Colgate 'Your Smile Is Your Strength' Campaign: Key Findings
Colgate has launched "Your Smile Is Your Strength," a campaign developed with poet Josie Balka that shifts oral care away from outcomes and toward how people feel in front of the mirror.
The campaign spans digital content and a partnership with meditation app Calm, framing everyday routines as moments to pause and reset, rather than something to rush through.
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Colgate-commissioned research conducted with Burson found that 78% of people and 84% of millennials sometimes forget to recognize their inner strength.
And that's what makes this campaign so timely.
Poetry and Mindfulness Shape the Message
To bring the idea to life, Colgate partnered with poet and bestselling author Josie Balka.
Her role is central to the campaign’s tone.
According to the brand, Balka’s work around self-empowerment and courage in everyday moments helped shape the creative direction, which leans away from polished positivity and closer to reflection.
This can be attributed to the broader industry move towards 'Self-Acceptance Marketing,' similar to the Dove 'Self-Esteem Project.'
Like Dove, Colgate is moving beyond the physical result of the product to address the internal dialogue that happens in front of the mirror.
In Balka's poem for the campaign, the smile is treated less as a beauty signal and more as a sign of endurance.
That framing gives Colgate a way to talk about oral care without limiting the conversation to hygiene alone.
The campaign also includes mindfulness content designed to create short pauses for reflection.
Custom meditations, created in partnership with meditation app Calm, will live on the campaign page and Colgate’s YouTube channel.
"With Your Smile Is Your Strength, we aim to acknowledge the daily moments of self-doubt people experience and remind them that resilience often starts with how we show up for ourselves," said Gavin Du Toit, EVP Marketing, North America.
Oral Care Moves Closer to Self-Care
Colgate supports the campaign with a survey that points to a broader change in how people see their routines.
Personal care is seen as a form of self-care by many, and a large majority see daily habits as influencing their confidence levels.
This is in line with general consumer trends.
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Figures from Mintel indicate that 70% of younger consumers see their hygiene habits as an "essential 'micro-moment' for stress relief and mental resetting."
That framing runs through the campaign.
"When we started out, we asked ourselves what role does our smile play within the craziness of daily life," said Justin Roth and Jim Wood, Executive Creative Directors of agency VML.
"And we discovered it’s more than just an expression on our face, it’s a mindset, it’s how we choose to face the world every day and all that is thrown at us."
The bathroom mirror becomes part of the story.
Not just a place for brushing, but a place where people check in with themselves, reset, or try to gather confidence before stepping out.
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That is where Colgate places its product.
- Personal routines carry emotional weight. They often shape how people prepare for the day ahead.
- Creative partnerships can soften functional messaging. They help brands talk about routine products in more human terms.
- Confidence campaigns work better when they feel specific. Small, familiar moments make the message easier to recognize.
The campaign stays close to daily life, and that keeps it readable.
Our Take: Can Oral Care Hold a Bigger Emotional Message?
Colgate is clearly trying to stretch the category a little here. Not away from brushing.
Just beyond it.
We believe that the campaign suggests that small routines still matter, especially when people feel pressure from all sides.
That gives the brand a broader emotional role without forcing the message too far.
This emotional depth is complemented by Colgate’s broader strategy of creative experimentation.
The brand explored playfulness through its holiday claymation series, proving that oral care can oscillate between deep human reflection and lighthearted, object-led humor.
And for a product already tied to the mirror, the connection feels easy enough to follow.
Creative platforms often work best when they begin with a habit people already know.
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