New Zealand is the third-largest market in the world for Campari International's Riccadonna wine - after Italy and Australia - and last week Campari's marketing manager, Kathleen Murphy, touched down briefly in Auckland to discuss Riccadonna's imminent rebranding with local distributor Lion Nathan.
Here to understand "specific consumer
insights from New Zealand to help drive the brand", Murphy says: "We are developing new packaging, a website and launching a new Rose range."
The sweet taste of the current products Asti and Ruby will not change, and Rose will be in a similar vein, containing 50g of sugar per litre.
Originally from Pennsylvania, America, Murphy had seven years' experience marketing wine throughout Latin America, London and Amsterdam for California's family-run Ernest and Julio Gallo winery - until recently the world's largest - before landing the Campari role.
She is responsible for Campari's wine-based portfolio, as well as the Campari and Sky Vodka brands. Campari is headquartered in Milan, with its international business unit in Monaco, where Murphy is based.
She focuses mainly on 10 countries, principally in Eastern Europe, particularly Russia.
With product distributed to 130 countries, she estimates spending 60-80 per cent of her time travelling - not a life conducive to personal socialising or romance, but she is unfazed by living out of suitcases.
"I'm quite fascinated with my position. I've been doing it for the past two years, and imagine doing this for another couple of years. After that I'd like to continue staying in Monaco looking after a team of people, before maybe moving back to the States, you never know."
A typical work day, if it can be called that, sees Murphy on the phone at all hours doing international consumer research to understand how to have one common global positioning.
In rare moments of downtime, Murphy revels in sitting on the terrace of her apartment in Monaco, gazing at the sea.
A celebrity safe haven thanks to its rulers' paparazzi ban, "any given night at a bar, you're dancing and someone bumps into you and you're like, 'Sean Penn, go away'," she laughs.
Murphy is at present involved in the selection of this year's Campari calendar model.
Now in its 10th year, celebrity beauties such as Selma Hayek and Eva Mendes have previously graced its pages. The new face of Campari will be announced at a party in Milan, but Murphy isn't giving anything else away.
"I like marketing luxury alcohol goods. Even when I miss planes and it gets a bit wild - I've been to many great parties with Campari."
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