A boost for Horlicks: Iconic brand to start life afresh under HUL

Under HUL, the iconic brand has to walk the tightrope between legacy and relevance, say experts

After 84 years in the country, a brand that is still remembered for its promise to make kids taller, stronger and sharper, is looking to start life afresh under global giant Hindustan Unilever (HUL). What lies ahead for Brand Horlicks? 

Subhash Kamath, CEO and Managing Partner of BBH India who spent his growing up years in Kolkata, a city that is responsible for Horlicks’s superbrand status in the country, says that for him the taste and feel triggers childhood memories. “It is like J&J’s baby talcum powder whose smell transports you instantly into the world of newborns,” he says.

K V Sridhar, founder of brand consultancy, Hyper Collective says that Horlicks is one of the oldest living brands in the country. It has been innovative in its approach, which helped it survive intense competition during the 1990's from Complan and Bournvita and then from Pediasure and others in recent times. “With this acquisition, HUL is getting a brand which has an extremely high recall value,” he adds. 

Harish Bijoor, CEO of brand consultancy Harish Bijoor Consults says that the advantages cut both ways. “Horlicks has a 65 per cent plus market share while HUL covers 82 per cent of the distribution universe in the country. Big companies like to have big brands and vice-versa,” he says.

Expert speak

Subhash Kamath

CEO and managing partner, BBH India

HUL will need to create a strong brand idea for Horlicks. Its legacy will need to be harnessed in a way that it is relevant and appealing to a new consumer class

Harish Bijoor

CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults

The deal is an excellent marriage between an iconic brand and a gigantic company like HUL which reaches out to every nook and corner of the country. Horlicks has a 65 per cent plus market share while HUL covers 82 per cent of the distribution universe in the country

Ambi Parameswaran, Founder, Brand-Building.com

In the foods business, brands like Captain Cook or Kwality haven't proved to be as big as HUL wanted them to be and thus, it was on the lookout for a major brand which has an excellent recall value. But HUL needs to be wary that selling health drinks is something different from selling soaps and shampoos 

K V Sridhar, Founder, Hyper Collective

With this acquisition, HUL is getting a brand which has extremely high recall value and it may encash its health proposition to come up with sub-brands or sub-categories under this brand. At a later stage, HUL might even open an Ayurvedic portfolio leveraging Horlicks 

In its early years in India, Horlicks thrived especially in the milk deficient states in the east and the south. It was seen as a nourishing drink for the family, even a spoonful in a glass of water was expected to deliver benefits. In the 1970s, Operation Flood changed all that. Milk was now available in plenty and Horlicks reinvented itself. It became the nourishing add-on to a glass of milk. 

The ads at the time had a fictional character Suchitra exhorting mothers to stir it into a glass of milk for the health of their families. And actor Amitabh Bachchan lent his voice to Horlicks jingles at this time (1960-70).

Brand rewind

• First malted drink to be patented, founders William and James Horlick secured a patent in 1883
   
• It was an integral part of long expeditions and a must-have in mountaineers’ backpacks
   
• It entered India with soldiers coming back home after World War II
   
• In India, it is the largest brand in the portfolio of GSK Consumer Health and holds 50-65 per cent of the health drinks market in the country
   
• The brand has revamped its looks and added new flavours several times. It changed its packaging from glass to PET bottles and even small sachets. In the 2000s, it extended the brand into other products too 

Over the years, positioning and advertising narratives have changed for the brand. It has been quick to catch the pulse of changing consumers and that is how, says Kamath, the brand built its iconic status. The fact that it had suitors queuing up when Glaxo Smithkline Beecham (GSK) offered it up on the block, is a sign of its popularity, he adds. At one point, Nestle, Unilever, Coca Cola, Mondelez, KKR, Kelloggs and Reckitt Benckiser were all up for a slice of the action. 

 “I think GSK had lost the consumer connect. In the meantime, brands like Pediasure, Ensure, Protinex and others made their entry,” says Ambi Parameswaran,  founder Brand Building, explaining what went wrong with Brand Horlicks.

Bijoor says that GSK had tried all means of communication, but with the stagnation,  felt the need for a new partner. “The most important thing for HUL now will be to create a unique brand value proposition and the ‘amrit-manthan’ (churning) kind of communication can work wonders for the brand,” he adds.