Anna Burch - SmartMouth
In this episode, Anna and I explore the challenges of testing your product design with customers, expanding into new markets, and knowing when to say no to opportunities that could undermine what makes your value proposition unique.
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Summary
In this episode, I’m joined by Anna Burch from SmartMouth, a family owned oral care company founded by her grandfather, Dr. Marvin Cohen.
What started with a dentist questioning the root cause of bad breath eventually became a nationally distributed consumer product, but having a scientifically proven solution doesn't necessarily mean customers will understand it, buy it, or even know how to use it.
Anna and I explore the challenges of testing your product design with customers, expanding into new markets, and knowing when to say no to opportunities that could undermine what makes your value proposition unique.
If you want to learn more about solving root problems instead of symptoms, and balancing testing with what makes your product special, you'll love this episode.
Takeaways
Solve the root cause, not just the symptoms. Dr. Marvin Cohen challenged conventional assumptions about bad breath, researching the underlying science instead of simply masking odors.
Innovation doesn't mean abandoning what makes you different. SmartMouth has maintained its core activated zinc technology for decades, even resisting opportunities to create cheaper products that would compromise its differentiation.
A great product can still have usability problems. SmartMouth's dual-solution technology requires an unconventional bottle design. Customer feedback revealed that even loyal customers struggled with the experience, leading to improvements in packaging.
Understand the emotional and social jobs customers are hiring your product to do. Fresh breath is the functional benefit, but confidence, self-esteem, and social connection can be just as important to customers.
Your go-to-market strategy must evolve with the market. SmartMouth grew from dental offices to QVC and mass retail, eventually embracing e-commerce and creator-led content to educate customers about a product that requires more explanation than traditional advertising allows.
Guest Links
SmartMouth: https://smartmouth.com/
Transcript
David J Bland (00:01.164)
Welcome to the podcast, Anna.
Anna Burch (00:03.081)
Thanks so much for having me here today. I'm very excited.
David J Bland (00:05.122)
Yeah, thanks. I'm so excited to have you here. I'm I'm so glad you took time out of your busy schedule to just chat with us about mouthwash and all the things around that and running a business. you know, I was thinking about all the different things we could talk about today, and where I was kind of drawn to actually, if you don't mind sharing it with our listeners, is kind of like how you got pulled into the business and how your grandfather started this. And maybe we could just like set the tone with that before jumping into any really tactical questions.
Anna Burch (00:32.731)
Yeah, for sure. so my grandpa was Dr. Marvin Cohen. He was a dentist. and he developed Smartmouth back in, I believe it was like nineteen ninety-three.
And he was a dentist his whole life from the time he graduated dental school in 1965 until about six months before he passed away because that was his passion. And what really started the like trend, not even trend, the beginning of smart mouth was, you know, his patients would always come to him with issues, you know, he he was their dentist, but he always wanted to have a solution for them. And his goal in life was just to make his patients' lives easier. and a a big issue his patients would bring him is
bad breath. So he really spent the majority of his life researching the root cause of bad breath and he actually wrote the bad breath section in the encyclopedia. yeah, so he wa he was a he was literally a genius. He was so smart. But
David J Bland (01:28.63)
That's amazing.
Anna Burch (01:33.033)
So that kind of just like, you know, led to what is now SmartMath, the development of the technology. And so he, you know, SmartMonths developed early 90s. A few years after that, he brought my dad into the company, who was his son-in-law, to help grow the business and like launch it at retail. And he really and my grandpa really instilled his passion into my dad of just like, let's help people, let's find solutions for them, and let's make it easily accessible so that it just is like no one has to have.
Second thought. They can go to Walgreens, pick it up, go to Walmart, pick it up, buy it on Amazon. so together, you know, they grew it to something that I think is greater than what they ever anticipated, which was just like amazing, especially with this product. I can go into more detail later, but it there's truly not another oral care product on the mark market that can do what our technology does. so that's also really special to be able to be a part of that. Like, I always don't ever take that for granted. Like, this is an amazing product, I'm so lucky.
That I get to be part of this brand and this company. You know, unfortunately, my dad and grandpa have both passed away. And so I have three sisters, but my older sister and I both now work at Smartmouth, and you know, it's never an expectation or a you have to do this once you turn a certain age. We both were actually accountants. but now, you know, I can't imagine not being part of the team, and I feel so lucky that I get to carry on well, we
both get to carry on their legacy and continue to grow what they've they really built together.
