Dylan Austin Out at Davidoff

Dylan Austin is no longer leading Davidoff’s U.S. operation.

The Swiss company confirmed to halfwheel that Austin is no longer with the company. He most recently served as president of Davidoff of Geneva Americas and as the head of the company’s U.S. operations, Davidoff of Geneva USA. No replacement has been named. (Davidoff’s statement regarding his departure listed his position as “vp of Davidoff of Geneva Americas,” he was named president of Davidoff of Americas in 2019.)

“Oettinger Davidoff thanks Dylan Austin for his dedication and contribution to the company and its brands in his 17 years of service and wishes him all the best in his future endeavours,” said Oettinger Davidoff AG, the parent company, in a statement to halfwheel. “Effective immediately and until a succession plan is defined, Zak Medwin, Commercial Director, and Lana Fraser, Director Head of Marketing & Retail, will assume ad-interim responsibility as ad-interim President and ad-interim Vice President of Davidoff of Geneva USA, Inc. respectively, strongly supported by the management team of Oettinger Davidoff AG.”

Austin declined to comment.

Austin’s tenure with Davidoff started in a relatively unique way. He was first hired by Camacho to assist with marketing projects like Camacho’s Black Band Project. In 2008, Davidoff purchased Camacho from the Eiroas, and in 2011, the integration was completed. Austin was one of the Camacho employees who went on to work for Davidoff. Around that time, Davidoff’s U.S. marketing department was split into two. One side handled Davidoff, AVO and S.T. Dupont, which at the time, Davidoff distributed in the U.S. Austin led marketing for the company’s other brands: Camacho, Cusano, The Griffin’s, Zino Platinum and Room101, which was also distributed by Davidoff at the time.

In 2013, Davidoff unveiled a completely remade Camacho, a project that was led by Austin. The relaunch was an unprecedented makeover in that nearly every aspect of Camacho was remade for the modern era. The portfolio was streamlined, the packaging was completely new for the industry, and the brand’s identity was centered around one word: bold. Camacho’s relaunch went so well that only a couple of years later, Davidoff tried a less extensive portfolio makeover for its AVO brand, which didn’t have the same success as the Camacho revamp. In late 2017, Austin was promoted to vp of sales and marketing for Davidoff of Geneva USA. Less than 18 months later, he was promoted to president of Davidoff Americas.

Update (May 9, 2024) — Clarified some confusion about Austin’s title.