AUGUST 9, 2018

MARKETING REPORT ON
HORLICKS

UTKARSH SRIVASTAVA (ABM15016)

VATSALA MISHRA (ABM15017)

RICHA (PGP34140)

SAI ASHIK (PGP34142)

PHALGUNA BANOTH (PGP34407)

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Contents

S.No. Topic Page. No.

1 Introduction 2
2 Evolution & History 3
3 Marketing Mix- 4 Ps & Packaging 5
4 STP 7
5 Consumer & Market Perception 8
6 Product Life Cycle 9
7 Competition 10
8 SWOT Analysis 11
9 References 12

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1. Introduction

1. Horlicks is a Malted hot drink developed by founders James &William Horlick.

2. It was first sold as "Horlick's Infant and Invalids Food," soon adding "aged and
travellers" to their label.
3. In the early 20th century it was sold as a powdered Meal replacement drink mix.
4. It is now marketed as a nutritional supplement and manufactured
by GlaxoSmithKline (Consumer Healthcare) in the United
Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Bangladesh, India, and Jamaica
5. Currently, Horlicks in the Malt drink segment provides different product for
different age groups:
▪ Age group (6-15 years)
▪ Toddlers (2-5 years)
▪ Women
▪ Adults
6. In these categories Horlicks offer various flavours and types of Malt drinks for
each group
▪ Toddlers (2-4 years):
➢ Junior Horlicks
➢ Horlicks Growth +
▪ Age Group (6-15 years)
➢ Classic Malt
➢ Chocolate Horlicks
➢ Kesar Badam
➢ Elaichi
▪ Women
➢ Women’s Horlicks
➢ Mother’s Horlicks
▪ Adult
➢ Horlicks Lite
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➢ Horlicks Protein +
➢ Horlicks Cardia +

Facts
1. Horlicks was first introduced as a substitute to milk as baby food
2. The brand has been endorsed by Amitabh Bachchan on the radio (1960-70), Moon
Moon Sen and her daughters Raima and Riya (1980s) and Viswanathan Anand
3. In India, over 2 Billion cups of Horlicks are drunk every year
4. Biggest market, 6th most trusted brand and the most trusted health drink brand in
India
5. Horlicks hold more than 50% market share in health drink market

2. Evolution & History

2.1 Evolution
1. The company believed in growth through innovation. Previously, Horlicks was
imported but as the demands exceeded they set up 2 production units in India to
fulfil the demands of the population which came as a solution to Indian Market as
a health drink.
2. In 1995, they came up with Junior Horlicks as a baby food supplement. Women
Horlicks came into picture initially nursing mothers and then catering specific
needs of women.
3. Horlicks adopted certain strategies to deal with competitors and came up with
attractive packaging and various flavours
4. Horlicks conducted clinical trials and campaigned “Taller Stronger Sharper”.
Horlicks segmented the market to increase its market share. Horlicks focused on
children to encash the increasing population.
5. Then came in the Horlicks Lite which is specially formulated keeping in mind the
nutritional needs of the adults and also for use by people with diabetes.
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2.2 History

Year Details
1873 Invented by two British-born men, William Horlick (1846-1936) &
James (1844-1921) from Gloucestershire, England

1883 5th June 1883- US patent obtained for their drink's ability to mix up in
liquid - Horlicks became the first malted milk to be patented

1908 First UK factory in Slough, Berkshire, at a cost of £28,000

1909 Polar explorers began taking Horlicks on expeditions. Mountaineer

Richard Byrd even named the Horlicks Mountains on the Ross Ice Shelf

1914 Became very popular during World War I, both at home and on the front
lines. World War II- Horlicks tablets sold as a candy and used as an
energy-booster by US, British and other soldiers

1948 The 1948 London Olympics- Organising Committee gave Horlicks to all
the competitors taking part

1982 Creation of Instant Horlicks – the first instant malted drink –launched in
a sachet format

1986 Launch of Chocolate Malt flavour

2010 The Horlicks team sponsored Walking with The Wounded's expedition
to climb to the summit of Mount Everest in May 2010.

2013 Horlicks Launched new varieties with increased amount in Vitamin C

&E in the Light and chocolate flavours

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3. Marketing Mix- 4 Ps & Packaging

3.1 Product
Horlicks is made from malted barley, wheat and milk. The 'Wave' on the packaging
symbolises 'Activity' and 'Sfoorti' and the milk and wheat visual establishes Horlicks as
the Great Family Nourisher.

Once available only in the Regular Malt, Horlicks has now added extra flavor and taste to
its product to launch new variants like the Chocolate Horlicks, Honey Horlicks, Elaichi
Horlicks and Vanilla Horlicks. The brand has also targeted different age groups by
providing for them different variants like Junior Horlicks, Horlicks ninja, Horlicks lite,
Woman’s Horlicks, Regular Horlicks and Mother’s Horlicks.

