Ambrish Jain joins Lenovo from Samsung to lead marketing in Asia

Jain joined the Chinese PC maker on 8 January, a Lenovo spokesperson said. The spokesperson did not respond to questions about where Jain would be based and who he would report to. 

Jain’s move to Lenovo comes two months after a restructuring initiative at Samsung. Damien Cummings, who reported to Jain, was affected by the restructure. At the time, a Samsung representative clarified that Jain would not be leaving the company and that part of the Southeast Asia team had been reallocated due to “business needs”. (Cummings recently joined Philips as CMO.)

Jain is a likely replacement to Howie Lau, vice president marketing and communications for Lenovo Asia-Pacific and Latin America who moved last March to a global role as VP corporate development.

Jain joined Samsung in 2012, where he led marketing operations in the region. Prior to Samsung, he spent 12 years at Procter & Gamble in various senior marketing roles, including brand manager, associate marketing director and marketing director.

In 2013, Lenovo undertook an internal reorganisation intended to sharpen its branding and enhance its ability to innovate in both premium and mainstream product segments.

The company is also focusing much of its marketing might internationally. In 2012, it signed a three-year sponsorship deal with the US National Football League and hired basketball star Kobe Bryant to endorse its smartphones. More recently, Lenovo roped in Hollywood actor Ashton Kutcher to endorse its brands in the US.

Lenovo also recently picked up Motorola’s handset business from Google, a move that should help it break into the competitive US market.