Samsung executive behind “Next Big Thing” marketing campaign leaving the company

Samsung’s S6 marketing so far

According to a report from Business Insider, Samsung Mobile’s Chief Marketing Officer Todd Pendleton has left the company. Pendleton notified colleagues of his departure, effective in April, earlier this week. Neither Samsung nor Pendleton have offered a statement on the shake-up, and details regarding reasoning are sparse at this point.

At Samsung Mobile, Pendleton was responsible for leading development of the company’s “Next Big Thing” marketing campaign. The campaign is said to have been the leading cause of Samsung’s quick rise to dominance when it launched the Galaxy S3. The campaign heavily mocked Apple and led to the Galaxy S3 becoming the top-selling smartphone that year.

Samsung’s dominance, however, has slowly started to wane over recent months. A report last month claimed that there was deep infighting between the United States and Korean headquarters of the company. Last year, Samsung lost 5 high-ranking executives. Those departures included head of national sales, the mobile devices product chief, and a key strategist for the company’s Galaxy tablets and Gear smartwatches.

The departure of Pendleton comes at a crucial time in Samsung’s history. The company is about to release the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge, both of which it hopes will help regain share in the high-end market, something that both Apple and Xiaomi have stolen.