Horlicks' 'Fearless' videos timed to coincide with exam season

The new series of videos titled 'fearless songs' puts a musical spin on handling exam tension.

As the clock strikes midnight, a sleepy student's head is bowed as a worried mother hovers in the background... Exam time is stressful for all parties involved, but what if the study material had a musical twist to it?

The newest video in the series stars A R Rahman

Horlicks becomes the latest brand to jump on the 'rap' bandwagon with a video series titled 'fearless songs.' The latest addition to the on-going series was uploaded to YouTube on 12 February. A.R. Rahman takes to the stage to convince students not to worry, as they rap and dance to a song about English grammar. Fikar mat karo... (Don't worry) he sings, as the confused students work to understand concepts related to English grammar. The other videos in this series are shot in Bengali and tackle two other subjects that typically give children nightmares.

On the topic of his collaboration with Horlicks, A.R. Rahman said, “I believe it is important for me to connect to the gen next’s cause and the brand, during a collaboration. Music brings out the best in children and with “Fearless Songs” we intend to add a musical twist to learning and reduce the immense pressure kids face during the exam season, enabling the journey from fearful to fearless!”

The concept of being 'fearless' in the face of exams was first introduced in Horlicks' messaging in 2017

The video relating to understanding Chemistry was published in November 2018 and it helps the students musically remember formulae to everyday household items like sugar, baking soda and vinegar.

The rap song covers the entirety of Akbar's rule in India

The other subject that Horlicks tackled was history - in the form of a rap lesson that traces the history of Akbar as a Mughal ruler. It starts from the battle of Panipat and ends at the time Jehangir's rule began in 1605.

A still from Horlicks' recent Fearless Kota campaign

The bottle of love campaign was aimed at students preparing for entrance exams at coaching institutes in Kota, Rajasthan

We observed that each of the ad films was released before the onset of exam season. In West Bengal, November-December is exam season for classes I-IX. March is when Board exams are slated to start for CBSE schools all over the country.

What was FCB’s brief on this campaign? Swati Bhattacharya, CCO, FCB said "January to March are ‘exam pressure months’ all over India. That’s 90 days out of 365 gone out of a child’s life. So, the brief we gave ourselves was how could we bring the childhood back? By using music as a method to help the child prepare for exams, we helped reduce fear and made preparation more enjoyable. The fearless songs were written keeping the curriculum of children in mind, helping them not to memorise, but understand and retain them better.

Horlicks' earlier 'exam ready' campaigns had a lighter tone

The video tries to demystify chemistry by naming formulae of household items

The new video follows closely on the heels of their campaigns 'Fearless Kota' and 'Bottle of Love', both of which place the students at the centre of the conversation. These ads had a more sombre tone, but with the new videos, it seems like a return to a lighter, 'kid-friendly' communication.

Vikram Bahl, executive vice president marketing, GSK Consumer Healthcare - India said, “We at Horlicks understand the stress that students undergo during the exam season. After laying the groundwork to tackle exams with confidence last year with the ‘Be Fearless’ campaign, Horlicks endeavours to continue making learning more productive, this time using music.”

It was for this reason that they collaborated with A.R. Rahman who helped the brand create a composition on Tenses – one of the most highly searched for topics during exam time, according to a press release. “We want kids to face the exam season confidently, by promoting smarter and alternate learning methods, which we believe help in better understanding and retention of tough topics and therefore make kids more confident to tackle exams.”

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