Rogers Wireless unveiled the first Google Android-powered phones, the HTC Dream and HTC Magic, in Toronto Tuesday morning and is supporting the launch with a major multimedia marketing campaign.
The nation’s largest wireless carrier is the first in the world to carry two Android powered phones, and the first to launch the Dream in North America, said John Boynton, senior vice-president and chief marketing officer, Rogers Wireless.
“We have a long histories of firsts… last year we had the iPhone and the [BlackBerry] Bold,” said Boynton.
Both phones, built by Taiwan-based phone-maker HTC Corp., feature touchscreens and trackballs and Google’s leading services, including its search engine, e-mail, maps and video sharing site, YouTube.
The English advertising campaign, from Rogers’ creative agency Publicis Canada, includes TV, online, radio, print and outdoor.
The creative extends Rogers’ well-known “My Five” platform of five young friends, which is a “real representation of the target group we go after,” said Boynton.
My Five “helps with our brand recognition, but it also helps to show how these friends can connect through different devices and plans,” said Bill Newbery, group creative director Publicis Canada.
Four 15-second TV spots show “little glimpses into the lives of these kids,” he said. “I think it’s engaging because [viewers] can follow it and get to know the characters and identify with characteristics of each [one].”
Rogers has also employed page takeovers on YouTube.com and Yahoo.ca.
The Quebec-based portion from Marketel features “The Squad”—a group of kids that “fools around with the product in everyday scenarios,” added Boynton.
OMD handled the media plan and buy for the first time since it took over the account from incumbent MediaCom last March.
Smartphones now account for approximately 50% of phones being purchased, said Boynton.
“It’s gone from being a business device, to a device that everyone uses whether you’re a 14-year-old-girl or a 42-year-old dad, more people are comfortable with smartphones because of what they can do,” he said.
In a move similar to Apple’s app store for the iPhone, the Android Market offers 3,200 free software applications including games and entertainment, with more being added daily.
According to a recent Ipsos-Reid study conducted on behalf of Rogers Wireless, the average smartphone user has downloaded nearly 20 apps over the past year.
Boynton said he hopes that Canadian software developers will get into the game by adding homegrown applications to the Android Market.
Rogers unveiled the HTC smartphones during a press conference in Toronto yesterday with Canadian actor Joshua Jackson, of science fiction thriller Fringe—a TV show that appeals to an audience that would love this product as well, said Boynton.
“We always like spokespeople who are Canadian,” said Boynton. “The fit with the product is good just because of what he’s done and what he’s doing now.”
Jackson described himself as “a bit of a tech fiend.”
“For myself, working on a show like Fringe, the shooting schedule is so hectic and I am on the road a lot, and I think [Google] Latitude will help me keep in touch with my friends,” Jackson said of the tool designed to let people see on a map where their friends are located in a particular city.
