Colgate plans 3m launch for premium Weekly Clean

Colgate Palmolive plans to increase its penetration of the oral hygiene market with the launch of a new premium dental cleaning product.

Colgate Total Professional Weekly Clean, due to launch next year, is designed to be used in conjunction with general toothpaste products, providing consumers with a more thorough “hygienic clean”, according to industry sources.

The company is understood to be preparing to roll out a £3m above-the-line advertising campaign to support the launch, aimed at consumers over 30.

Industry sources say Colgate hopes consumers will buy the product in addition to their regular toothpaste in the same way that intensive hair and face treatment masks are used to complement general purpose haircare products.

In a separate development, the company is also understood to be preparing to extend its toothpaste range with the launch of a new product, Colgate Max Fresh, early next year.

It is understood the roll-out will also be backed by a £3m advertising campaign with two separate executions targeting the 15 to 25-year-old market.

The company already has a number of variants under the Fresh range including Colgate Oxygen Pure Freshness and Total Advanced Fresh.

In April, Colgate embarked on a major television and press campaign, created by Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe/Y&R to promote the launch of Colgate Time Control, a toothpaste product aimed at consumers over 40 and designed to tackle the problems of receding gums.

The expansion of its product portfolio comes as Colgate-Palmolive moves to fend off advances from rivals including Procter & Gamble and GlaxoSmith-Kline (GSK).

Last year Colgate pledged to boost its ad budget and improve marketing operations in response to criticisms that it had been struggling to match the marketing might of its two biggest rivals (MW Jan 27, 2005).