Horlicks gets new look, plans to turn into a mega brand

The changed logo and redesigned packaging aim to bring about a unified new look in all the products under the Horlicks portfolio

GlaxoSmithKline has revamped its flagship brand, Horlicks, after a gap of seven years. The changed logo and redesigned packaging aim to bring about a unified new look in all the products under the Horlicks portfolio.

Puneet Das, general manager, marketing, GSKCH, in a conversation with afaqs!, says, "The brand has been in India for more than 100 years and has established a very strong equity with consumers. Over the years, it has evolved to become a mega brand worth more than Rs 1500 crore, with products under various categories such as biscuits, nutribars and the most recent one - instant noodles.

"As it prepares to enter the new decade, Horlicks has undergone changes in look and feel in keeping with the changing times, while maintaining the core values for which the brand has stood for across the years, thereby completing its transition from a health food drink major to a food and beverage brand focusing on the health and wellness category. This fits into the company's overall strategy to grow the brand organically from strength to strength. It has been a natural progression for Horlicks, with its plethora of offerings, thereby cementing its place as a mega brand."

As part of the revamp process, GSK has replaced the old look of the brand with new packaging and logo. With this, all products across the Horlicks portfolio have a unified look. Talking about the use of each element in the new look, Das adds, "The new look and feel has been arrived at after a lot of consumer research and the inspiration has been taken from within the brand itself."

The 'Wave' on the packaging symbolises 'Activity' and 'Sfoorti' and the milk and wheat visual establishes Horlicks as the Great Family Nourisher. 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 Academy reinforces the brand's trust and equity in the consumers' minds and also reaffirms the scientific or expert credibility of the brand.

He further elaborates, "This common identity reinforces the trust in consumers' minds across the product portfolio. The packaging has been designed keeping in mind the changing needs of the modern day consumers. Glass containers have been replaced with plastic jars and the shape is also quite contemporary and easy to handle. The new look has been designed to keep the brand young and in keeping with the consumers' demands."

The new packaging and the logo have been designed by Bengaluru based brand consulting and design agency, Ray and Keshavan. Speaking on the big exercise that went behind the entire redesigning process, Sujata Keshavan, managing director, Ray and Keshavan, says, "We created the new look of Horlicks keeping the future plans in mind, as well as GSK 's outlook to turn Horlicks into a complete food and beverage brand from a health food drink brand. So we created a master design architect, as per which GSK can launch any new product or sub-brands for which the design will be available automatically.

"For example, if GSK plans to introduce bread, the company can easily use the design created by us and launch it under the brand Horlicks. We have worked towards creating Horlicks as the umbrella brand under which the company can introduce sub-brands."

Another initiative taken by the design agency was to create uniform sized jars of Horlicks. Keshavan adds, "The malted drink is available in five different ranges, starting from Junior to Mother's. While earlier, each range had different shapes of bottles, we created one uniform shape. This will prove to be very cost effective for the company because earlier, it had to manufacture bottles of all shapes and sizes. Now, the cost per unit will decrease as the company will manufacture jars of one size and shape and will only have to change the packaging for each variant."

To promote the new look over the next 12 months, the company has kept a budget of Rs 300 crore. GSK plans a mass media campaign, which includes a range of television commercials and nationwide activation. As part of the activation, consumers will have to call and answer three simple questions on health, record their 'mauka' and stand a chance to get their opportunity (or mauka) funded by Horlicks. Apart from this, the company will create eye catching visibility at points of purchase.

GSK claims that Horlicks currently has 52 per cent market share in the health food drink category.