Press Releases 
Can You Become The # 1 Brand Using Only Event Marketing?
You Can If You Find The “Point of Pick”
ZAG Marketing Helps BrushPicks® Toothpicks To Become Category Leader Through Strategic Sampling Program!
Gillette, New Jersey, USA, September 12, 2006 —It used to be that when someone asked for a toothpick they’d get the generic, wooden splintery kind you’d find at the hostess desk of any restaurant. But ask someone who’s experienced The Doctor’s® BrushPicks® toothpick and you’ll get more than just a cleaner smile, you’ll also get the most enthusiastic consumer you’ve ever seen.
Over the past 4.5 years, ZAG Marketing has been reaching out to consumers at “the point of pick” in a grass roots sampling campaign that has been attributed to the significant sales growth of the BrushPicks® brand since the programs inception. Not only has the brand doubled in size each year since the program began, It has also become the leader in its category.
Traveling to food related fairs and festivals throughout the country, the ZAG team sends its highly enthusiastic brand ambassadors to roam these events passing out BrushPicks® to consumers in need, and pitching them on the products unique features and benefits. After all, where better to introduce consumers to a new toothpick than at large, consumer events where consumers are constantly getting “street foods” from barbecued turkey legs to kettle corn, stuck in their teeth?
According to Kelly Kaplan, VP of Marketing for the brand from 2003 – 2005, “Since 2003, the BrushPicks® sampling program has accounted for between 80 and 90 percent of the brands overall marketing plan. The sales growth throughout that period has been largely attributed to the success of this program.” The level of enthusiasm for this program is not one-sided. Jon Lesser, President of ZAG Marketing, the company that developed and executes the program says, “As much as we enjoy working on some of the worlds biggest brands in highly integrated marketing campaigns, It’s also wonderful to work with a brand like BrushPicks® whose impressive growth can be attributed in large part to the work we’re doing in the field”.
Owned by Prestige Brands, Inc., whose portfolio also includes such brands as Spic & Span®, Comet®, Chloroseptic® and Clear Eyes®; BrushPicks® has several unique, patented characteristics that set it apart from its archaic counterpart. First, BrushPicks® are made from plastic so that they don’t splinter like wooden toothpicks do. One side of the BrushPick® has a wedge which is meant to get into smaller gaps in the teeth while the other side has tiny bristles that clean built up food particles between teeth. Brushpicks® also have a pliable middle so that you can bend them to reach into back teeth where food sometimes gets stuck. For all these reasons and more, people who have tried BrushPicks® swear by them.
According to Lesser, “This is the most cult –like following of a brand I’ve ever seen. Not only do loyal BrushPicks users profess their love for this product to our field staff, we also have first time users hunting us down at events once they’ve tried them, to tell us how wonderful they are. This is event marketing at its best!.”
The BrushPicks campaign runs year round. Look for them at your favorite food festivals nationwide.