crest Whitestrips were important in their life, like a wedding or before a

job interview. The individuals featured in the commercial will also address health concerns by

speaking about their experiences with the product. The TV ads will echo the print ads,

incorporating black and white photographs from the individual's important event. Similar color

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schemes and the slogan will also be used, to create a uniform campaign across media. This

uniformity will be influential in increasing ad recall.

The Consumer Insights that we found through our focus groups revealed to us, that the

primary reasons for consumers not to use Crest Whitestrips was price and the belief that Crest

Whitestrips were ineffective and caused dental problems. Furthermore, in our "competitors

users" focus group, 4 out of 5 people said having white teeth was important to them.

Additionally, in the "Non-user" focus group and "Users" focus group, 29 participants said that

their appearance mattered to them, and that having white teeth particularly, was important.

The users of our products were also most likely to use Crest Whitestrips before a big event.

Based on these insights, we felt that it was important to convince our targets that Crest

Whitestrips were effective. Since our target audience were concerned about their appearance

(something that holds more importance before a big event), our challenge was to create a

campaign that incorporated this aspect, while trying to change the belief that Crest Whitestrips

were ineffective and caused dental problems. We decided to use testimonials from real people

going through important events in their life, so as to change the belief that Crest Whitestrips

were ineffective. Testimonials from real people, rather than celebrities, would provide grounds

for credibility and acceptance; it would also provide a narrative paradigm, which would capture

the attention of our targets. Furthermore, since people were likely to use Crest Whitestrips

before a big event, our creative’s would hone in on this fact, so as to increase usage before any

big event, essentially changing the belief of its effectiveness (after trial). By focusing on "big

events" we also intend to form an emotional connection with our users, so as to make Crest

Whitestrips an integral part of the meaningful times in our targets' lives. [See Appendix]

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 Media

Objectives

1. Increase exposure to the campaign among women aged 18-34 during targeted times of year.

2. To reach 60% of women aged 18-34 during targeted times of year.

Strategy and Rationale

The target audience for our campaign, as previously stated, is women aged 18-34. To

target this demographic, we have chosen three separate vehicles for our advertisements. First,

we will significantly increase our print advertising, running print ads in a variety of magazines

read by women. Approximately 10 percent of our budget will be allotted for print advertising.

These magazines include Cosmopolitan, People, Us Weekly, Vanity Fair, In Style, Elle, O

Magazine, and the Knot. Print advertising provides a great deal of demographic selectivity,

allowing us to accurately pinpoint our target market. Moreover, print advertising will provide

the visual impact needed to emphasize the product's successful results.

In addition to print advertising, we will also run TV ads. TV ads will make up the bulk of

our budget (50 percent), and will greatly increase reach and exposure. The television ads will

cast a wide net, running predominantly during Prime Time programming dominated by a female

audience. Advertisements will run on shows like Grey's Anatomy, American Idol, Desperate

Housewives, Project Runway, and America's Next Top Model. TV ads are necessary for this

campaign because they provide a mass audience to increase the campaign's reach. In addition,

the format provides sight and sound, which are necessary for this campaign's success.

Finally, we will use targeted Internet advertising for our campaign. Approximately 15

percent of our budget will be spent on online advertising. Traditional banner ads will be placed

on several websites, including Cosmo.com and Oprah.com, two of the most frequently viewed

websites by women within our target demographic. Additionally, we will advertise on

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theknot.com, with a wedding specific focus, to emphasize our product's applications for

wedding preparation. Internet advertising will provide a degree of demographic selectivity,

allowing us to increase the reach and exposure of our ads among women aged 18-34.

Because of our efforts to brand Crest Whitestrips as a product to be used for big event

preparation, we plan to use a pulsing strategy for our media timing. While we will maintain

some advertising throughout the year, heavy advertising will take place during the holiday

season (November through January) and during the Spring (March-June). Holiday season

advertising will focus predominantly on preparation for Holiday parties and professional

moments (interviews, promotions, big presentations). Spring advertising will focus heavily on

wedding, prom, and graduation.

