At least, I assume it's a new market sector because why else would a famous brand like Horlicks use "nasty people" to front its new campaign if there isn't a large enough market of "nasties" out there that it will appeal to?
For those of you that are unaware of the campaign I'm referring to, allow me to fill you in. It always has an "NB" as the central character; the star of the show if you will.
In one execution, a female traffic warden waits patiently for the big hand of a clock to reach the hour when the parking time runs out. And when it does... wham, before you can say "nasty bastard", she slaps a ticket on to the windscreen, satisfaction spreading all over her pinched, smug little face. As she walks away, a male voiceover asks: "How does she sleep at night?" Mix through to a night scene showing our traffic warden at home holding, and looking adoringly at, a large mug of Horlicks.
The second execution follows much the same structure, the difference being that this time our "starring" NB is a male bus driver showing that the NB syndrome crosses genders.
The bus is at a bus stop with its doors open. Our driver, checking his mirror before closing the doors spots a woman, heavily laden down with bags, running to catch her ride home. Our driver waits. She's almost there. Another few feet and she'll have made it. But, yes, you've guessed it, Nasty Bastard closes the door and, with a self-satisfied look on his face, pulls away. Cue the voiceover, "How does he sleep at night?" Mix through to a night scene showing our bus driver at home drinking a large mug of Horlicks.
Get the gist of it? The message is simple enough; if you're a Nasty Bastard you'll need Horlicks to help you sleep at night.
So not only have Horlicks identified a new market sector, they appear to be repositioning the brand as a sort of sleeping draught with a difference. A sort of milky knockout drink for those NBs who might have a conscience and can't get to sleep but don't want to resort to other methods.
As I said at the beginning, I can only assume they've discovered a new mass market. If they haven't, and they are still appealing to their existing market then this surely can't be the campaign to do it.
Call me old fashioned but I've always believed that the central character in any ad campaign, the character who uses the product/service being advertised, should be one that the consumer can identify with. Or aspire to. Or trust. Certainly not some NB whom most consumers in their right minds wouldn't wish to identify with in a thousand years.
There may well be other characters within any commercial that are unaware of a product's benefits, they may be foolish, old fashioned or even unpleasant but they are not, and should not be, the hero of the piece, they should be merely supporting characters who help us tell a story.
And if (let's give them the benefit of the doubt for a moment) Horlicks is trying to grow their market by appealing to a younger age profile I still don't believe this is the right way to do it. Why assume that young people will want to identify with these people?
More importantly what about the existing Horlicks market? Have they all turned into NBs and now identify with these characters? Or are they being ignored? And if they are, as we all know, you ignore them at your peril.
And what do traffic wardens think of it? OK, we may not really give a monkeys what they think, in fact we may well dislike them, but they can't all be bad, can they? And bus drivers? Are they all as nasty as this campaign paints them out to be? I think not.
A brand's image must be constantly protected, nurtured, developed and improved and in my view this campaign is doing none of these things.
Quite the opposite in fact. It seems to be in real danger of harming the brand by showing that only nasty people drink it.
Whoever is the guardian of the brand seems to be asleep on duty, allowing this campaign to slip through like a thief in the night.
Horlicks is a famous brand. A great brand, with real brand values, but for how long?
John Wood is a creative director of advertising at Loewy.
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