1.

Product

In order to cater to the nutritional needs of the consumers the company has

taken special steps to develop the drink scientifically. Until the 1960s, it was
marketed as a restorative drink for adults but later in the 70s it was launched
as having nutritional values, good taste and a drink that provided immunity to
the body. The company has decided to cater to each section of society by
including women and children of every age group. In the year 2003, Horlicks
re-launched itself to maintain its loyal customers as well as to attract a new
breed of health conscious consumers.

In the beginning, the brand dealt only in the drinks market but later included
various other related health products under its portfolio. Horlicks is made from
malted barley, wheat and milk. Earlier it was available in only one flavor
of Regular Malt but later it added extra flavor and taste to its product to
launch new variants like the Chocolate Horlicks, Honey Horlicks, Elaichi Horlicks
and Vanilla Horlicks. The brand has also other items in its product portfolio like
the Horlicks biscuits, HorlicksFoodles, Horlicks Nutribic Diabetes Biscuits,
Horlicks corn flex biscuits and cookies and Horlicks NutribicDigestive Biscuits.

Products List Price Discount

Horlicks Lite (Badam, ₹ 258 10% off
450GM)

Horlicks Chocolate Delight ₹ 325 8% off

(Chocolate, 1KG)

Horlicks Lite (Malt, ₹ 258 7% off

450GM)

Mothers Horlicks (Vanilla, ₹ 490 6% off

500GM)

Horlicks Chocolate Delight ₹ 269 5% off

(Chocolate, 750GM)
Horlicks Cardia+ (Vanilla, ₹ 665 5% off
400GM)

Horlicks Protein+ (Vanilla, ₹ 259 4% off

200GM)

Womens Horlicks (Caramel, ₹ 232 3% off

400GM)

Horlicks Classic Malt (Malt, ₹ 297 2% off

750GM)

Horlicks Womens Carmel ₹ 358 1% off

(400GM)

Place

Horlicks is a well-known health food brand that owes its success to focused
communication process and a strong network of distribution. It is necessary
that the products should be available to the customers at their own
convenience. Therefore, the brand has taken such steps that the product is
always available at the correct time, right place and in various and different
quantities to the consumer. Horlicks controls a network that includes factory,
wholesalers, channels for distribution and retailers. It has factories and
manufacturing plants for its production and the packaging units are located at
convenient locations. The sales offices for Horlicks are in all the four metro
cities from where the sales are coordinated along with collection and
distribution activities of their particular region.

Horlicks has a sales depot in every state from where the product is supplied to
the wholesaler. Its distribution network includes nearly 1,800 wholesalers and
the number of estimated retail outlets all over the country is 4,25,000 units.
GSK consumer health has over 700 distributors and a coverage of 8 lakh retail
outlets. The products are available at every grocery stores, retail outlets and
big showrooms that have specific food related departments. Nowadays the
products can also be purchased quite easily from the internet at the
consumer’s convenience.

Price in the Marketing mix of Horlicks

Horlicks has set up a marketing research team that collects data about their
own as well as about their competitors’ products. After a thorough analysis,
the prices are set for the different products. Though the company’s objective is
to maximize their profit but they have kept the prices reasonable.
The pricing strategy involves competitive pricing where the consumers do not
have to make undue sacrifices in their budget against other comparative
drinks.The discounts given on Horlicks products depends upon the place of sale
as bulk buying and volume influence such decisions. Horlicks’ 500-gram jar
costs Rs.230 whereas Boost costs Rs.255. Horlicks as a brand name represents
quality to the consumers. This is the reason why the company has decided to
follow value added  pricing  policy. The consumers are guaranteed to get their
money’s worth and as the nutritional capacity of the drink is much higher than
those of other drinks, the consumers do not hesitate to make it their final
choice.

