Colgate: Pocket Dentist

Soumya Ranjan Panda

Source: The WARC Prize for Asian Strategy, Entrant, 2017
Downloaded from WARC

Toothpaste brand Colgate used a mobile campaign to give dental advice to people in rural India.

Most rural Indians never visit a professional dentist and Colgate wanted to address a lack of
awareness towards oral hygiene by making basic oral care advice accessible to the deprived
sections of society and, in the process, instil trust.
Many rural Indians are illiterate but 80% of households have access to a basic mobile phone, so
Colgate used voice-recognition technology to create Pocket Dentist.
It used the "missed call" mechanism to deliver free advice by calling patients back and prompting
them to describe their oral care problem.
The campaign reinforced Colgate's position as India's most trusted brand and saw a 21% uplift in
purchase intent.

Campaign details
Brand: Colgate
Brand owner: Colgate Palmolive
Lead agency: Red Fuse Communications, MEC
Contributing agencies: Dialogue Factory, Netcore, Genesis Burson-Marsteller
Country: India
Industries: Oral health
Media channels: Mobile & apps

Executive summary
In rural India, it is rare to find or get access to a professional dentist. There is just one dentist available for every
50,000 people. Lack of professional advice, coupled with poor oral hygiene and non-adoption of simple
preventive habits, causes millions to suffer from easily preventable tooth-loss and dental diseases.
As a responsible brand, Colgate wanted to address this disparity by making basic oral care advice accessible to
the most deprived sections of the society.

Marrying insights on rural communities' oral health challenges and their growing access to media, particularly
the mobile phone, Colgate created "Pocket Dentist" – a unique mobile-based technology innovation to automate
professional oral care advice, and make it accessible on-demand from every mobile phone, in real time.

Accessible just on a missed call, "Pocket Dentist" uses voice-recognition technology to identify the problem from
30 common oral health concern areas, and delivers the best personalised advice. For less common queries,
callers are connected to an actual professional dentist.

With "Pocket Dentist", Colgate democratised access to oral care for millions in rural communities. And, made a
healthy smile the right of every Indian.

Market background and cultural context

In rural India, it is rare to find or get access to a professional dentist. With just one dentist available for 50,000
people, most rural Indians never get to visit a professional dentist in their entire lifetime. They depend on street-
side quacks with rusty implements and dodgy credentials. Lack of professional advice, coupled with poor oral
hygiene, and non-adoption of simple preventive habits causes millions to suffer from easily preventable tooth
loss and dental diseases.

Objectives
As a responsible brand, Colgate wanted to address this disparity, i.e. access to dental professionals and lack of
awareness towards proper oral hygiene, by making basic oral care advice accessible to the most deprived
sections of society and, in the process, instil trust among millions of rural masses.

The challenge was to create a viable, sustainable programme that could reach rural communities in the deep
interior.

Insight and strategic thinking

While 90% oral diseases are preventable with the right care and hygiene, most rural Indians have no access to
any reliable dental advice. Many are illiterate. However, 80% of households have access to a basic mobile
phone.

From this dichotomy, "Pocket Dentist" was born – a unique mobile-based technology innovation to automate
professional oral care advice, and make it accessible on-demand from every mobile phone, in real time. It was
born from marrying insights on rural communities' oral health challenges and their growing access to media,
particularly the mobile phone.
Creative and/or channel execution
"Pocket Dentist" uses voice-based technology to provide access to the greatest possible number of users. Voice
technology avoids data dependency and gives the illiterate equal access to advice. It uses the already popular
"missed call" mechanism to deliver advice free. Callers dial the service and hang-up. "Pocket Dentist" calls back
and prompts the callers to describe their oral care problem.

The platform's voice-recognition system scans the call for key words in multiple accents and dialects of Hindi.
These key words are used to identify the individual's problem from 30 common oral-health concern areas, and
deliver the best advice for the individual's oral health problem, in real time. For less common queries, callers are
connected to an actual professional dentist – usually the first dentist the caller has ever spoken to.
Media used

Performance against objectives

With "Pocket Dentist", Colgate democratised access to oral care for millions in rural communities. And, made a
healthy smile the right of every Indian.

According to Kantar IMRB research, 95% of callers were completely satisfied with the solution provided.

It also reported positive uplift in Colgate's imagery among people who interacted with "Pocket Dentist" compared
with a control group.

+40% points uplift in Colgate's imagery as an expert in oral care.

+48% points uplift in Colgate's imagery as a brand recommended by dentist.
+21% points uplift in purchase intent for Colgate.
+14% points uplift in top-of-mind awareness for Colgate.

Colgate also reinforced its position as India's most-trusted brand, according to a survey conducted by leading
business daily Economics Times.

Above all, while "teeth saved" and "diseases prevented" are unquantifiable, "Pocket Dentist" is giving millions of
rural Indians access to reliable dental advice for the first time, for free and one missed call away.

For millions of rural Indians, having a healthy smile is not just a hope, but a reality.

Lessons learned
In developing economies, particularly in South and South East Asia, the situation is not too different. Access to
basic healthcare in rural pockets is still a challenge. However, at the same time, access to mobile is growing at a
rapid pace.

Marketers from the healthcare industry can use mobile phones in innovative ways to democratise service
accessibility in remote areas.

Client's view
"Colgate believes that 'everyone deserves a future they can smile about'. 'Pocket Dentist' is bringing us a step
closer to this vision. With this initiative, we are making an attempt to democratise access to basic oral care for
millions from rural communities. And, in the process, making a healthy smile the right of every Indian.

"This is helping us in our larger social responsibility efforts of 'Giving India Reasons to Smile' and protecting,
improving and enhancing the quality of life of individuals and the communities we serve."

Priyanka Khaneja Gandhi, Associate Director, Integrated Marketing Communications, Colgate Palmolive
(India)

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