With the recent introduction of Samsung’s Galaxy S 4 and the iPhone 5’s continued success, HTC is left a very distant third in smartphone providers. The maker of the HTC One and Butterfly reported a 41 percent decline in its fourth quarter sales and has since made a commitment to its customers and shareholders to reverse the trend. While Apple and Samsung continue to thrive, the introduction of a new chief marketing officer is hopefully the beginning of improvements at HTC.
The company, which once employed the tagline “Quietly Brilliant,” is taking quite an opposite approach now. The organization now understands that while it makes great products, it can’t stay quiet about them. Its new communication efforts were recently demonstrated following the latest lag in the introduction of the HTC One. In the past the company may have silently went along with the delays to its newest smartphone, this time it addressed delay concerns up front.
Benjamin Ho, HTC’s new chief marketing officer, immediately alerted the media to the production delay of the new phone’s camera. The statement, in his first press conference as the CMO, shows the company’s attempt to be more transparent and authentic in its communications.
As tech companies continue to increase their marketing and advertising budgets, authentic and transparent messaging will become even more important. Anyone can say their products are the next big things to hit the industry. Showing how and why is the challenge. Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of inauthentic marketing messages and are tuning them out more than ever before. HTC’s new transparent approach could be just enough to change the company’s direction.
Their messaging change is being reflected across all communications channels including social media. It is taking competitor Samsung head-on with a hashtag campaign. HTC is promoting the hashtag #thenextbigflop to take down the Galaxy S 4 on Twitter. This is a big shift in strategy as HTC use to shy away from direct comparison to competitive products, focusing mainly on its products’ features.
You can also expect to see more digital marketing and media relations efforts from HTC. Recently it reported a 250 percent increase to its digital marketing budget and a 100 percent increase for traditional media marketing spending.
Ho isn’t the only HTC employee taking a more direct approach in the company’s messaging. HTC’s North America President, Mike Woodward recently made remarks that the S 4 has no design innovation and Samsung is trying to overwhelm the consumer by throwing money at its marketing efforts.
Apple and Samsung have no problem touting their latest and greatest products. And while HTC makes a product that can compete with these tech giants, they must be transparent and authentic when discussing their latest offering with consumers. If not, the downward trend in sales may just continue.
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Emma Walter is a senior account executive for WordWrite Communications. You can find her on Twitter @emmasreallytall.
