Samsung India appoints Elkana Ezekiel as CMO

Samsung India has roped in Elkana Ezekiel as chief marketing officer with immediate effect. It is a newly created position. Ezekiel will head the corporate marketing function for Samsung India. He will also be responsible for developing and executing corporate marketing strategies being undertaken to support the company's sales target.

Earlier, Ezekiel was working for Johnson & Johnson, being associated with the company for more than 16 years in various capacities. Based in Singapore, he was the regional franchise director (baby care), Asia-Pacific Region, and was responsible for marketing, brand strategy and business development of Johnson's baby products in 15 countries including Japan, China, India, Korea, ASEAN, and Australia.

During his tenure with Johnson & Johnson, he was also the vice-president, marketing, for the consumer division of the company, and was based in India during 2001-06.

Apart from Johnson & Johnson, he has also worked with brands such as Colgate Palmolive and Geoffrey Manners. He has more than 23 years of experience in the FMCG sector.

In an official communiqué, Ezekiel says, "My mandate will be to take Samsung to the next level in terms of consumer connect by fully leveraging the brand and product strengths across the different business verticals of the company."

Samsung, which achieved a sales turnover of $3.5 billion in India, is targetting a sales growth of 40 per cent in the Indian market in 2011.

Ezekiel is armed with a graduate degree in Economics, and a post-graduate qualification in marketing from XLRI Jamshedpur.