Eleanor Kawsek July 20, 2011

Written Analysis of Case: Boracay Rum by Tanduay

TVC Storyboard:

Frame 01 City setting. A man in office attire unbuttons his polo.

Frame 02 Sand falls from his clothes as he walks through the city.

Frame 03 He and others in similar corporate attire drop their clothes to the sand and run to the beach.

Frame 04 Lampposts turn into palm trees as they walk by.

Frame 05 The man takes out Boracay Rum from his sand-filled bag.

Frame 06 City landscape changes to a beach as Boracay Rum passes by.

Frame 07 Boracay Rum is poured into a glass.

Frame 08 Someone takes the glass of Boracay Rum and the party starts.

Billboard:

Radio script:

Guy 1: Pare! Do you see that girl in the pink bikini?

Guy 2: Huh? Saan?

Guy 1: Yung katabi ng babaeng naka-floral sarong. She’s maganda ah.

Guy 2: Wala pare, what are you drinking ba? Pahingi naman.

Narrator: Experience Boracay anytime anywhere. Boracay Rum captures the

island experience and comes in two flavors: cappuccino or coconut.

Guy 2: Uy, maganda nga! Pero mas maganda itong katabi ko.

Girl: Hey boys.

Guy 1: Bilis nito ah!

Narrator: Boracay Rum. Also available in Mini Stop and 711 stores. Drink

moderately.

Frame 09 People are having a good time with Boracay Rum.

Frame 10 Capture the Island Experience with Boracay Rum.

Billboard location: Along Katipunan flyover, coming from White Plains going to Ateneo.

Target Market

Boracay Rum targets males and females who are at least of legal age to drink;

specifically, teens and young professionals who are 18-24 years old. These young

adults are most probably in college / college graduates, single (not married), fun-

loving, carefree, trendy, adventurous and like the idea of living an exciting lifestyle.

They belong to social classes B and A, live in urban areas and enjoy letting loose

every once in a while or going on vacation—specifically, they like the images that

Boracay conveys (cool, fun, interesting, relaxing). Their interests include spending

time with friends and their attitude towards life is that they know how to be

professional with work, but they also know how to take a break and have a good time.

The outlets where Boracay Rum is sold—Mini Stop and 7-11—are the stores

that are frequented by teens and young adults. Two billboards for Boracay Rum are

located along the Katipunan flyover, with one billboard on each side of the flyover.

The placement of the Boracay Rum billboards causes high product awareness among

students, since many students from Ateneo, Miriam College, U.P, as well as their

parents, use the Katipunan flyover to go to school everyday. The TVC depicts young

professionals who transition from their city lifestyle to a Boracay party (complete

with fire dancers) when a bottle of Boracay Rum is opened. Further enhancing the

youthful image, the packaging of Boracay Rum is quite distinctive from other rum

bottles. The bottles are white, opaque and feature silhouettes of coconut palms near

the mouth of the bottle. This is a break from the traditional alcoholic drinks

packaging, which usually feature glass or translucent containers and metallic accents.

Brand Strengths

Boracay Rum takes advantage of the hype of Boracay, which has, in the past

few years, elevated to the fame of a world-renowned vacation destination. Associating

the brand of Boracay to an alcoholic drink immediately gives the consumer the image

of a youthful, fun and exciting beverage, which is appealing to the brand’s

aforementioned target market of mostly women ages 18-24.

Another strength is that Tanduay, under which Boracay Rum is manufactured,

has a strong brand name and recognition when it comes to rum, which increases the

likelihood of product acceptance. Tanduay is a familiar name and an established

brand that is known for quality products, so for first time users that is a reduction of

the risk of Boracay Rum being of inferior quality. Furthermore, because of Tanduay’s

reputation for quality, the price of one bottle of Boracay Rum is less significant as the

basis of the consumer’s purchase decision. This is important with Boracay Rum,

because one 700ml bottle of Boracay Rum costs P99 as opposed to one 750ml bottle

of Tanduay Dark Rhum, which costs P85.

Brand Weaknesses

Boracay Rum may be just a fad, since it follows the trend of Boracay as a

famous vacation destination. Boracay Rum is highly dependent on Boracay to sustain

its popularity. If for some reason the concept of going to Boracay becomes outdated,

then Boracay Rum’s sales would most likely fall.

Another weakness is that Boracay Rum is not strongly marketed as a brand of

Tanduay. Without Tanduay’s strong brand image and recognition to fully back it up,

Boracay Rum goes up against other more established alcoholic brands, which could

prevent Boracay Rum from getting a solid share of the market.

Perceived strategic direction of the ads

At first glance, the strategic direction of the advertisements for Boracay Rum

is rather straightforward. The commercial projects the image of youthful relaxation

and fun after work and attempts to convey the essence of Boracay in an alcoholic

beverage. Even the tagline of Boracay Rum is straightforward: “Capture the Island

Experience.” The advertisements raise brand awareness and stimulate the desire to

wash away the stress of city living and enjoy the beach whenever viewers open a

bottle of Boracay Rum. The solution to easing the strain of everyday urban living is

easy to obtain—people can now go on vacation whenever and wherever they want

with a bottle of Boracay Rum.