David J Bland (03:09.973)
That's such a touching story. I love that it was it it almost started from it sounds as if patients bringing this up to him in in the practice or in in his work. I'm wondering, did they understand
Like symptoms versus root cause or you know, like I I I feel like maybe I'll preface this the preface it this way. We in in my industry, we say, hey, the press the customers have to have the problem, they're aware of the problem, they're accurately seeking a solution. And while I like that model, sometimes I feel like it's a little more nuanced than that because they might be symptom aware but not problem aware, or not the root cause aware. And I'm I'm just wondering like how what was his thought process or any stories you can share about, you know, early, early days.
Anna Burch (03:51.76)
Right. Yes.
Anna Burch (03:57.021)
Yeah, and I think your what you just said, that statement, they're not root cause aware, is truly what even I believe to this day is the mic misconception of what bad breath is. Like what is the root cause? Because I think some people believe it comes from certain foods you might eat or a poor poor brushing routine. But the truth is I actually read something recently, one of my grandpa's research papers that
He would even say that some of his patients with the best oral hygiene routines had the worst breath because they were constantly staying on top of everything, brushing multiple times a day, flossing, tongue brushing all the time, not even just morning and night, like multiple times a day, because they could they were aware of the problem. They're like, I have chronic bad breath. but the truth is that because of the way the chemistry works in our mouth, no one's like
not susceptible to bad breath. Like it is what happens in our mouth. And so what really my grandpa like drilled down to what is the root cause is that we have bacteria in our mouth.
And bacteria eat protein, and when they do, they release sulfur gas, which is bad breath. Like that, that is truly that is bad breath. so that happens in everyone's mouth. And my dad used to give a good example where you know, if you walk into a coffee shop, it smells really good, it smells like coffee, but then let's say you go to work in the morning and a co-worker's talking to you, and you're like, my god, they have terrible coffee breath. But you're like, But that's like if you really think about it, it's like, well, coffee smells good, like when you're brewing.
Brewing up a pot of coffee at home, it smells nice, it smells like coffee. So, why does it smell bad when someone it's in someone's mouth? And that's because it's mixed if they have sulfur gas in their mouth, which is again bad breath, even if it's just a little bit, like less than maybe someone who's chronic, it's gonna not gonna smell good. Because if you mix anything with sulfur gas, no matter how lovely that scent is, like sulfur gas smells very bad, so it's not gonna smell good. So by
Anna Burch (06:03.236)
Using Smartmouth, you're able to not only eliminate any existing sulfur gas or bad breath that you have at the time of rinsing, but it's the only mouthwash that can actually prevent new bad breath from forming long term. So if you were to rinse with smart mouth and you go back your day, take a sip of coffee, your breath would lit and you'd breathe on someone, it would just smell like coffee. It would not be coffee breath, not that foul kind of gross coffee smell, just purely coffee.
So that was kinda how I like to explain it to people. There's food odors and there's like halitosis bad breath. It's a little bit different. So if you were to eat onions but you had no sulfur in your mouth, it would if your breath would smell like onions, but it wouldn't smell like that nasty onion. So but if you didn't want it, you just rinse with smart mouth and it eliminates any odors in your mouth and then you're still good for the next twelve hours after that.
David J Bland (06:52.729)
thank you for explaining that. I was wondering 'cause like, what makes you all different? But I feel like you answered some of that question already, with that story. I remember it's I was in art school and I remember my early morning art professor would come in and
He he would actually like I'd never heard the term like dragon breath before. And and he would say, you know, I've been drinking coffee and smoking right before this class, so just be prepared when you talk to me. I was What do you one, I had not had my coffee addiction yet. I actually formulated that after after school at my first startup. But it was just such a weird di I was like, okay, yeah, all right. But like I feel like there's so many misconceptions over the years that I I imagine
Anna Burch (07:25.862)
Yeah.
David J Bland (07:38.518)
It can be difficult to even educate people on root cause sometimes because if we've been told for so long that this symptom is the problem, and when you're told something different, it's like, wait, well that's the I that's not what I heard when I was growing up. Like that is this real like I feel like there's something about market education here too. Like how do you build that education and awareness?
Anna Burch (07:53.095)
Right.
