HTC has hired Paul Golden, the chief marketing officer at Samsung US when its devices were becoming known as the "next big thing." Golden, whose LinkedIn page says he "created and launched the highly successful Galaxy brand," was at Samsung between 2008 and 2012, a time in which the Korean company rose to global prominence in the smartphone market. A lawyer for Samsung in the ongoing patent trial with Apple claimed its provocative "Next Big Thing" campaign drove its rival "crazy" after kicking off in 2011.





HTC on Friday confirmed the hiring The Verge, with a spokesperson providing the following statement: "HTC continues to invest in talent and recruitment as part of our broader human resources strategy to ensure the continued strength of our company's organizational structure." Bloomberg first reported the hire.

Golden is said to have been hired on a three-month contract at first, reporting directly to chairperson Cher Wang. Marketing has been a major issue for HTC in its fight for relevance in the Android smartphone market, with Samsung dominating mindshare and profits.

"To tell the truth, we never think marketing is that important — this is really not very good," Wang said earlier this year, despite the company's high-profile recruitment of Robert Downey Jr. and Gary Oldman. If HTC plans to turn itself around, taking advice from the ad man that helped drive it into losses could be a sound bet.