HTC Corp (宏達電) says that its flagship smartphone of last year, the HTC One, will be seen in the Hollywood superhero movie Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which is set for release on April 4 in the US.
HTC has posted the movie’s promotional photograph on its official US Web site, along with a caption that reads “Only the Best for the First Avenger/See the HTC One in Theaters April 4th.”
It also includes the Web site address of the film’s producer, Marvel Comics.
It remains unclear how the device will appear in the superhero movie.
This is not the first time HTC has tried to ramp up its brand awareness among consumers by teaming up with popular Marvel heroes.
Late last year, HTC said its “Change” marketing campaign featuring Hollywood actor Robert Downey Jr, the star of the Iron Man films, increased its advertising awareness by 12 percent and brand awareness by 15 percent in the markets in which the campaign aired between August and October last year.
HTC spent about US$1 billion on marketing last year, with between 70 and 75 percent of the budget used to promote the HTC One and the flagship smartphone’s variants, HTC chief marketing officer Ben Ho (何永生) said.
However, the company’s promotional blitz failed to boost its market share in the US, which fell to 6.7 percent at the end of October last year from 8 percent the previous July, according to data compiled by market research firm comScore Inc.
HTC shares rose 1.34 percent to close at a three-month high of NT$151 yesterday.
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