CURIOUS REBEL

Dear Crest,

Your product selection is confusing. 

With bewildering amount of product tiers, you are bound to make choosing one of your products time-consuming and annoying. Occupying more shelf real estate at a retailer doesn’t mean you will increase your sales. Let me explain. 

I walked to the Target store right near my house to buy a tube of toothpaste. You see, I’m one of those people who squeeze Every. Last. Ounce. of paste hoping it’s going to last One. More. Brush. Well unfortunately, this poor flattened tube did not give an ounce more today. So yes, I am a price-conscious customer who is barely making it in the real world.

Upon arriving at your toothpaste skyscraper, I was greeted by towering rows of shiny packages that looks almost exactly the same. Each type beckoned me with their benefits:

• Baking Soda + Peroxide Whitening + Tartar + Mint Stripe! 
• Multi-Benefit,  Extra White + Scope Outlast!
• Multi-Benefit + Tartar Protection + Clean Mint! 
• Complete Multi-Benefit Whitening + Wintergreen Expressions!
• Complete Multi-Benefit Whitening + Herbal Mint Expressions!
• Cavity Protection + Clean Mint! 
• 3D White Vivid Toothpaste! 
• 3D White Advanced Vivid Stain Protection toothpaste!
• Pro-Health whitening gel + fresh clean mint!
• Pro-Health for me fluoride anticavity toothpaste!
• Pro-Health clinical gum protection + invigorating clean mint!

You get the idea. (There are many more.) It’s actually dizzying even to list all those variations. Product writers must have had a pretty good time writing copy for each packaging.

I mean, come on! Fluoride anticavity? All toothpaste should have fluoride in them and should protect against cavity. Listing them on the package is redundant as if you are trying too hard to promote the obvious (because there’s nothing special about them). What bothers me isn’t the flavors but the tiers: Pro-Health. Multi-Benefit. 3D White Vivid. The regular toothpaste. 3D - really? This insanity is bordering on false advertising. Just because you come up with “innovative” way to describe its benefits, that doesn’t mean it will offer increased benefits from its sister products with lower price points. Seriously, what does “Pro-Health” even mean?

With so many variations - purportedly to serve each market segmentation - even if it is validated with market research, each product offering did not either make clear the benefits on the packaging for each segment or the benefits are too miniscule to be differentiated in the first place. Toothpaste is basically a commodity. (Sure, Mrs. Meyers Clean Day were able to conquer the laundry category with its branding, but its brand is cohesive and unified. Yours is scattered.)

Yes, price points matter. But does the benefits for each variation align with its price difference? I certainly wasn’t able to distinguish it. In fact, Advil probably could have cross-promoted some of their ibuprofen to ease the headache from trying to figure it out.

When I reached out to grab the $2.79 Crest Complete Multi-Benefit Whitening + Deep Clean toothpaste, the $2.99 Complete Multi-Benefit Whitening + Something  Something Something Else toothpaste sitting above it taunted me as if I wasn’t good enough to afford the 20 cent increase. It looked down on me like I wasn’t worthy enough to use the Extra Extra Whitening + More Beneficial Special Ingredients that Fight Cavities Harder + It’s Longer Lasting toothpaste. For 20 cents more, I could perhaps achieve a great smile that doesn’t stink at the critical point during a date. 

With the creation of each product tier to avoid commoditizing your product, it diminishes the benefits and the utility of a customer purchasing that product. More choices aren’t better! Have you read the case study about Hamburger Helper? Simplifying your product line can increase your sales!

Also, increasing your product variations will likely decrease your brand equity. You might think more choices are better for the customers but no - it confuses them when they don’t clearly see the different benefits embedded in each choice.

Actually, I think it cheapens the brand. Why is there even options for inferior-quality products? Having more flavors (instead of mint) is one thing, but when you try to artificially inflate the brand through copy-smithing and value-inflation, it just seems disingenuous. And branding now is about building trust through transparent marketing and offering authentic values - not obfuscating benefits behind clever word combinations. 

You are the perfect example of hiding behind the brand - a trend sparked in the 1980’s. Time to change the strategy! 

The plan: consolidate your products with clearer segmentation where the benefits of each product family are communicated clearer and simpler. A little personality wouldn’t hurt either. Personality could be a differentiator (between different companies’ toothpastes), you know. Or, you could even foster a community for dental health. Be a resource for them when they are looking for answers to dental hygiene or for something as simple as taking their child for his/her first dental exam (not just a contest.) Sharing content is the new way to build brand trust and loyalty - especially in this economy and in a competitive product category such as toothpaste.