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The Power of Habit (The Story Behind Pepsodent)

by Mark Pescetti
8 replies
“I made for myself a million dollars on Pepsodent,” Hopkins wrote a few years after the product appeared on shelves. The key, he said, was that he had grounded his advertising campaign in two basic rules:

First, find a simple and obvious cue.

Second, clearly define the rewards.
When Hopkins signed on to promote Pepsodent, he realized he needed to find a trigger for its daily use. He sat down with a pile of dental textbooks. “It was dry reading,” he later wrote in his autobiography. “But in the middle of one book I found a reference to the mucin plaques on teeth, which I afterward called ‘the film.’

"That gave me an appealing idea. I resolved to advertise this toothpaste as a creator of beauty.”
It was a brilliant campaign.

Hopkins idenified the problem, formed the hook and made it quick and easy to reach the reward.

Is your current campaign that clear?

An excerpt from Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit.

P.S. The story behind Listerine is pretty cool too:

http://www.cracked.com/funny-8228-listerine/
#habit #pepsodent #power #story
  • Profile picture of the author Alex Cohen
    Pepsodent advertised a lot during the so-called Golden Age of television. (I was a kid in the 1950s and watched those commercials ad nauseam.)

    This was typical...


    Alex
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    • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
      Naming and tagging things that weren't before
      is a brilliant strategy for long term growth.

      The Authors of Positioning, Jack Trout and Al Ries
      show how it's done.

      Lifebouy Soap did it by naming body odor B.O.

      Now the women had a negative to put on men
      and set up the sale of the soap.

      Then there was the mouth wash for bad breath.
      The first one named the the cause of it and of course
      the first to name the cause becomes the market winner.

      The authors of Positioning show how a negative
      can be put on another brand, like was done on the original mouth wash.

      They labelled the original medicine breath and who wants
      to walk around smelling like a hospital.

      They turned a strength into a weakness.

      Then there was the Coke wars.

      Pepsi became the drink for the new generation.

      Coke said "when you are ready to grow up,
      then Coke is ready when you are", or words to that effect.

      Love this stuff.

      Best,
      Doctor E. Vile

      P.S. If you study Eugene Schwartz ads, he named a hidden cause
      to the ailments people were suffering.
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      • Profile picture of the author Mark Pescetti
        Originally Posted by ewenmack View Post

        Naming and tagging things that weren't before
        is a brilliant strategy for long term growth.

        The Authors of Positioning, Jack Trout and Al Ries
        show how it's done.

        Lifebouy Soap did it by naming body odor B.O.

        Now the women had a negative to put on men
        and set up the sale of the soap.

        Then there was the mouth wash for bad breath.
        The first one named the the cause of it and of course
        the first to name the cause becomes the market winner.

        The authors of Positioning show how a negative
        can be put on another brand, like was done on the original mouth wash.

        They labelled the original medicine breath and who wants
        to walk around smelling like a hospital.

        They turned a strength into a weakness.

        Then there was the Coke wars.

        Pepsi became the drink for the new generation.

        Coke said "when you are ready to grow up,
        then Coke is ready when you are", or words to that effect.

        Love this stuff.

        Best,
        Doctor E. Vile

        P.S. If you study Eugene Schwartz ads, he named a hidden cause
        to the ailments people were suffering.
        Great insights.

        Coming to market with a new tag or name for something... and being THE solution is the holy grail of advertising. And that really is the power of positioning.

        Don't ride the coattails of what other companies are doing... or trying to do.

        Coin your own name. Start and lead a new conversation that speaks to the circumstances of a lot... or even just a few (niche) people.

        P.S. Back it up with proof. This isn't the golden age;-)
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      • Profile picture of the author splitTest
        Originally Posted by ewenmack View Post

        Naming and tagging things that weren't before
        is a brilliant strategy for long term growth.

        The Authors of Positioning, Jack Trout and Al Ries
        show how it's done.

        Lifebouy Soap did it by naming body odor B.O.

        Now the women had a negative to put on men
        and set up the sale of the soap.

        Then there was the mouth wash for bad breath.
        The first one named the the cause of it and of course
        the first to name the cause becomes the market winner.

        The authors of Positioning show how a negative
        can be put on another brand, like was done on the original mouth wash.

        They labelled the original medicine breath and who wants
        to walk around smelling like a hospital.

        They turned a strength into a weakness.

        Then there was the Coke wars.

        Pepsi became the drink for the new generation.

        Coke said "when you are ready to grow up,
        then Coke is ready when you are", or words to that effect.

        Love this stuff.

        Best,
        Doctor E. Vile

        P.S. If you study Eugene Schwartz ads, he named a hidden cause
        to the ailments people were suffering.
        Reminds me of a new branding concept on the rise -- "Chocolate Diamonds." Once upon a time, no one wanted brown diamonds -- so numerous and so "flawed" that they were sold mainly for industrial applications.

        What to do with the huge, worthless excess stock? Create a demand in jewelry -- "Chocolate Diamonds."

        Never mind the fact that regular clear diamonds are "the most brilliant illusion in modern history," to quote a critic of the industry. "Chocolate" diamonds take it to a whole 'nother level.

        Interesting article on it here: The Truth About Chocolate Diamonds...

        Happy valentines day!
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  • Profile picture of the author shawnlebrun
    That's the one thing that pisses me off about most advertising agencies... they try to be too cute and clever for their own good.

    And it's why if I hire new copywriters... they have to read Scientific Advertising by Hopkins at least twice.

    Obvious Adams is another books I ask them to read.

    Then again, it's probably why I run more of a direct response advertising company and not a more traditional mass market/blanket media one.

    I like to actually show clients where their money went... and how much is coming back in.
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  • Profile picture of the author max5ty
    And yet now they're a nothing brand...

    Goes to show it's important to change with the times...or get left behind.

    Pepsodent - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    Colgate or Crest: Can You Guess Which Is America's Favorite Toothpaste? (CL, PG)
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