Suntory Global Spirits has appointed Vanessa Widmann as the MD of its ‘Middle East & Africa’ operations in the global travel retail (GTR) channel.
Widmann, who will take on the responsibilities from 1 September, joins Suntory following almost nine years at Moët Hennessy, most recently as MD for ‘Asia Pacific’ in the wine & spirits group’s GTR division. She succeeds Ashish Gandham, who left the GTR unit in January following his promotion to be MD of Suntory Oceania.
Prior to joining Moët Hennessy, Widmann (above) spent time at fashion-brand owners Coach, Levi Strauss & Co and L Brands (which owns Victoria’s Secret). Between 1993 and 2002 she also worked for Moët Hennessy’s parent company LVMH in its perfumes & cosmetics unit.
In her new role, Widmann will be based in Singapore and report in to international president Carol Robert.
“GTR is one of our most important growth channels and plays a unique role in building our brands with consumers around the world,” said Robert. “As we continue to strengthen our international business, we wanted a leader who brings not only deep travel retail expertise, but also fresh perspective from across a diverse range of consumer industries.
“Vanessa’s experience leading transformation, building high-performing teams and delivering exceptional consumer and customer experiences across luxury, fashion, beauty and spirits makes her exceptionally well placed to lead the next chapter of growth for our GTR business.”
In May, Suntory Global Spirits released details of the debut global marketing push – and brand ambassador appointment – for Hibiki Japanese whisky. Then last month, the company unveiled a pop-up Japanese-whisky store alongside a permanent shop for the brand at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport.
