Trident Retry

Brandweek,  Feb 21, 2000  by Mike Beirne

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$23M Set in New Push for Recaldent

Switching from reducing plaque and whitening teeth to a more differentiated positioning, Warner-Lambert's Adams division is committing an estimated $23-28 million in advertising dollars to heralding the strength advantage of Trident Advantage and Trident for Kids, which both employ the proprietary ingredient Recaldent.

Sources said Adams this week will break a $17-20 million TV and print campaign for Trident Advantage, followed by a $6-8 million print effort next month for Trident for Kids bubblegum that tout the teeth-strengthening benefits of the two products.

Advantage's 30-second TV spot, via J.Walter Thompson, N.Y., set in an exercise room, has a camera close in on a woman's smile while voiceover says, "Your teeth can look strong on the outside, but inside you could be in trouble." She pops a gum pellet in her mouth and through computer graphic imaging, bubbles swarm from the pellet, flow into the teeth and morph into AdvantageMan. That muscle-bound icon flexes and grows as a voiceover states, "Recaldent increases calcium absorption, building stronger teeth from the inside out." Tagline: "The Advantage of Stronger Teeth."

Ads will include 15-second versions and, likely a second spot, and the AdvantageMan icon will be used in promotions and store displays.

Trident for Kids, skewing younger via a Berry Bubble Gum flavor, will speak to gatekeeper moms with four rotating ads citing its teeth-strengthening benefit. Sample slogans: "The first bubblegum that's worth cutting out of your kid's hair," and "Moms will call it a breakthrough, kids will call it bubblegum." The ads running in family and Hispanic books use closeups of the faces--obscured by a huge bubble--of a multi-ethnic cast of kids.

In a flat category, some gum makers last year turned for excitement to functional products promising to keep consumers awake, freshen breath or whiten teeth. Drug, grocery and mass sales edged up 1%, past the $1 billion mark, thanks to an 8.4% rise in sugarless gum sales to $508.8 million for the year ended Jan.2, per IRI.

Trident Advantage, out in 1998 with baking soda as key ingredient, was augmented with Recaldent last fall, followed by Trident for Kids. But Adams had to pull both items and relabel the brands as milk-derived products after two children suffered mild allergic reactions, postponing a fall blitz that included heavy media, a McDonald's Happy Meal tie-in and sampling at Toys "R" Us (Brand-week,Aug 9).

The delay may have hindered awareness about Recaldent's strength-building feature, casting the gum in the same teeth-whitening oral care positioning as Church & Dwight's Arm & Hammer Dental Care Gum, up 10% to $32 million in sales, versus $13.7 million for Advantage. Adams' new positioning did air briefly during November and December in humorous radio ads that advised consumers not to try to bite through steel bars. That effort was described as a stopgap until the broader branding effort was set.

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