I am Ron Barceló’s Commercial Director and Chief Marketing officer. For over 20 years of professional experience I have found inspiration, passion and self-motivation in strategic marketing and global business development.

After obtaining a degree in Engineering, I was distinguished with a scholarship, by the Organization of American States, to Master in International Business. At this time, I started to work with clients from very heterogeneous cultures and, all of a sudden, I was immersed in an enriching global environment that resulted as dynamic and unforeseeable as challenging and fascinating. Nothing to do with the rigid, and somehow predictable, results expected from formal sciences.

It did not take me long to realize that consumer’s behavior is dictated by constantly evolving circumstances and that in order to try to manage a brand that could remain relevant I needed to consistently test the way I saw the markets. For these reasons I became Alumni at Kellogg School of Management and took some graduate programs at Wharton Business School. I am a permanent student of consumer’s use and attitudes both in a classroom, but most importantly, observing their behavior at the time and place of consumption.

Without hesitation we have contributed to elevate the rum image through constant innovation that results in more complex blends and bolder packaging.

Until recently, consumers perceived rum merely as a popular cocktail’s spirit while Barceló brought to the industry sipping alternatives with unique, yet versatile, characteristics able to pair with cigars and gastronomic offerings or to be part of the art of modern mixology.  As we felt it was imperative to guide customers and help them increase their knowledge we have added to our team Brand Ambassadors to constantly attend trade and consumer events.

It was around 13 years ago when I became captivated by Andres Oppenheimer’s bibliography. Oppenheimer is an Argentinean journalist that resides in the United States. His books present many of Latin America’s challenges to efficiently compete in the Global Environment and he cites some of the, then few, successful stories of our countries in the international commercial arena. At this time, I realize that I deeply believed our country, The Dominican Republic, could be part of that list of stories and that rum was a promising product with a beautiful production process, that could become a Country Brand just by paying attention to the consumer trends, bringing those findings to our team and by going against our inertia to position our national spirit as an iconic player that could transcend our geographical boundaries.

The fact that we are still fighting for premiunisation. Even though, we have gained recognition as an industry, our mission is not accomplished yet. I would be honored to be part of the generation that can see worldwide consumers embracing the rum industry’s sophistication.

Consumers are starting to appreciate the attributes of dark aged rum offers, so it seems that all the effort and resources that the industry has invested in this category has finally turned embryonic ready to develop stronger.

During the next 5 years, I foresee an incremental decrease in white, young rums as well as its flavor expressions against a consistent growth of premium blends of dark aged rums.

It is also my belief that many current players will disappear as they will lack creditworthiness in a premium and ultra-premium segment, while the most consistent brands will continue to innovate in packaging, production and aging techniques as a more educated consumer demands different experiences.

From my point of view, this category requires solid denominations of origin that could guarantee its consistency by protecting and promoting the good practices.

Premium rum also requires higher investments in talented brand ambassadors in order to educate consumers in all the ways and occasions that this versatile spirit could be enjoyed.

1- Mr. Rafael Reyes, Vice President of Southern Glazer’s Wines and Spirits, Florida.
Ralph has taught me the art of patience and perseverance.
2- Mr. Victor Nachari, Chairman of Distribuidora Pisquera Portugal, Chile.
Victor has trained me in the art of anticipation and has taught me not to underestimate any kind of competition but respect it.
3- Mr. Alberto Nogueira, CEO, Ron Barceló.
Alberto has taught me the art of reinventing the rules in order to create opportunities.

I will focus to expand internationally the distribution of our most recent innovations: Barceló Signio, launched in Spain, and Barceló Gran Anejo- Dark Series-launched in the Dominican Republic. The first filling the gap that existed in our portfolio between our Barcelo Gran Anejo and our Barcelo Imperial. The latter a smoother version of our traditional Gran Anejo.

These are two exquisite formulas inspired by market trends both with a very distinctive packaging that shows an evolution of Barceló.