HTC was the biggest Android manufacturers a couple of years ago, unfortunately with the emergence of Samsung they have seen their market share dwindle over the past couple of years to a mere shadow of its former self. Fortunately over the past couple of months HTC has adopted a new strategy to reassert themselves in the Android market and it appears to be working with their current flagship selling over 5 million units making it the third most popular phone in the US. One of the key areas that HTC has improved over the past couple of months has been their marketing department who have had their promotional budget doubled to help them in their battle against Samsung; however this is still a far cry from Samsung’s marketing budget which is supposedly 10 times larger than HTC’s.
Despite their smaller budget HTC is pushing forward and have made some inroads. Their latest move has been to enlist the help of Hollywood actor Robert Downey Jr. to be part of their next marketing push. According to Bloomberg, HTC have signed actor Robert Downey Jr. as part of a $12 million two-year marketing campaign; however the deal is yet to be made public with both Downey’s PR agency and HTC declining to comment on the issue. Robert Downey Jr. is best known for his role as Iron Man in Marvel’s Avengers and the Iron Man film series and he’s recently signed movie deals for two more Avengers films and is currently one of the biggest actors in Hollywood. Downey won’t be the first celebrity employed to help promote a smartphone; Daniel Craig who reprized his role as James Bond was the centerpiece of the Sony Xperia T marketing campaign. R&B recording artist Rihanna has also been used to promote products with her endorsement the HTC One X during one of her concerts at Montreal. Unlike Daniel Craig, Robert Downey Jr. won’t be playing one of his characters in the adverts, instead appearing as himself; so there is little chance of Iron Man pulling out the HTC One in a middle of a fight.
Robert Downey will have the final say over creative elements of any marketing materials produced which will span all forms of media including billboards, print and television. Do you think HTC’s signing of Robert Downey Jr. will help the raise brand awareness and potentially make HTC the number one smartphone OEM in the world again?