ABOUT

CHALLENGE:
Introducing a world-award-winning extra-premium Venezuelan rum to a Panamanian market of high-level executives, top bartenders, influencers, and media demanded more than a standard launch event. A beautiful bottle on a table, a cocktail in hand, and a speech about heritage would not justify the rarity and prestige of Ron Santa Teresa 1796 — aged solera rum born from a hacienda with over two centuries of history. The product needed an experience as extraordinary as the liquid itself: one that transported guests to Venezuela before a single drop was poured.

IDEA:
Take the guests to the Hacienda Santa Teresa before bringing the Hacienda to their glass. The event was conceived as a fully phygital experience — a seamless fusion of virtual and physical — structured in three acts: guests pre-selected their cocktail on the registration website; upon arrival at the penthouse of Makoto restaurant in Kenex Plaza, they put on 4K VR headsets and were immersed in a cinematic tour of the hacienda; and when the headsets came off, the exact cocktail they had chosen was already waiting in front of them, prepared live by Panama City's finest bartenders.

1796 — the year the dream was born. 2017 — the year it became reality in Panama. The narrative arc of the event mirrored the rum itself: patience, craft, and a reveal worth waiting for.

-Pre-event: Web Registration
Guests chose their cocktail online before arriving. The order was waiting.
-During: 4K VR Hacienda Tour
Immersive visit to Hacienda Santa Teresa — full production process, Venezuela in 4K.
-The Reveal: Headsets off. Drink ready.
Live bartenders. The chosen cocktail waiting the moment glasses came off. Total phygital closure.

-More than 50 Guests — execs, bartenders, media.
-4K VR resolution — immersive & cinematic.
-#1 First VR rum tasting in Latin America.

MY CONTRIBUTION - CREATIVE DIRECTOR:
As Creative Director, I conceived and produced the full phygital experience — from strategic concept and event architecture through to VR content direction, web registration mechanics, bartender choreography, and venue selection. My contribution:
-Phygital concept & experience architecture: I designed the three-act structure — digital pre-selection, virtual immersion, physical reveal — as a single seamless narrative. The key insight was that the most powerful moment of a luxury product launch is not the first sip: it is the anticipation before it. The VR experience was engineered to make that anticipation visceral.
-VR content direction: I directed the 4K virtual reality production — a cinematic tour of Hacienda Santa Teresa covering the full solera ageing process, the estate's 200-year history, and the story of the 1796 blend. The content was designed to be emotionally immersive, not technically impressive — the technology in service of the story.
-Web registration mechanic & CRM integration: I conceived the pre-event cocktail selection system — guests registered online and chose their drink before arriving. This created personalisation, data capture, and the theatrical reveal mechanic that made the event's closing moment memorable.
-Venue & production direction: I selected the penthouse of Makoto Japanese Restaurant at Kenex Plaza, Panama City — an exclusive, aesthetically refined environment that matched the premium register of Santa Teresa 1796 without competing with it. Every production detail — lighting, bartender briefing, VR station layout, cocktail presentation — was directed to sustain the brand world from entry to exit.