This is a story about using technology to sell a new toothpaste. Now let’s be honest: technology and toothpaste don’t automatically seem like a natural fit. This is especially true in India, which is still mostly a low-tech country.

Our client Colgate had spent years developing a revolutionary new way to prevent cavities by neutralizing sugar before it even gets the chance to attack teeth. It’s the biggest advance in cavity protection since fluoride 50 years ago.

We wanted to create an individually-targeted message, to show how the different foods people bought actually had more sugar than they realized. Our idea was to pinpoint people while shopping, when they are actively looking at ingredients and thinking about the food they consume. But while 80% of Indians have a mobile phone, most are basic feature phones, and overall digital penetration is still in the low teens.

Given these tech limitations in India, we needed to create a solution that did not require our consumers to use any technology at all. So instead we used the retailer’s technology – the cash register POS system – to deliver a customized message for us. The consumer required no more technology than a cash register receipt.

We piloted this campaign in Mumbai, in partnership with a local retailer, to test the concept and technology, and it ran for a duration of one month.

We began by compiling a master list of the sugar content in the most popular foods found in local supermarkets, using average category (not brand-specific) data. This database was synced to the retailer’s POS system and receipt printing software. Every food item scanned at the cashier was assigned a sugar content amount for its category, and the receipt was printed with this information, along with an immediately redeemable discount coupon whose value was linked to the total level of sugar content per shopping basket.

The results are now being evaluated for a national roll-out, and as a next step we are investigating how the technology would need to be adapted to different retailer POS and receipt printing systems.

As a pilot we do not yet have full results. But early data indicates the activation is very effective at communicating the message, and was able to successfully shift the perception of sugar from something only in sweets to a threat hidden in everyday foods. It has helped to establish a strong and differentiated proposition of Colgate Sugar Acid Neutralizer against other toothpastes.

Importantly, during the campaign period, we have seen strong trade-up from regular toothpaste brands, and even conversion of a healthy percentage of shoppers to immediate impulse purchases at the register.

Even before full results are available, Colgate sees the potential of the idea, and Colgate-Palmolive Malaysia is investigating how to adapt this campaign later this year.