Fighting New Competition

I floss my teeth.

Not because I enjoy it, but because I've had issues with getting cavities between my molars.

Originally, I used cheap floss. It kept shredding and leaving tiny strings stuck between my teeth.

So I switched to REACH Waxed Floss. After trying it, I concluded it was far better. It didn't shred. I could floss and get the job done. But I still wished for an easier way.

Then W.L. Gore & Associates released their innovative Glide dental floss. (Gore made their name in outdoor fabrics. Perhaps you've heard of Gore-Tex?)

The big thing with Glide is that it's fast and doesn't shred. The floss slips in and out of tightly spaced teeth without a hitch. Naturally, I tried it.

But something didn't seem quite right. It was almost like flossing had become too easy. I questioned whether it did as good a job as the traditional style of floss.

I switched back to REACH and have been using it since.

Still, it seemed to me that Glide had taken a fairly large bite out of the market. It had to have hurt the entrenched players. Now Glide owns the idea of "fast and easy" floss (which overcomes a major objection to flossing). Nobody else seems to have a positioning statement at all.

So it caught my attention when I bought my latest spool of REACH floss. On the top of their packaging it now says, "Removes up to 40% more plaque than Glide."

My earlier suspicions have been confirmed. Glide is too easy. And if you're going to floss, may as well use what's going to actually clean your teeth. (That's my belief.)

Now we have two different positioning statements. One is "fast." The other is "effective." One type of consumer will choose fast floss. Another will choose effective floss.

Anyway, it's an interesting case study. Something to consider when you face new competition. How do you set yourself apart? What is your positioning statement?

Comments

[Barry]

I know the point of your blog entry isn't really floss effectiveness, but I couldn't resist mentioning my favorite floss - Oral-B Ultra Floss. It sort of collapses to get in between the tight spaces, but is abrasive (I need a better-fitting word here) enough to remove the plaque. Have you tried it?

[Perry Droast]

Ryan,

I guess you hit a nerve here. I've been using glide for years. The Reach product just shreds in between my teeth and breaks.

I bought some new glide recently and it is now flat and has at least 4 times the strands of the old stuff.

Makes me wonder if they did that to address the effectiveness problem.

Great point though. Which is more important in the marketplace. Effective or fast?

[Ryan Healy]

@ Barry - No, I haven't tried Oral-B Ultra Floss, but perhaps I will now that you recommend it.

@ Perry - I have one space where REACH sometimes shreds a little bit. I imagine you probably have tighter teeth than me.

They might have altered the product to address the issue of effectiveness. It might also be because Glide switched hands. It was invented by Gore, but it looks like it's currently owned and marketed by Crest.

[Diana Dickert]

Effective is good. Sure, flossing is a hard habit to learn, but it's possible to learn it. Dental floss is a useful tool since it does a great job removing those junk that the toothbrush can't remove.