From Ads to Access: Haleon and Altibbi Redefine Health Marketing

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – November 24, 2025 – A novel campaign in Saudi Arabia is challenging the traditional boundaries between consumer marketing and healthcare delivery. Global consumer health giant Haleon, the company behind oral care mainstays like Sensodyne and Parodontax, has partnered with Altibbi, the largest digital health platform in the Arab world, to transform a public awareness initiative into a direct pipeline for medical care. The "Healthy Saudi Smile" campaign moves beyond simple educational content, connecting users directly with certified doctors for instant, Arabic-language consultations, creating a powerful new model for patient engagement that could have ripple effects across the industry.

At its core, the collaboration leverages Haleon's marketing reach and brand recognition to drive traffic to Altibbi's robust telehealth infrastructure. Instead of merely informing consumers about the importance of oral hygiene, the campaign provides them with a tangible next step: free access to professional medical advice. This strategic pivot from passive awareness to active engagement marks a significant evolution in how major brands approach public health initiatives.

A New Blueprint for Purpose-Driven Marketing

The partnership represents a calculated move away from conventional advertising, embedding a brand's purpose directly into a functional health service. For Haleon, this is a textbook execution of its stated global strategy, which prioritizes digital innovation and purpose-driven marketing to "deliver better everyday health with humanity." By sponsoring consultations, the company not only builds brand affinity but also creates a direct, value-added interaction with potential customers at their moment of need.

"At Altibbi, we believe health awareness must lead to real action," said Jalil Allabadi, CEO and Co-Founder of Altibbi, in a statement. "Haleon trusted Altibbi to bridge education and access, helping people move from learning about oral health to receiving expert care through our platform."

The model's effectiveness hinges on this seamless transition. While press materials vaguely claim the campaign enabled "thousands" to connect with doctors, the strategic value lies in creating an ecosystem where marketing spend generates not just impressions, but actual health interventions. This initiative follows Haleon's broader digital push, including a partnership with Salesforce to enhance professional engagement and the launch of its Re/Wire Health Studio to scale health-tech startups. It's a clear signal that the company sees its future not just on pharmacy shelves, but within the digital health platforms consumers are increasingly turning to for guidance.

"Our goal with Healthy Saudi Smile was to go beyond traditional awareness and give people practical ways to care for their oral health," added Darsana Nair, General Manager for Haleon in Saudi Arabia. "Through our collaboration with Altibbi, we achieved exactly that."

Powering Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030

This collaboration is not happening in a vacuum. It is strategically aligned with the ambitious goals of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030, particularly its Health Sector Transformation Program (HSTP). The program is designed to create a comprehensive and integrated health system by encouraging digital solutions, promoting preventive care, and fostering public-private partnerships (PPPs)—all of which are central to the Haleon-Altibbi initiative.

The Saudi telehealth market is consequently experiencing explosive, government-fueled growth. Valued at over USD 1 billion in 2024, the market is projected to approach USD 4 billion by 2030, expanding at a compound annual growth rate of over 25%. This rapid development is supported by massive state investments, including the creation of the Seha Virtual Hospital, the world's largest of its kind, and consumer-facing platforms like Sehaty and Mawid.

Within this dynamic and competitive landscape, Altibbi has established itself as a dominant private player, reporting over 1 million consultations in Saudi Arabia as of 2023. However, it faces stiff competition from regional rivals like Vezeeta and the government's own formidable digital infrastructure. For Altibbi, partnerships like the one with Haleon are a key strategic differentiator, allowing it to leverage corporate marketing budgets to drive user acquisition and solidify its market position. By positioning itself as an essential partner for global brands aiming to engage the Saudi market, Altibbi is embedding its platform deep within the country's evolving healthcare ecosystem.

The Sponsored Consultation: Promise and Peril

For consumers, the benefits of this model are clear and immediate: free, convenient access to medical professionals in their native language. It removes barriers of cost and accessibility, providing a crucial service that aligns with the public health goal of promoting preventive care. However, the rise of corporate-sponsored telehealth also raises important ethical questions that the industry is just beginning to confront.

Chief among these concerns is the potential for commercial influence to compromise the impartiality of medical advice. When a consultation is sponsored by the manufacturer of specific products, it introduces the risk, whether real or perceived, of a biased diagnostic or recommendation process. While there is no evidence of such practices in this specific campaign, the model itself invites scrutiny. Regulators and healthcare ethicists worldwide are increasingly examining direct-to-consumer platforms to ensure the primary objective remains patient care, not product sales.

Data privacy is another critical consideration. Telehealth platforms collect vast amounts of sensitive personal health information, and users must trust that this data is secure and not being used for secondary commercial purposes without explicit consent. As more brands enter the healthcare delivery space, establishing clear firewalls between patient data and marketing departments will be essential for maintaining that trust.

The challenge for innovators like Altibbi and Haleon is to balance the immense promise of accessible care with the perils of commercialization. Transparency about the sponsorship model, strict protocols to ensure clinical independence, and robust data protection are not just best practices but prerequisites for the long-term viability of this new hybrid of marketing and medicine. This partnership serves as a high-profile case study, and its navigation of these ethical complexities will be watched closely by competitors and regulators alike.