RIYA SURI JOINS SAMSUNG INDIA AS CHIEF MARKETING MANAGER, STRENGTHENING DIGITAL-FIRST BRAND STRATEGY

Samsung India has appointed Riya Suri as Chief Marketing Manager, marking her return to the brand after nearly four years at vivo. She will lead digital marketing efforts focused on smartphone launches and brand building, bringing experience across agency and client-side roles.

Riya Suri’s appointment as Chief Marketing Manager at Samsung India signals both a personal milestone and a strategic move by the South Korean electronics major as it sharpens its focus on digital-first brand building in one of its most competitive markets. After close to four years at vivo, where she steadily rose through the ranks, Suri’s return to Samsung marks a coming full circle of sorts—this time from the client side, armed with a deeper understanding of how technology brands are built, protected and grown in an always-on media environment.

In her new role, Suri will be working at the intersection of digital marketing, smartphone launches and brand storytelling, a space that has become central to Samsung India’s ambitions. The Indian smartphone market is crowded and unforgiving, with frequent launches, fast-moving competitors, and increasingly discerning consumers. Within this landscape, Suri’s mandate spans end-to-end campaign execution across platforms and formats, translating product innovations and technological strengths into clear, compelling consumer narratives. From ideation to execution and optimisation, her remit covers the full lifecycle of marketing initiatives, with performance insights forming a core pillar of how impact is measured and refined.

Samsung’s emphasis on digital channels and data-led decision-making reflects broader shifts in how brands engage Indian consumers today. Launch moments are no longer confined to a single burst of advertising but unfold over weeks through social media, influencer partnerships, content ecosystems and performance-driven campaigns. Suri’s experience across these dimensions positions her well to drive consistency and quality across outputs, while partnering closely with agencies and internal stakeholders to ensure alignment with brand objectives. Her role also involves maintaining a high bar for execution, ensuring that campaigns not only reach audiences at scale but resonate meaningfully in an environment saturated with messaging.

Before joining Samsung, Suri spent over three years at vivo, where her career trajectory mirrored the pace and intensity of India’s smartphone sector. Joining the company as an Assistant Manager, she progressed to the role of Manager, taking on increasing responsibility across product communications and brand-building initiatives. At vivo India, she led product public relations efforts, playing a key role in shaping how new devices were introduced to the market and positioned within the broader competitive landscape. This involved close coordination with internal teams, agencies and media partners to ensure that product narratives were accurate, differentiated and aligned with business priorities.

One of the more complex aspects of her role at vivo involved handling crisis communications across product portfolios, an area that demands speed, clarity and strategic judgment. In a category where issues can escalate rapidly across social media and tech forums, Suri worked to protect brand credibility while addressing concerns transparently. Her ability to manage such situations contributed to building trust with both media and consumers, reinforcing the importance of preparedness and responsiveness in modern brand management.

A significant part of her work at vivo also focused on relationship-building with the media and influencer ecosystem. Over time, she cultivated strong ties with more than 300 key opinion leaders and members of the tech press, recognising the role these voices play in shaping consumer perception and purchase decisions. Beyond media relations, Suri collaborated closely with consumer insights teams to track brand salience and understand shifts in perception, using data to inform marketing strategies and refine messaging. This insight-led approach helped strengthen integrated product marketing campaigns, ensuring that creative ideas were grounded in real consumer behaviour and feedback.

Suri’s professional foundation was laid during her tenure at Cheil India, where she spent more than three and a half years working on some of the country’s most prominent technology brands. Rising to the position of Account Supervisor and Influencer Marketing Lead, she gained hands-on experience across campaign strategy, digital performance marketing, influencer programmes, content marketing and media placements. Working within an agency environment exposed her to the pressures of delivering results across multiple clients and platforms, while honing her ability to manage complexity and collaborate across teams.

At Cheil, Suri was also involved in building long-term creator advocacy initiatives, including the Samsung Galaxy Creators Program. This experience gave her an early understanding of how influencer marketing can move beyond transactional collaborations to become a sustained brand-building tool. By focusing on authenticity, consistent engagement and mutual value creation, these programmes aimed to foster deeper connections between creators and the brand—a philosophy that continues to shape influencer-led strategies today.

The combination of agency-side training and client-side leadership has given Suri a well-rounded perspective on marketing execution. Having worked closely with brands such as Samsung and vivo from different vantage points, she understands both the strategic intent behind campaigns and the operational realities of bringing them to life. This dual insight is increasingly valuable as marketing functions evolve to become more integrated, data-driven and accountable for business outcomes.

Her move to Samsung India comes at a time when the brand is reinforcing its leadership credentials while responding to intensifying competition from global and domestic players. Digital marketing has emerged as a critical lever in this effort, not only to drive awareness and consideration but also to build long-term brand affinity in a market where consumers are spoilt for choice. Suri’s focus on performance insights and optimisation reflects this shift, underscoring the importance of continuous learning and agility in campaign planning.

For Suri, the new role represents an opportunity to apply her accumulated experience at a larger scale, shaping narratives for one of the world’s most recognisable technology brands. Her work will involve balancing the demands of frequent product launches with the need for cohesive brand storytelling, ensuring that each campaign contributes to Samsung’s broader positioning rather than existing in isolation. Collaboration will be central to this effort, as she partners with creative agencies, media teams and internal functions to deliver unified, high-quality output.

As marketing leaders increasingly operate at the crossroads of creativity, technology and analytics, Suri’s career path reflects the skills required to succeed in this environment. Her journey—from agency roles focused on execution and influencer strategy, to client-side positions centred on brand stewardship and crisis management, and now to a senior marketing role at Samsung India—highlights the value of versatility and continuous learning. In an industry defined by rapid change, her appointment signals Samsung India’s intent to invest in leadership that understands both the art and science of modern marketing.

While the full impact of Suri’s role will unfold over time, her arrival adds to a growing emphasis on digital excellence within Samsung India’s marketing organisation. As smartphone launches become more complex and consumer expectations continue to rise, her ability to turn product innovation into compelling stories, backed by data and insight, will be closely watched. For Suri, the move marks not just a new chapter, but an opportunity to help shape how one of the world’s biggest technology brands connects with Indian consumers in an increasingly digital-first era.