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Cavity Protection or Cosmetic Perfection? Innovation and Marketing of Toothpaste Brands in the United States and Western Europe, 1955–1985

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 December 2011

Peter Miskell
Affiliation:
PETER MISKELL is a lecturer in business history at the University of Reading.

Abstract

This article examines how the marketing and advertising of toothpaste brands evolved in the twentieth century, particularly from the 1950s to the 1980s. During these decades, the promotional strategies employed by leading toothpaste manufacturers were at odds with general developments in consumer product marketing. As branding strategies were being revolutionized by the discovery of a “Pepsi Generation,” the toothpaste market was itself being transformed by a technical innovation that was to have far-reaching consequences for the marketing of leading brands.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The President and Fellows of Harvard College 2004

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71 A similar picture can be detected in Europe. A survey of the gum health sector found that “the tendency is for on-going brands to sustain themselves by advertising below their market share.” In Germany in 1973, for example, Blend-a-Med held a market share of 25 percent, yet it accounted for less than 18 percent of advertising. “Gum Health Toothpaste Review,” 11 and Appendix 6.

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