Anna Burch (08:00.57)
Yeah, no, I think that honestly, when people are like, What is your biggest struggle? It's like purely that. We have this technology that is patented. No one else has this activated technology. And it's been the same technology from the day Smart Mouth was founded till currently. We've not changed that at all. And it's in every single one of our mouthwashes. but
You know, and I can go into more depth about what the science is and what it does, because when you hear it and you understand how Bat Brath is formed and what our technology does, it's like, that that makes sense. but how do you easily relay that to someone in a static meta image? You know, it's like it it's been difficult, but I really think what's been
Nice over the past like five, six years is we've really seen a trend in the longer form content. So if that's creator videos on Instagram and TikTok or YouTube or even podcasts, obviously, you know. So we've really been leaning into those tactics, those longer form content tactics to help tell our message because.
when you have more than five seconds or a second on the screen, it it helps, you know, to explain the difference and t for that person to give their p personal testimonial of what it feels like right now and how I feel throughout the day because it's not like it's a whitening whatever that you put on your teeth peel off and it's you know, there's nothing you can see. But that's kind of the great thing about it is like
with you know everything that people show and you get ready in the morning, you put so much time and effort in on your outside, you always want that to reflect like your your breath as well. You don't want your breath to kind of take over and take away from everything that you've kind of worked hard on. So it's kind of it's like your secret weapon so that you never have to worry about your breath ever.
David J Bland (09:58.069)
I like that. I like that. I think in that you you almost hinted at something about the formula and I was gonna ask this question anyway, which is are there things that you feel like,
There there are there are aspects that we're not going to touch with this business because this is the core to who we are. And then there's some things like, Yeah, we could test that or yeah, we could try that and see what happens. Or yeah, there kind of assumption around that and maybe, you know, we should go out and and and try this in the market. I'm wondering like what are those boundaries are for you, or maybe some things that you feel like, yeah, this is something we can test versus something maybe we wouldn't.
Anna Burch (10:35.036)
Yeah. So like I mentioned, all of our mouthwashes, all the formulas have that same activated technology in it that is clinically proven to eliminate and prevent bad breath for twelve hours with each rinse. You rinse once in the morning, once a night, and you're covered for twenty-four hours of bad breath prevention. And over the years, you know, that technology hasn't changed, but as we've added
other formulas to our product family, every one of them have a another added benefit to really cater to all oral care needs. So for example, we have a clinical mouthwash so prevents bad breath and is also anti-plaque, anti-gingivitis, so that it really strengthens your gums. We have a dry mouth formula, which I feel like recently in the past year, dry mouth has been a bigger topic than ever. we were at a dental
Show a few months ago, and every dentist that was coming up to us was like, my god, all my patients have dry mouth, like more than ever. And I think it's you know, maybe due to certain medications, people are taking our lifestyle choices, and no matter what where it's coming from, no one should have to struggle with dry mouth. and one thing that goes hand in hand with dry mouth is bad breath. So we have a dry mouth formula that is
not only going to prevent that bad breath from coming back, but also provide immediate dry mouth relief. so we've kind of continued to expand, but we always are very careful, like what my grandpa established was a scientifically proven brand. Like he wants legitimate solutions for his patients and the general public. So we really make sure that
at least in mouthwashes, every mouthwash that we create has that same activated technology so that, you know, the efficacy of our brand hasn't changed. We're just adding things to help other oral care needs. You know, with the same foundation of we will we are the only mouthwash that can actually eliminate and prevent your bad breath long term. so that's kind of always like when we're, you know, R and D stuff, we're always thinking, okay, like what
Anna Burch (12:51.844)
Not we don't really see this, but like what would Marvin do? You know, he he he wasn't there to just cut give a band-aid to his patients. He was there to, if he didn't have the solution that day that day for them, he was gonna figure it out and get back to them. So that's kind of the question we ask ourselves and the standard we hold ourselves to. We wanna we are and we will continue to be the leaders in science-backed solutions in the oral care industry.
David J Bland (13:19.87)
I thank you for explaining on that. I feel as if that's tough that's a tough balance to strike sometimes when it's like we want to stay true but we also wanna innovate, but we don't wanna lose who we are or what made us successful to begin with.
Anna Burch (13:27.984)
It it
Anna Burch (13:34.877)
Yeah. And sometimes like we'll be talking to people like retailers and be like, well what about something like this? And it's like, you know, that's not who we are or what we do, but there's ways we could integrate that into our core technology, you know, because that is truly our differentiator. so always want to maintain again very true to that technology and science.
David J Bland (13:58.581)
I I understand. I think I was working with a toothpaste company and you know, people bring men for all kinds of different reasons and a lot of them are trying to find like new form factors for their products. And I was working with one and they had they had already released something in the market that seemed like it would work, but then it didn't because the customers were confused about it or the form factor wasn't kind of conveying what they had hoped. So for example, I think this one was like it was like a toothbrush and it had
It like screwed onto almost like a mini toothpaste tube. But then there was like a form factor there that was confusing. And and it was for mouth pain and things like that. And people like, why it's a toothbrush and should it be something else? And it something I realized, and maybe you run into this, is that your value property is just gonna be really strong as hey, I want to solve this problem for you, and I understand the root cause, but then it's not always straightforward. The form factor you present that in to the consumer.
