May 1, 2005 12:00 PM, Patricia Odell

• CAMPAIGN: Crest Whitening Expressions
• AGENCY: ePrize
• CLIENT: Procter & Gamble

For Crest, the online essay contest tied to the introduction of its new tooth-whitening formula during team tasks on The Apprentice, triggered a number of firsts: The promotion led to the single-highest level of Web hits in the history of the Crest site and the highest level of interest in a product launch in Procter & Gamble history. And, it was the first product launch staged via a reality TV program.

Here's how it worked: On Sept. 23, 2004, two competing teams on The Apprentice were given the task of promoting Crest's new Vanilla Mint flavor of its Whitening Expressions toothpaste around New York City. Toward the end of the show, a 15-second spot aired, which talked up the new flavor and encouraged viewers to go to Crest.com to enter the contest and explain in 100 words or less how they would have competed the task differently.

“We really liked the idea of giving the consumer a voice, letting them be heard,” says Jen Cheney DeAngelo VP-business development for ePrize, the Farmington Hills, MI-based agency that crafted the promotion. “It allows people who are not on the show to do the exact same task,” their way.

Two of P&G's brand managers appeared in the show to help with the task. Diane Dietz, general manager, Oral Care and Bryan McCleary, global Crest spokesperson, also made appearances in the TV ad.

Within two hours of the show's airing, more than 800,000 hits were recorded at the site, ultimately totaling 4.7 million hits. One hundred ideas a minute were submitted in the first 20 minutes and more than 40,000 applicants wrote essays and received product samples for participating. A tell-a-friend element allowed essay participants to send e-mails to three friends telling them about the promotion.

Lynn Baldwin from Sun Prairie, WI, won, receiving a trip to see the final episode of The Apprentice and was a VIP guest at a Trump hotel. Her idea called for a mystery campaign with white billboards draped with black curtains enticing consumers to find out what's under it. The unveiling would reveal an image of the toothpaste with the tag line: “Don't hide behind a curtain, have the world see your smile with Crest Whitening Expressions.”

Contest results far surpassed the company's initial goal of 10,000 entrants and met each of its three main objectives: to interact with the brand's core consumers; to learn more about the products target and to distribute samples to consumers who may have already shown an interest in the product and therefore have a high probability of making a purchase.

The contest was also supported by online ads and search engine optimization. “We have had incredible success in transforming the anonymous consumer watching the television program into an opt-in recipient of our client's brand messaging,” Cheney DeAngelo says. “This campaign is an excellent example of how brands are able to extend the experience and reinforce key brand attributes, all while creating a permission based database of consumers.”

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