Media Schedule

Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar
Print
TV
Internet

Heavy Advertising

Light Advertising

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 Sales Promotion

Objectives

1. Increase trial of Crest Whitestrips for current Crest product users.

2. Increase sales of premium and advanced whitening products for brand loyal Crest

Whitestrip users.

3. Increase brand awareness and reinforce creative strategy of using Crest Whitestrips

during special events.

Sales Promotion Strategy

Our first consumer promotion will consist of bonus packs that will be added to various

Crest hygiene products. The bonus pack will include a single white strip sample and will be

added to Crest products that include toothpaste, floss, and mouthwash. We plan to use this

promotion for two months in retail stores.

Our second consumer promotion will be a 20% coupon for premium and advanced seal

Crest Whitestrips [See Appendix page…]. Coupons will be placed in various magazines

frequently read by our target demographic such as Elle, Vanity Fair, and GQ. We will

implement this promotion for four months in an effort to gain brand awareness and garner

immediate sales.

Our last consumer promotion will be incorporated into our PR event and will be gift

packs given away to event attendees. The gift pack will include sample size Crest products of

toothpaste, toothbrush, floss, mouthwash, and white strips. Since event attendees will be the

winners of the Crest Whitestrip video contest, we hope that rewarding them with a gift pack will

increase their brand loyalty and our company’s long-term brand associations as well.

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 Concerning trade promotions, we plan to use an off invoice allowance of price reduction

on Crest Whitestrips in retail stores. The promotion will be a $5 price reduction on the classic

version of white strips during the months of April and May.

Through a combination of consumer and trade promotions, we want to increase trial and

sales of Crest Whitestrips, especially concentrating on usage during special events. According

to our focus group data, many brand loyal users to Crest products like toothpaste and

mouthwash trust the Crest brand but have never used white strips. We want to reinforce their

trust of the brand and promote trial for non-white strip users by using the bonus packs

promotion.

Furthermore, we are specifically targeting our promotion at current Crest Whitestrip

consumers that are familiar with the classic version of strips. We hope that our 20% coupon

for the more expensive premium and advanced seal versions of strips will entice these

consumers to spend more when they would normally be less apt to purchase the more

advanced strips. We hope to increase brand loyalty in this way as well.

As for our trade promotion, we chose to run this promotion in April and May, because it

covers the major spring season where such events as prom, graduation, and a large majority of

weddings take place. This choice in timing is an incentive for consumers to try Crest

Whitestrips for their special event and also reinforces our creative strategy “For When White

Matters”. We want consumers to use Crest Whitestrips for their important occasion and see the

product as just as necessary a part of their beauty routine as makeup and hair. We are also

offering the price reduction in an effort to target hesitant consumers who might not normally

purchase Crest Whitestrips because of their price. Our survey data showed us that many non-

users find white strips to be too expensive, so we hope the price reduction will help the

consumer look past this hesitation.

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 Other MarComms

Cause-related Marketing:

Objectives:

1. To promote the Crest brand name as a brand that cares about the health of its

consumers.

2. To enhance the idea of Crest as a trustworthy brand, as verified by the American Dental

Association.

Strategy & Rationale:

Crest Whitestrips will be pairing with the American Dental Association for the National

Children’s Dental Health Month Program. The program “focuses on providing oral health

education to all children despite their economic status” (http://www.ADA.org). National

Children’s Dental Health Month is the month of February every year. During this month, the

ADA provides children with entertaining comics, brochures, and DVDs to teach them about the

importance of dental care. The ADA also sells money-saving kits to schools to make

presentations to children easier. During the month of February, for every box of Crest

Whitestrips sold, one dollar of the profit will go toward the program. This will extend to all

types of Crest Whitestrips. The program is a good match for Crest Whitestrips because it

involves oral hygiene and care and is an extension of the trusted American Dental Association.

Public Relations:

Objectives:

1. Increase word-of-mouth communication about the importance of Crest Whitestrips for

big events and reinforce our positioning statement “For When White Matters.”

2. Promote product trial for women ages 18-34 to help increase overall product trial by

10%.

