The ad I like the most

It is a Horlicks ad, which was launched as a campaign for “Emotional Nutrition to Kota’s Students”.

Where I saw it:-

I usually skip ads on Youtube but when I came across this ad by Horlicks, I could not resist myself
from watching the whole ad. I rewatched it and also shown this ad to my parents.

Description of the ad:-

The reason behind I watched the whole was because the starting of the ad goes with the name Kota
in its first line. The word Kota caught me there and I got hooked up with the 4 minutes ad. Honestly,
I don’t think I would have watched that 4 minutes long ad if it was not dedicated to the students
especially from Kota. The reason was because I was relating it to my experience as I had also studied
from Kota.

The next line read “Kota has most number of students studying in a city. But there is also another list
in which Kota tops”. They were talking about the suicides committed by students living there. In the
background, the students were sharing their experience. They seemed very stressed about their
exams. “The life is so stressful here that we got used to it”, said one student. The other one tells
about the depression that prevails after scoring lower marks.

Then, Horlicks tell the viewers that some nutrition can’t be made in laboratories and they call it
“Emotional nutrition”. The campaign was to deliver some emotional nutrition to the students in
exam season. The Horlicks arranged buses to the hostels at Kota for the mothers of those students,
who brought home made snacks for them in Horlicks Jars. My eyes got wet when I saw students
crying after meeting their moms. The mothers can be seen consoling their child not to worry too
much about their selection. Finally, the ad ended with a strong line “The Horlicks believes mother’s
love is the best dose of emotional nutrition”.

Message it gave:-

The ad gives a very strong message to the society that these students studying outstation need
mental support from their loved ones and not some pressure to win a rat race. One year before I got
admitted to Kota, there were around 100 students who took their lives. The life is this much
miserable here.

Advertising Strategy:-

This ad uses our emotional connection to our loved ones and touches our hearts. According to a
psychological study, we trust those ads more which connects with us emotionally and this ad is a
masterpiece in that term. Even without promoting themselves, they gained trust and customer base.
The Horlicks Jars in which the mothers shown to bring snacks for their child is also a part of strategy
in which they promoted themselves without mentioning directly. I didn’t get annoyed with this 4
minutes long ad as they never seemed to promote Horlicks rather they were addressing to the issue
which is a need of the hour. And the best part of this ad was, when I showed this to my mom, she
said “Horlicks wale kitne ache hain na jo bachho ki maa ko unse milane le gaye”. Bingo!!! The ad did
its job and successfully gained customer’s trust without any brand promotion.