ZTE wants to become a household name all over the world, and although it’s one of the better known Chinese smartphone brands, it has come up with a new logo and brand identity to help reach its goal. Revealed ahead of CES 2015, the logo retains the ZTE name, but in more modern lettering and without the Chinese characters alongside it. ZTE’s new logo is accompanied by a new tagline, “Tomorrow never waits.”
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, ZTE’s CEO Shi Lirong said this is just the start of a major marketing push. He explained that poor brand recognition is a considerable challenge for the company, and although it’ll be increasing its annual spend on marketing, warned changes wouldn’t happen overnight. “It takes time. Every big success takes time.”
ZTE’s specifically targeting the U.S. with its new branding, along with several other major markets including Russia, India, Germany, and Indonesia. It has recently signed sponsorship deals with several sports teams, such as the New York Knicks, to increase awareness.
All this self-promotion is fine, but ZTE needs the hardware to back it up. The Star 2 is its most recent announcement, a mid-price smartphone with some interesting voice control features, which operate even when the phone is locked. ZTE has big plans for the voice control system, which has been built with Nuance Communications’ help. It’s also planning to partner up with other companies to include new materials and display panel technology in future devices, to help differentiate them from the competition.
According to ZTE’s mobile division CEO, it will shrink its smartphone range down to two or three core devices, and getting rid of the less successful hardware over the next year. Previously, the company has stated it’s targeting LG’s third position in the U.S. market, and Shi reiterated to the WSJ that it’s not overly concerned by Huawei and Xiaomi’s recent successes. “In the long run, we are confident we can perform better than others,” he said.
ZTE will show the Star 2, and possibly other new hardware, at CES 2015 next week.
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