HTC Names New CMO After Seven Month Gap

HTC has selected Idris Mootee, the CEO of Idea Couture, a design firm headquartered in Toronto, as its new CMO. His predecessor, Benjamin Ho, departed the company in July. Cher Wang, the company chairwoman, had managed the top marketing role in the interim.

Mr. Mootee, spent seven years at the consultancy Idea Couture, according to his LinkedIn profile. Earlier, he served as senior VP-strategy and innovation for Blast Radius, a WPP-owned digital agency.

"Idris has extensive experience in marketing, strategy and design, which will be of great value to HTC's business strategy as an innovation leader going forward," an HTC spokeswoman said in a statement.

The Taiwanese manufacturer has struggled despite high regard for its flagship device, the One M8 smartphone. As recently as 2010, HTC claimed the top spot in U.S. market share, but was swiftly edged out by Apple and other rivals. Between August and October, HTC accounted for 4% of smartphones nationwide, a 0.6% fall from the prior quarter, according to ComScore. It does not rank among the top five smartphone makers globally.

Last week, HTC posted a slim operating profit, along with $1.5 billion in revenue, after two years of consecutive losses. The company is expected to unveil its new device in March.

In its marketing, the company has leveraged positive reviews of its smartphone with the "Ask the Internet" campaign, which featured British thespian Gary Oldman. In October, HTC ventured into a new category, releasing a portable digital camera called the Re.

In 2013, HTC spent $75.8 million in measured media, according to Kantar Media. Deutsch L.A. is the company's primary creative agency.