Differentiation, Education, Amplification: Secrets of a D2C Toothpaste Startup

It is a quintessential David vs. Goliath fight, only in this case David is a clever personal products inventor and Goliath are the toothpaste titans of the multibillion oral care industry.

To survive this battle of epic disproportions and make a go of it, Better & Better Co-founder and CEO Vladimir Vukicevic told PYMNTS, takes differentiation, education and amplification, as well as a lot of hustle and some financial backing too.

“We are a mix of traditional oral care and supplements and vitamins,” Vukicevic said of how his not quite 2-year-old company is different from his giant retail rivals. “We view ourselves as a personal health and wellness company with a big premise.”

That premise, he explained, is that since everybody already brushes their teeth twice a day, leveraging that universal habit to get more out of the process would hold great appeal. In short, Vukicevic has hacked the familiar process of brushing your teeth and added the benefit of a daily dose of vitamins D and B12 along with it.

This multitasking mash-up is clearly a unique idea, but getting the “Energy” brand and story into the minds and mouths of customers is a whole new challenge.

“The key for us in the beginning has been about education,” he said, noting that not many people know that you can absorb vitamins and nutrients through your mouth, gums and tongue.

Getting Heard

Like all direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands, Better & Better’s marketing strategy lives largely on social media, in this case Facebook and Instagram, and relies heavily on word of mouth testimonials, customer reviews, influencer traffic and paid search on Google.

But Vukicevic said he also takes advantage of another little-known oddity of the oral care industry to help grow the business and brand.

“More people search for ‘toothpaste’ on Amazon than they do on Google in the United States,” he said, “so it’s an important starting point for [us] and we get a lot of customer acquisition there.”

Although at some point longer-term plans could include a full multimedia advertising and marketing campaign, the early days are focused on building up a solid, loyal following before branching out to retail partners later this year.

“The number one sales and marketing channel for us has been getting and amplifying current users to tell their story about how this actually works, and how they love the product,” he said.

Subscriptions and Moat

To be sure, the industry leaders likely spill more toothpaste than Better & Better will sell this year, and they could, theoretically, also buy out or clone his product in an instant, or maybe not, Vukicevic said.

“We do have some IP [intellectual property] around the formulation and mixing,” he said, “It’s not about just putting the vitamins in, it’s about mixing them with ingredients that make them absorbable in the mouth.”

At the same time, while the majors focus on fighting cavities, whitening and sensitivity, Energy is aimed at consumers seeking a health, wellness and supplemental solution.

“The third layer [of the moat] is about the customer relationships, so we are heavily, heavily based on subscriptions and recurring revenue,” he added. “We view our customer not as a one-time buyer, but as a long-term member of our community.”

As for the sustainability front, Vukicevic says that has been part of the company’s ethos since day one and is even embedded in its name, which is shorthand for better for you and better for the planet.

“I think at this point, [sustainability] is table stakes for any new brand. The idea that you don’t worry about the environment is gone,” he said, pointing to the influence it has had on packaging, shipping and domestic manufacturing as well its partnership with groups such as One Tree Planted.

“It has to be ingrained from the ground up because consumers [regardless of age] now more than ever care that we are not only making a great product, but are also not hurting the world, but preferably also helping the environment as well,” he said.