Anna Burch (14:37.138)
Mm-hmm.
David J Bland (14:56.65)
Because something that might make sense to you doesn't make sense to them and then, you know, you could easily waste millions of dollars putting product in the field and then have them just be really confused and not see the value in it. And I'm wondering how you play that balance inside, you know, your company.
Anna Burch (15:11.856)
Yeah, that is a very good question and totally hear everything you said on like those struggles of conveying like that is I feel like what we've been doing from the beginning. And to kind of give you some background on like why our product is set up the way it is, is truly because of our activated zinc ion technology. So I don't know this is one of our bottles, a bathwash. I don't know if you've ever seen a bottle of smart mouth, but it's actually two solutions. So both of these snap off. Huh, if I can do it.
And then you pour into the cup equal solutions of each, and then you rinse. So this side is our solution one, it is the eliminator. Solution two, this green side, is the activator. And what's unique about Smart Mouth, other than this whole thing going on, is that our
Form our solutions have to freshly activate each time before you're ready to rinse. Because when they activate, when these two solutions come together in the cup, they activate billions of zinc ions. And those zinc ions are like looking for something to bond to. So when you rinse, those zinc ions bond to the bacteria in your mouth. So I like to think of it as we've we have a really great creative team. They've developed this like little germ character. Think of it as a bacterial germ with a zinc ion bubble.
So it's trapping the germ and blocking it so that it can't eat protein, so and it can't release sulfur gas. And they last for the life cycle of the germ, which is 12 hours. And at the same time of rinsing, this solution one will eliminate any existing bad breath in your mouth. So instant bad breath elimination and long-term prevention. And so if you pour our two solutions into a cup, you'll notice it's green. If you were like
Like, I have to go do something, you step away for like five minutes, you come back and it was it's blue. And so that means that it's no longer activated. Those zinc ions that were looking for something to bond to have bonded to themselves in solution. So if you burse with it, it still can eliminate existing bad breath instantly. So it's kind of like that like a middle tier mouthwash.
Anna Burch (17:23.548)
But it has lost its ability to prevent new bad breath from forming. So that's why they have to be kept separate, because they freshly activate each time. So I think to your point, that is what's
you know, the hardest to explain to consumers because if like if you were like why are they separate, I could say, here's why it is. But it's a little bit of an explanation, other than if you're talking to like a dentist who's like very in the know about everything oral care, it's a little bit quicker to explain, but not really, you know? Cause you have to explain the science and what it does and so that's what's tricky. It's like for our technology to work how it is
Designed to work, they have to be kept separate. So when Smart Mouth was originally developed, it was actually two pump bottles. and then over time we've converted it into a dual bottle. So it's just easier to fit on a shelf or in your medicine cabinet. So we have tried to design different bottle
Formula not formulations, but bottle designs over time to help our ease the use for our customers. and I will say this design which came out, like these two snap caps last year, has been the biggest impact. People are like, Thank you. Because we used to have like a dual spout pour, so they pour at the same time. And I always tell people if you go on Amazon, we are the only brand that you will see like a one.
Or two-star review that says this is the best mouthwash I've ever used because it is, but they're like, I hate the way it pours, or I hate blah blah like so it's really about the design. So we've tried to make we've we essentially made this new improvement based on all of our customer feedback, which was like very much heard, you know. Like I've been using my whole life. I'm like, I I hear you, I know. so again, you know, it's a unique bottle, it's
Anna Burch (19:20.818)
Little quirky, but it's it's because it has to be the way it is, you know, for its activation to work, which is the key to the prevention. And again, I think we've been able to really lean on that longer form content affiliates and creators and podcasters to kind of explain in their own words how this works and why it works and why it's different, and it really just resonates better with their core audience.
David J Bland (19:46.932)
Yeah, I I I appreciate you walking me through all that. I feel as if not exactly the same experience, but I do have my my book on Amazon. Almost all of our one star reviews are the printer in one of the runs used the wrong glue for the binding and all the pages fell out. And I was like, yeah, I kinda understand why you gave it one star and then the content's great, but then they take pictures and there's all these pictures on the Amazon page of just the pages everywhere, you know, like falling out of the book. And it's frustrating, but I think what you're touching on here is
Anna Burch (20:03.965)
Yeah.
Anna Burch (20:13.395)
Yes.
