For Philips Sonicare, the #1 dental professional recommended electric toothbrush brand, the objective was clear - motivate consumers to ditch manual brushing habits and "Make the Sonicare Switch" to superior oral care technology.
Despite indisputable data proving Sonicare's efficacy (delivering more brush strokes in 2 minutes than an entire month of manual brushing), driving change of such an ingrained behavior required disrupting complacency around routines.
The key insight? People are most open to changing up and investing in their well-being during pivotal life transitions like job changes, relationship milestones, or overall lifestyle refreshes.
The big idea: Bring an unforgettable personality to life who could entertainingly educate consumers while motivating improved habits. Enter Susan Toothbrush, brought to life by comedian Kate McKinnon.
With her contagious enthusiasm for oral care and straight-talking humor, Susan possessed the relatable authenticity to shake people from their manual rut. Her mandate was using humor to emotionally inspire the switch, not just lecture on product stats.
By infusing technical Sonicare benefits with heart and comedic storytelling, Susan could forge an emotional connection transcending one-way messaging, positioning Sonicare as an empowering lifestyle enhancement versus just another toothbrush.
The goal? Make Susan Toothbrush's disruptive persona so hilarious and insightful that it captured cultural attention while directly driving consumers to reevaluate their routines through Sonicare's innovative lens.
With the Omnicom for Philips creative team featuring Cannes Lion-winning SNL director Mike Diva, Emmy-nominated SNL writers Alison Gates and Streeter Seidell, and comedy icon Kate McKinnon, we brought to life Susan Toothbrush — a hilarious yet insightful character who charmed audiences while driving home the superior benefits of Sonicare.
Our challenge was seamlessly blending technical product messaging with entertaining, emotionally resonant storytelling. The solution? Craft Susan's persona as the straight-talking but caring friend we all wish could coach us on oral health.
In a deft nine-video campaign tailored for TV, digital, retail and more, Susan dished out dental truth about brushes with heart. Her voice authentically captured the empowered confidence we aspire to, educating with empathy and sprinkling in laughs to keep it light. Friendly but unafraid to (gently) call out our unhealthy habits, Susan inspired better brushing through humor, not lectures.
The climax? Tonight Show first saw the ad's debut, and Kate McKinnon unveiled Susan to the world during an unforgettable interview segment with Jimmy Fallon. This innovative integration sent Sonicare's cultural relevance soaring, igniting buzz and underscoring our comedic persona's indomitable presence.
With nuanced writing balancing laughs and education, an outstanding cast bringing charisma and credibility, and a groundbreaking launch capturing attention, our Susan Toothbrush personified Sonicare's innovative spirit and forged an emotional bond, inspiring improved oral care routines.
The Sonicare Switch campaign exceeded our objectives, delivering exceptional performance across paid, owned and earned media channels. Our success is evident in the following key outcomes:
It outperformed Philips Sonicare's content from the previous year and its category competitor in viewer attention. The brand saw significant lifts of +9pt in ad recall and +2.3pt in purchase intent across social. Digital video viewers showed increased ad awareness and brand favorability, specifically for Sonicare being a "humorous" and "trusted" brand.1
The campaign exceeded all benchmarks on Amazon, including conversion rate, click-through rate and return on ad spend. It effectively drove purchases for Sonicare toothbrushes by recruiting new audiences and increasing search engagement rates.2
The campaign generated 986.8M earned media impressions through 51 traditional media placements and interviews with top national outlets like Today, People, NBC News Now, Real Simple, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety and Adweek. It also included a Tonight Show first, with the ad debuting on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.3
The campaign's success lies in its ability to drive engagement, brand perception and purchase intent across multiple channels. By outperforming industry benchmarks and generating significant earned media coverage, Sonicare Switch has effectively positioned Philips Sonicare as a trusted, innovative brand with a sense of humor. The campaign has been live since Q4 2024, and its ongoing rollout across digital, retail and owned channels continues to reinforce these positive results.
1Source: DISQO Brand Lift Study Q4
2Source: Amazon
3Source: SimilarWeb and TVEyes
