Cashing in on Canadians’ aversion to the dentist’s drill, Johnson & Johnson has launched a new product that promises to reduce the risk of cavities.
Reach ACT, a fluoride rinse available in mint, cinnamon and bubblegum flavors, marks the first time the therapeutic oral rinse category has seen a product marketed to both adults and children.
The product, which retails for $5-$7 for a 530-millilitre bottle, promises to ‘remineralize’ tooth enamel and so ‘reverse’ tooth decay. A pre-set dosage is swished around in the mouth and spit out before brushing.
‘Most cavities occur in children between the ages of six and 17,’ says Annie Beauchemin, manager of consumer and public relations for McNeil Consumer Products Canada, the Guelph, Ont.-based consumer- and corporate-affairs division of this country’s Johnson & Johnson (which is ultimately controlled by Johnson & Johnson in the u.s.) ‘And many of them have braces which makes it tough to clean the teeth.’
But it’s not just kids who suffer from poor brushing habits and a Bart Simpson-like appreciation for sweets. The majority of people aged 50-plus are suffering from receding gum lines, according to literature supplied by the company.
And then there’s the segment of the population in between these two groups. According to Johnson & Johnson, cavities are now the leading cause of tooth loss among adults.
More open than ever to the idea of practising preventative medicine, parents might well be inclined to think that if it works for their kids, maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to take a swish themselves.
The fact that there are several potential targets for the product hasn’t escaped the company, although it appears that it has taken some care determining the fluoride rinse’s marketing focus south of the border.
Johnson & Johnson has had a fluoride rinse product available in one form or another for over a decade in the u.s., according to Beauchemin. A product containing alcohol was launched in the ’80s under the less-than-catchy moniker Anti-Cavity Dental Rinse. The name was changed to Anti-Cavity Treatment (act) in 1990. An alcohol-free act for kids was introduced in 1993, followed a year later by the mint and cinnamon flavors for adults.
Like Plax (an anti-plaque rinse developed by the consumer healthcare division of Montreal-based Pfizer Canada) before it, Reach ACT could turn out to be an interesting addition to the oral rinse category – for who in their right mind would be against preventing cavities?
Certainly not your local dentist.
And that’s exactly to whom Johnson & Johnson is focusing its marketing efforts.
‘The most important thing is the support of the dental professionals,’ says Beauchemin. ‘The performance of these products is very much driven by the recommendations of these professionals.’
The company, with Toronto’s Anderson Advertising, has launched a sampling program in dental clinics across Canada. This approach, along with participation in professional trade show and convention activities, will ensure the brand’s growth, says Beauchemin.
‘That’s how the product became successful in the u.s.,’ she says.
The added benefit of getting the nod from the dental hygiene community is that this very stamp of approval could be used for future mass-marketing campaigns – the ‘four out of five dentists recommend’ school of marketing.
‘It may be an avenue to explore if there were to be advertising,’ says Beauchemin.
Besides the extensive clinic program, Johnson & Johnson is offering pos material explaining the benefits of the product, along with an on-package rebate offer ($3) to stimulate trial.
According to ACNielsen, grocery sales of oral antiseptics grew 12% to $22.7 million in the year ended Aug. 97, while drug store sales in the same category added up to $32.8 million – an increase of one per cent over last year. The oral antispectic category includes both mouthwashes and rinses as ACNielsen Canada does not sub-categorize cosmetic and therapeutic antiseptics.
