By Kelly Shipp and Rosaline Bernstein, MBA
When Philips acquired the BreathRx, Fluoridex, and PerioRx product portfolio from Discus Dental, it knew these formulations delivered strong benefits and complemented existing Philips products.
Previous studies showed that consumers preferred the taste and consistency of these oral hygiene products to those offered by competitors, but dental professionals were not aware of these newly acquired brands. To increase visibility and recommendation, Philips decided to leverage the benefit and credibility of the Philips Sonicare name to bring these effective oral-care solutions to dental professionals and their patients.
Philips expected that rebranding the Oral Hygiene product lines would create a cohesive brand that would unify the portfolio and make it easy for customers to achieve optimum results by coupling Philips Sonicare power toothbrushes and AirFloss with the appropriate Philips Sonicare Oral Hygiene products. But they still needed to make dental professionals more aware of the products.
Getting the word out
Philips retrained their entire sales staff and armed them with new marketing and clinical materials prior to launch. Then, the rebranded products premiered at the Greater New York Dental Meeting in December 2014, and just before the holidays, Philips began shipping them to offices.
Since the launch, the Philips professional education teams have incorporated the new Oral Hygiene product branding into their presentations for dental students. To further spread the word, the professional education teams are reaching out to existing customers through emails and promotional offers.
Throughout the remainder of 2015, samples of the newly branded Philips Sonicare BreathRx will be available at all major trade shows.
What we've heard
Dental professionals are excited about the rebrand because they want to recommend or prescribe products that give patients necessary oral health benefits, backed by a brand that patients know and trust. Now, they recommend the appropriate Philips Sonicare Oral Hygiene products with Philips Sonicare power toothbrushes and Philips Zoom Whitening.
With one cohesive portfolio, Philips can focus on sharing the beneficial synergy of the Oral Hygiene products, the power toothbrush, and the interdental offerings.
To learn more about Philips Sonicare Oral Hygiene and other Philips Oral Healthcare products, visit PhilipsOralHealthcare.com or call (800) 422-9448.
Kelly Shipp is focused on bringing customers the latest and greatest in her role as an associate marketing manager at Philips. Kelly joined Philips in January 2013, first as a field sales representative. She graduated from Rutgers University with a Bachelor of Science in 2009.
Rosaline Bernstein, MBA, innovates in her role as a product marketing manager for Philips Sonicare. Rosaline joined Philips in June 2014 after having worked as an MBA intern for Philips Sonicare in June 2013. Rosaline graduated with her MBA from the University of Washington in 2014.
