Colgate and Red Fuse Communications’ ‘Pocket Dentist’ wins big at the India Digital Media Awards
‘Pocket Dentist,’ a mobile ring-back service providing dental care information access in rural India received multiple honors at the India Digital Media Awards (IDMA). Launched by Colgate-Palmolive and Red Fuse Communications, and backed by the Indian Dental Association, ‘Pocket Dentist’ detects multiple dialects and responds to the 30 most common oral health questions to address 91% of rural dwellers’ oral health problems. ‘Pocket Dentist’ is proof of Colgate’s commitment that a healthy smile is the right of every Indian.
‘Pocket Dentist’ is live in two provinces of rural India, providing over six million people individualized professional dental advice for the first time. The program was developed due to the limited access to dentists in the region and the fact that up to 70% of rural India is ‘media dark.’ While smartphones and data plans are rare in more remote areas, over 80% of rural households have access to basic mobile phones without data. The ‘Pocket Dentist’ is publicized using mobile voice ads, hand-painted outdoor murals, and word of mouth from health workers. Villagers access ‘Pocket Dentist’ with a free of charge missed call from basic mobile, without data charges and receive a no-cost call-back in their dialect within minutes.
“Colgate believes that ‘Everyone deserves a future they can smile about.’ We believe this program is life changing for people in rural India and we are committed to expanding it to more markets and impacting more people worldwide,” said Colgate-Palmolive’s CMO, Mukul Deoras.
Colgate’s ‘Pocket Dentist’ received five IDMA awards including Gold for Best Innovation in Mobile Marketing, Gold for Best Campaign Use of Mobile, Gold for Best Use of Native Advertising, Silver for Best Use of Technology and Bronze for Best Integrated Media Campaign – Social Cause.
“It’s great to see our client awarded for this ground-breaking initiative. Wins for the agency are the icing on the cake,” said Shubha George, Managing Director, Red Fuse Communications. “In essence, ‘Pocket Dentist’ is a smart phone solution for people without smartphones, reaching India’s rural interior to bring much-needed oral health advice.”
Colgate-Palmolive was also named IDMA ‘Client of the Year’ and Red Fuse Communications Mumbai is ‘Mobile Media Agency of the Year.’ Organized by exchange4media the India Digital Media Awards 2017 were announced last night at the Taj Santacruz in Mumbai.