Spinbrush founder on habit formation
John Osher, creator of the Spinbrush, explained that the toothbrush's success came from making it affordable, simple, and easy to integrate into an existing daily routine. He emphasized the importance of visibility and distribution, stating, "The only way to win is to be in the customer’s face—every day, every store, every routine."
- Before creating the Spinbrush, John Osher and his team intentionally searched for a market gap by walking the aisles of retailers like Wal-Mart and Walgreens, ultimately identifying an opportunity between cheap manual toothbrushes and expensive electric models. - The core technology for the Spinbrush was adapted from one of Osher's previous successes, the "Spin Pop," a battery-operated lollipop that twirled in one's mouth. - A key to the product's initial traction without a large marketing budget was its "Try Me" packaging, which allowed consumers to turn the brush on in the store. - Within its first year, the Spinbrush sold 10 million units, more than tripling the entire existing market for electric toothbrushes in the United States. - Osher and his partners sold the Spinbrush brand to Procter & Gamble in 2001 for $475 million, a deal structured with a $165 million upfront payment and a later $310 million payout based on the product's performance. - The product was intentionally designed to be sold for about $5, a price point that required the manufacturing cost to be under $1.40 per unit, including batteries and packaging. - After the acquisition, Osher and his team stayed on at Procter & Gamble for a period with the specific job of preventing the large company from hindering the product's entrepreneurial momentum. - Osher's stated business philosophy is to "find a way" around obstacles and to build companies designed to be sold, a strategy he also applied to other inventions like a baby gym and the "Dish Doctor" scrubber, which he also sold to P&G.
