HTC is making attempts to re-imagine its brand with a “bolder” marketing strategy as it moved forward with its new HTC One smartphone. This includes dropping its long-held “Quietly Brilliant” tagline in future product ads according to the Wall Street Journal.
“We have a lot of innovations but we haven’t been loud enough,” said Ben Ho, a Singaporean who is HTC’s third marketing chief in less than two years.
HTC will begin its “bolder strategy” with a new marketing campaign for the HTC One with themes like “bold,” “authentic,” and “playful.” Ho says “bold” will demonstrate that HTC wants to be more aggressive in their marketing speak. “Authentic” will reinforce focus on HTC’s innovation and “playful” will highlight new features that are based on consumer demand.
Ben Ho also revealed that the digital marketing budget will also be increasing by 250% in 2013 compared to 2012 and a 100% increase in traditional media marketing spending compared to last year. In addition, he took the time to confirm and address the HTC One component shortage:
“Our friends in the media have been asking why there has been a delay in shipments for the new HTC One, whether there is a component shortage. There is some shortage, because the phone’s camera was designed specifically for us, and production cannot be ramped up so quickly,” Ho explained.
While trying to assure investors and customers of the brand’s return to prominence, the new strategy is also an attempt by the company to move against Samsung’s recently unveiled Galaxy S 4, which is the company’s biggest competitor in the Android segment of the marketplace.