"Over the years, drinkers have been spoilt by the range, entertainment and excitement of advertising designed to promote beers, spirits, PPS and other drinks. And they understand every trick in a marketer's armoury. This means that the advertising environment is even more fiercely competitive through the bars and off licenses," says Chris Hunton, deputy chairman of the brand's agency, McCann-Erickson London. "Only great advertising is good enough to create sustainable long-term powerful brands. This is what McCann-Erickson is doing through its work for Bacardi Breezer. The ads have transformed the sector known as 'alco-pops' into a serious and credible sector - Premium Packaged Spirits."

Bacardi-Martini UK's brands are split into lowproof products like Breezer, Metz (with an ad budget of £1.2m), Bacardi (with a £8m ad budget), NPD, Bombay Sapphire and Martini (with a £2m ad budget). The company also markets Glenmorangie.

According to Roger Harrison, marketing controller low proof of Bacardi-Martini UK, Bacardi Breezer, Metz, V2 and Bacardi Rigo have massive competitor sets as people's moods and needs change through the night. Bacardi competes with other white spirits as well as wine and vermouth. Bacardi Breezer competes with brands such as Budweiser, Becks, Smirnoff Ice, Archers Aqua, wine, spirits as well as products like Malibu and Archers. Bacardi Breezer is the market leader of premium packaged spirits and comes number two in the fridge behind Budweiser, while Metz is number four behind Breezer, Smirnoff Ice, WKD and Red Square.

McCann-Erickson London has held the Bacardi and Bacardi Breezer account for eight years. Bacardi Breezer was first advertised in 1993 with a very basic beach ad. The brand took off and was then rolled out nationally. In 1995 the 'True Stories' campaign was launched nationally on TV & radio. Scripts like "Romeo & Juliet" and "Henry the 8th," started with the line "I'll tell you a true story" and finished with the line "I'm telling you that's the way it happened." The campaign was used to get the brand established as an adult premium packaged spirit, an alternative to beer.

The campaign lasted until 1998 and helped grow the brand from zero to 37 per cent on trade distribution and from a £50m brand to a £220m. There was still a need however, to make the brand even more aspirational and adult, divorcing it from the competition. So, in November 1998 the "Latin Spirit in Everyone" campaign was launched with two ads "Interview" and "Psychologist" playing on the duality of the brand. Howard Greenhalgh of production company Godman shot both in Venezuela.

The following year, Greenhalgh shot two more ads in Puerto Rico, as part of the continuing campaign "Landlady" and "Mother-in-Law." This campaign managed to grow the brand to a value of £400m and a trade distribution of 49 per cent. It also created enjoyment scores of 73 per cent among 18-24 year old adults as measured by Millward Brown.

"By 2000 the brand had become a power brand and we really needed to drive home the brand essence of Bacardi Breezer, which is playful freedom. We also needed a vehicle to appeal to younger and older adults as the brand is drunk across a very wide adult demographic," says Harrison. "McCann-Erickson London came up with TomCat, and in November 2000, it was launched through a campaign directed by Great Guns' directing duo Who? (Liam Kan and Grant Hodgson). There have already been three ads shown on TV, with the fourth in August."

Although a hit with the punters, the TomCat series has failed to walk significantly at award ceremonies.

"Despite Tom's lack of awards success this year, the campaign has had the best feedback from any campaign we've done in the last 10 years. Mention you've just shot another Breezer spot starring Tom and people stop conversation to find out the next adventure so they can be one-up on their mates," says Laura Gregory, producer of the campaign. "The press coverage and popularity with the public has been incredible. I even spoke to a Virgin stewardess who has a pin-up photo of Tom by her female cat's food bowl! It's this kind of popularity and press take-up that feeds into the old theory that effective commercials don't necessarily pick up the gongs."

Harrison explains that Tom has now become a celebrity in his own right and frequently graces the pages of glossy magazines. The brand is now a £500m brand at retail with 64 per cent distribution, just five per cent behind Budweiser, and it is now the second biggest bottle brand in the fridge behind Budweiser.

"With a current advertising budget circa £10m with 50 per cent of this being spent on TV, TomCat has been the most successful ad for Breezer, growing our enjoyment scores from 73 to 83 per cent of 18-34 year old adults," says Harrison."It is impossible to measure TV response to sales uplift accurately. We do believe that a brand's top of mind is so important when people are considering which brands to buy as people do not make their purchase decision until the very last minute.

We do know from Millward Brown that over the years people have drunk our product in a more loyal manor and that they have a greater infinity with the brand than ever before. The biggest challenge with any brand is keeping the brand relevant to its consumers and top of mind. Breezer is therefore the same as any other brand and therefore advertising is fundamental to the on going health of the brand. TV is however one of the many ways we communicate, and experiential marketing as well as the Internet are other strong mediums."

According to Harrison, TV is the strongest medium for the brand, but press, outdoor, radio ñ and particularly cinema for spirit brands - have also worked well.