CINA: Seven years. I entered the company on January 1, 1997. I had been running a food-chain discount company that had taken over another outlet chain of discount perfumeries, so I gained quite a bit of experience in the cosmetics industry - including the marketing principles which I brought to the Davidoff brands. I spent the first full year mostly finding out about how things worked here, and then on January 1, 1998, I became president.

SMOKE: What was it about the cigar business that interested you?

CINA: I'm still not actually a cigar expert. I've really only had experience in retail and wholesaling, and I believe that, if you have that experience, it's not difficult to understand how the basic instruments of marketing work. You need just a little bit of time to get adapted to the specifics of a product or product category. It's not a technical product where you'd have to be, say, an engineer to understand what's behind it. There are a lot of feelings and attachment behind the marketing of cigars, but I believe that once you have specific techniques in your head, you can apply them to any product.

SMOKE: Cigars, like cosmetics, are seen as a luxury product. Do you believe the marketing approach should be similar?

CINA: The cosmetics industry is by far a different one than the cigar industry. The approach for launching new products is different, although I believe that at the same time the cigar business is changing, and will change even more towards this fast-moving consumer that we are targeting with the Zino Platinum brand. I think that with the introduction of that line, we've caught up with this new style of approach.

SMOKE: Was it your decision to expand the Zino brand?

CINA: Almost four years ago, we were approached by Peter Arnell and Steve Stout from Arnell Group, a top U.S. publicity firm. They explained to us what they had in mind for our company. Davidoff decided not only to enlist the Arnell Group as our agency, but we founded a joint venture, and that is the origin of our Zino Platinum business.

SMOKE: What is the concept behind Zino Platinum?

CINA: The motivation comes from PASS's business, which is heavily involved with the hip-hop music world. They observed all these trends among the music's audience, and found there were many who enjoyed smoking. They thought that with these new trends in the market we could combine an excellent product with a new marketing approach, and lead this industry to a new level. Hopefully, we would have the chance to attract the people who may, for one reason or another, not be attracted by the old, traditional ways cigars were marketed. So the aim of the project is certainly not to replace Griffins smokers, for example, with Zino Platinum smokers, but it was our intention to attract a new group of people.

SMOKE: Has the idea always been to appeal to a more contemporary crowd who may have preconceived notions about Davidoff brands?

CINA: That is definitely the main objective. And we're doing it in a two-step strategy, with the larger, more expensive Crown line preparing the market for the new Scepter line. We now have 70 Crown line accounts; we started with 30. And we have already sold the Scepter line to more than 500 retailers.

SMOKE: To a cigar smoker, what is the difference between the Scepter line and the Crown line?

CINA: First of all, there are only three shapes in the Crown line, compared to the Scepter line, with five shapes. The blends are different, the packaging is different, and clearly, with the Crown priced at $29 to $34 per cigar, we are aiming at different clienteles.

SMOKE: Why was the decision made to go with the three larger shapes and higher price points first, and then bring out the lower-priced line?

CINA: We hoped that by having such an exclusive line of cigars, we would attract the attention of celebrities and VIPs. These days, even if you released a cigar at, say, $9; even though you may make it attractive, it's not seen as something so special. There are always certain types of people who take pleasure in showing that they are able to afford it, that they are part of a successful segment of the population. Obviously, it worked. In 1983, when we launched Zino, priced between $3 and $5, everyone said "You're crazy." Then we followed it up with Davidoff, starting at $8 or $9, and they said, "Now you're really getting crazy." And last year, people saw the Zino Platinum Crown Line, and just shook their heads and smiled. But it's possible, if you do this the right way, to catch a certain clientele. We hit the market in a completely new way, and with a truly extraordinary product.

SMOKE: What are the characteristics of the cigars, as far as strength and taste?

CINA: I'm not the blending expert, but according to our tobacco specialists, it's a rather full-bodied cigar, which Americans seem to take to. The wrapper is a sun-grown Connecticut seed tobacco cultivated in Ecuador, the binder is Connecticut shade tobacco grown in the US, and the filler is made of three different Dominican tobaccos and a fourth, Peruvian one, which has never been used before in any of our cigar blends. The Peruvian tobacco in the filler adds something unique to the flavor. It's a full-bodied to strong blend, depending on the shapes of the cigars, but still very accessible to a casual cigar smoker who would just like to try something special. We will soon see whether it will be the right mixture for the Europeans, because we plan to introduce the Scepter line this Fall in Switzerland, Germany, Russia, and our various duty-free shops.

SMOKE: Will you be selling Zino Platinum through any non-traditional channels?

CINA: Until now, we haven't attracted many non-traditional outlets; to convince store owners to sell tobacco products on their shelves if they've never been tobacco retailers, you must prove that your product is appropriate for their clientele. Now that we've had some success in that area, we are trying these new avenues for distribution.

SMOKE: To most consumers, there's a clear connection between Davidoff and the Zino brand, but has the success of the Platinum campaign brought any collateral benefit to the other Davidoff lines?

CINA: We've been working very hard on our traditional lines as well, and we're already seeing that the existing Zino line has picked up in sales. Of course, the serious cigar connoisseur knows that all these lines come out of the same Davidoff factory, but I wouldn't say that for everyone there is a clear link between Davidoff and these other lines. Avo, for example, has a very clear identity of its own.

SMOKE: Will you be marketing the Platinum line the same way in Europe?

CINA: No, because in Europe there is not as much fuss about celebrities and their preference for certain brands of products; interestingly, this preoccupation with pop culture is not as highly developed as it is in the U.S.

SMOKE: Is there any group that has the same cachet in Europe as certain movie stars, sports figures, and politicians have in this country?

CINA: There are some, but they are rare. The notion that everybody looks [at] who carries this, who wears what type of watch, is by far not as prevalent as it is in this country. There is a Swiss watch company that does its ads with celebrities, like Cindy Crawford and Boris Becker, but I couldn't name another European company that uses that approach. There is also a certain risk [involved with celebrity endorsements], because you never know what will happen to these people... if a movie star is all of a sudden no longer "in," it could affect your strategy.

SMOKE: Does Davidoff have any plans to target the other end of the cigar market - the value-priced segment, which seems to now be growing?

CINA: Our Private Stock line, introduced a few years ago, was the first step towards a quality cigar at a more accessible price level, around $4. And we are close to being ready to go to a new cigar priced at a very nice $2; this will be under an entirely new brand name. All over the world, there has been a shift toward the higher-end price range of cigars, but due to the economic situation, there is also a huge movement toward that lower end. So instead of leaving this field completely to other companies, we are prepared to have some product there.

SMOKE: With all the successes you've overseen at Davidoff, are you starting to feel more like a cigar expert?

CINA: Believe it or not, I think that not coming from the cigar business was an advantage for me. I was asking questions that might not have been asked if I had come from the cigar industry, and taken risks that might not have been taken. And my philosophy is that if you don't take any risks, then you won't have any success.

SMOKE: Do you think you're setting a trend in the industry, with the return of the cigar as status symbol?