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 3. Increase media coverage of Crest Whitestrips in major news outlets including The New

York Times and on internet sites such as Youtube

Strategy & Rationale:

Proctor and Gamble will host a media event to promote the Crest Whitestrips brand

name. Prior to the media event, a contest will be held to determine twenty lucky winners who

will win tickets to the event. The contest will be interactive and will require participants to

upload a video of themselves using Crest Whitestrips before a big event and explaining the role

of the product in their lives. This will reinforce our positioning statement: “For When White

Matters.” The videos must be three to five minutes long, and the Crest brand name must be

displayed prominently in the video. Furthermore, all contestants must repeat the positioning

statement in their submissions. These videos will be displayed on the website and added to our

Youtube channel (see internet below.) The Crest marketing staff will select the videos, and

the winning participants will receive an email and a phone call with the news and inquiry of

acceptance.

The media event will be held in New York City, where a large portion of our

demographic resides The event will take place March 1st, 2011, right at the start of wedding,

prom, and job interview season. Proctor and Gamble will invite two well-known and attractive

female celebrities and one male to the event. Attractive qualities in these celebrities include but

are not limited to: in the spotlight, attractive (especially the smile,) conscious of appearance,

excellent public speaker, and wholesome in values. Our top choices for female celebrities are

Jennifer Garner (for the older section of our demographic) and Jessica Alba (for the younger

section.) Our number one choice for male celebrity is Ryan Seacrest, and this could be added

as an appendage to his existing contract with Crest. On the Red Carpet, the celebrities must

highlight the role of Crest Whitestrips in their lives, stressing the importance of the product “For

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When White Matters.” The position statement will be the theme of the event. Photographers

and journalists from the style section of the New York Times will be invited as well as several

others from newspapers and magazines in the area. We will also notify the magazines in which

we plan to advertise so that they can include stories of the event. These magazines are: Elle,

Vanity Fair, GQ, and People. Photos and captions will be provided on the Crest Whitestrips

website as well. At the close of event, Crest “goody bags” containing different trial size Crest

products will be handed out to attendees. We hope this will increase trial of Crest products.

Finally, before the media event, a press release will be sent out to notify the public of the

occasion.

A media event in New York City will grasp a very large portion of our demographic. New

York City is viewed as a place full of career-minded people who are conscious of their

appearance and can often afford to spend money on it, especially before big city events such as

this one. In this way, the location is perfect for the brand and the product itself. By inviting

twenty real people to the event, the brand will seem accessible to consumers, and this will

hopefully increase brand trial for those who need to whiten teeth before a big event and will

reinforce our positioning statement. The goody bags at the event will also increase brand trial

for other Crest products as well.

Internet:

Objectives:

1. Increase number of viral videos highlighting the importance of Crest Whitestrips by

20%.

2. Increase internet advertisements by 15% as allocated by the budget.

3. Increase communication between the Crest brand and consumers by 20%.

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Strategy & Rationale:

Crest Whitestrips will be advertising on several different websites that reach the largest

portion of our target demographic. These websites include but are not limited to,

TheKnot.com, Oprah.com, and Cosmo.com. We will use typical banner ads along the sides of

the website pages that will take consumers to our website upon clicking. The Crest Whitestrips

website, http://www.3dwhite.com, will be updated as well. We will add a Youtube channel that

will contain the submitted videos from our contest, videos from the public relations media

event, and videos from regular consumers who use the product “For When White Matters.” A

link to our Twitter feed will also be provided on the website. Twitter updates will be sent out

several times a day highlighting why Crest Whitestrips are important for big events as well as

daily use for a better, whiter smile. The Twitter feed will often quote real consumers who have

written in our comments and suggestions box on the website. This way, we can give

consumers incentive to give feedback. An area on the webpage will be designed for consumers

to post pictures of their smiles after using Crest Whitestrips. This is a great way to promote

interactivity between the brand and consumers and to ensure the continued use of the

website. We hope that by allowing consumers to contribute to the website, we can establish

brand loyalty as well.

The websites we have chosen above will reach the largest number of our demographic.