David J Bland (20:17.449)
Maybe I call it like usability risk or user experience risk, or it's almost like they see the value in it, but the form factor could confuse them or not be straightforward enough, or there's just this behavior change that needs to happen, and this is not how other mouthwashes work. And why don't you just pour it in a cup and you know, rinse? I think that's very tricky to solve over time because.
Anna Burch (20:21.297)
Mm-hmm.
David J Bland (20:44.213)
you can still have like a scientifically proven superior product and still fail in the market because your consumers don't do the behavior change needed to get the value out of it and the reward out of it.
Anna Burch (20:56.55)
Yeah, and I honestly think that is the I mean it's obviously not super complex, but sometimes people look at it and it's like, it looks different. I don't exactly understand how that works. You know, if they're already a mouthwash user, I think that's kind of the hard conversion to kind of this top tier mouthwash, but because you know, the design's a little funky, but the it has to be that way because of the technology and what it does. And when I say it works
It is the only thing that works. And over the years, you know, it's I've been it's always fun getting to introduce smart mouth to people. We have these little on the go travel packs. So it's still two sides, and you rip it across, you use it at once, and then you can throw them away. And I always have them in my purse, backpack, wherever. So if I'm talking to someone and they are like, what do you do? I was here, take a sample. Like, I work at Smart Mouth, it's the best mouthwash, and
We have very, very high customer loyalty because once someone uses it, they're like, my god, how would I ever use another product again? Like this is the only thing that works. And it it's things that we hear now and it's amazing to hear, but it's things that have been happening since the beginning of the product's development. I was like l we were listening to some of my grandpa's old seminars a few weeks ago, and there was one he was giving of I forget he was talking to, but he was
Talking about how he had this patient, this high school boy, who came to see him and you know, he was c trying to clean his teeth, the boy would barely open his mouth, and my grandpa knew exactly why his breath was not good. and when he was leaving, my grandpa went to his mom and said, Hey, here's some smart mouth, cause he had it at his office. He's like, have him start using it every day, morning and night. And then a few months later, my grandpa had he didn't even hear the boy talk when he was there, he wouldn't even speak. And
A few months later he came back for cleaning and he walked out the past the lob and he heard a boy like chatting, chatting, chatting, chatting with a s receptionist. And when he came back, he realized it was the same boy and he was so different, just like very happy and talkative. And when he left, his mom came back to my grandpa and was like, I just want to say thank you. Like you changed his life. Like he was always so embarrassed of his breath, like he never wanted to talk to anyone. Like
Anna Burch (23:19.592)
He has a dance next weekend, he has a date, and this is the first time that's happening, and like just thank you so much. And that might kind of seem silly, but we still get like contact us forms filled out weekly about that. And I think like that was my grandpa's mission. Like truly that was what he wanted to do. so again, I just feel like I'm just so grateful that I get to introduce people to this product because everyone can use it and everyone should use it and no one should have to
not only worry about their breath but also the oral health benefits it gives you from the long term prevention of sulfur gas is unlike any other product on the market. So it is a truly remarkable remarkable mouthwash.
David J Bland (24:07.498)
That's a great story. I think I don't want to get down into like the nerdy jobs theory stuff, but you know, I do a lot of work with companies advising my advice some startups too and and mid-sized companies. And when I when I when I were talking to them, we often go through this kind of framework and we say, okay, what's the like job to be done for the customer? And I think in
my experience was easy to come to very quickly in that conversation is like, what are the tasks they're trying to do? Like what are the functional things they're just trying to do? And think of it almost like, you're trying to do this thing and then I build something that helps you do the thing. And I think that's the most straightforward application of it. But I think what you're talking about hints at the other types, right? There's like social jobs and emotional jobs and there are all these things of yeah, technically yes, my breath does, you know,
smell better after this, but then here are all the other impacts it has on my life. And I think, you know, in going through and I wish more product people would think this way too, it's yes.
Yes, solve the the task at hand and and make sure that it it actually does the thing. But don't discount all the social and emotional stuff that happens as well that people are looking for. Because I think that's where you almost differentiate yourself as a like here's a quality of life improvement for you, not just, yeah, now your breath smells better. It it it feels like the way you can approach marketing and your value prop and everything, it just resonates more at times versus like, we just do a thing and this
You have a thing and and we solve for that.