3.2 Price
Horlicks has set up a marketing research team that collects data about their own as well as
about their competitors’ products. The pricing strategy involves competitive pricing where
the consumers do not have to make undue sacrifices in their budget against other
comparative drinks. Horlicks as a brand name represents quality to the consumers. This is
the reason why the company has decided to follow value added pricing policy. The prices
of all the products are printed and displayed on the labels of every product to avoid
any confusion.

3.3 Place
Horlicks controls a network that includes factory, wholesalers, channels for distribution
and retailers. It has factories and manufacturing plants for its production and the packaging
units are located at convenient locations. The sales offices for Horlicks are in all the four
metro cities from where the sales are coordinated along with collection and distribution
activities of their particular region.

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Horlicks has a sales depot in every state from where the product is supplied to the
wholesaler. Its distribution network includes nearly 1,800 wholesalers and the number of
estimated retail outlets all over the country is 4,25,000 units. The products are available at
every grocery stores, retail outlets and big showrooms that have specific food related
departments. Nowadays the products can also be purchased quite easily from the internet
at the consumer’s convenience.

3.4 Promotion
Many ad campaigns have been created featuring kids and strong messages. These are aired
on various channels of television and radio. The print media has also been roped in where
the ads are displayed in the newspapers, billboards and magazines. Horlicks has the tag
line of Taller, Stronger, Sharper; three qualities every parent would like a child to have.

The brand was supported on radio by actor Amitabh Bachchan, who lent his deep voice
to jingles as an endorser (1960-70).

During the 1980s, Horlicks created one of the most popular TV campaigns with its 'Why
do I drink Horlicks?'. Vignettes of people from different walks of testifying why they
loved Horlicks was an early instance of slice-of-life advertising. By the 1990s, Horlicks
was beginning to change, targeting specific consumer segments rather than the entire
family.

By the first decade of this millennium, Horlicks had variants such as Horlicks Lite (2005)
targeting diabetics and Horlicks nutribars (2006) in its portfolio. A few years later,
extensions such as Women’s Horlicks and Mother's Horlicks were also added.

3.5 Packaging
The blue and orange colours have been a part of the Horlicks brand over many years and
are a dominant part of the base Horlicks packaging. The logo of the Horlicks Nutrition

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Academy reinforces the brand's trust and equity in the consumers' minds and also
reaffirms the scientific or expert credibility of the brand.

Over the years, glass containers have been replaced with plastic jars and the shape has
been made contemporary and easy to handle. The packaging has been designed keeping
in mind the changing needs of the modern day consumers. The new look has been
designed to keep the brand young and in keeping with the consumers' demands.

4. STP

4.1 Segmentation and Target Market

According to Philip Kotler, “Market segmentation is subdividing a market into distinct

and homogeneous subgroups of customers, where any group can conceivable be selected
as a target market to be met with distinct marketing mix”

The Market has been segmented as per the following:

Demographic Psychographic Behavioural

Age Health Conscious Growth Oriented

• Kids Energy Regain Sports

• Adults

Gender

• Women
• Pregnant Ladies

Horlicks’ various products have been targeted to different segments as follows:

1. Junior Horlicks – for preschool children. Since it is for preschool children,

packaging has been done with a picture of small elephant which is very attractive
and exciting for small children

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2. Horlicks Regular – for general use. This health drink is for people of all ages.
Similar to Junior Horlicks, the packaging has great visuals to attract children and
young adults.
3. Women’s Horlicks – This is a specialized health drink for women keeping in
mind the nutritional requirements of women in the age group of 19-50.
4. Mother’s Horlicks: This is designed specially to target pregnant women.
5. Horlicks Lite – for health conscious adults and also suitable for diabetic people.
Since it is made for health conscious people, its packaging is thin and tall.

4.2 Positioning

1. Initially introduced as both an additive and substitute to milk and positioned as a

nutritional drink and then changed as
2. Later, positioned itself as ‘pleasurable nourishment’ by launching vanilla,
chocolate and honey variants
3. New positioning strategy adopted by a saying ‘Now Proven – Taller, Stronger,
Sharper’ which increased their value by four percent and value by seven percent
4. Junior Horlicks – exclusively for children between ages 2 to 5 years
5. Horlicks lite for the elderly with sugar problem
6. Introduced Women’s Horlicks and Mother Horlicks with specific required
composition
7. Packaging of products was designed according to target consumers.

