case studies | Invisalign
Invisalign
Creating the clear aligner category and taking it mainstream: Launch of Invisalign and Invisalign Teen
Align Technology retained GOLD to support the U.S. launch of Invisalign Teen—marking the company’s first engagement with an external PR agency.
The product was already in orthodontic practices, creating immediate pressure to drive awareness, education, and demand quickly.
Early adoption faced meaningful headwinds: provider skepticism around efficacy for complex cases, entrenched comparisons to traditional metal braces, and limited consumer understanding of clear aligner treatment. Success would require not just visibility, but sustained credibility across providers, key opinion leaders, parents, teens, and adults.
Following the success of the Teen launch, GOLD’s remit expanded to U.S. PR and social media Agency of Record for Align Technology—a role the agency held for 11 years as Invisalign evolved from emerging alternative to category-defining global brand.
case studies | Invisalign
Results
We helped launch and grow the brand from unknown orthodontic product company into one of the coolest and most relevant global consumer brands…
Billions
of consumer impressions
every year for 7 years
Our Approach
GOLD led an integrated, long-term communications strategy designed not simply to launch Invisalign products, but to build and sustain an entirely new treatment category. Unlike brands fueled by constant product innovation, Invisalign’s core offering remained largely consistent year over year. Maintaining momentum required the agency to continuously create new programming, new narratives, and new reasons for engagement—without relying on novelty.
The strategy blended earned media, social and digital storytelling, influencer partnerships, experiential programming, and corporate communications to:
- Overcome early barriers to provider, KOL, and consumer adoption
- Establish clinical credibility and confidence around treatment efficacy
- Educate consumers at multiple life stages
- Keep Invisalign culturally relevant and top of mind over more than a decade
- Business alignment, supporting direct-to-consumer marketing, caregiver recruitment, and franchise development in parallel
Our Execution
Over 11 years, GOLD developed and executed a wide range of educational PR, influencer, and social media initiatives that addressed the evolving needs of the brand and its audiences.
Programs included:
- Multi-year education campaigns tackling efficacy concerns, complex-case suitability, and comparisons to traditional braces
- Messaging platforms emphasizing the importance of second opinions and informed treatment decisions
- Audience-specific storytelling tailored to teens, parents, and adult consumers
- Category-first initiatives such as Media in Treatment programs, Teen & Mom Advisory Boards, creating credible forums for dialogue and advocacy
- Some of the earliest influencer marketing programs in medical technology, designed to normalize clear aligners and humanize the treatment experience
- Lifestyle-driven media and event strategies that reframed orthodontics through a modern, consumer lens Ongoing corporate communications support to reinforce leadership, trust, and category authority
Rather than reacting to external news cycles, GOLD consistently created its own, generating fresh content, platforms, and moments that sustained relevance year after year.
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Our Impact
Through sustained strategic stewardship, GOLD helped transform Invisalign from a little-known orthodontic alternative to traditional wire/bracket braces into one of the most recognized global consumer brands in healthcare. Clear aligner treatment moved from skepticism to mainstream acceptance across providers and consumers alike—while Invisalign became synonymous with the category itself.
This work wasn’t defined by a single launch or moment…