HTC One Marketing Campaign to Include “Live Experience Tour” in 11 U.S. Cities

With pre-orders in full effect at AT&T and Sprint, HTC has announced an 11 city North American tour called the “Live Experience Tour” to help promote their flagship, the HTC One. Stops will include Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. At each stop, many of which will include malls, HTC is setting up what they are calling BoomSound Lounges and HTC One Showrooms. These are pop-up stores with interactive experiences that allow customers to get their hands on the the One and have HTC prove that this phone is “everything your phone isn’t.” Yes, that’s their new marketing slogan for the One. The focus will obviously be on their set of newly created buzzwords like BoomSound, Zoe, and BlinkFeed.

Along with the U.S. tour, HTC will hold exclusive concerts for a limited number of fans that include performances by Pharrell in New York, Grouplove in Chicago and Manchester Orchestra in Los Angeles. These LiveNation concerts will have some sort of tie-in to the BoomSound and One Showrooms.

The BoomSound Lounges will start popping up today. HTC One Showrooms won’t arrive in malls until April 11, but should be around for up to three months.

Is this the marketing campaign HTC needs to survive? I guess we’ll find out. It’s just too bad they couldn’t have used some of that Pharrell cash to produce 4 Megapixel “Ultrapixel” sensors and deliver the phone on time. 

HTC CHALLENGES CONSUMER EXPECTATIONS WITH NEW HTC ONE® LIVE EXPERIENCE TOUR

Tour Launches Across the Country to Show Consumers the New HTC One Is “Everything Your Phone Isn’t”

BELLEVUE, Wash. – April 5, 2013 — HTC, a global leader in mobile innovation and design, today introduced the company’s integrated U.S. marketing campaign launching its new flagship smartphone, the new HTC One. The campaign challenges the current mobile phone experience with a bold and playful execution, and offers consumers the opportunity to see, hear and hold the new smartphone before nationwide availability in traditional retail channels. The campaign comes to life as pre-order begins today, following unprecedented demand and the strongest pre-registration interest for any smartphone designed by HTC. The new HTC One will be available nationwide at retail stores through AT&T, Sprint and Best Buy on April 19, and through T-Mobile later this spring.

“We’re establishing the U.S. brand identity for the new HTC One as an innovative, stunning product with a full-metal design and a clear difference in experiences from any previous, or recently announced smartphone” said Erin McGee, vice president, marketing, North America, HTC Corporation. “The new HTC One has already won numerous prestigious awards and accolades, but consumers have yet to see it for themselves. We are changing that, starting today, by delivering unique and highly relevant experiences on city streets, in suburban malls, and at hundreds of movie theaters that brings the product to life through an authentic connection with the consumer.”

Everything Your Phone Isn’t™

Crafted with a distinct zero-gap aluminum unibody, the new HTC One introduces HTC BlinkFeed™, HTC Zoe™ and HTC BoomSound™, key new HTC Sense® innovations that reinvent the mobile experience and set a new standard for smartphones. HTC is taking the breakthrough product directly to consumers with the HTC One Live Experience Tour, bringing each unique innovation to life and prompting consumers to compare the new HTC One to their current phone experience.

The advertising features a similarly evocative theme positioning the new smartphone to consumers as “Everything Your Phone Isn’t”, with several deep integrations that highlight the dynamic experiences of the device. The new advertising campaign will run across a variety of media, including heavy rotation in relevant national TV programming, print, digital media and mobile advertising to include Pandora, Spotify, YouTube and Vevo. In-market geo-targeted advertising will also be incorporated into the HTC One Live Experience Tour.

The HTC One Live Experience Tour will appear in 11 major markets across the U.S. and consists of three distinct executions: the HTC BoomSound Lounge, HTC One Showrooms and HTC One Cinema Experiences.

HTC BoomSound Lounge

The new HTC One introduces — for the first time on a phone — front-facing stereo speakers with a dedicated amplifier, as well as Beats Audio™ integration for rich, authentic sound whether listening to music, watching a video or playing a game.

