Trisa brushes caress better

Awards At the Swiss Marketing Day 2006
Trisa AG won the Swiss
Marketing Trophy for its innovative Sonicpower toothbrush.The canton of origin counts the broadly
SMC jury's choice of the Swiss Marketing Case of the Year.
year is still not one of the criteria. But the holism,
the good marketing craft, the degree of innovation, the proof of success
as well as dynamism and commitment in implementation. All the more astonishing,
that, after Emmi last year, with Trisa once again a company
from Lucerne received the significant industry award for its
Market services "with exemplary character for the Swiss economy".
receives. The sales and earnings performance of the companies controlled by the
majority shareholder family Pfenniger punishes all
those who believe in lucrative production of low-interest products in
of Switzerland doubt. Two months before the presentation of the
It is clear from the Annual Report that, in the past year as well, the
Growth of the Group specializing in oral, hair and room care products
will be in the double-digit range (2004 sales: CHF 162 million).

Traditional communication
It is also significant that this year, since the theme of the event is
Provocation in marketing was, of all things, the Triengener
Company has received the gold award. For a good twelve years
it presents its oral care unit with a clear, almost
unchanged image presentation ("More desire to brush teeth"), which together
developed with the Zurich agency Edgar Iten. The young couple,
which has been brushing each other's teeth since 1994, has
commonly perceived as rather annoying oral hygiene not only positively
emotionalized. After quite a few declensions, it has become the again
recognizable sympathy carrier of the company. Unusual
Trisa does not seem to need advertising concepts and ideas.
Instead, Trisa stands out in the seemingly exhausted
Dental hygiene sector primarily through constant product innovations
and strategic diversification successfully from the national as
international competition. Innovation management has a high priority in the
corporate strategy is very important to us and is an integral part of our corporate strategy.
according to Peter Gross, Head of Research & Development, on almost all
Levels institutionalized.

"The prospects in the healthcare sector also look good in the long term
out," says Felix Fischbacher, Marketing Project Manager at Trisa.
On the one hand, Trisa's extensive know-how is a great advantage here,
on the other hand, also the new technologies that have been used in Swiss schools for decades
practiced prophylaxis work for caries-free teeth, which the
consumption habits has changed permanently. Whereas in 1974 in Switzerland
5.6 million manual toothbrushes were sold in 2004, the figure was
over 17 million units reached the saturation point. "Different
than in the export markets, we see growth potential in the home market
especially with electric toothbrushes," explains Fischbacher.

Of the million toothbrushes that are used every day in the Swiss
Trisa production facilities are created, 97 percent are exported. 77
Trisa AG generates percent of its sales in Europe, the remaining
23 percent distributed around the globe. This is also the case in the Middle East,
where Trisa is one of the market leaders. So if the company is after the
current investments (2006: CHF 30 million), the company is currently using up its
Production capacity increased again, then primarily for countries in which
oral hygiene awareness is still relatively low. "We assume,
that toothbrush consumption in Europe will increase in the next ten years.
will double," says Fischbacher. With it he justifies at the same time,
which is why Trisa continues to invest in new equipment, innovations and jobs.
(2004: around 100 new jobs) were invested.

In fact, the degree of innovation in recent years has
continuously increased. Measured in terms of total sales, the
Share from products less than three years old, down from 24 percent in the
In order to maximize the chances of a strong increase in the number of
to perceive the product range based on Question Marks and Stars, and
to recoup the high investment costs, regional
Market analyses and an efficient communication concept are indispensable. Since
Depending on the market, the product lines have different life cycles.
the assortment strategies and, consequently, the
Investments amortized according to a market-specific key,
explains Felix Fischbacher. In countries where the annual
toothbrush consumption is high, the replacement rate of manual
toothbrushes is higher than in others. That is why the
Innovation management strongly adapted to the more demanding markets such as
Germany or the USA, where the quality, the design and the
The effectiveness of the consumer product is subject to increasingly stringent requirements.

New boost for the brand
The latest child of this effort is called Sonicpower and was launched in the
launched in the fall of 2004. The novel toothbrush is expected to become a
Milestone in the success story of the 119-year-old
family company. After all, it is based on the per se
expensive sonic toothbrush technology. Through new approaches in the
production, however, it could be implemented cheaply and compactly. The
innovative toothbrush with 20 000 movements per minute was developed by Trisa
not only developed in Switzerland, but is also produced here.

The revolutionary toothbrush includes three innovations:
Not only does the world innovation clean much more efficiently than a
conventional toothbrush, among the electric toothbrushes it also has
the lowest potential for injuries, and the very competitive
Price positioning (below CHF 30) makes it suitable for broad segments
affordable. Other benefits such as the handiness, the favorable
The interchangeable head and the space-saving charger are designed to improve oral hygiene.
and, in the foreseeable future, replace the bulky and expensive
sonic toothbrushes to the lower ranks. The first
Results give cause for optimism: According to GfK consumer tracking, Trisa's
share of the Swiss electric toothbrush market between the first
The share of the Group's total sales grew from seven to almost 20 percent in the third quarter of 2003 and 2005.
grew by as much as 28 percent in value terms.

By the end of 2005, the advertising package weighed in at around CHF 1.3 million and included a
Press conference for the trade media, product PR as well as a concentrated
Poster campaign, POS material, sales folders and promotions
as well as a TV commercial.

Luca Aloisi