Harman Professional Names Erik Tarkiainen as Vice President, Global Marketing

	Erik Tarkiainen, Harman Professional

Harman Professional announces the appointment of Erik Tarkiainen as vice president of global marketing. Effective immediately, Tarkiainen will lead global marketing strategy and execution across the Professional Division and will drive new initiatives in online marketing, social media, public relations, events marketing, and education. He will operate from Harman's Northridge, California facility and will report to Ralph Santana, Harman chief marketing officer, and Blake Augsburger, president, Harman professional division.

Tarkiainen joins Harman Professional as a proven leader in marketing strategy and communications with a background in audio technology. His experience includes serving as vice president of marketing communications for Line 6, where he led global marketing strategy and execution, as well as cofounding audio processing and music effects pioneer, iZotope. Most recently Tarkiainen was vice president for lynda.com, a leading online education company. He has also held key marketing and product management roles at Bose and Cakewalk. In addition to his executive career, he 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 Blake Augsburger in making the appointment. "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."

Echoing this sentiment, Ralph Santana says, "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."

Commenting on his new role at Harman Professional, Tarkiainen says, "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."