Advertising, Marketing & PR  May 6, 2015

Water Pik ads back on TV for first time in decades

FORT COLLINS — Water Pik Inc. has launched its first national television advertising campaign since the late 1980s, featuring its line of water-jet flossers and other oral health-care products.

The ads, which vary in length from one to five minutes, feature the Fort Collins-based company’s Professional Designer Series, which is being bundled with an additional cordless water flosser and travel pouch, 11 flossing tips with storage case, two Nano-Sonic toothbrushes and two replacement brush heads.

The return to television advertising was a careful, deliberate process, said Richard Bisson, who has been president and chief executive of the company since 2006. “We had just sort of gone dark, and had to rebuild once we went private.

“The business was in need of many things when I came in,” he said. “I knew that before we went on TV, we had to build an incredible, differentiated product line, we had to make sure our science was backed up, and we had to build our relationships with dental professionals and market to them. If consumers go in to their dentist and say ‘I saw this great ad for Water Pik,’ we want them to be comfortable recommending us.”

The first Water Pik oral irrigator was developed in 1962 by engineer John W. Mattingly and dentist Gerald Moyer, who founded a company called Aqua Tec in Fort Collins. The company was acquired by Teledyne in 1967, and introduced the first pulsating showerhead in 1974.

Jay McCulloch, the company’s vice president for global marketing of its oral health products, said the goal of the ad campaign is to “drive consumer traffic to retail stores, or if the consumer prefers, allow them to purchase directly from the Internet or via the phone.

“People know that they ought to floss,” he said, “but for many it’s a tedious and often painful task. Now they can see for themselves how easy and effective water flossing can be.”

FORT COLLINS — Water Pik Inc. has launched its first national television advertising campaign since the late 1980s, featuring its line of water-jet flossers and other oral health-care products.

The ads, which vary in length from one to five minutes, feature the Fort Collins-based company’s Professional Designer Series, which is being bundled with an additional cordless water flosser and travel pouch, 11 flossing tips with storage case, two Nano-Sonic toothbrushes and two replacement brush heads.

The return to television advertising was a careful, deliberate process, said Richard Bisson, who has been president and chief executive of the company since 2006. “We had…

Dallas Heltzell
With BizWest since 2012 and in Colorado since 1979, Dallas worked at the Longmont Times-Call, Colorado Springs Gazette, Denver Post and Public News Service. A Missouri native and Mizzou School of Journalism grad, Dallas started as a sports writer and outdoor columnist at the St. Charles (Mo.) Banner-News, then went to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch before fleeing the heat and humidity for the Rockies. He especially loves covering our mountain communities.
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