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Management Consultancy |
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Experiential Brands Marketing | |
Heritage and Leisure Development | |
Exhibition Design and Operations | ||||||||
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 View the BACARDI Showcase in pictures!  See some video clips from Casa BACARDI: Clip 1 (File size: 1.5MB) Clip 2 (File size: 1.7MB) Clip 3 (File size: 1.6MB) Clip 4 (File size: 1.5MB) Clip 5 (File size: 1.7MB) Clip 6 (File size: 1.4MB) Read the Financial Times review "...perfect...long-time BACARDI employees and family members got tears in their eyes seeing it..." The Miami Herald "...more effective than a page in People magazine..." Eduardo Sardiña, President, BACARDI North America "You can't put a monetary value to a place like this." Ruben Rodriguez Chairman, BACARDI
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BACARDI Showcase Casa BACARDI – Experience the Spirit Opening the $7m Casa BACARDI brand centre in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Bacardi Limited Chairman, President and CEO Ruben Rodriguez commented: "The centre represents the very spirit and soul of BACARDI. Through this magnificent attraction we share the fascinating history of a family, a brand and a company." But what a history! We began working with BACARDI in July 2000, when we were invited to Puerto Rico to evaluate the Company’s existing tour facilities. At once we were struck by the potent combination of a turbulent history, the dynamic tourism industry of Puerto Rico and the appeal of the world’s most popular premium spirits brand. Following our initial creative recommendations, we were appointed to develop the design of the new centre. Our approach has been to encourage visitors to discover for themselves the unique qualities of the Bacardi family and brand story. The 17,000 square foot centre uses the latest interactive technologies to promote and encourage discovery, as well as providing for personal interaction between visitors and the highly-trained and enthusiastic guides. Casa BACARDI is divided into seven zones, each highlighting a particular aspect of the Company’s story. Visitors collect a hand-held audio guide and then enter a reproduction of a nineteenth century colonial courtyard, typical of the Spanish Caribbean. The dramatic fountain centrepiece is surrounded by tiled murals, reproducing original artworks by the Consultancy’s Gill Allan. Gill’s work represents the arrival of Columbus in the Americas, the birth of the sugar industry in the Caribbean and the drama of piracy throughout the West Indies, all based on detailed historical research and archive sources. Leaving the courtyard, guests enter the ‘Bat Theatre’ for a dramatic ten minute multi-media presentation of the BACARDI story. The film itself, produced by Edinburgh’s Mirage TV Productions, is complemented by a 60-foot-long mural painting of Santiago de Cuba Bay, birthplace of the Bacardi Company. Above, a fibre optic starlit sky reproduces the stars seen from Santiago de Cuba in February 1862 when Don Facundo Bacardí opened his first distillery. And this is where we take the visitor next. Leaving the 99 seat auditorium, they enter a reproduction of the original distillery, complete with an authentic, hand-made copper still – an exact replica of the first BACARDI alembic. The façade of the first distillery opens to reveal a typical nineteenth century office. Using antique furnishings and original documents we explore the Company’s early growth and development from Cuba to world markets. Naturally, the product itself is given pride of place and, in the next two areas, visitors enter a virtual ‘blending tank’ to discover the brand’s secrets in a series of video presentations grouped around a dramatic 1950s column still, first used to distil BACARDI rum in Mexico. Visitors then nose a selection of rums to explore the impact of wood barrelling, ageing and finishing upon the final product. The journey continues in a detailed recreation of the 1930s art deco bar within the Edificio Bacardi in Havana, Cuba – an architectural deco masterpiece. Posing as tourists, we visited the bar to research the necessary details. Appreciating the atmosphere was delightfully easy, but our wish to measure the chairs and photograph the original floor was harder to explain! Happily, we were accepted as mere eccentric enthusiasts – but the result is a meticulously accurate recreation of the space in which visitors such as Errol Flynn and a host of other celebrities enjoyed the BACARDI cocktails that today are demonstrated by the skilled bar staff of the Casa BACARDI. Leaving the bar, visitors move through a series of time line displays to re-enter the modern world in the BACARDI Spirit. Reminiscent of a fashionable night club, with light show and five dramatic large screen displays, the BACARDI Spirit is also home to a spectacular 375 bottle tower of BACARDI. With this as a backdrop, visitors can send video messages to their envious friends by e-mail, before rejoining their trolley bus for a tour of the landscaped grounds. The Consultancy team on the project, directed by Kenna Tasker, involved Kenna, Gill Allan, Judith Holmes and Ian Buxton and required careful co-ordination of an international project group as far-flung as Amsterdam and Los Angeles and as close to home as Rothes. More than 250,000 visitors annually will enjoy the result, but the final word must go to our client. Questioned at Casa BACARDI opening about the Centre’s contribution to the business, Chairman Ruben Rodriguez commented: "You can’t put a monetary value to a place like this." We couldn’t agree more! Click here to view the BACARDI showcase in pictures.
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17/6 East Silvermills Lane, Edinburgh EH3 5BG Telephone: 07740 493781 |