KEY POINTS:
Former Philip Morris executive Paul Dibbayawan has swapped cigarettes for liquor after being headhunted by Bacardi to manage its new acquisition, 42 Below.
Dibbayawan has been appointed Auckland-based managing director of 42 Below, working alongside company chief executive and co-founder Geoff Ross.
Ross and the company's other shareholders sold the vodka producer to global drinks giant Bacardi in a $137 million deal sealed late last year.
Dibbayawan's move to New Zealand comes after a 12 year globe-trotting career with tobacco multinational Philip Morris where his roles included head of international accounts, country manager for Chile and marketing and sales director for Ecuador and Bolivia.
The 37-year-old Australian says he first heard about 42 Below a few years ago through Kiwi friends in London.
The name popped up again with other friends in Thailand last year and he says as a result he was excited to get a call from Bacardi early this year about the managing director role.
"My key challenge is to ensure that I can keep the New Zealand energy, passion and love of this brand and take it to the global arena," Dibbayawan said.
"The potential for this brand is enormous. We really just need to tap into [Bacardi's] larger network but have everyone know it's still New Zealand, it's still original and it still has that same purity and irreverent style."
In changing direction, Dibbayawan would have been hard pressed to land in a business afflicted with more marketing controversy than the tobacco industry, but with 42 Below he has come close to doing so.
Ross, a former advertising executive, has had huge success building the vodka brand through a mix of pitching it as a top-quality product, using irreverent advertising and publicity stunts.
Dibbayawan said Ross would continue to be "the man behind the brand", and as chief executive would have a role that complemented his.
"He will continue to provide the intuitive marketing elements ... He's really going to be the global brand ambassador - taking it to the world.
"I'm going to be driving it from a business perspective and really working it through in terms of utilising the Bacardi distribution network."
Dibbayawan, who has settled in Takapuna with his wife and three children, said his relaxed management style would fit the 42 Below culture.
"We're trying to turn away from just business as usual," said the MBA holder. "It's not business as usual because we are taking a piece of New Zealand to the world, and we're doing that with the support of Bacardi who are very, very excited about this brand."
Dibbayawan said his initial focus would be on growing sales in 42 Below's existing markets, particularly the US and UK.
He said the brand would continue to follow a marketing strategy which he described as "honest and saying it like it is".
"That's something that goes a long way in marketing. Some people like it and some people don't. I think from a brand strategy we're not here to please all, we're here to ensure those who love us really love us well."
