HTC just released their new flagship smartphone today, the HTC One M8, and it is already receiving praise from the techno geek internet community – and why not…its predecessor was loved by all. It was a very good seller for HTC, but it never reached near their expectations. It was rather a disaster from the beginning – parts were in short supply so they had to change-up their marketing strategy, not to mention the device was announced at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) but took nearly two months to go on sale in the U.S. because of those part shortages. Being in the shadows of the Apple and Samsung powerhouses is forcing HTC to rethink their marketing for the new HTC One M8 – but will that be enough to make much of a difference.
HTC’s President of the Americas, Jason MacKenzie, spoke with our source and claims that the company learned from its mistakes from marketing the HTC One last year – knowing that they should have sold a lot more than they did. The first thing they did was make sure that all supply chains were ready to go and that the HTC One M8 could be manufactured more efficiently. Next, they made sure that the device would be ready to launch immediately on numerous carriers across the U.S. Besides the major carriers, device is also being made available online at Amazon, Radio Shack, Wal-Mart, and many more places. Mackenzie said:
“By the end of next month we’ll have a significant presence in their retail stores, with very consistent messaging from a Verizon store all the way to a T-Mobile store in terms of how they’re talking about this phone.”
Mackenzie claims they are going in with a new attitude – that HTC is not for everybody – a somewhat risky move, but may be what HTC needs to differentiate their product. He explains:
“What we see our competitors talking about are just features, features, features. There’s so much money being spent in this category that it all becomes white noise to our customers. You’ll see our ads have this attitude of, we’re not for everyone. HTC is not for everyone. We’re for those who demand more, who desire the best and who are willing to look below the surface. We’re going to put our customers on a pedestal and invite them to go ask the Internet. Basically, don’t take our word for it, go ask the Internet, and they’ll see these wonderful, fabulous reviews.”
He said they will have a great presence in NYC’s Time Square, where Samsung always spends a lot of money in advertising. He claims that companies that build up their reputation through advertising are building their future on a foundation of sand, whereas they are building a solid product on a foundation of concrete. Pretty strong words because, while Samsung and Apple spend a lot of money on advertising, they also build solid products.
One thing HTC is doing correctly is coming out with the lower priced Desire models that were introduced at the MWC in February. The Desire 816 is available now for pre-order in China, but they expect it to be available in the U.S. and Europe later this year. HTC wants to make sure that anybody can afford a HTC device.
Can this David win over the Goliaths it is up against? I hope the best for HTC, but I am afraid that the stone may simply graze the giants as they keep on kicking butt. Please let us know on our Google+ Page if you agree with HTC’s new marketing strategy – are they headed in the right direction and do you think the new HTC One M8 will be a hit.