I’ll have a double, please! Another FX industry executive heads to the drinks industry

After four years at FXDD, the company’s Senior Marketing and Public Relations Manager Stephen Simonis has moved to pastures new.

Mr. Simonis has joined Caskers, a New York based company which sources artisanal spirits which major on local produce.

At FXDD, Mr. Simonis commenced his tenure in 2011 in a technical capacity, as Oracle CRM Administrator. Just four months later, he became an Account Manager at the firm’s World Trade Center headquarters in New York.

Joining the marketing department in March 2013, Mr. Simonis became a Senior Marketing Associate until his promotion in March this year to Manager, Integrated Marketing & Digital Media before leaving the company this week.

This is the second example of a marketing and communications executive from our industry has moved to the alcoholic beverage business, Kasper Elbjorn having moved to Carlsberg from Saxo Bank, his last day at the technology-led Danish multi-asset trading company having been just two days ago, eschewing his position as Head of Group Public Relations at Saxo Bank for the Copenhagen-based beer manufacturer Carlsberg as Media & PR Director.

Caskers perspective is that craft distilleries have difficulty in establishing meaningful brand recognition, an area in which Mr. Simonis is highly experienced. The company’s goal is to resolve this matterby sourcing spirits which appeal to New York’s sophisticated and urbane audience.

Mr. Simonis graduated from Hofstra University in New York with an alma mater in Quantative Methods before embarking on his career.

Photograph: Andrew Saks-McLeod and Stephen Simonis catch up in New York to discuss how to successfully brand and position an FX company