Aquafresh Innovation

Challenge

GSK appointed us to turn a low-engagement, routine and troublesome family occasion—children’s toothbrushing—into a compelling reason for parents around the world to choose Aquafresh.

Market share was 8%. The brief was to build a brand and campaign that could win category leadership.

Approach

Insight

Product: We reframed the product to reflect the child’s oral care development and built a range that children could progress through - additional stripes, ppm fluoride and mint flavour profile
Strategy: Defined a parent-and-child positioning - “Beat the Bathroom Battle” - that made oral care feel fun, reassuring and expert-led—appealing to both carers’ needs for trusted advice and kids’ needs for playful routines
Multi-channel campaign: Rolled out animated content for TV and digital, health‑care-professional (HCP) outreach, a schools programme, targeted media sponsorships, a brushing app, and a content hub with practical, parent-focused information
Integrated activation: Aligned creative, channel planning and on-the-ground programmes to drive trial and repeat purchase across the child’s oral care journey
Scale: Iteratively optimised performance in-market, then packaged the approach as a global template for other markets

Outcome

Market share rose from 8% to 63% in three years; the UK became the lead market for Aquafresh
The campaign became a playbook for global rollout, driving long-term brand equity and commercial growth

Recognition

Two IPA Effectiveness Awards, including a Special Award for Channel Planning.
Awards from Media Week and the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM).

Impact

A commercially transformative brand and integrated campaign that converted a routine task into a category-winning proposition-delivering rapid share growth, repeat purchase and a replicable global model.