GlaxoSmithKline is plotting a relaunch of its 130-year-old Horlicks drink that will for the first time explain the scientific evidence behind its claim to help people sleep.

GSK is hoping to craft a Lucozade-style turnaround of the drink by promoting technical information on its functional capabilities.

Horlicks' brand proposition has always been based on its capacity to deliver a good night's sleep, but has never backed it with medical proof.

It is planning a TV ad campaign through Grey Worldwide London and MediaCom to support the repositioning, as well as a packaging redesign by Williams Murray Hamm. The relaunch is expected before the end of the year.

As Horlicks sits in the same stable as Lucozade and Ribena within GSK's nutritional heathcare division, it is a plausible move for the marketing team to turn to science.

A similar strategy has been in place for Lucozade for several years.

In 1999, it ran a TV ad campaign starring Alan Shearer based on a Journal of Sports Science investigation that found Lucozade Sport keeps athletes going for 33% longer than water. …