Harman Professional has appointed Erik Tarkiainen as vice president of global marketing, where he is leading global marketing strategy and execution across the professional division and driving new initiatives in online marketing, social media, public relations, events marketing and education.
Tarkiainen will operate from Harman’s Northridge, CA facility and will report to chief marketing officer Ralph Santana and president Blake Augsburger.
He comes to Harman Pro with a strong background in audio technology. His experience includes serving as vice president of marketing communications for Line 6 as well as co-founding audio processing and music effects company iZotope. Most recently he was vice president for lynda.com, an online education company. He has also held marketing and product management roles at Bose and Cakewalk.
In addition to his executive career, Tarkiainen currently serves as an adjunct professor of marketing at California State University. He holds an MBA from Boston University and a BSEE from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with graduate studies in acoustics and signal processing at Penn State.
“Erik Tarkiainen is an excellent addition to a strong team and I am confident he will lead a comprehensive program that couples Harman’s unique heritage and depth with progressive, entrepreneurial and engaging communications,” says Augsburger. “Harman Professional has made strong advances on the product and organizational aspects of our business and now is the time to effectively position and promote the unique value we bring to partners and customers around the world. Erik is just the leader to take on that role.”
Santana adds, “Erik’s background in audio, marketing and digital strategy positions him as a unique person for this role. His experience will help us elevate our brand communications and educational programs. Most importantly, he will evangelize our emerging technologies and platforms in a way that solidifies Harman’s global reputation in new and exciting ways.”
Tarkiainen states, “It’s an honor to represent the legendary brands in the Harman Professional portfolio. Through a combination of digital and traditional marketing, I look forward to extending our reach and introducing our products and services to customers and partners across the globe.”
