Aces find home in PBA

MANILA, Philippines – Alaska vice president for marketing Blen Fernando said the other day the PBA as a marketing vehicle has played a major role in building the Alaska brand and image to reach a high level of awareness in the market since the franchise entered the pro league in 1986.

“As early as 1993, we began actively using our PBA team as a marketing tool to promote nutrition in milk,” said Fernando, a multi-awarded marketing executive. “It’s been our consistent message over time. With our company, the passion for sport is cascaded from top to bottom. Our CEO Mr. (Fred) Uytengsu, as we all know, is a passionate sportsman. He treats our involvement in the PBA as part of business. Our team is aligned with our business goals. That’s why our employees are all engaged in supporting our team. We make sure our employees know what’s going on with our team and they’re involved. Obviously, if you don’t align your team with corporate marketing strategies, you won’t be effective as a marketing tool.”

Fernando said while there is no official research data pointing to a correlation between Alaska’s performance in the PBA and number of stocks sold, she knows it’s a positive linkage. “Would a fan switch loyalties if his or her team loses?” she continued. “I don’t think so. With Alaska, it’s about the team, not about any one player. Win or lose, the team stands proudly. Our team espouses the values of discipline, hard work and playing together.”

Fernando said when icons like Johnny Abarrientos, Jojo Lastimosa and L. A. Tenorio left Alaska to join other teams, Alaska withstood their loss. “In focus group discussions, we established that in the PBA, fans typically go where the players go,” she said. “It’s not like in the NBA where each team has a solid fan base because every team represents a city. But at Alaska, we try to impress on the fans the value of the team as a whole. It’s the reason why we were the first PBA team to start a chat room with fans. We’re actively engaged in Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and our own portal to keep in constant contact with our fans.”

At the same time, Fernando said Alaska’s image must be enhanced by the players. “The danger of a team being about one or two stars is you’re vulnerable to whatever happens to those players,” she said. “With our team, we want our players to abide by our corporate values of integrity and hard work. We want a wholesome image to go with our promoting nutrition in milk. The concept of using sport as a marketing vehicle is fantastic and relevant. It was Mr. Uytengsu’s father who thought of the idea of joining the PBA in 1985. Mr. Uytengsu just got back from the US where he studied and when a PBA franchise became available in 1986, Alaska bought in. It’s not just the PBA where Alaska is involved in sports. It’s also in soccer, in triathlon, in cycling and others. The challenge was how to use our involvement in sports to strengthen our brand.”

It wasn’t until 1991 when Alaska won its first PBA title. Then, it became a habit. In 1996, Alaska became only the third franchise after Crispa (1976, 1983) and San Miguel Corp. (1989) to nail a Grand Slam. Alaska has now won 14 championships. Last season, the team was a losing finalist in two conferences.

Fernando said capturing the Grand Slam was a boost to creating widespread brand awareness. “It definitely had an impact with our consumers and trade partners,” she said. “That took us to a level where we began building stronger relationships with the trade. We became more active in merchandising premium items related to our business. Alaska, as our mega-brand, grew stronger. We have a line of products under Alaska and the halo effect was evident. Only once did our franchise use a different brand, Hills Brothers, but we reverted back to Alaska. It’s difficult to quantify if losing or winning in the PBA has a direct effect on sales. But we’d like to think that with our team carrying our brand, our fans will stay loyal no matter what. We know from reaction in digital media, we’ve got a solid fan base, silent fans who are loyal to Alaska, not to any one player.”

Fernando said using the moniker Aces was the result of a test process. “We used to be called the Milkmen,” she said. “Several years ago, the different marketing directors representing teams in the PBA got together with IMG to think of catchy monikers. There were several options in the list we came up with. Our initial list had about 35 options then we short-listed it to four. I remember Sta. Lucia Realty thought of being called the Developers before deciding on Realtors. Ginebra became the Kings and Coca-Cola, the Tigers. We decided on the Aces because it could relate to our slogan ‘Wala Pa Rin Tatalo Sa Alaska,’ it was short, easy to remember and it had a positive reference to those high-flying fighter pilots. The moniker Aces resonated so after a lot of thinking, we decided on using it.”

Fernando said the PBA can do much more to support the marketing objectives of its teams. “Alaska was the first to create its own website among PBA teams,” she said. “We were quite advanced in promoting our team as a marketing vehicle. The PBA is in a position to be more pro-active in connecting with our fans and promoting the league to the next level.”

Alaska’s battlecry of “We Not Me” is an expression of its core value of teamwork. Aces coach Alex Compton’s philosophy of equal opportunity is in line with the concept as he gives every player the chance to perform regardless of his status as a starter or reliever. In Alaska’s 82-69 win over Globalport in Game 3 of the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals at the Big Dome last Saturday, 11 Aces logged at least 13 minutes, six at least 20 with none 30 or more compared to Batang Pier’s seven playing at least 20 and three 30 or more.