Brush Busters

Background

Philips Sonicare for Kids was a range of electric toothbrushes made for children. The problem was, more than 40% of kids developed cavities by the time they reached elementary school. As the oral healthcare expert Philips wanted to solve this problem in a way that fitted with their brand positioning, 'Innovations that matter to you'.

Idea

Brush Busters was a game for smartphone and tablet that got children through play to brush their teeth longer and at least twice a day. The app worked

with sound detection and could pick up if children were brushing and how long they were brushing for with their Philips Sonicare for Kids.

When children had brushed for two minutes they could progress up a level. If the game noticed the sound of the toothbrush had stopped, it reminded the child to keep brushing.

The app allowed parents to see exactly how long their children had been brushing and could add dentist appointments.

The game was based on child-friendly stories such as Bjorn the Viking, who spent too much time defending his village and not enough time looking after his teeth. Then there was Vicky the Vampire, who over-indulged in cranberry juice and one of her fangs broke off as a consequence.

For every two-minute brushing session, kids could help the characters get back one of their teeth.

Results

Significant behavioural change was noticed amongst the first 2,000 pilot users, saving over 10,000 teeth.

Users had a daily return rate of 80%, showing the power of gamification to influence daily routines.

The idea was being extended in the USA with further educational materials created around the characters.

Six other countries, including Japan and Russia, wanted to bring the game to their markets.

Technologically, the next step was identified as being to create a 2.0 version of the Brush Busters app which would work with bluetooth-connected toothbrushes to measure brushing time and position in the mouth, pressure etc.

Our Thoughts

Confucius said (supposedly): ‘Tell me and I will forget; show me and I will remember; involve me and I will understand.’

Tell me is a press ad; show me is an instructional online demo; involve me is an app. If you want to change minds, use TV. But if you want to change behaviour, you have to get people doing things. A lot of apps are simply utilities. Achtung! understand that being useful isn’t enough, especially where children are involved. The app has to be entertaining as well.

Brian Burke, author of ‘Gamify’ has predicted that 80% of all gamified apps launched this year will fail “mainly due to poor design.”

Not something that could be said about Achtung’s! work.