Colgate in conjunction with Sakshi creates India's first night newspaper

In India, people do brush every morning but only a very small percentage of consumers brush at night. According to a recent survey, while 95% of people brush in the morning, only 28% claim to brush twice a day. This is because most people believe that brushing in the morning is enough.

In reality, germ build-up at night is more than that in the day. At night, the salivary flow in our mouth is low. Overnight the germs that remain in the mouth produce an acid which may lead to tooth decay. So we need to ensure that we brush before we sleep for better oral care.

According to Rajesh Krishnamurthy, VP Marketing, Colgate Palmolive India Limited, "As leaders in oral care, it is our objective to inculcate good oral care habits among Indians. Our night brushing initiative is aimed at educating consumers including children about the importance of brushing at night and inculcating the right oral care habits in them. We hope that with initiatives like these, we can progress towards our ambition of taking India towards zero tooth decay".

He further added, "For a task that requires a monumental shift in attitude and behavior, we needed a strong, disruptive device. Since newspaper reading is another morning-only regimen, the strategy was to jolt the target audience out of their daily routine which was done by distributing a night newspaper to 100,000 households ' with a mix of the day's news and smart, pithy messages around the benefits of night-brushing."

The innovation, being a pilot, was carried out in Hyderabad only - in conjunction with Sakshi, the leading Telugu daily and TV station. All the copies were distributed between 7.30 and 9.30 pm and reminded readers to brush before they went to bed. This message was further emphasized by a segment on Sakshi TV at 10 pm about the virtues of night-brushing. The programme also highlighted Colgate's unique night newspaper innovation. The consumer reaction has been very positive towards the newspaper. Readers mentioned that this helped them understand the benefits of brushing at night. The innovation was conceived and executed by MEC, Colgate's media agency.