Theknot.com will specifically promote Crest Whitestrips as a product to be used before big

events. By creating a Youtube channel, we will be able to increase the number of viral videos

on the internet that promote the brand. Youtube videos are often viewed as more trustworthy

than advertisements because they come from real people. Allowing consumers to give

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feedback to the company as well as upload pictures of their smiles to the website will help to

increase communication between the Crest brand and consumers.

Evaluation

Our campaign aims to change consumers’ belief that Crest Whitestrips are an ineffective

and costly product. Furthermore, with this campaign, we hope to encourage the use of Crest

Whitestrips on special occasions in our targets lives. In order to meet the objectives of our

campaign, we hope to evaluate the effectiveness of our campaign through concept testing,

concurrent testing and post testing. Furthermore, we will constantly be monitoring our sales of

Crest Whitestrips every 2 months through the course of the campaign, to make sure that our

campaign is effective and requires no unexpected changes.

First off, we intend on conducting focus groups and one-on-one interviews with women,

ages 18-35, who are our primary target audience, in order to understand if our concept

resonates with this target audience. We also intend on using attitude and opinion scales to see

if our target feels persuaded by our “For When White Matters” campaign.

During the course of our campaign, our concurrent testing scheme will consist primarily

of tracking studies to evaluate our Advertising strategies. We will carry out various tracking

studies every 4 months throughout our one-year campaign, through email surveys and phone

interviews, website traffic and sales data. This will enable us to measure awareness, attitudes

towards our brand, communication playback and product usage. It will also enable us to

measure the effectiveness of our campaign in terms of meeting our objectives. Additionally, we

will also measure exposure to magazine ads by surveying subscribers of the magazines that we

place our ads in. In terms of post testing, we will be measuring the increase or decrease in our

sales and comparing them to previous sales data before our campaign was launched. We will

also be interviewing a sample of women, ages 18-35, and seeing how many of these women

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had been exposed to our campaign, and how many had visited our website and purchased our

product post the campaign. In these interviews we will also test communication playback, ad

recall and inquires made about our product. We will compare this data to previous data before

our campaign and thus see how effective our campaign had been.

Our Sales Promotions and other MarComm strategies will require different modes of

evaluation. First off we will monitor the number of participants in our contest on our website.

We will also keep track of the attendance at our PR event. As for our Cause-Related Marketing

strategy, we will monitor the increase in sales of Crest Whitestrips to see if our strategy relates

to a cause that our target feels strongly about. We will also keep track of the number of coupon

redemptions and the increase in shelf space at our retail locations at the end of our one-year

campaign. We will compare all these numbers to previous data to monitor the success of our

campaign.

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 Appendix

Public Relations – Press Release

For Immediate Release CONTACT: Group Four

Proctor & Gamble

(012) 345-6789
A “Fresh” Perspective

Proctor & Gamble to Host Crest Whitestrips Event in New York City

New York City, NY, April 16, 2010—Crest consumers will have the chance to enter a

contest to win a ticket to a Whitestrips event in New York City on March 1st, 2011. The contest

is currently up and running on their website (http://www.3dwhite.com) where participants can

upload a video of themselves using the product and highlighting its role in their lives. The brand

hopes this event will promote their new slogan, “For When White Matters.”

“We hope the event will be a fun experience for our consumers, and they will realize that

teeth whitening is just as important as getting your hair or makeup done before a big event,” says

Joe Smith, director of marketing communications for the brand.

In attendance at the event will be Crest Whitestrips users Jennifer Garner, Jessica Alba,

and Ryan Seacrest. Joining them will be the twenty video contest winners. The videos of other

contest participants will be displayed on the website as well.

###

For more information, visit http://www.3dwhite.com

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 Coupon

  Page  
  44  
 Print Ad 1

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  45  
 Print Ad 2

For When White Matters…

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  46  
 Banner Ads

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  47  
 Television Commercial Story Board

Shot 1: [Woman giving a testimonial] “I’ve always been a perfectionist. I knew that on my
wedding day, everything had to be perfect – especially my smile

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Shot 2: [Flashes through scenes from wedding day] “With all the money we were spending on
the wedding, I didn’t have the cash to pay for professional tooth whitening. One of my
bridesmaid suggested I try Crest Whitestrips – she was already a regular user.
After using the Whitestrips, I was impressed by how well they worked – and how good my smile
looked in all of my wedding pictures!”

