Johnson & Johnson - Index

Johnson & Johnson - report - Index

Lori Kumar has helped
develop dozens of oral
care products over two
decades. Yet “nothing
makes me happier than the
beautiful, healthy smile of
my daughter,” she says.
16
O U R C A R I N G T R A N S F O R M S :
The Dazzle
of a Smile
Kumar led the team of scientists that in 2007 launched
LISTERINE ® WHITENING ® Quick Dissolving Strips, which
discreetly dissolve on the teeth within five to 10 minutes.
Kumar wears them in meetings, while shopping for groceries
and playing cards with her daughter, Aparna, who chose to
study India-international relations at Brown University
because of her family’s roots. A Bollywood fan who loves her
father’s tandoori chicken and mother’s chocolate cake,
Aparna says her mother’s four-year quest for an on-the-go
whitening strip was true to form: “She loves the challenge.”
The challenge stemmed from the consumer insight
that people want whiter teeth without the hassles. “People
are more confident when they have whiter teeth,” says
Kumar, Ph.D., Vice President, Oral Care Research and
Development at Johnson & Johnson Consumer Healthcare &
Personal Products Worldwide division of Johnson & Johnson
Consumer Companies, Inc. “They feel better about themselves.”
While 72 percent of adults would like whiter teeth,
only 25 percent have tried a whitening product, according to
a Gallup poll. Kumar felt there had to be an easier alternative
to existing at-home products, which range from paint-on
whiteners to trays to strips that consumers wear and then
peel off. “Consumers want ease and convenience,” she says.
A GROWING FRANCHISE LISTERINE ® WHITENING ® Quick
Dissolving Strips, which also kill bad-breath germs and
leave a refreshing mint taste, are the latest addition to the
growing Johnson & Johnson oral care franchise. In 2006,
Johnson & Johnson acquired Pfizer Consumer Healthcare,
the makers of LISTERINE ® Antiseptic, propelling the company
from No. 6 to No. 4 in global oral care.
The $1.5 billion franchise offers all the tools for “brush,
floss, rinse,” the three-step routine that Kumar calls “the
best oral hygiene routine possible.” The portfolio includes
REACH ® toothbrushes, REACH ® floss, REMBRANDT ®
toothpaste and other REMBRANDT ® oral health beauty prod-
ucts, and the LISTERINE ® brand of products. “The neat thing
now is we really are the routine,” Kumar says. “We have a portfolio
of products that can make a difference to a person in terms
of their oral care. It’s all contributing to a healthier lifestyle.”
LISTERINE ® Antiseptic, the world’s No. 1 mouthwash and
the only nationally branded over-the-counter mouth rinse
that has earned the American Dental Association’s (ADA)
Seal of Acceptance, is now the oldest Johnson & Johnson
brand. Johnson & Johnson also has a historical link to the
product, which is more than 125 years old.
Sir Joseph Lister, for whom LISTERINE ® was named,
pioneered antiseptic surgery in the operating room at a time
when surgeons used unsterilized dressings and worked in
street clothes. After hearing Lister speak in 1876, Robert Wood
Johnson developed the first commercially available sterile
surgical dressings. LISTERINE ® was originally a surgical
disinfectant before it evolved into a mouthwash.
J O H N S O N & J O H N S O N 2 0 0 7 A N N U A L R E P O R T