Eastside Distilling, Inc. announced the promotion of Joseph Giansante as the Company’s new Chief Marketing Officer.

Giansante initially joined Eastside Distilling as part of the acquisition of the Azuñia Tequila brand from Intersect Beverage, where he was the CEO and oversaw all aspects of the operation of Azuñia Tequila. Under his leadership and in collaboration with owners Pat and Stephanie Kilkenny, at Intersect, Mr. Giansante re-invented the company management structure, sales and marketing approach, and brand positioning, management, and development. Under his leadership, the Azuñia Tequila brand more than doubled in size in just three years.

Prior to Intersect, Mr. Giansante served as the Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer at Vivature Sports Solutions of Dallas, Texas after a long career in collegiate sports. Joe served as Executive Senior Associate Athletic Director–and was later named Chief Revenue Officer of Syracuse athletics, where he renegotiated and quadrupled the Orange’s marketing and multimedia rights revenues.  He also led the rebrand of the athletic department and overhauled the department’s digital enterprises.

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At the University of Oregon, he served as Senior Associate Athletic Director for Marketing and Brand Development – External Affairs for the University of Oregon Athletic Department, where he oversaw and managed Oregon athletics’ marketing and brand identity.  Mr. Giansante also led and managed the development of PK Park – Oregon’s state-of-the-art $25 million baseball facility, and the overall reinstatement and operation of the Oregon baseball program.  Mr. Giansante also had the lead role in overseeing and executing revenue generating activities in the ecommerce, multi-media and sponsorship rights, creative services, promotions, media relations, licensing and digital enterprises arena.  As a member of the Ducks’ Senior Staff, Giansante was also involved in creating the department’s overall strategic vision and framework, budgeting, and capital planning.

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Prior to joining the University of Oregon, Mr. Giansante served as the Programming Executive Producer and Director of the Oregon Sports Network and CSN, and was also the Ducks television play-by-play voice and studio show host for a 12-year period starting in 2000, where he won two sports Emmy Awards.

Lawrence Firestone, CEO and Board Member of Eastside Distilling, commented, “Joe has a diverse and deep set of experiences and accomplishments in brand development and marketing financial management, marketing, revenue generation, sponsorship, media rights and strategic planning. Since joining Eastside in September, he has worked to integrate the Azuñia tequila brand and will drive our brand strategies brands going forward.”

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