Procter&Gamble aims to modernize the dental care industry with the help of ideas crowdsourced through its co-creation channel. The company has launched a new competition, inviting U.S. and Canada residents to help it “ignite an oral care revolution in America that drives both awareness and action.”
The power toothbrushes are claimed to reduce twice as much plaque as a traditional manual toothbrush. Nearly 30% of Europeans use them and less than 8% of Americans do so, which may be explained by their old habit to brush their teeth manually. As a response to this tendency, P&G created the Oral-B DeepSweep electric toothbrush that mimics the feel of manual brushing, but delivers an effective whole-mouth cleaning with triple zone cleaning action.
The company says that over 60% of Americans who brush their teeth are open to change their old toothbrushe for an electric one, but for some reasons they haven’t done it yet. The contest aims to find new non-advertising ways to get more people in the U.S. and Canada to use power toothbrushes, Oral-B DeepSweep in particular, in their oral care regimen.
The competition runs from May 24 through June 30. The submissions are expected to revolve around the new Oral-B power toothbrush, offering solutions in seven major categories, which are the importance of oral health, the advantages of power brushing vs. manual tooth-brushing, the unique design Oral-B DeepSweeep, economic advantages of the brush, 30-day trial ideas for 1 million consumers, 5+ years campaign ideas, and other.
In July, the judges will select 10 overall winners, who will receive cash prizes—$5,000 for the 1st place, $2,500 for the 2nd place, $1,500 for the 3rd place—and non-monetary prizes such as P&G gift baskets and vouchers for 4th-10th.
Another leader on the oral care market, Colgate-Palmolive, is also developing new ways to revolutionize the way people brush their teeth. The giant has tried to patent a toothbrush that that could release substance or flavoring—the patent has been rejected in the USA. But the company will obviously keep trying to develop new concept