Every Christmas in Spain, Freixenet runs a promotional campaign for its sparkling wine, Carta Nevada. For 30 years, this has been a highly anticipated TV spot which each year features a different A-list celebrity (Paul Newman, Demi Moore etc.) and only runs for a month. In 2007, a changed was needed. It was decided to switch the emphasis from image to product, though keeping the glamour and sense of occasion. To create a piece of cinema felt like the answer. But this time, we’d shift the spotlight from in front of the camera to behind it, from actor to director.

Within 30 days it had been seen by over a million people on the site and you tube. Twenty two television stations asked to air the film for free, as content and not as an ad. More media time than we could ever buy. And the client managed to maintain the volume sales while supporting a 30% increase in its price.

Martin Scorsese was chosen to direct the film. His attachment increased expectation and sense of occasion. The film would be just under 10 minutes, much longer than the previous spots and lending to the feel of a cinematic event.

Over November, we announced the date of the premiere to the press, produced trailers that ran on TV and turned viral on the web, and then premiered the film on the Freixenet site. In December we screened it 516,043 times in 150 cinemas and distributed 380,000 DVDs.