In Ghana, less than 50% of the population brushes their teeth twice daily, and oral hygiene awareness remains a critical challenge. Pepsodent Ghana launched a two-pronged high-impact movement to bridge this gap through accessibility and education: the Smile Ride and the Kids School Tour.
Our primary goals were: Mobile Awareness: Utilise the public transport system (Smile Ride) to take oral health education directly to commuters across 8 key regions, providing free rides and product samples.
Educational Foundation: Reach the next generation through a nationwide Kids School Tour, where influencers visited their alma mater to provide dental kits and engaging hygiene lessons.
Regional Penetration: Engage over 80,000 consumers on-ground while maintaining a massive digital presence to make oral care a national conversation. Professional Guidance: Deploy dentists on both tours to dispel myths and demonstrate correct brushing techniques in real-time.
We integrated physical brand experiences with authentic digital storytelling. We launched the Smile Ride in partnership with Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) and Aayalolo (government-owned public transport buses), branding over 250 buses to serve as mobile dental clinics. Simultaneously, we executed the Kids School Tour, where influencers returned to their former primary schools—reconnecting with teachers and educating students in a way that felt personal and impactful.
Key Features: The "Alma Mater" Strategy: Influencers shared memorable highlights from their own former schools, triggering a wave of nostalgia that resonated deeply with online audiences.
On-the-Move Education: Onboard the Smile Ride buses; commuters were greeted by promoters and dentists who provided free consultations and breakfast packs (koko and enriched bread) during their morning commute.
Dance & Play: In schools, we used energetic activities like the Pepsodent Dance Challenge to make learning about hygiene fun rather than a lecture.
Logistics were the greatest hurdle. Managing fresh food distribution for thousands of commuters during the early morning Smile Ride required precise coordination. Additionally, we had to ensure that influencer visits were synchronized with school schedules across diverse districts. We overcame these by pre-positioning materials at distribution points and deploying additional personnel to manage high-demand activation zones.
Why it’s Unique: This campaign turned a routine daily task—commuting or going to school—into a life-enhancing health encounter. By combining the broad reach of public transport with the deep, emotional connection of an alma mater school visit, we didn't just advertise; we built a community-wide movement powered by real people and real experiences.
The unified campaign achieved unprecedented visibility and tangible community impact.
We consider this a success because we effectively moved the needle on oral health awareness nationwide. We transformed a clinical topic into a trending, nostalgia-driven cultural moment, ensuring that the message of "brushing twice a day" reached both the streets and the classrooms of Ghana