Shot 3: [Return to woman’s testimonial] After my wedding, I told everyone about how much I
loved Crest Whitestrips – I totally trust the Crest Name and I love the fact that my Dentist
approves of me using Crest Whitestrips too! Now I rely on Crest Whitestrips for those moments
when white really matters.”

Shot 4

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 Survey questions

1) Name

2) Contact Information

3) Age

4) Gender

5) Would you be willing to participate in a focus group?

6) Do you currently use any teeth whitening products?

7) If so, which products and brands do you use?

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 Moderator’s Guide

Current users (Focus Group 1)

What brand of toothpaste do you currently use?

How often do you use this product?

What results do you wish to achieve when you use this product?

Would you ever consider switching to another brand?

What factors would convince you to switch?

What do you hope to gain from using these products?

How do you feel after using Crest White Strips?

What do you hope to gain from using Crest White Strips?

Do you think Crest White Strips are effective?

Do you think Crest White Strips are reasonably priced?

How important is having white teeth to you?

How much would you be willing to spend to whiten your teeth?

Do you read magazines?

How often do you watch TV?

Do you remember any particularly compelling ads for Crest products?

Do you trust the Crest name?

What do you think of when you think about Crest products?

How do you feel after using any Crest product?

Competitors’ users (Focus Group 2)

What brand of toothpaste do you currently use?

What kind of teeth whitening products do you use?

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What brand of teeth whitening strips do you use?

How do you feel when you use these teeth whitening strips?

Do you think the whitening strips you use are effective?

What is the average price you pay for the whitening strips that you use?

Would you consider switching to another brand of whitening strips?

What factors would convince you to switch to another brand of whitening strips?

How important is having white teeth to you?

Have you heard of the Crest brand name?

Have you ever tried a Crest product? If yes, how did you feel after using it? If no, would you

consider using a Crest product?

Would you consider using Crest White Strips? Why or why not?

Do you think that Crest is a reliable brand?

Do you think Crest offers good products at a valuable price?

What thoughts come to your mind when you hear the name 'Crest'?

How often do you watch TV?

How important is your appearance to you?

Non-category users (Focus Group 3)

What brand of toothpaste do you currently use?

How often do you use teeth whitening products?

Have you ever tried Crest White Strips? Why or why not?

What factors would convince you to start using Crest White Strips?

How important do you consider your appearance?

When considering your appearance, how important do you consider white teeth? Why?

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Do you read magazines or newspapers?

How often do you watch TV?

Do you remember any particularly compelling ads for this product?

Do you trust the Crest name?

What do you think of when you think about Crest products?

How do you feel when you use any Crest Product?

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 References

[1] The Proctor and gamble company. (2010). Retrieved February 27, 2010 from the One

Source Global Business Browser: <http://globalbb.onesource.com.proxy.lib.umich.edu>.

[2] The Proctor and gamble company profile. (2009). Retrieved February 27, 2010 from the

Hoover’s database:

<http://www.hoovers.com/company/The_Procter__Gamble_Company/rrtrri-1.html>.

[3] Proctor and Gamble. (2010). Company Analysis. Retrieved from: <http://www.pg.com>.

[4] Oral Hygiene United States. (2009). Retrieved February 25, 2010 from the Mintel database:

<http://academic.mintel.com.proxy.lib.umich.edu>

[5] The Proctor and Gamble Company Overview. (2008). Retrieved March 2, 2009 from

Marketline database: <http://0-www.marketlineinfo.com.lib.bus.umich.edu/>.

[6] Crest. (2009). About Crest. Retrieved April 8, 2009 from: <http://www.crest.com/about

crest/crest-heritage.aspx>.

[7]<http://globalbb.onesource.com.proxy.lib.umich.edu>.

[8] Chong, J.R. (2007). Number of U.S. smokers stay steady. LA Times, Retrieved from

<http://articles.latimes.com/2007/nov/09/science/sci-smoking9>.

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