Anna Burch (25:40.209)
Yeah. No, I totally agree. And we're we're lucky that I mean, yeah, we have a pro product that solves that, but also, to your point, the emotional and just like ease of lifestyle benefit. You know, never having to worry about your red breath and having a healthy oral like, you know, healthy mouth at all times. You know, it I my husband's friends like that he met in college, I obviously would like, here's smart mouth, try it, try it, try it. And now they all use it, but one of his friends was like
He loves the dry mouth formula. It's like his favorite. And he was using it for a few months in college, went home, went to his first dental appointment back, and his dentist is like, What have you been doing? He's like, I don't know. He's like, Any new products? He's I use smart mouth now. And he's like, Don't stop doing it. Like, even just he's like, his gums were better, his he had no cavities. It's just like when you again remove sulfur gas from your mouth basically at all times, it is just
so healthy, you know, again not for for only your oral but overall health. And it really saves the dental bills in the long run, for sure.
David J Bland (26:52.334)
Yeah, not to get like personal tangential stories here, but I had a teeth cleaning recently and you know, I had some like s salival gland like swelling and stuff and I was like, maybe I have dry mouth, I don't know. And my dad says like, no, you don't. He's like, We would know And I was like, okay then like I'm glad that's reassuring 'cause I I I kinda like, maybe I do, maybe I don't, I don't know. If I do it's mild and he's like, no, we would tell if you had dry mouth.
Anna Burch (27:09.148)
Yeah.
Anna Burch (27:17.284)
Yeah. No it it's it's serious for sure. And that's why like
My husband also his favorite formulas, dry mouth. He's literally his whole life I've known him for 14 years. He's always like had like he's constantly drinking water. He drinks more water than any person I know. So he just loves the dry mouth formula. But for me, I love it too, like, you know, before I'm gonna talk to people, it's just nice because it just like moisturizes your mouth. And we have great dual-action dry mouth mints too that are awesome for on the go. And they're very, they're very good actually too, just to snack on. But
David J Bland (27:51.014)
Interesting.
Anna Burch (27:52.474)
Again, just kind of extension of our products and, you know, kind of their efficacy.
David J Bland (27:57.077)
So okay, so we talked about you mints, you have like the travel packs, you have the bottle, the newly designed bottle with the the two snap caps on it. What are some things that you're willing to share that that kinda went sideways or you know, you were trying to test a form factor that made obvious sense to you but not to anyone else, or or something where you're trying to mix in other stuff to
Anna Burch (28:05.874)
Mm-hmm.
David J Bland (28:19.326)
be more functional that didn't quite like. What are some things that seem like, this is a no-brainer, we should do it, but then once you started working through the process, you're like, maybe this isn't such a great idea.
Anna Burch (28:29.382)
Yeah, that's a really good question. You know, there's not like a ton, but one thing that we were we never really went through like the full development process that what we were kind of thinking about was, you know, our we're two solution bottle because they have to freshly activate every time for it to work. And again, like we talked about, people are like, well why, why, why, why? Every other mouthwash just has one, has one bottle and it's super easy.
And because of our ingredients and our technology, it is on the upper price range of mouthwashes. It is a specialty mouthwash, it's in the specialty mouthwash category. but it's
Price point is because of its ability to work. You truly only need two runs of this day with other mouthwashes, you might need multiple, you know? so you know, there was a time that we're like, should we develop like a single solution mouthwash for that lower price point for people who would like that? And it's like, well, then what makes us different than any other s single solution mouthwash on the shelf? You know, like
It's not activated, it's not gonna prevent we you know, all of our our technology and our claims are all science backed by third party peer-reviewed clinical studies that have been published in dental journals. So like everything that we're saying that we're we're telling you is real and it works and it's true, you should have to try it for yourself. But you kind of take a lot of that away when you
take away the activation when you take away the two solutions. So we thought about it for a while how how could we make a single solution that would be different than what's out there? 'Cause there are opportunities and I'm not saying one day we wouldn't make a single solution that maybe isn't
Anna Burch (30:18.994)
focused heavily on bad breath prevention, but another severe oral care need. but for right now we're like, you know what, this is our our technology is who we are. and so we're we're gonna stick with that. And it just to kind of expand on our line of activated mouthwashes.
David J Bland (30:36.468)
That makes sense. I think it's like staying true to who you are and what makes you different. And you know, you may even have new revenue from a single solution at a lower cost, but at the pri at the expense of what? You know? It it's it feels like sometimes I work with companies where they're known for a thing and they're like, Yeah, but we can make a lot of money doing this other thing that's just like all of our competitors And it's like, Yeah, you could But is this
what you want to do, like does this align to your vision and your strategy and where you're going and I think sometimes if companies don't have a strategy maybe or it's not clearly communicated, that pops up more often than not, where they just kind of follow the money and realize, yeah, we can do what everyone else does and make money. It's kinda like, yeah, but that does that really set you apart anymore. You know, it's it's interesting can under
Anna Burch (31:14.558)
Mm-hmm.
