Written Analysis of Case (WAC) for Brand Management class under Pindy Mendiola Topic: Tanduay's Boracay Rum tri-media advertisements of July 2011 Semester 1, SY 2011-2012 Ateneo de Manila University

1. Eleanor Kawsek July 20, 2011
Written Analysis of Case: Boracay Rum by Tanduay
TVC Storyboard:
Frame 01 Frame 02
City setting. A man in office attire unbuttons his polo. Sand falls from his clothes as he walks through the city.
Frame 03 Frame 04
He and others in similar corporate attire drop their clothes to Lampposts turn into palm trees as they walk by.
the sand and run to the beach.
Frame 05 Frame 06
The man takes out Boracay Rum from his sand-filled bag. City landscape changes to a beach as Boracay Rum passes by.
Frame 07 Frame 08
Boracay Rum is poured into a glass. Someone takes the glass of Boracay Rum and the party starts.

2. Frame 09 Frame 10
People are having a good time with Boracay Rum. Capture the Island Experience with Boracay Rum.
Billboard:
Billboard location: Along Katipunan flyover, coming from White Plains going to Ateneo.
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.

3. 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

4. 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-

5. 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.

6. 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

7. 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.