5. Consumer & Market Perception

Horlicks is presented as a `Nutritional Health Drink' and a `Great Family Nourisher.' The
initial advertisements were primarily directed at women/mothers, since the product
catered to the entire family. However, when pester power became more pronounced
during the 1990s, the ads of Horlicks began talking to children too. This change worked
because it was also the time when mothers became more liberal and let their children
make their choices, instead of imposing a drink of their own choice. A market research
conducted during the late 1990s in India however showed that Horlicks was seen `as a
nourishing but boring drink,' and was beginning to lose its edge. Consumers were
preferring flavors to nutrients, and Cadbury's Bournvita was increasing its market share.

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Therefore, in 2003, the brand's positioning was changed from `Great Family Nourisher' to
a `Pleasurable Family Nourisher.' Thus, the brand now, not only targets mothers who
want balanced nourishment for their family, but also children who want a pleasurable
drink. Horlicks was made tastier, and was launched in new flavors- chocolate, vanilla and
honey. Horlicks was, thus, repositioned to draw a younger crowd, and was transformed
from being a boring health drink to a yummy rejuvenator.

6. Product Life Cycle

Horlicks is currently in the mature stage of its life cycle and it has explored the following
possibilities for boosting the sales and sustaining its position as the market leader with
~44% market share:-
1. Introduce product line extensions (PLE’s) and other variations in order to
saturate/dominate the market and capture solid market share of different target
markets – like it has done with the introduction of chocolate, women’s, elaichi
Horlicks etc.
2. Maintain a clear brand positioning and continue to build brand equity – Horlicks
has achieved it on every frontier every time by labelling the product as “Clinically
Proven”, using successful positioning as “Taller, Stronger, Sharper”
3. Attempt to create an emotional engagement with the brand and look to leverage
consumers who are very positive supporters/advocates of the brand – Horlicks has
created a brand loyalty in the minds of the consumers, by convincing them about
the efficacy of the claims through targeted marketing campaigns and well-sought

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after positioning strategies. The brand is trying to induce the customers to take
Horlicks everyday.
4. Increase focus on social media and brand engagement communication channels
5. Retain key retailer relationships and work towards good in-store placement and
being the preferred brand for the retailer
6. Stabilize pricing, but relative to competition and brand strength – in order to
communicate superiority and stability and overall brand quality.

7. Competition

Horlicks has 2 main competitors in today’s day and age, Complan & Bournvita.
Advertising taglines such as 'Bright in studies, bright in sports' attempted to drive home
the message that Bournvita, a chocolate drink, could build a child's mental and physical
faculties. Bournvita has stuck to this positioning to this date. Meanwhile, Horlicks went a
step ahead to appear as the premier health drink for the family.

In 2005, Horlicks began advertising aggressively with a new slogan—"Now Proven –

Taller, Stronger, Sharper," through which Horlicks was differentiated from the competing
brands, particularly Complan, which also claimed to make children taller. Horlicks
created a point of difference by positioning itself as the only clinically proven health
drink in India which made children taller, stronger and sharper. This claim was supported
by the results of a 14-month study conducted by the National Institute of Nutrition,
Hyderabad, on a sample of 869 school children, thus providing the customers with a
reason to believe.

A recent ad campaign against its competitor Complan highlighted that Horlicks contains
23 nutrients at a more affordable price. Horlicks thus tried to neutralize the core
differentiation of Complan, which has been highlighting that it contains 23 vital nutrients
since many years.

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8. SWOT Analysis

Strengths Weakness

• Strong Distribution
• Low global presence
Network
• Over dependent on some
• Strong Market Share
countries
• Multiple offerings as per
target group
• Multiple variants

Threats
Opportunities

• Global Expansion • Intense competition

• Increase penetration in • Other Nutrition Drinks
emerging markets
• Product line expansion

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References

https://www.horlicks.in/horlicks-home/horlicks-products.html

https://www.slideshare.net/sharathghosh/horlicks-final

https://www.slideshare.net/ShubhamJain643/gsk-horlicks-presentation

https://www.marketing91.com/marketing-mix-of-horlicks/

https://www.mbaskool.com/marketing-mix/products/16996-horlicks.html

http://www.rediff.com/money/report/pix-40-yearsand-now-how-horlicks-grew-up-with-the-
times/20141002.htm

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/fiib-gmg16/RVr9Wl1gL2c

https://www.slideshare.net/harshsho/harsh-khanna-marketing-project-mba?qid=4983e3fd-6008-
4f2d-91b9-4aa29667ce87&v=&b=&from_search=6

https://www.slideshare.net/electronicscoer/malted-health-food-drink-in-india?qid=0c02ef4c-498e-
4727-a4ce-21101613ece7&v=&b=&from_search=2

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/fiib-gmg16/RVr9Wl1gL2c

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