Avo Uvezian as Prolific in Cigars as in Music

From Rich Perelman at CigarCyclopedia:

The overwhelming word which comes to mind when you meet Avo Uvezian in person is gentle.

The prolific, 78-year-old composer, who was the genius behind the marvelous 1960s ballad “Strangers in the Night” created his cigar brand in 1987. Now known as Avo Classic, the reddish-brown-wrapped original was, in fact, gentle with a marvelous spiciness on the finish. The brand, distributed by Davidoff of Geneva, quickly became a favorite during the Cigar Boom of the 1990s.

Like The Griffin’s brand before, Davidoff acquired total distribution of the brand in 1995 and now has a complete “hand-full” of brands under the Avo banner:

> Avo Classic, introduced in 1987
> Avo XO, in 1994
> Domaine Avo, in 1998
> Avo Maduro, in 2000
> Avo Signature, in 2001

Davidoff’s strategy, to take advantage of the popularity of the original Avo line with line extensions to broaden the range, faced the common problem of a brand with a diluted identity: trying to get smokers to try them all. But unlike a number of other manufacturers who have employed the same strategy, they had a unique solution.

Put a single robusto-sized cigar – reportedly the most popular size made today – of each of the five blends into a single package and combine them with an elegant purple-and-white ashtray by Porcelain by Design of New Orleans. The package is small, attractive, perfect for gift-giving and is reasonably priced at $50 retail. It’s a step up from the plain samplers offered by others and the ashtray is a nice way to remind smokers of the brand.

Davidoff is now doing the same for its expanding Griffin’s brand, featuring a new ashtray with each of the three Griffin’s blends: original, Fuerte and Maduro. With so many brands available today, the idea is a good one to separate Avo and Griffin’s from the others and underline the luxury, range and attractiveness of these brands. That’s good work by Davidoff and . . . music to Avo’s ears.

Posted on Monday, July 5th, 2004 at 5:07 pm.