Anna Burch (31:19.111)
Right.
David J Bland (31:25.908)
I'm wondering if not to speak for your grand grandpa, but if if if he was starting this business today, like if you put yourself in those shoes, a lot has changed since, you know, late nineties. What do you think would change about starting something like this today? Like channels and technology and everything? Like what what do you think could be different about it if if it was started today?
Anna Burch (31:37.47)
Mm.
Anna Burch (31:50.385)
Yeah, so it w so Smartmouth was founded in 1993. So obviously a little bit different marketing, advertising tactics back then. But when it initially was founded, it was a direct-to-dental business. So he it was sold to any dental office.
Who wanted to buy it for their patients or resell it to their patients. From there, they started selling it on QVC. And it was the first, I'm gonna say I don't want to butcher this, but it was the first product to a million units sold in the smallest period of time at that point in time on QVC. So it did really well on QVC. And that's what kind of from there spun, okay. Could we get this sold at a mass drug retailers? And that's when my grandpa brought my daddy.
David J Bland (32:26.679)
wow.
Anna Burch (32:39.23)
Because he's more on like the finance side of things. but kind of thinking about that, okay, if it was developed today by my grandpa, it would still be the same technology because this is the only technology that exists that can do what it does, eliminate and prevent bad breath long term, because of the way bad breath forms in our mouth. So I think the technology would be the same, but from like a marketing advertising aspect or from a sales outlook.
You know, there are different a lot more avenues now, but you know, people say like TikTok lives are the new QVC. Even QVC is on TikTok Lives. So it's almost like, well, it would probably fit in there. And there's even more dental offices now than there probably was back then. And it's easier to reach these dental offices. So it's like you could also expand there. And
I think that the technology would be the same, obviously, and probably similar tactics to start out, but I think we would end up exactly where we are today. if I had to really guess.
David J Bland (33:50.62)
I appreciate you answering that. I think something you in your answer that was really interesting to me is obviously like the technology and the markets have changed, but the business model. You know, you hinted at almost like a B to B type business model where you're selling to other dentist office and it seems like the big aha moment was going almost like B to C or business to consumer. And there are other products in history that have
done that. I'm a huge fan of Nespresso and the folks over there. And, you know, I don't I don't think a lot of people know that it almost went bankrupt because they were trying to sell like a B2B business model and yes, this is going to be another offices. And they had all the machines, they had like a warehouse full of machines and couldn't move them, you know, 'cause they're
weren't enough. The market wasn't big enough. And then they decided to do direct to consumer. And that's when they took off. And now you have like the George Clooney commercials and everything. And it's obvious it's a consumer product. But I don't know how many people know the story that it almost failed, not because of the product, but because of the business model. And I'm just wondering, like in your story, it feels as if going to consumer also had a big impact on the business long term, in that, yeah, this is on the shelf at, you know.
Anna Burch (34:32.531)
Yeah.
Anna Burch (34:40.605)
Yeah.
Anna Burch (34:46.888)
Yeah.
David J Bland (34:59.795)
Walmart, you know, versus yeah, there are more dental offices probably now. But then I just think if you compare size of market and everything, it's a very interesting choice to go to consumer. In hindsight it makes a lot of sense, but at the time I imagine that was a pretty unknown decision.
Anna Burch (35:17.37)
Yeah. And I think it was also a little bit more tricky back then because, you know, they were selling to dental offices, they got on QVC, 'cause that truly was like the one of the largest marketplaces at the time. but there was like the next step from there was really retail because the e commerce space was not really a was not really a thing yet, you know? So it wasn't like, well like we'll launch an Amazon first, we'll get a TikTok shop. It's it was like the next step was retail, so that's just
That's what it was. which I think now it's obviously there's less barriers to entry to sh when you start a brand or a business to be online and selling that a product. And I I mean we are a very established brand, so I'm lucky I feel lucky for that, but also feel lucky that I was established in a time where we were able to create our brick and mortar footprint and then add the e-commerce component on later because I feel like
It's a little bit trickier to add on the brick and mortar. There's a little it's a little bit harder to later kind of doing that vice versa.
David J Bland (36:24.103)
Yeah, that that's a good point too. just the ability. Like there weren't Amazons or I mean, the first time I used Amazon was I think early two thousands, I think at some point. So late nineties, I think I was still on dial up, if I remember correctly. I think I was still using the C D ROM version of the internet. but I'm wondering, you know, can kind of pulling this back full circle as we as we start to wrap up.
Anna Burch (36:32.935)
Yeah.
Anna Burch (36:41.586)
Yeah.
