HTC Corp (宏達電) is to launch a new marketing campaign for its HTC One smartphone across the US in an attempt to boost consumer awareness of the vendor’s new flagship device.
Starting on Thursday, the HTC One Showrooms campaign is to see showrooms open at busy malls across the US and remain there for at least three months, HTC said in a statement on Friday.
The campaign, to be held in eight major US cities — Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Washington — is set to offer consumers the opportunity to test the new smartphone before it becomes available in retail outlets.
“HTC One Showrooms are taking the concept of a pop-up store to a whole new level by creating a large, playful, interactive exhibit where we expect people to be entertained and have a new experience with the HTC One on each visit,” HTC North America vice president of marketing Erin McGee said.
“We’ve created a mobility-powered playground for our customers to enjoy, which also benefits our retail partners by sending informed customers to their doors,” he wrote in the statement.
Unveiled on Feb. 19 in London and New York, the new HTC One sports a 4.7-inch display with full-HD resolution of 1,920 by 1,080 pixels, a 1.7-gigahertz quad-core processor and a new “UltraPixel” camera that enables the shooting of high-definition photos and videos. Customers in the US have been able to pre-order the HTC One online since Friday through carriers AT&T Inc and Sprint Nextel Corp, and retailer Best Buy Co.
The device is to become available nationwide at the three companies’ stores starting on April 19, and through T-Mobile International AG later in the spring.
The new marketing campaign echoed HTC’s announcement late last month that it will take a new approach in its advertising campaigns to reshape its brand image.
The Taoyuan-based company has been using “quietly brilliant” as its slogan, but has decided to market its new HTC One flagship smartphone under the themes “bold,” “authentic” and “playful.”
The term “bold” represent HTC’s move to promote its new products’ features more heavily, while “authentic” indicates that HTC focuses on its own innovations and does not copy others, HTC chief marketing officer Ben Ho (何永生) said.
“Playful” suggests that HTC will create more interesting features to meet consumer demand, he said.
HTC plans to increase its marketing spending in digital media by 250 percent and in conventional media by 100 percent this year, Ho added.
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