Domecq recruits Euro brand chief

Allied Domecq Spirits & Wine has appointed Richard Gowar as head of its European International Brand Group. Gowar will assume responsibility for the marketing of key brands – including Beefeater Gin, Courvoiser cognac and Teacher’s whisky – ac

Allied Domecq Spirits & Wine has appointed Richard Gowar as head of its European International Brand Group.

Gowar will assume responsibility for the marketing of key brands – including Beefeater Gin, Courvoiser cognac and Teacher’s whisky – across the continent.

He replaces Ian Hannah, who left the position in March to become Allied Domecq’s director of corporate communications.

Gowar was previously market ing director of the Ballantine’s whisky brand, one of the company’s strongest lines, which sold 5 mil lion cases last year. He retains control of the brand and will be based in Bristol.

He will also be responsible for building a younger profile for Ballantine’s in mature European markets, where its sales are predominantly to men aged over 35. The strategy will include a sponsorship campaign involving a series of music and snowboarding extravaganzas, featuring The Prodigy, in the run-up to Christmas.

A spokesman says: “In north ern European markets, Scottish whisky is seen as something your father would buy. We want to challenge that perception. In east ern and southern Europe, young people see the drink as something aspirational.”