The Marketing Guru from Philip Morris

By Jim Davis

For George Givishvili, whose formative years were spent in what was the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, independence for his country opened a myriad of opportunities. Just as with many of the other best and brightest of Georgia's youth, Givishvili's curiosity and his thirst for knowledge took to him to a foreign country for higher education. Almost inevitably, after university his loyalty to Georgia brought him back to try to make a career in his native land.

However, he soon found that the opportunities at home could not fulfil his expectations and he began searching for a different direction. His search for a more challenging and satisfying opportunity led him to Philip Morris, a major international manufacturer. With Philip Morris, his talent in marketing and his management abilities combined to propel Givishvili not only rapidly up the corporate ladder, but also on an array of assignments that have made him a world traveler.

Although still a quite young man, Givishvili, now marketing director for Philip Morris Ukraine can look back on assignments in six countries on two continents, reflecting the company's appreciation of his management and marketing skills.

The first stop on Givishvili's odyssey was Western Kentucky University, located in Bowling Green, Ky., where he completed his university education. After graduation, he immediately took a job in the insurance business, but it took him only six months to figure out that insurance held no interest for him as a career choice.

The next choice turned out to be not only a more felicitous one but also a life changing experience. After employment by Philip Morris for about a year and a half as a low-level marketing executive in his native country, Givishvili decided he had found his niche. Further, Philip Morris found in Givishvili talents that the company wanted to develop. The first upward move on the Philip Morris management ladder was a two-year on-the-job training program in Switzerland.

From Switzerland, the company assigned Givishvili to more familiar turf in Moscow, which gave him four years of valuable and sometime trying experience as the former Soviet Union adjusted to new realities and challenges. His success in the Moscow assignment led to Givishvili being placed in charge of Philip Morris marketing for both Belarus and Moldova in January 2004. However, this was to be a relatively short stop before the company offered him a much more challenging opportunity.

Philip Morris had been a very active market player in South Africa for some time. However, in 1984, Philip Morris, along with all other U.S.-based companies, was forced to pull out of the country because of political decisions taken by the United States government because of South Africa's apartheid policies.

By 2004, the political situation between the United States and South Africa had improved to the point that U.S.-based companies were able to begin doing business in the country from which they had been excluded for 20 years. Philip Morris appointed Givishvili not only as marketing manager for South Africa but also for all of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Givishvili describes the experience in southern Africa as the most challenging of his entire marketing career. "We had given our strongest competitor 20 years of unchallenged opportunity in that market and that competitor had used the time to good advantage, grabbing 90 percent of the market. Not only did the competitor have the market cornered when we came back, but we had to fight for every gain we made," Givishvili said.

When George Givishvili speaks about his career in marketing, it is obvious that he has enjoyed the experience and likes the people and countries that he has come to know. In spite of substantial successes in South Africa, when Philip Morris offered him his current position, he was quite happy to return to an area of the world much more familiar to him than South Africa.

From a head office in Kyiv, Givishvili works through nine regional offices, and employs a sales force that works throughout Ukraine. While Ukraine was a much more settled situation than South Africa, it too presented challenges, particularly related to the economic crisis that began to make a serious impact on consumer choices around September 2008.

"People make rational choices," about to their purchases, Givishvili said. "We adjust our marketing efforts to reflect the market. This has not involved any changes in our products, but it has meant that we adjusted our support to reflect the changes in the marketplace," he added.

In spite of market adjustments, Givishvili says, "I'm generally an optimist. The crisis is not here to stay and there is still a lot that can be done in marketing under the circumstances. I see the prospects in Ukraine better than some other countries." 

CJSC Philip Morris Ukraine is an affiliate of Philip Morris International (PMI). The company was established in 1994 when Philip Morris International acquired a 51 percent share in the Kharkiv tobacco factory. Since then, the company has been investing in three key areas: manufacture of the company's leading products; sales and distribution development  training; and professional development for employees.

For George Givishvili, the move into marketing appears to have been a perfect fit. Now, six countries and two continents from where he started, it is probably a safe bet that there are other countries and continents where his talents might be required.