First event on one of Europe’s youngest pieces of land to launch Macaronesian Gin in Spain, engaging consumers, hospitality, and media, while showcasing resilience and Canarian pride of the brand.
Grupo Varma, a Spanish family-owned company with over 75 years of history and a benchmark in premium beverage distribution, launched in 2024 Macaronesian Gin, a premium gin crafted in the Canary Islands with volcanic rock-filtered water and until then distributed only within the islands.
The goal was to introduce the brand in mainland Spain and build relevance around its distinctive attribute: volcanic water. Objectives included raising brand awareness and recognition among consumers, entering the hospitality channel, gaining bartender endorsement, and positioning the gin as a preferred choice for end consumers, driving sales.
The challenge was to achieve this with a much smaller budget than usual launch campaigns and to generate awareness beyond the archipelago.
Tough advertising restrictions on alcoholic beverages and a limited budget required a strategy capable of generating organic media impact and opening the hospitality channel.
The solution was to create a narrative connected to the brand’s DNA: its Canarian essence and the uniqueness of being distilled with volcanic rock-filtered water. The 2021 Tajogaite eruption in La Palma offered the perfect platform. The protagonist was Vicente Leal, a local resident who years earlier had posted a video asking for help to dig out his home.
This gave birth to Macaronesian Stories, the first event on one of Europe’s youngest pieces of land and a documentary that not only told his story but aimed to help Vicente recover his house, becoming a symbol of resilience, hope, and Canarian pride.
