
A "Smile Happy" Approach Combats Fear of the Orthodontist
Despite competition from category interrupters — and fear of going to the orthodontist — we helped Smile Doctors realize a 720% ROI and exponential growth.
Challenge
People will do just about anything to avoid having their teeth examined. It’s the thing of nightmares and horror movies. That fear, combined with the proliferation of online solutions for everything, has led to the rise of direct-to-consumer orthodontics. So how does a group of brick-and-mortar orthodontic practices overcome those obstacles and take back their turf?
Solution
Starting with a new brand position of “Don’t just smile. Smile happy.”, we reshaped Smile Doctor’s visual brand experience to better align with the service experience — namely lots of positive energy, dancing, love, support and celebration. Through precise digital media targeting, we used long-form ads and videos to tell emotional stories customers could relate to — and gave them strong incentives to give Smile Doctors a try.
As it turns out, happiness wins. In just eight months, the campaign videos were watched over a million times, generating incredible ROI. Best of all, Smile Doctors continues to gobble up new territories, growing from 31 locations in five states to 200+ clinics across 14 states in less than three years.