South Korean tech behemoth Samsung Electronics Co. said Tuesday it has hired a former top executive at Coca Cola Co. to lead its global marketing for the sagging mobile division.

Pio Schunker, the former North American marketing executive of the U.S. beverage maker, will start working at Samsung's Seoul headquarters from April as a new global marketing director for the IT and mobile division, Samsung said, adding he will bolster the promotion of its latest smartphone Galaxy S6 series due out early next month 

Schunker has a 10-year stint as a marketing executive at Cola Cola and is known for his expertise in brand and advertising. He has won a few distinguished international awards including an Emmy Award for best commercial and a Cannes Marketer of the Year.

Samsung's move is widely seen as being aimed at beefing up global marketing for its new Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge, which are scheduled to hit local shelves on April 10.

The tech bellwether has stepped up efforts to reclaim its supremacy as the world's top smartphone maker since it suffered the weakest annual earnings in three years in 2014, battered by sluggish handset sales.

Industry sources said Samsung had also contacted Marc Mathieu, the No. 2 marketing chief at British-Dutch consumer goods maker Unilever N.V., to offer him a marketing chief position.

In January, Samsung replaced its top North American media strategy and sales executive with Jay Altschuler, who is also from Unilever's media team. (Yonhap)