A good offence is often the best defence.

In January 2009, Listerine was under siege after being publicly accused of increasing the risk of oral cancer.

A good offence is often the best defence.

Agency J. Walter ThompsonAdvertiser Johnson & JohnsonAuthor Luke AtkinsonTotal Campaign Expenditure $2 - 5 million

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In January 2009, Listerine was under siege after being publicly accused of increasing the risk of oral cancer. The damage was massive; 26% lost sales; trust, preference and therapeutic equity were all significantly diminished.

This case study shows how by refusing to defend and instead boldly supporting an ambitious product launch secured the future of an iconic, $60M brand.

By launching Total Care with a powerful, confident advertising...

Not a subscriber?

Schedule your live demo with our team today

WARC helps you to plan, create and deliver more effective marketing

  • Prove your case and back-up your idea

  • Get expert guidance on strategic challenges

  • Tackle current and emerging marketing themes

We’re long-term subscribers to WARC and it’s a tool we use extensively. We use it to source case studies and best practice for the purposes of internal training, as well as for putting persuasive cases to clients. In compiling a recent case for long-term, sustained investment in brand, we were able to support key marketing principles with numerous case studies sourced from WARC. It helped bring what could have been a relatively dry deck to life with recognisable brand successes from across a broad number of categories. It’s incredibly efficient to have such a wealth of insight in one place.

Insights Team
Bray Leino

You’re in good company

We work with 80% of Forbes' most valuable brands* and 80% of the world's top top-of-the-class agencies.

* Top 10 brands