Generally speaking all product communication by Horlicks has to meet strict regulatory demands with respect to its benefit claims and the benefits of its 23 vital nutrients and vitamins. However this particular case is different: with the brand and its purpose deliberately taking the centre stage linked to a social project. Hence no particular regulatory restrictions applied. That said, GSK operates strict internal clearance processes. All communicated facts and figures related to the issue had to be verified by three different sources. The NGO partner as well as the specifics of the project had to be triple checked and cleared.

In 2014 Horlicks Malaysia, a GlaxoSmithKline family nutrition brand that helps mothers close their kids' nutrition gaps, took the entire VMS category by surprise with a totally new approach to engaging with its core audience of school children's mothers. Horlicks adopted a cause: the difficult journeys millions of kids face in order to get to school. Fitting to the brand's purpose of "nourishing potential of children", Horlicks used a pilot project in Malaysia to initiate a meaningful conversation with mothers far beyond product messaging. In an isolated village in Malaysia Horlicks made change happen. Along the way Horlicks produced rich content that populated the new website as well as social media platforms. In addition, interactive banners were used to allow the audience to experience difficult journeys and draw them into the story. This paid off: engagement with the new Horlicks Malaysia digital ecosystem grew beyond expectations.

Especially in its new digital and social media presence Horlicks Malaysia needed to change the category conversation: from functional messaging about nutritional products to an emotionally involving story about the brand helping to fulfil the potential of children. With the Kampung Cheweh project Horlicks made a real difference in Malaysia. Once it was up and running, and rich documentary content was populating the new website, traffic needed to be increased. Paid media including interactive banners were seen as a great tool to engage the audience by making the problem as well as Horlicks' contribution come to life.

The "River Journey Experience" is one of three banners in the digital campaign. The simple concept: Start with an impactful image and fact (57 million children around the world lack access to education - UN) to draw users in. Use this initial interest and engage them to take immediate action: take this child to school. Then let them experience the difficulties directly - by making the journey to the school difficult and long in an expandable banner format. In this case: the child's daily walk down a river including a dangerous cable car crossing - which surprisingly plays as embedded video. Along the way the user learns more and when finally delivering the child to school surely feels: this is all wrong. The perfect trigger to deliver the message about Horlicks changing it - combined with the direct link to the Kampung Cheweh Project on the Horlicks website.

As a result of the entire integrated digital campaign the Horlicks Malaysia website saw a jump in visits of astonishing +2147% after re-launch. Interestingly over 38% of all visits to the brand and product site were attracted by the story and content about Kampung Cheweh. The engagement rates with this content illustrate its power: organic reach of a single post 9.2% versus the average of 2-3%. This project and its integrated campaign in only 5 months (Oct14 to Feb15) reached over 35.6 million people through Facebook, YouTube, the new website and of course the interactive banners. A remarkable result considering the total population of Malaysia of 29.7 million. But most importantly: in conjunction with product campaigning this entirely new Horlicks story linked the brand to education, made the brand tangible and yielded solid business results - volumes sales in Malaysia grew year on year by impressive 22%.

The Kampung Cheweh Project by Horlicks Malaysia was launched as purpose driven marketing initiative. It was real, with tangible action happening on the ground. In order to reach a wider audience - ideally all Malaysian mothers - a digital centric campaign was rolled out. The goal was to limit paid media and use the power of the story as well as the documentary content to boost earned media reach. At the same time it was clear that additional, carefully planned and placed paid media needed to cut through and drive instant engagement as well as interest in the topic as well as Horlicks' role. Interactive banners were seen as an ideal tool to deliver the kind of experience needed to drive additional traffic.

As a scientifically proven beneficial health food drink, Horlicks helps fight what the WHO calls "hidden hunger". A functional benefit particularly important to mothers in developing markets. In Malaysia, Horlicks is well known but had been on somewhat of a decline do to the overpowering marketing offensive of a food corporation's inferior product. When digital and social media platforms were due to be introduced, Horlicks saw the opportunity to use these to take the high ground by proving to mothers that it really helps to fulfil the potential of all children. A brand purpose driven project was launched.