Media Case Study:Horlicks Wizkids

Building India's next gen all rounders

Period of Execution: August - September 2004

The problem:
Horlicks was perceived to be a fuddy-duddy brand amongst kids and it sought to transform itself into an exciting and vibrant brand.

Research showed children of today were different from that of yesteryears. They wanted to be more in control, more informed and more ready to explore and this was seen in their willingness to explore unconventional career options like sports, acting and flying.

The key consumer insight was that children nowadays want to enjoy life and have a sense of achievement at the same time.

Horlicks recognised this desire in every kid not just to explore life on their own terms but without having the burden of excelling in academics, a theme so ubiquitous in India. In the famous words of George Bernard Shaw "Simply not letting schooling interfere with their education".

The aim: Horlicks aimed to celebrate this spirit in childhood - and designed its media and communication around "dynamic development."

Communication Goals:

• To encourage kids and provide them a platform to demonstrate their varied skills, celebrate their enthusiasm and honor their achievements.
• Horlicks to be seen as an enabler in letting kids "enjoy and achieve" and continue to gain relevance and preference amongst kids.

And all this within the school…!

Media solution and execution:

'Horlicks Wizkids' - an initiative that brought alive dynamic development of kids.

India's largest inter-school talent program reached out to a million kids across 4,500 schools in 15 cities to unearth and demonstrate their talent in as many as 25 non-academic fields. Horlicks Wizkids also provided a platform for kids to hone their talent through a stint with specialist partners in various fields like Ashley Lobo for Dance, Girish Karnad for Theatre etc who trained the winners of the respective fields.

The All rounders were crowned as India's Dream team.

To inform kids and their parents of this event, the program was promoted across media - television, radio and newspapers prior to the event.
The entire program was then telecast on various regional and national TV stations.

Result: Horlicks Wizkids helped bring holistic development for children in India to the forefront for the first time.

What makes the idea special?

1) It was based on key consumer insights and brands core proposition.

2) A long term branded property for Horlicks which imbibed the brand values and created a buzz amongst kids. Buzz scores (i.e Awareness of Horlicks from friends/relatives) registered significant growth during Wizkids activity. This growth can be directly attributable to this activity since all other media inputs remained more or less constant.

3) It received positive coverage across media - newspapers and TV channels amounting to 2 times the money invested.

4) Client speak: "An incredible idea, executed on a massive scale with great detailing and amplified many times through media tie-ups. This will form a key part of the Horlicks calendar in the years to come," exclaimed GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare GM Marketing Shubhajit Sen.