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Horlicks: helping Britain to sleep better and feel better

With a rich heritage of over 130 years, Horlicks is a popular hot milky drink in Asia and the UK. New products and a fresh new look will help Britons to sleep better and feel better well into the 21st century.

More than 130 years after the Horlicks brand launched, the malt drink is a firm favourite in several major worldwide markets, including the UK, India and Asia.

With a 70 year sleep heritage at the heart of the brand, Horlicks is traditionally seen as a hot beverage enjoyed by Britain’s older generations before bed. However, 2007 has seen the biggest overhaul for Horlicks in its history. Revamped packaging and new products have been developed to breathe new life into the hot milky drinks market by attracting younger consumers.

Horlicks Category Marketing Director Ellen Hedges comments, “This winter is an exciting time for Horlicks. The launch of new products and packaging, supported by an integrated marketing campaign, will cement our position as brand leaders and extend our appeal to a younger audience.

“We’ve been helping Britain sleep better for 70 years yet we know from our research that today’s society is more tired than ever before.  So, throughout this winter season, all our activity is focussed around passing on our sleep wisdom to tired consumers, enabling them to sleep better and feel better.”

Lighting the way with Horlicks Extra Light
The transformation began in August this year with the launch of Horlicks Extra Light - a soothing low calorie addition to the range. At less than 40 calories per serving, it’s a guilt-free treat to help people wind down at the end of the day.

The launch also extended Horlicks’ flavour selection beyond Malt and Chocolate Malt, with three new indulgent flavours introduced to tantalise Britain’s taste buds - Dreamy Vanilla, Cosy Caramel and Heavenly Amaretto. Ellen explains, “As the cold nights draw in, Horlicks Extra Light offers a new way to enjoy a comforting mug of Horlicks as people wind down before bed.”

A fresh new image for Horlicks
Alongside the new products, the Horlicks visual identity has undergone a complete makeover. In October, a unique pillow-shaped pack and contemporary visuals were introduced across the product portfolio, creating stand-out from other hot milky drinks and giving the brand a fresh new image.

The new packaging has a cosy yet modern appeal, and communicates Horlicks sleep credentials – extending the brand’s appeal to the growing number of 25 to 45 year olds leading hectic lives and finding it more difficult to wind down before bed.

Integrated media campaign

A £4.2 million media investment is backing Horlicks’ transformation this winter, which started in early November with nationwide television advertising for
Horlicks Extra Light.

Aimed at females, the new advertisement shows a young woman returning home from work and relaxing in an armchair with a mug of Horlicks Extra Light. However, before settling down to enjoy her drink she has to bolt the chair to the floor and buckle herself in because at less than 40 calories per mug, it’s so light she might float away. The theme is reflected in the tagline “Be careful, it‘s Extra Light.” The adverts will appear on all major TV channels in the UK, including Channel 4, Five and ITV until February 2008.

To accompany the advertising campaign, nearly 1.5 million sachets of Horlicks Extra Light will be distributed to consumers via Horlicks’ brand new website, online retailers, and high street retail outlets.

Ellen Hedges explains, “The variety of promotional campaigns allows us to reach a broad range of young, female consumers. The free samples also include a coupon to encourage people to visit a store and buy a Horlicks product.”

Digital designs for Horlicks online
The brand’s makeover even extends to the Horlicks website which has been given a face-lift in line with the aim of attracting younger customers.

As well as giving visitors the chance to win a fabulous all-expenses-paid trip to New York - the city that never sleeps - the website provides a wealth of information on sleep, further building on Horlicks’ sleep heritage.

“At Horlicks, we’ve been helping the nation sleep better for 70 years and our new-look website helps us to pass on our sleep expertise to our consumers” explains Ellen, “New research shows that in today’s 24-hour society, people are finding it difficult to unwind. The new Horlicks website offers advice and the chance to sign up for a snooze letter to keep updated with the latest ways to sleep better.”

Sleep cannot find you, you must find sleep
In terms of healthy living, sleep is as important as a good diet and exercise. Even moderate sleep loss can affect our alertness and performance levels. Horlicks has recently used its age-old wisdom on sleep to gain new insight into the changing sleep patterns of society.

Making Time for Sleep – a review of 30 years of academic sleep research - was written for Horlicks by renowned sleep expert Dr Neil Stanley. As part of the review, Dr Stanley discovered that more than 40 million people in the UK suffer from “semisomnia” – a new term that he has coined to describe the daily low-grade exhaustion so many Brits are facing.

Ellen Hedges, Category Director at Horlicks, explains: “We’re all leading increasingly hectic lifestyles and finding it more difficult to get to sleep at night. We decided to invest in a review of research to make sure we can continue to meet the sleep needs of our loyal customer base, as well as attracting a new, younger audience.”

Dr Stanley’s solution to semisomnia is to prepare for sleep by winding down properly before bed. Whether it’s a warm bath, watching TV or a hot milky drink, taking 30 minutes to release the day’s worries and relax is invaluable.  Dr Stanley commented: “Sleep is critical to wellbeing and happiness, but good sleep requires proper preparation.”

So far, the Making Time for Sleep report, commissioned by Horlicks, has been written about in UK national newspapers such as The Daily Mail and The Sun and magazines like Grazia and Marie Claire, as well as TV and numerous BBC radio stations. To date the report has reached an audience of over 40 million and is firmly establishing Horlicks as an authoritative leader in the ongoing sleep debate.

For more information on Horlicks, visit the new look Horlicks website.

As Horlicks is offered in numerous worldwide markets, several formulations are manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline.  These formulations may vary, depending on the specific geographical market.  In addition, Horlicks may be positioned differently in certain markets.

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