Social Media & Influencer Campaign

Being part of a declining 'hot malted drinks' category, in tangent with an ageing audience and strong connotations as a sleep aid, Horlicks had seen a recent decline in sales performance.

The new Horlicks campaign had four key objectives it had to fulfil to help the brand achieve its goals.

Firstly, the campaign aimed to move away from the brand's traditional association with sleep. Horlicks has long been known for its ability to promote good sleep, but the brand wanted to position itself as more than just a bedtime drink. By shifting away from this narrow association, the brand could appeal to a broader audience and showcase the versatility of its product.

Secondly, the campaign targeted a younger audience. Traditionally, older adults consume Horlicks, but the brand recognised a significant opportunity to reach a younger demographic. The brand could tap into a new market segment and grow its customer base by doing so.

The third objective of the campaign was to engage this younger audience with the brand's new positioning. The brand had developed a new positioning that focused on the idea of nourishment. The campaign aimed to bring this message to life in a way that resonated with the target audience. By engaging with this audience and communicating the benefits of the new positioning, the brand could build stronger connections and increase brand loyalty.

Finally, the campaign aimed to drive sales by increasing the frequency of product usage. By encouraging customers to consume Horlicks at different times of the day, not just before bed, the brand could increase the number of times customers purchase the product. This would drive sales and reinforce the idea that Horlicks was a versatile and nourishing beverage that could be enjoyed at any time of the day.

Our Work

Following on from 2020's 'Moments to Share' digital activation, data collection and campaign learning indicated that associating 'Horlicks' with everyday moments resonated with the younger demographic.

Aligning Horlicks consumption with everyday moments sets the groundwork for considering the product in a new light. With a clear consumer revelation, 'nighttime' should no longer be regarded as the only consumption moment. Further to this product positioning piece, Mosquito was able to identify key areas of discussion topics, including humour and the desire to share real-life stories.

With the demographic shift already in play (also identified through Kantar data as a 'subtle interest' amongst millennials), we concluded that millennial targeting in the UK (age 24-45) was a success. Therefore, Mosquito were keen to craft a campaign that further refined the messaging, focusing engagement around life stage.

Horlicks tasked Mosquito with tapping into this audience and converting their interest into sales. Mosquito approached this with several tactics:

Creative positioning introduced "blunder" moments relatable to a new audience.
Build partnerships with younger family influencers to reach out to their engaged audiences.
Amplification through ads targeted at millennials.
Growth hacking - campaign mechanic required the audience to tag friends & family, who were likely in the same demographic as themselves.

Mid-campaign, boosted social posts were suddenly being rejected by Facebook. We believed this to be due to the competition mechanic. To counteract this, we decided to divert the entire paid media budget to ads instead. Whilst this meant the social posts relied solely on organic engagement, we were still able to amplify the campaign creative and drive competition entries through dark ads. Despite this restriction, we exceeded all social KPIs and created a significant impact with this campaign.

Website Competition
A campaign landing page where visitors were encouraged to share their own "Time For A Horlicks" story for a chance to win prizes.

Social
Bringing the 'Time for a Horlicks' creative to life across social, re-enforcing the campaign message at various stages of the buyer journey. Utilised youthful 'meme' formats to capture attention and encourage sharing.

Influencer
Recruited influencers of various audience sizes to share their funniest plate-spinning blunders and drive traffic to enter the competition.

Results

The campaign was a roaring success! Not only were thousands of "Time For A Horlicks" moments submitted by the audience, but the brand saw a marked increase in sales…

Penetration +10%
Spend +9%
Buyers +10%
Volume +10%

5,844 entries (+484% vs KPI of 1000)
804,819 reach (+0.7% vs KPI of 800,000)
10,720 clicks (+34% vs KPI of 8,000)
42,081 page views (+110% vs KPI 20,000)
729,000 total influencer audience size
100% completion rate among gifted influencers

The client was so delighted with the campaign results they extended the campaign for a 2nd phase over Christmas, with equally impressive results…

6,932 entries (+285% vs KPI of 1,800)
18,176 engagements (+14% vs KPI of 16,000)

'Time For A Horlicks' was developed to capture the attention of a younger audience and provide a relatable, funny moment that positioned Horlicks as a brand that understands the modern struggles of today's family. Capitalising on new meme formats, partnerships with emerging household names and clever amplification were just a few ways this campaign achieved phenomenal sales increases and social media success!

10720 Clicks

5844 Entries

Best Social Media Campaign

Time for Horlicks

Social Media & Influencer Campaign

Our Work

Expertise

Results

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