P&G plans European coup in dental whitening sector

Procter & Gamble (P&G) is hoping to beat rival Colgate-Palmolive to the European market with peroxide-based whitening products next year.

Procter & Gamble (P&G) is hoping to beat rival Colgate-Palmolive to the European market with peroxide-based whitening products next year.

Called Whitestrips, the P&G range will be launched under the Crest brand. Industry sources say P&G is still in the planning stages for the product launch. Advertising spend is expected to at least match the £7m promised by Colgate.

Whitestrips are thin strips of plastic that users wear for 30 minutes twice a day to whiten teeth.

The launch relies on approval from European lawmakers for higher peroxide-based products, as only 0.1 per cent peroxide content is currently allowed under European law. Insiders say P&G and Colgate expect to receive European approval for peroxide-based whitening products by the summer.

Colgate has already shown retailers its plans to launch Simply White, a six per cent urea peroxide-based gel, which costs £15 for six months’ supply (MW September 11).

Saatchi & Saatchi handles creative advertising for Crest. Media buying is by Starcom Motive. Crest is being repositioned as a beauty brand by P&G, with advertising focused on advantages such as whitening (MW May 29).