Lavoris Mouthwash

Doubled sales within the first 12 months by creating the brand that cured "simple chronic halitosos."

In July of 1984, Himmel acquired Lavoris Mouthwash from Richardson-Vicks Inc.

Lavoris had an 85 year rich heritage as the cinnamon mouthwash used by dentists. It had strong brand equity; however, sales over the decades began to slide with the decline in advertising and marketing support and the advent of brands like Scope and Listerine. However, its brand equity was certainly as strong as the two market leaders.

Himmel moved aggressively to re-establish Lavoris, leveraging its existing distribution at retail, its strong heritage and brand equity, and most importantly, by heavily investing in advertising. Its brand positioning and unique selling proposition was Lavoris, the mouthwash to remedy "simple chronic halitosis," our name for serious recurring bad breath.

That was our hook so we could differentiate ourselves from the other brands.

And in just one year, sales more than doubled from $3.5 million to over $8 million. Lavoris was sold to The Dep Corporation in December 1986.