The habit loop of consumers across the world involves starting and ending the
day with a toothbrush and toothpaste.
Industry leaders such as Colgate and Crest have capitalized on necessary
products in this habit loop and look to benefit the consumer and protect the
health of their teeth. However, these items have resulted in an estimated 400
million toothpaste tubes thrown away in the US alone, and about 1.5 billion
globally.
This traditional, linear approach to business is becoming more actively
challenged as both consumers and competitors alike reconsider their choices,
amidst changing preferences.
Reimagining the format
Founded in 2017, Bite has become a venture
capital-backed
company that now has more than 50,000
subscribers
and growing. Bite looked to change the way toothpaste functions for the consumer
by transforming the product. While this was a risky move in a stabilized
industry, Bite — like other successful businesses — understands that it is
necessary to innovate in order to sustain momentum.
Circularity by Design: How to Influence Sustainable Consumer Behaviors
Join us Thursday, December 5, at 1pm ET for a free webinar on making circular behaviors the easy choice! Nudge & behavioral design expert Sille Krukow will explore the power of Consumer Behavior Design to drive circular decision-making and encourage behaviors including recycling and using take-back services. She will share key insights on consumer psychology, behavior design related to in-store and on-pack experiences, and how small changes in the environment can help make it easy for consumers to choose circularity.
Bite reimagined toothpaste — not in the way that it affects oral health; but in
the way that the consumer interacts with the product from purchase, receival,
usage, and disposal, if any is necessary.
Bite looked to completely reinvent this part of daily routine in a sustainable
way — all product aspects are recyclable (or chewable), plastic free and sent
directly to the consumer with reduced-impact
shipping.
The consumer takes a bit from the reusable glass jar, bites down, and the
toothpaste foams up similar to traditional toothpaste — providing the same
‘clean mouth feel’.
Using this transformed format, Bite has quickly grown to include other hygiene
products — including toothbrushes, floss, mouthwash, teeth whitener, and
deodorant — all of which are plastic free.
By reshaping and challenging how we interact with our daily products, this type of innovation can change the consumer goods industry.
A premium model of circularity
Bite’s solidified form of toothpaste is relatively new in the oral hygiene
industry; in order to be competitive, this business model charges a premium for
the product. The average consumer will not pay
$30 for a tube of
toothpaste when surrounding competitors are around $2.75. To remove that point
of comparison, Bite changed the format of the product and the way the consumer
interacts with it.
Bite’s subscription service allows the company to have a more regular and
streamlined mode of business. The consumer does not need to go to the store or
even remember to re-up their purchase, thanks to automated shipping. This model
allows tooth-brushers to effectively buy into removing themselves from a
wasteful sector.
The brand emphasizes that its products are made for refills, not landfills; and
its refill-based model encourages brand loyalty through convenience and ease of
continued use.
Elevated emotional benefit to consumers
Bite’s model not only benefits the environment by reducing landfill waste but is
a strong recurring business plan enforced by the emotional connection that
consumers have with the brand mission.
Bite has considered how the consumer will react with its brand emotionally and
made it integral to the purchase and experience — offering compostable refills,
recyclable glass, plastic-free and cruelty-free products helps the consumer
feels ‘clean.’ This type of emotional benefit in a sea of noise and waste can
offer users a sense of peace and satisfaction.
A message on the top inner flap of the product packaging reinforces the validity
and importance of the consumer’s purchase: “Thanks a billion. Over one
billion toothpaste tubes end up in our ocean and landfills each year. That stops with you.” This
reinforces the idea that the consumers are doing something that matters.
The emotional benefit builds upon the sheer functional benefit of being a
hygiene product, and brings consumers back to a feeling of cleanliness and
higher value. In these ways, Bite offers business advantage and value for a
number of important stakeholders and tips the wheel of industry change.
In order to move past a period of maturity and stagnation, it is instrumental
for brands to seek out new formats, new forms of innovation, and new
opportunities to grow and excel.
Get the latest insights, trends, and innovations to help position yourself at the forefront of sustainable business leadership—delivered straight to your inbox.
Ariel Back is a Boston-based writer and researcher with expertise in market research and consumer insights. Her interests in consumer and brand behavior arise from her background in Psychology and Journalism. She also writes for "All Things Greener," a newsletter on the psychology of pro-environmental behavior.
Published Mar 24, 2022 11am EDT / 8am PDT / 3pm GMT / 4pm CET