For what seems like forever, Taiwanese manufacturer HTC has been known for its "quietly brilliant" tag-line. Over the past three or four years, seldom would you be able to spot those three famous letters without the customary slogan beneath, but today, HTC has dropped the famous tag in an attempt to freshen its image. Rather ironically, the "quietly" element has become something of a self-fulfilling prophecy for HTC, with the company having become less and less visible among a swarm of Galaxy and Nexus devices. Thus, HTC’s marketing campaign will, moving forward, include words and themes presenting products "bold," "authentic," and "playful" in nature.
First introduced in 2009, the "quietly brilliant" mantra hasn’t really covered the company in glory, and with its more recent releases having been perhaps more quiet than brilliant, the company needs a pick-me-up. The HTC One provides the ammunition for a decent market assault, and will go head-to-head with the Samsung Galaxy S4 when it is released next month. The company’s general efforts to change in direction are now also reflected within the marketing ranks, and having lost a considerable amount of ground to the likes of Samsung, all systems will need to be ago as far as promotion and hype are concerned.
HTC CEO Peter Chou has said in the past that his company’s marketing efforts have been below standards, and contributed significantly to the demise of the HTC brand in general. But having pledged a great deal of money towards product promotion, this looks to be the first major marketing move of a revitalized, optimistic Taiwanese company.
Meanwhile, the reported shipment delays of the HTC One have been put down to camera supply shortages, and the company’s marketing chief Benjamin Ho has noted that the rather wonderful-looking ‘Ultrapixel’ camera design has made it difficult for the company to ramp up production.
Nevertheless, HTC has given even those assured Galaxy fanboys something to think about before making their next major Android purchase, and with the delay of the One now conspicuously putting it in the frame to launch alongside its Korean rival, we’ve got a very, very interesting battle on our hands.
(via WSJ)
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