Parodontax

Our partnership drove Parodontax’s +35% growth and global gum health awareness

Challenge

Do you have developing gum disease? Most people would answer “no,” but with 1 in 3 people suffering from bleeding gums – one of the first signs – the numbers tell a different story.

The Parodontax team recognized a huge category that was ripe for the taking. As a small global brand with a mighty offering, they forged ambitious plans to win the fight against the devastating effects of gum disease. The team were well on their way to delivering against that ambition.

However, the realities surrounding the condition soon emerged: most people favor the health of their teeth over gums, failing to understand the seriousness associated with even the smallest traces of blood. With symptoms largely being ignored, fully unlocking the category’s potential had become an uphill battle. By growing the entire gum care category, Parodontax could grow the number of people who knew they needed to take care of their gums.

Clarity

Our relationship with Parodontax started in 2016 with identifying consumer-led opportunities, expanding to framework creation, validation, and solution development. We’ve seen the brand become one of the fastest-growing oral care brands in the world with +35% growth and big plans to continue on that same trajectory.

Over a multi-year engagement with the Parodontax team, we’ve worked collaboratively to develop and build on a robust framework for growth based on an in-depth understanding of consumers who spit blood. We synthesized and created this framework with top consumer needs and current and future opportunity spaces and workshopped it to help the team prioritize their growth areas and decide where to focus.

Crafting a needs-driven brand strategy

Solution

We started the process by distilling the rich body of consumer insights that already existed within the business, from which a hypothesized framework was developed. The framework was validated through a global quantitative research program spanning 5 markets and 6,000 consumers, from which consumer segments and need-states were derived. Key components of the framework (segments and needs) were rolled out to the global teams so that the hard work could also commence at a local level. In the meantime, work had already started on short-term innovation workstreams, such as ideas that tested well in consumer labs, so progress could still be made while the global strategy was under review.

We then entered a strategic planning cycle to determine what parts of the framework needed to sit at the core of the brand’s strategy – and the architecture that continues to be used today was born.

Impact

Today, the brand operates against a new brand architecture that puts consumers’ underlying needs and oral care priorities at the heart of everything they do.

The needs-based architecture and consumer targets that were derived form the backbone of Parodontax’s strategy, against which strategic imperatives for driving growth are mapped and innovation pipeline gaps are plotted. By first identifying consumer needs, building the brand architecture around those needs, and then creating new product ideas through the architecture pillars, we were able to set the foundation for future innovation. Based on the foundation that we built together, the team launched Parodontax Complete Protection, a toothpaste with 8 benefits for stronger teeth and healthy gums. With this combined approach to tooth and gum health, the product specifically targets consumers who spit blood but are more focused on healthy teeth, growing the gum care category that Parodontax was initially focused on.

We’ve continued to work with the Parodontax team on evolving that initial brand strategy, from consumer insights projects to identifying targets and reframing the architecture.