Pernod Ricard USA announces Key Spirits Marketing Appointments

Pernod Ricard USA announces two key spirits marketing appointments designed to support and accelerate the company's drive toward outperformance in 2010: Jonas Renner Tahlin has been named Vice President of Marketing, Vodkas; and Tim Murphy is appointed to the newly created role of Vice President, Marketing Innovation.

Jonas Renner Tahlin comes to Pernod Ricard USA from The ABSOLUT Company (a global unit of Pernod Ricard), where he was Regional Vice President/Commercial Director -- Americas. "Jonas' strong marketing, commercial and leadership skills, combined with a keen understanding of ABSOLUT and the U.S. market, make him an ideal choice for his new role," said Matt Aeppli, Senior Vice President, Spirits Marketing, Pernod Ricard USA. Renner Tahlin will be responsible for further enhancing ABSOLUT's marketing strategy and translating that strategy into execution.

Renner Tahlin started his career in marketing at Procter and Gamble after earning a Master's Degree in Business from the Stockholm School of Economics. He quickly rose through the ranks at P&G in a series of international assignments. In 2006, Jonas was recruited to head up the European business of Vin & Sprit (the former owner of ABSOLUT), where, under his leadership, the brand grew strongly. In his new role as Vice President, Marketing Innovation, Tim Murphy, currently VP Marketing Vodkas and Gins for Pernod Ricard USA, will be responsible for developing new marketing capabilities and helping to shape a world-class marketing organization.

Murphy led ABSOLUT Marketing in the U.S. for the past seven years, after having acquired in-depth marketing and industry knowledge at Diageo for many years prior to that. Said Aeppli: "I am confident that Tim will successfully leverage his extensive industry and marketing experience to create strong, impactful marketing innovation that drives our performance." Tahlin and Murphy will officially assume their new positions on Jan. 1, 2010, reporting to Aeppli.

SOURCE Pernod Ricard USA