HTC appoints CMO to deliver ‘2.0 marketing strategy’
HTC has promoted the senior marketer for its Asia Pacific operations Benjamin Ho to the role of global chief marketing officer as the struggling phone manufacturer looks to boost its mass market appeal.
Ho, the former vice president and chief marketing officer at Motorola Asia Pacific, will replace John Wang who has decided to leave the business. It is unknown whether Wang has another role to go to.
Ho takes up the role in January and will report to chief executive Peter Chou.
He will oversee an overhaul of the company’s global marketing strategy, know internally as ‘Marketing 2.0’, and will focus brand building efforts on “holistic marketing and mass-market brand outreach”, HTC says. The approach will look to build on the brand’s current marketing strategy which focuses on promoting the experience of using its devices in all its markets.
Prior to joining HTC, Ho was former vice president of business strategy and marketing at Taiwanese network FarEastTone and was previously the chief marketing officer at Motorola.
The move is part of an executive reshuffle that sees Jason Mackenzie, currently serving as president of global sales and marketing, move to lead the brand’s global sales efforts and partnership strategies.
The changes come at a time when the business is struggling to sell handsets in an increasingly competitive market, which has seen revenue slump for four straight quarters.
The business has suffered a sharp decline in sales since the second half of 2011. It reported a 79 per cent drop in profit for the year to 31 October 2012, while revenue in the quarter was $2.39bn (£1.49bn), down from $3bn (£1.87bn) the previous quarter.
Earlier this year, the business launched its biggest ever global campaign to support the launch of its One smartphone range.
