How does the most famous toothpaste ensure its market dominance? Johnny Acton examines the history of Colgate.
In a world containing several billion human teeth, many of which are cleaned twice daily, dental hygiene is big business. The Colgate-Palmolive Company, manufacturer of the planet’s leading brand of toothpaste, enjoys annual sales in excess of $10 billion. Yet prior to 1873, when a New York soap-making concern called Colgate and Company began to market a branded variety sold in a jar, the concept of mass produced toothpaste simply did not exist. Instead, tooth-conscious consumers had to choose between abrasive powders, herbal formulas dreamed up by local pharmacists and charcoal.
The story of commercial toothpaste since the 1870s, and in particular Colgate’s rise to dominance in the sector, has been dominated by two factors: technology and intensive marketing. Success has depended on first educating consumers about oral hygiene and then persuading them that the brand in question has the scientific answer. This message has been continually reinforced by image-related advertising. The emphasis has veered, however, from the perils of bad breath in the 1950s to the glowing smiles of Colgate-using celebrities such as Billie-Jean King (1973).
In the early days, the Colgate Company concentrated on exploiting its ‘first to market’
status by bagging new territories such as India and the Philippines (where toothpaste is still generically known as ‘colgate’). The only significant technological development was the invention of the collapsible toothpaste tube in 1892 and its adoption by the company in 1896. In 1928, Colgate merged with Palmolive-Peet, and market dominance looked secure. But 27 years later, a serious rival was to emerge.
Flavours range from cinnamon, watermelon and vanilla mint to SpongeBob SquarePants Bubblefruit
A battle for dominance
Proctor & Gamble had long been waiting in the wings for an opportunity to challenge
Colgate in the toothpaste market. It came in 1955, when the company launched Crest, the world’s first fluoride toothpaste. Crucially, the cavity-fighting powers of the new product were endorsed by the American Dental Association. Over the next few years, Crest usurped the number one position in the US. Colgate continued to dominate overseas, but the displacement hurt. The company attempted to fight back with tactics including direct mailing. In 1968, millions of American households received a free box of Colgate depicting a horrific X-ray of rotten teeth. But nothing would dislodge Crest.
The breakthrough came in 1997-98 with the launch of Colgate Total®, the first toothpaste to work against bacteria round the clock. The secret was a patented formula with two key ingredients: the antibacterial agent Triclosan and a substance called Gantrez to keep it in the mouth between brushes. Having learned the lesson of the Crest debacle, Colgate-Palmolive launched the product by first marketing it to dentists, realising that they were the people with authority in the field. The result was an overwhelming success. Colgate regained market leadership in the US almost overnight, and has held on to it ever since.
The company currently markets 61 varieties of toothpaste in the US, excluding numerous professionally prescribed formulas. Flavours range from cinnamon, watermelon and vanilla mint to SpongeBob SquarePants Bubblefruit, and there are also lines devoted to all manner of dental conditions, including discolouration, gingivitis, halitosis, tartar and sensitive teeth.
Naturally, Colgate-Palmolive has long been extremely active in the sphere of IP. The company’s oldest ‘live’ US trademark is dated 21 December 1905, and the firm has been granted 552 US patents relating to dental care since 1976. Significantly, those concerned with Colgate Total (patent numbers 5,288,480 and 5,344,641) are due to expire between January 2007 and March 2010.
This article first appeared in IP Review, issue 13
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