Opening today, the HTC BoomSound Lounges bring the extraordinary on-device audio experience to life at pop-up listening booths in prominent locations in six major cities across the U.S.: Columbus Circle in New York, Embarcadero Plaza in San Francisco, Hollywood and Highland in Los Angeles, Wrigleyville in Chicago, Franklin Square in Philadelphia, and Perimeter Mall in Atlanta.

In addition to product experiences, the BoomSound Lounges serve as the connection for consumers to exclusive HTC concerts produced by Live Nation. Performances by Pharrell in New York, Grouplove in Chicago and Manchester Orchestra in Los Angeles will be limited to an audience of 1,000 fans, creating an intimate, once-in-a-lifetime experience for attendees. Consumers in those three markets can visit the HTC BoomSound Lounges for the opportunity to receive tickets to the concerts happening in their city. On April 19, all of the BoomSound Lounges across the country will transform into listening and viewing locations for the broadcast of one of the exclusive live concerts.

HTC One Showroom

Starting on April 11, HTC One Showrooms will begin appearing in high-traffic malls across the U.S. where they will live for a minimum of three months to create a playful, dynamic, digital space for consumer interaction and entertainment. The HTC Showrooms are built solely on the experiences of the new HTC One, placed where people spend time shopping, dining and hanging out, and allow engagement at their leisure. HTC Showrooms are popping up in eight U.S. markets featuring interactive experiences and a plethora of new HTC One smartphones for hands-on experiences: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.

“HTC One Showrooms are taking the concept of a pop-up store to different place by creating a large, playful, interactive exhibit where we expect people to be entertained and have a new experience with the HTC One at each visit. It gives them the chance to truly immerse themselves in everything the phone offers at their own pace – and delivers a different experience than a traditional retail setting. We’ve created a mobility-powered playground that is good for our consumers, and for our retail partners as we send informed customers to their doors,” said McGee.

• HTC BlinkFeed: The new experience that transforms the home screen on the new HTC One into a single live stream of personally relevant information is re-created in the HTC Showroom as a larger-than-life interactive phone display that will provide news updates to shoppers.
• HTC Zoe: The ability to shoot high-res photos that come to life and transform the photo gallery into a living gallery will be brought to the HTC Showroom as interactive touch screens representing the on-device photo experience.
• HTC Sense TV™: HTC experts demonstrate how the new HTC One transforms into an interactive program guide and remote control to easily sort through and check all content on TV by selectable categories.
• HTC Live Cinema Experience
• HTC is treating moviegoers to hands-on opportunities with the new HTC One through live product demonstrations in the lobby of select theaters and showing the latest commercial for the new HTC One on the big screen. In the near future, HTC will add entertainment content to the on-screen viewing experience in theaters and also across key online and TV channels.

Availability

The highly anticipated new HTC One will be available globally through more than 185 mobile operators and major retailers in more than 80 regions and countries. In the United States, the new HTC One is available today for pre-order online through AT&T, Sprint, HTC and Best Buy in silver. Nationwide retail availability is as follows:

• AT&T: Available on April 19th in silver and black with 32GB of memory for $199.99, and in sliver with 64 GB of memory for $299.99 with a two-year commitment.
• Sprint: Available on April 19th in silver and black with 32GB of memory for $199.99 with a two-year commitment.
• T-Mobile: Available later this spring in silver with 32GB of memory.
• Best Buy: Available with service from AT&T and Sprint in conjunction with wireless operator availability.

For more information about the new HTC One, visit www.htc.com.

About HTC

Founded in 1997, HTC Corporation (HTC) is the creator of many award-winning mobile devices and industry firsts. By putting people at the center of everything it does, HTC pushes the boundaries of design and technology to create innovative and personal experiences for consumers around the globe. HTC’s portfolio includes smartphones and tablets powered by the HTC Sense® user experience. HTC is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE: 2498). For more information, please visit www.htc.com.