• Cincinnati Enquirer, Monday, August 23, 2010 9:30 AM

Procter & Gamble is getting set to market two new additions to a brand that, after Tide detergent, may be its best known, David Holthaus reports. Ads for Crest Pro-Health Clinical Gum Protection and Crest Pro-Health For Me -- the 41st and 42nd current versions of the toothpaste -- will break Sept. 1 for the top-selling product.

"This product is clinically proven to reduce gingivitis in four weeks," says Dr. Robert Gerlach, a P&G dentist and senior researcher who led a study of 984 Cincinnatians that found that half of them suffered from some degree of gingivitis, or bleeding of the gums. The Pro-Health For Me products are targeted to "tweens" who want their own stuff (and the parents who shell out the dollars to buy them).

Crest's strategy is to take the brand well beyond toothpaste, hoping that they'll also buy Crest floss, Crest mouthwash and Crest whiteners. P&G calls it promoting "regimen use," Holthaus writes, and has employed it with brands such as Gillette and Clairol.

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