Creative appeal of the ads

The Boracay Rum ads have two kinds of appeal. The first is sex appeal. Since

the brand revolves around the concept of Boracay, the TVC must feature young,

good-looking models in beach attire. Boracay Rum is aimed at teens and young

adults, the demographic for which sex appeal works best. Rum is also a pleasure-

based product—in the same way that perfume is—so sex appeal also works well with

it. The TVC was careful to hint at just enough sexual appeal to catch the viewers’

attention and long enough to convey the message of the brand. The radio

advertisement on the other hand associates drinking Boracay Rum with men getting

beautiful girls.

The Boracay Rum advertisements also have a values appeal—specifically, the

appeal to the fun-seeker. It sells leisure and adventure in a bottle and tempts the

viewers to join the cast of the TVC and radio advertisement in enjoying life. The

billboard of Boracay Rum depicts a calm sandy beach and waves washing ashore,

which connotes relaxation.

Rationale for choice of media

The channels through which Boracay Rum is being advertised are appropriate

for the target market. The placement of the two billboards along Katipunan flyover

ensures awareness of the product among college students. The TVC is aired at night

on GMA-7 and ABS-CBN, two of the most popular channels in the Philippines. The

radio commercial is aired on Wave 89.9, which is a youth-oriented radio station.

There is a Facebook fan page for Boracay Rum, and this helps the brand reach the

young, technologically savvy consumers.

Because the brand is relatively new, the advertisements aim to raise brand

awareness among consumers. This is achieved by the billboards along a heavily used

flyover, frequent radio and television advertisements and even user contests. Boracay

Rum held a contest among Nuffnang Bloggers wherein bloggers answered the

question “Where will you take your Boracay Rum?” on their blogs. This was a clever

strategic advertisement by Boracay Rum, because it was a way of increasing

awareness of the brand by favorable word-of-mouth.

Differences on how message was delivered across media types

The message delivered in the TVC was that after a day of work, young

professionals could metaphorically loosen their neckties and roll up their sleeves with

Boracay Rum. The TVC hinted at instant gratification, nonstop fun and partying in

accordance with the common perception of Boracay.

While the radio ad stayed true to the carefree perception of Boracay, it was

targeted more towards men as opposed to the TVC, which targeted both young men

and women. Perhaps this is because men tend to consume more alcoholic drinks than

women and creating brand awareness with men causes familiarity with the brand,

which may drive up sales figures.

The message delivered through the billboard was essentially a simpler version

of the TVC. A focal point of the billboard was the tagline “Capture the Island

Experience”, which was underlined by the emphasis on relaxation and leisure using

the image of waves breaking on the sand and the green and tan color scheme.

Perceived effectivity of ads in strengthening brand equity

The amount of advertising done for Boracay Rum alone can signal to

consumers that this brand is of good quality, because the company can afford such

frequent and visible advertising. The visibility and frequency of the ads increase

brand recognition, which leads to the perception that Boracay Rum is reliable and

likable. The pleasurable feelings that the ads play off of hit on a person’s desire to feel

good about himself. All of these associated values contribute to strengthening brand

equity of Boracay Rum, and to a certain extent, Tanduay.

Thoughts on how ads may be improved

The ads focus on the right things: that Boracay Rum is sexy, that people will

have a good time drinking it and that people will feel young and alive drinking it.

Perhaps the brand could have a celebrity endorser who fits the image of the target

market, such as what Cossack Blue did with their advertisements with Mariel

Rodriguez and Coco Martin. Brand recall could be faster and more effective if a

celebrity endorser were used.

Boracay Rum could also air its TVCs on ETC in addition to GMA-7 and

ABS-CBN, since ETC’s viewer demographic fits the age and social class of the

brand’s target market.

Other thoughts and opinions

It would seem that Boracay Rum was launched to compete against the

successful The Bar vodka; despite being a different kind of alcoholic beverage,

Boracay Rum is Tanduay’s first line of flavored alcohol. It combines a popular brand

(Boracay) with the pursuit of a new direction with Tanduay’s line of products.

Tanduay’s pursuit of a brand extension can convey to consumers that Tanduay does

not just have beverages for the older market; that Tanduay is current and keeps up-to-

date with the latest trends.

Develop a brand positioning statement based on advertising campaign evaluated

To fun-loving, adventurous and trendy teenagers, college students and young

professionals who seek to take a break from urban living and experience the bliss and

relaxation of Boracay with the utmost convenience, Boracay Rum is the brand of

quality flavored rum that captures the easygoing, stress-free Boracay experience in

two delightful flavors: sweet coconut or smooth cappuccino. The reasons are that the

sun-soaked nonstop fun and relaxation of the beach is available anytime and

anywhere with every sip of Boracay Rum. The brand character is attractive, youthful,

energetic, carefree and pleasure-seeking.