Santharuban Thurai Sundaram Chief Executive Officer, Etika Group

Santharuban Thurai Sundaram was appointed the Chief Executive Officer of Etika Group of Companies for Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei on 1 April 2022 where he is responsible for Etika’s overall operations and driving profitability including expansions, leading long-term and short-term high-level strategies and growing Etika’s footprint in both Malaysia and Singapore. Santharuban brings over 18 years of marketing experience across the FMCG industry, with roots in the media and advertising industry holding several leadership roles. He served 14 years in Etika where he started his career as a Brand Manager before quickly transitioning to head the entire brand and trade marketing teams, where he successfully spearheaded multiple successful brand launches including WONDA, Calpis, Goodday, Dairy Champ and Mountain Dew, all of which not only saw these brands register substantial market share and sales growth but also earned various industry recognitions such as a Gold Effie, the coveted Advertiser of the Year at the MSA awards as well as thrice Marketer of the Year award at the AMEA Awards to name a few. Prior to his appointment, Santharuban was Senior Vice President of Marketing & Alternate Business of Etika Sdn Bhd, directly overseeing brand marketing, events & sponsorship, public relations, trade marketing, insights and new product development. His contribution towards growing the Etika business has led to his appointment as the Chief Executive Officer of Advend Group of Companies in July 2020, where he expanded the Advend business and continued contributing towards the overall growth of the Etika Group. Santharuban has been instrumental in growing Etika Group and is passionate to bring the company forward-thinking in a constantly evolving realm and is passionate to bring Etika to greater heights in his current role as Chief Executive Officer of Etika Group of Companies for Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei. He has also had 3 stints with Media Prima Berhad where he worked as an A&P Executive with WOW FM, Trade Publicity Executive and eventually Brand Manager with ntv7 and also Senior Manager, Marketing with The New Straits Times Press. He also had a one year stint with Celcom Axiata as the Head of Communications for the Digital Services Department.