The prices of all the products are printed and displayed on the labels of every
product to avoid any confusion. In some cases, the place of sales also
determines the price of the product. For instance, a small shop owner will sell
the product at the printed price but a mega storeowner may sell the same
product at some discount. This is so because in bulk buying and selling the big
stores can maintain their profits because of the volume of the sales.

Promotion in the Marketing mix of Horlicks

Horlicks has a deep and strong understanding of the needs and wants of its
consumers and they have capitalized this knowledge in creating some very
beautiful and knowledgeable promotions for their brand. All its advertisements
have been highlighting on its deep commitment to maintain and present
qualitative products. As it is a heritage brand people have started linking
Horlicks with excellence and success. The different and new variants of the
brand have maximum visibility and shelf appeal because of direct and indirect
promotional activities.
The brand has been involved in running seminars to stress on the importance
of nutritional drinks. In order to initiate awareness about its product, several
fests are organized in schools and at malls and showrooms, where free drink is
offered to everyone. Many ad campaigns have been created featuring kids and
strong messages. These are aired on various channels of television and radio.
The print media has also been roped in where the ads are displayed in the
newspapers, billboards and magazines. It has an apt tag-line- “Horlicks,
nourishment for life”. Some of the celebrities associated with Horlicks
are Vidya Balan and child actor Darsheel Safari.

Horlicks Product Strategy:

The product strategy and mix in Horlicks marketing strategy can be explained
as follows:
Horlicks is one of the leading malt based drink in the world. Product
assortment of Horlicks is very diverse in terms of product lines and product
depth. This can be understood by its product strategy in its marketing mix. In
terms of the width of the product mix, Horlick has health drink, oats, biscuits
and instant noodles. In the health drink category, it has different variants for
different age groups and needs. There is Mother’s Horlicks, Junior Horlicks,
Horlicks Promind, Women’s Horlicks, Lite Horlicks, Growth+ Horlicks and
Cardia+ Horlicks. The products are based not only around the age groups but
also around the lifestyles of people. Lite Horlicks is specially made to counter
damage caused by oxidative stress. It has no added sugar and zero cholesterol
catering to a working adult’s need. Horlicks Lite is made for the elderly who
have diabetes. Growth+ claims to provide nutrients like amino acids, Vitamins
and minerals which are essential for a child’s growth. It claims to provide
balanced growth in terms proper height and weight. Horlicks drinks have a
wide range of flavors like chocolate, caramel, vanilla, Badam and Kesar. It
offers packaging in pet jars of various quantities like 200 grams, 500 grams
with refills packages as high as 2 kilograms. With the launch of Horlicks oats
Horlicks have set foot in the hot cereal market. It was launched in India in
2011. By launching the healthy food products Horlicks is strengthening its
position as a nutritious and health conscious brand.

Horlicks Price/Pricing Strategy:

Below is the pricing strategy in Horlicks marketing strategy:
Horlicks is seen as a premium product as it gives nutritional value to every
segment in the market be it a kid or an adult.
Published by MBA Skool Team, Last Updated: February 21, 2017
Marketing Strategy of Horlicks analyses the brand with the marketing mix
framework which covers the 4Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion). There are
several marketing strategies like product innovation, pricing approach,
promotion planning etc. These business strategies, based on Horlicks
marketing mix, help the brand succeed.
Horlicks marketing strategy helps the brand/company to position itself
competitively in the market and achieve its business goals & objectives.
Let us start the Horlicks Marketing Strategy & Mix to understand its product,
pricing, advertising & distribution strategies:
Horlicks Product Strategy:
The product strategy and mix in Horlicks marketing strategy can be explained
as follows:
Horlicks is one of the leading malt based drink in the world. Product
assortment of Horlicks is very diverse in terms of product lines and product
depth. This can be understood by its product strategy in its marketing mix. In
terms of the width of the product mix, Horlick has health drink, oats, biscuits
and instant noodles. In the health drink category, it has different variants for
different age groups and needs. There is Mother’s Horlicks, Junior Horlicks,
Horlicks Promind, Women’s Horlicks, Lite Horlicks, Growth+ Horlicks and
Cardia+ Horlicks. The products are based not only around the age groups but
also around the lifestyles of people. Lite Horlicks is specially made to counter
damage caused by oxidative stress. It has no added sugar and zero cholesterol
catering to a working adult’s need. Horlicks Lite is made for the elderly who
have diabetes. Growth+ claims to provide nutrients like amino acids, Vitamins
and minerals which are essential for a child’s growth. It claims to provide
balanced growth in terms proper height and weight. Horlicks drinks have a
wide range of flavors like chocolate, caramel, vanilla, Badam and Kesar. It
offers packaging in pet jars of various quantities like 200 grams, 500 grams
with refills packages as high as 2 kilograms. With the launch of Horlicks oats
Horlicks have set foot in the hot cereal market. It was launched in India in
2011. By launching the healthy food products Horlicks is strengthening its
position as a nutritious and health conscious brand.

