Oettinger Davidoff Names New Head of Europe and Global Travel Retail

Martin Kaufmann has been named the new senior vice president of Europe and global travel retail for Oettinger Davidoff AG, a position he will assume on Sept. 1. He replaces Albert Manzone, the current head of Europe, will be leaving the company and Christian Vonthron, the current head of global travel retail, will be taking early retirement.

Kaufmann, 48, comes to Oettinger Davidoff AG from the Estée Lauder Companies, where he served as senior vice president and general manager North America for Aveda. He began his career with the Gillette Company, advancing to business unit director DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) for Braun. When Procter & Gamble  acquired Gillette, he became the global marketing director for Braun’s male grooming division and then became managing director for P&G Wella Haircare in  Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

German by birth, Kaufmann grew up in the French speaking part of Switzerland and is bi-lingual in German and French, fluent in English and manages in Spanish and Italian as well. He holds an MBA from the University of Bayreuth in Germany, and studied Executive Education at IMD in Switzerland. He has lived and worked in Frankfurt, London, Geneva and New York. Martin and his family will be relocating from his current home in Minneapolis, Minn., to Basel in August.

In a statement, Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard, ceo of Oettinger Davidoff AG, said “with a track record of transformative leadership in branded consumer goods in global and regional roles, I am confident that Martin Kaufmann will make a significant contribution to accelerate growth in Europe as well as in global duty free. With this combined new key role in my senior team we will be better equipped for our future challenges and continue our company’s transformation.”

“I am very excited to join Hans-Kristian and the entire Oettinger Davidoff team to help driving the company’s business toward accelerated growth in Europe and Global Travel Retail,” Kaufmann said. “Oettinger Davidoff’s portfolio of strong brands and its leadership in that space makes it extremely compelling to me. And personally, I very much look forward to moving back to Switzerland, where I grew up.”

Manzone leaves the company after three years of significant contribution to the European business of Oettinger Davidoff, while Vonthron, who launched the Duty Free department at Oettinger Davidoff in 1997 and has led the impressive development to where our Global Travel Retail business is today, will take early retirement. He will be available to Oettinger Davidoff for future project work and will remain its representative on the board of TFWA, The Tax Free World Association, until the 2015 TFWA World Exhibition & Conference in October.