Top 15 CMOs In Turkey

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With a heavy reliance on Turkey marketing leaders for brands to be able to scale businesses, here are our top CMO picks.

Turkey’s annual inflation jumped more than expected to a two-decade high of 54.4 per cent last month. Turkey has seen a significant increase in business investments in the last few years. And with the increasing priority on advertising regulations on social media, Companies and industry leaders are also heavily relying on marketing leaders who have the ability to scale businesses.

Here are our top picks.

Ahmet Olmustur

Ahmet Olmustur is an experienced Chief Marketing and Sales officer with a demonstrated history of working in the airlines industry. He started as a call centre agent and has risen up the ladder to be the CMO at Turkish Airlines. He is also a board member and audit committee member of Sunexpress, a joint venture of Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa.

Alper Ergenekon

Alper Ergenekon has been working at Turkcell for over 17 years. He started off as a Senior Specialist and currently is the CMO of the company. Prior to this, Ergenekon worked at FedEx Services as a senior marketing specialist. He pursued his MBA at the University of Rochester and he studied at Middle East Technical University.

Bilge Ciftci

Bilge Ciftci is the CMO at Eczacıbaşı Tüketim Ürünleri, an industrial group. She has also worked at Procter & Gamble for 13 years. Ciftci has bagged several awards including Cannes Grand Prix, Women to Watch – Marketing Leader, and UK Power 100. She is a member of Women in Advertising and Communications in London.

Burcu Mungan

With over 10 years of experience in brand positioning, digital customer experience and marketing transformation, Burcu Mungan is the CMO at Günsan Elektrik. Previously, she worked at Schneider Electric for over 11 years. She studied Product Management and Marketing at Marmara University.

Cristina Polini

The Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Penti A.S, Cristina Polini has extensive experience in brand building, marketing strategy and management, in different competitive arenas and markets including wholesale and omnichannel retail. Previously, she worked as a Brand Marketing Director at DB Apparel, brand manager at Chantelle and Product Manager at L’Oreal. Polini pursued Strategic Marketing at SDA Bocconi.

Ece Bagatur Uslu

An experienced marketing leader with over 15 years of experience, Ece Bagatur Uslu is the CMO at Amazon, Turkey. Previously he worked at Unilever for over eight years as the Marketing Director Central Asia & Caucasia. Uslu pursued his MBA at ESSEC Business School and acquired his Bachelor’s degree in Economics at Sabanci University.

Elif Goktas

Experienced in multiple FMCG categories and the retail industry for 27 years, Elif Goktas is currently the Deputy General Manager Marketing and Communications at Beymen Group. Previously, she was the CMO at McDonald’s Turkey and International Marketing Manager at Diageo for over seven years. She pursued Business Administration and Management at Middle East Technical University.

Handem Celenkler

Experienced Marketing Director with a demonstrated history of working in the consumer goods industry, Handem Celenkler is the CMO at DeFacto. Previously, she worked as the Head of Marketing at Adidas. Celenkler is also a  member of the Advertising Self-Regulatory Board Turkey and an MMA Turkey Chairwoman at Mobile Marketing Association.

Isil ismet Heves

An experienced marketing manager with a history of working in the tech industry and FMCG, Isil ismet Heves is working at Google Turkey for nine years, where he is currently the CMO. Previously, he worked as a Brand Manager Cif & Sunlight at Unilever and as a Management Associate at Citibank. Heves pursued his Executive MBA Program at The Wharton School.

Nazim Erdogan

Nazim Erdogan is the CMO at sahibinden.com. Previously, he was the Head of Marketing and Digital at BNP Paribas Cardif r and as a Mobile Internet Marketing Manager at Turkcell. He has also worked at TEB for over seven years. Erdogan pursued his MBA and Industrial Engineering degree at Istanbul Technical University.

Ozkan Ozyavuz

Ozkan Ozyavuz is the CMO at KFC Turkey. Experienced in marketing strategy and communication, brand management, consumer insight, and CRM, he has a successful track record of applying Behavioural Economics to marketing strategies. Previously, he was the Lead Brand Manager at Turkcell for over seven years. Ozyavuz pursued MBA at Koç University.

Saman Abtahi

With a demonstrated history of working in the internet industry, Saman Abtahi is the CMO at SnappMarket. Previously, he was the Marketing Manager at Snapp! He has also worked at Bamilo, Khobre Mihan and Goldiran Group. Abtahi pursued his MBA and Marketing degree at the University of Tehran.

Simgul Madanoglu

Simgul Madanoglu is the CMO at emlakjet.com, a property search website. Previously, she worked at Vodafone as a Senior Marketing Manager and as a Brand Manager at Mondelēz International for over four years. She has also worked at Unilever as a Marketing Manager. Madanoglu studied Global Marketing Strategy at Harvard Business School.

Souliman Alaaraj

Souliman ALAARAJ is the CMO at Akarkom International Real estate. He is also the founder of Marketing Chef, which he started in 2016. Previously, he worked with Wood Apple Group as a marketing specialist. Alaaraj pursued his education at Syrian Virtual University SVU and Anadolu University.

Temmuz Öykü Topal

Temmuz Öykü Topal has been working at Microsoft for over nine years. She started off as the Enterprise Marketing Specialist and is currently the CMO and Marketing Communications Manager. Previously, she worked at Pegasus Airlines and Doğuş Otomotiv. She pursued her MBA and Communication and Media Studies at Ege University.

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