Horlicks Price/Pricing Strategy:

Below is the pricing strategy in Horlicks marketing strategy:
Horlicks is seen as a premium product as it gives nutritional value to every
segment in the market be it a kid or an adult.
Despite that it is priced very competitively. Horlicks follow value added pricing
in its marketing mix. It gives the consumers the value for the money they
spend as the product gives lot of health benefits. The discounts given on
Horlicks products depends upon the place of sale as bulk buying and volume
influence such decisions. Horlicks’ 500-gram jar costs Rs.230 whereas Boost
costs Rs.255. In this industry, pediasure chocolate drink is the most expensive
product in this category. Junior Horlicks is a little expensive than standards
Horlicks as it is high on nutrients required for growth and development.
Mother’s Horlicks is a little expensive and costs around Rs.475. It caters to the
specific needs of a mother in every stage of her pregnancy. All the variants
have refill packs in very flavor with price range of Rs.119 to Rs.395.

Horlicks Place & Distribution Strategy:

Following is the distribution strategy in the Horlicks marketing mix:
Horlicks products are available widely across groceries, supermarkets etc. GSK
has made sure that Horlicks is available at every corner of the country. It is
very important to have a strong distribution coverage to drive volume growth.
The company has manufacturing facilities in Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and
Haryana. It also has zonal head offices in four metros which handles that
particular region’s sales and marketing. Horlicks is especially prevalent in
eastern and southern parts of India and has been trying to gain market in
northern and western parts of India. The distribution channel followed by
Horlicks starts with the factory and then the products gets distributed to
different channels and from the distributors to wholesalers and then finally to
the retailers. Retailers want to stock more and more of Horlicks as it is widely
purchased by the public. GSK consumer health has over 700 distributors and a
coverage of 8 lakh retail outlets. Rural India’s penetration is low compared to
urban India.
Horlicks Promotion & Advertising Strategy:
The promotional and advertising strategy in the Horlicks marketing strategy is
as follows:
Horlicks’ promotion and advertising money is spent on television, print, online
ads etc. Its shows the aggressive marketing mix promotional strategy of
Horlicks. They don’t feel the need to have big celebrities as their brand
ambassadors as the value proposition they offer for their product is their hero.
Most of the communication done by Horlicks aims at mothers as they are the
buyer of the product for their kids and family. Also Horlicks have also used
their scientists and other healthcare professionals in their advertisements to
gain the trust of the consumers.
Radio is also an effective channel used by Horlicks to reach mothers and
consumers in remote parts of the country. In some urban outlets, Horlicks have
even created a play area for children to attract consumers and create
awareness and buzz around the products. Horlicks has also spent a lot on
market research to constantly know about what consumer needs. Over the
years Horlicks have also used the pestering power of children and used it to
their benefit. Design firm Ray+Keshavan were behind the success of Horlicks’
new look when they entered the food and beverages with plethora of
offerings. Horlicks revamped its logo and packaging. Hence, this covers the
Horlicks marketing mix.