David J Bland (36:49.937)
It feels as if and and again I don't want to put words in your in your grandpa's mouth, but I feel as if there it was almost like he witnessed something and the obvious explanation of the symptoms or whatever, like, the like you mentioned, the food's causing this or you're just not brushing enough. It felt like it just felt like no, that's not the answer. Like he was willing to question that. And and I'm wondering, do you see anything like that in the business today where
Maybe not bad breath related, but some of these other things you're you're trying to weave in, you know, you mentioned gun gum health and other things. I'm wondering, is there anything else where you feel like, you know what? There's something else about our mouth that we feel like we've just been told this is the way it is, but it's not. I mean, are there any things that like really irk you? not that they keep you up at night, but they just kinda like irk you, you know, you're like, No, no, that I don't think that's the right answer.
Anna Burch (37:39.623)
Yeah.
Anna Burch (37:44.477)
Yeah, I mean, from a mouthwash perspective, there's other products out there that I mean, I obviously understand our technology, it's clinically proven, there's been multiple third party studies on it, so and I very much in the weeds I understand it. I know what causes bad breath root cause and how our product not only eliminates it, but is truly the solution for it. Like I said, we are going to always keep that exact activated technology that was, you know, our original smart mouth.
But we've, you know, been listening and we've been trying to think of like what is missing in the oral care space, like for people that are like would just be an extra benefit. So recently we launched three new mouthwashes that again have that same zinc ion technology, but have added liposomal technology to them, which we did not invent liposomal technology, but it's a newer technology, more in like the supplement space where it's
attached to a nutrient, so like liposomal vitamin C. So it helps the absorption of that specific nutrient in your body. Yeah. So if I I was thinking a lot on the supplement space, but then we were kind of you know talking about internal like that, you know, would be a really great benefit in a mouthwash because also not only is that technology that's attached to the nutrient going to help the absorption into your system but also
Anna Burch (39:40.477)
the mouth absorption is a lot, you know, stronger than some other places on your body. So we're like, that might work. You know, that might make sense. So we did recently launch three formulas. We have a vitamin C. we have a morning that has B12 and L-carnitine, and then an evening with melatonin. So
David J Bland (40:00.872)
Anna Burch (40:01.608)
Just for some kind of just to habit stack your day, you know, when you need to go to bed and you're already brushing your teeth, you could rinse with your evening mouthwash to help for a peaceful lying down routine or in the morning you can rinse with your liposomal B twelve and L-carnitine to have fresh breath all day and just to kick start your morning.
David J Bland (40:19.974)
I feel like that's amazing. And I was laughing because I think on the other side of the equation you have soda companies adding all this functional stuff under their soda. So they're they're probably like somehow balancing each other out. You know, like soda companies doing this for your breath and you're doing this. but I think that's awesome. Yeah. And that's what I was trying to hint at is, you know, like what is it that seems like without touching the core formula, is still there are all these other myths we have about
Anna Burch (40:34.138)
Right.
David J Bland (40:48.316)
what our mouthwashes can do, and then also what mouth health is, you know. And I think there's just it's tough. Like when you when you you grow up and you're taught things as a kid and they kind of linger on and you know, they may not be true, but then the beh comes back to the behavior change and the education we talked about earlier. I just thought it was a fascinating answer. So I appreciate you kind of leaning into that a bit too. I'm wondering for folks that have listened to this and they're interested more about your
Anna Burch (41:10.011)
Yeah, of course.
David J Bland (41:17.81)
product or even more about how you all approach stuff and they want to reach out. Like what's the best way to either get in contact with you or find your product or how would how would they go learn more?
Anna Burch (41:26.992)
Yeah. Well if you wanna try our product or find it, we're available at Walmart, Walgreens, almost every regional grocery training code Kroger, H E B, Publix, obviously also on Amazon, on TikTok Shop, and our website, smartmouth.com. and you can also go to smartmouth.com to learn more about our science and our founder, my grandpa. we also have a contact us form if you have any questions. We're always monitoring those daily.
so feel free to always submit a question if you have one. And then if you're interested in just following along with our story or just learning a little bit more about SmartMouth or oral health each day, you can follow our Instagram at SmartMouth.
David J Bland (42:11.25)
Thank you. Thanks, Anna. I really appreciate you kind of taking time out of your day to chat with me. And I learned so much just by just by hearing you explain how it actually works. I feel like our listeners have as well. So I just want to thank you so much for being open and honest and just sharing your experience with us. So thanks.
Anna Burch (42:28.723)
Yeah, thank you so much for having me here today. It's always it's always fun to talk mouthwash.
