Gurkha Cigar Group, Inc. has announced the hiring of Christine Martinez de Castro as the company’s new director of marketing and public relations. She will plan, direct, supervise and coordinate all branding, advertising, public relations, social media and marketing campaigns for the company.

Martinez de Castro is no stranger to Gurkha, having worked with the company for more than four years via her public relations agency, CMC Public Relations. Among her other clients were JetBlue, GE Energy, New Zealand Tourism, Marriott and Coca-Cola North America, for which she handled media training, crisis communication and integrated marketing and branding campaigns.

“Hiring Christine was a no brainer,” said Kaizad Hansotia, ceo of Gurkha Cigars, via a press release. “She was already part of the Gurkha family… she knows the brand, she knows the team and she is a great team player. It was just a natural transition and over the last few years she has really showed her value to the company and I think I can speak for the company when I say we are all excited that she now is officially part of Gurkha.”

According to a press release issued by Gurkha on Monday, Martinez de Castro began working for Ketchum Public Relations in both their Miami and Atlanta offices overseeing several accounts including Charles Schwab, BellSouth, Nokia and Visa International among others. She later joined Delta Air Lines’ corporate communications team and executed internal and external communication strategies for Latin American, Caribbean and U.S.-based Hispanic media.

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Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for MLB.com, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.