Tooth Tunes | Remarkability Amplified

4 out of 5 marketers agree, Tooth Tunes, a musical toothbrush from Hasbro, is a case study example of spending marketing dollars to make a product better.

“When pressed to the tooth, [Tooth Tunes] renders a recorded riff from a pop star that lasts two- minutes – precisely the amount of time dentists say children should be spend brushing their teeth." [source: Wall Street Journal article | sub req’d.]

Not only does it make the ho-hum toothbrush remarkable, it also solves the problem of getting children to brush their teeth more often and for longer periods of time.

For six years, Hasbro has been trying to develop the right use for their invention of a tiny devise that can transmit sound through enamel and bone. They first tried to use the technology in a lollipop but at $10 bucks a pop, consumers balked. Next, Hasbro considered using pens, spoons, and forks but none of those prototypes made it to the marketplace. Hasbro finally settled on a toothbrush and will launch Tooth Tunes in late summer.

If 4 out of 5 marketers agree this is a great example of using marketing spend to improve the product ... then who is the dissenting 5th marketer?

Comments

[focus]

Tooth Tunes. I want one.
But how do you select the tune you want once they get more than one tune?
Use cellphone technology so you can listen to whatever you want? Bach? Tina Turner? ("What's plaque got to do with it?")
Because if you can hook it up to your phone, the batteries might not need to be in the brush and it could be cheaper and not need to be replaced.
And why stop with music for kids? Gear it for older people as well. Let us listen to the news while we brush. Listen to books. Anything.
Definitely a product whose time has come.
Thanks for the heads-up.

[beachbumm]

now i've heard it all. it must sound great with the tunes in one hear and the deafening sound of the toothbrush against your teeth in the other! a musical toothbrush will not get kids to brush their teeth anymore than the toothbrush that lights up or spins their favorite cartoon character around in circles, the novelity wears off in about a day or two.
maybe the marketing department should come to the realization that the number one reason kids don't like to brush is because BEDTIME quickly follows.
by the way my grandmother has a musical glass so her dentures can listen to music while they soak, this goes hand in hand with my grandfathers musical hearing aid, even when its on you have to yell so he can hear you.

[Rich...!]

Yeah, but kids don't buy the toothbrush, parents do. I'm a parent, and I'd sure give this a try, what's there to lose? Besides whether it actually works or not is not the issue, we're talking about it...

That's the issue...!

[Michael]

"They first tried to use the technology in a lollipop but at $10 bucks a pop, consumers balked."

So...are you saying a $10 lollipop sucks?

[Leticia]

I think it's a creative and wonderful idea to get kids to brush their teeth! But a $10 musical lollipop? What's that about? No one wants to encourage their kids to eat more lollipops.

[johnmoore (from brandautopsy)]

My teeth would have been cavity-free had $10 lollipops been around when I was a kid.

[Mary Batson]

This is nothing new. A company called Orawave was into the tuned musical toothbrush market first with a superior product called the Tuned Musical 2-Minute Twin Spin toothbrush. Unlike the Hasbro brush --- Orawave’s has a replaceable head, comes in 4 cool designs, plays 8 DIFFERENT tunes so you get a different tune each time you brush, has a 2 minute timer, twin heads and plays music only AFTER the person has brushed for the full 2 minutes - a reward. And it sells for less than $7. Dentists recommend you change your brush heads every 3 months and since Hasbro's brush heads cannot be replaced, you will need to shell out $10, 4 times a year! 4 replacement heads for the Orawave only cost about $8 TOTAL.

[The Dentist's Secretary]

Nice idea, this. But people will press the brush harder to their teeth to hear the music better (assuming they like the music), and this may damage the tooth enamel, resulting in more cavities instead of less.

[kat]

What are all the song the tooth tunes has??

[Teddy]

Does anyone know the name of the lollipop company and where i could get one, i have tried google and ebay

[kj]

I want one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When will it be phx. Az.!! I keep looking at wallmart but its never there

[Nancy Zelles]

My granddaughter wants one for her 6th birthday. Just where can I buy one? Rush the answer B day next week

[Kimmi]

You can only get them at Toys-R-Us or Hasboro Toys on-line. They are considered a toy.

[Ali]

How do you change the batteries in a Tooth Tunes toothbrush??? Anyone know??

[Mikayla Gordan]

How do u replace the batteries in a tooth tunes tooth brush?

[Michelle]

Ugh so i just bought two...at $9 a pop and i go home, ECSTATIC about this thing and they dont work. Either of them. Any Ideas??