In a colossal consumer market like China, oral healthcare brands such as Crest can only survive if consumers have some kind of exclusive connection. With the 2008 Beijing Olympics around the corner and an onslaught of global brands flooding the market, Crest needed to strategically create massive brand awareness so that it would be forthright in people's minds in the crush. With the aim of reaching an exponentially large audience in a relatively short timeframe, Crest tapped into China’s fast-growing online audience. Together with the agency, Crest ignited a social network of advocates through an innovative, integrated, digital-savvy campaign that “collected smiles” across China. Outfitted with Crest-branded gear and paraphernalia, a team of young Chinese people travelled to 18 cities taking photos of smiles as they went. Documenting their journey on the internet, the “Smile-vocates” attracted a mass following of fans across the nation with universally successful results. What started off as a grassroots campaign turned into a national phenomenon, with more than 430 million media impressions generated, over 5,000 smiles collected, bloggers wrote about it and the Chinese government adopted “Smile-vocates” as a new word in 2008.

The campaign took place between November 2007 and July 2008, starting with the Smile-vocates tour of China. Between February and July 2008, the PR campaign maintained momentum through a strategic online push. As new mini-projects commenced, iWOM got louder.

Following the launch of the Smile 2 U website and blog, online discussions about smiling were seeded on BBS’s, driving traffic to the site. Filmmaker and author of the most popular blog in China (and the world), Xu Jinglei, was also enlisted to write about the Smile-vocates on her blog.

In each city the Smile-vocates visited, local media were engaged to give in-depth reports. WOM was so substantial that most traditional media actually came to us.

Finally, the team created a campaign mascot, Little Whitey – an adorable creature with a Crest-sized smile. As well as becoming a national icon, Little Whitey was a tangible touch-point to foster an emotional bond with consumers.

The campaign was highly successful in generating massive brand awareness. More than 430 million online and traditional media impressions were generated and over 5,000 smiles were collected through the Smile-vocates tour and fan emails. Once unknown, the Smile-vocates became nationally famous overnight after co-hosting China’s trailblazing reality TV show, “Happy Base Camp” (think “Pop/American Idol”, but bigger).Social media impressions alone exceeded 12 million across blogs, BBS and video-sharing sites. Additionally, the Smile-vocates’ Smile 2 U website and blog was indexed by Sina Top Blogs and rated by Google PageRank™ at 5 within three months. Moreover, 250+ bloggers wrote their own stories about the Smile-vocates, generating 10,000+ views.

Finally, Crest led overall awareness over toothpaste brands in China (including Colgate, Darlie and Zhonghua) throughout the campaign. In 2008, China’s Ministry of Education and Language Committee officially adopted 254 new words. One of them was “Smile-vocates".