Harman International Industries named former Samsung executive Ralph Santana chief marketing officer for the Stamford home-auto audio maker.
Santana starts April 1 and will report to Harman Chairman and CEO Dinesh C. Paliwal.
Based in Stamford, he will oversee Harman’s global marketing strategy, particularly its ongoing push into developing more interactive high-end digital audio systems for homes and U.S. and foreign luxury cars.
It’s nearly a mirror image of his duties at Samsung Electronics America, the North America arm of the South Korean giant that is among the world’s leading makers of audio-video gear.
Santa has an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and a B.A. in English literature from Dartmouth College.
He has also served on the board of the Association of National Advertisers and the National Sports Marketing Network.
