HTC is running a mobile advertising campaign to show consumers some of the unique features of the HTC One.

HTC is using a variety of mobile advertising units to promote its products on mobile sites including Rolling Stone and Billboard. HTC and Airwave OMG worked with Kargo on this mobile campaign.

?The campaign was an awareness push for the device launch,? said Alexis Berger, Chicago-based vice president of sales Midwest at Kargo.

?HTC was targeting a youthful consumer, one that craves features on their phone beyond a standard smartphone,? she said.

Mobile takeover
Animated skins and banner ads on Rolling Stone and Billboard?s mobile sites feature a picture of the HTC One next to copy that encourages consumers to learn about the phone by clicking through.

Additionally, HTC is sponsoring content on the RollingStone mobile site, which is marked as branded copy at the top of articles and on the homepage.

Additionally, interstitial ads within music, lifestyle and entertainment publishers are also being used to promote the phones.

The ads include rich media to highlight some of the phone?s unique features ? such as BoomSound, which are two speakers in the front of the phone that claim to amplify sound.

HTC One?s Blink Feed feature is also featured in the ads. Blink Feed lets consumers pick specific social media, feeds and content that is streamed to the device?s homepage.

Consumers can then click through from the rich media to buy the phone from carriers? online stores, retailers such as Best Buy or through HTC?s online store.

The ads direct consumers to HTC?s Web site, which forces consumers to pinch and zoom to read content. The ad could have been more effective if it led consumers to content optimized for mobile devices, especially because HTC has a mobile site.

The advertising campaign runs through the end of June.

Pulling for sales
HTC is smart to use mobile advertising to promote its new smartphone.

The ads target a wide group of consumers and could be effective at triggering quick sales from consumers who are looking to upgrade their devices while browsing news content.

Additionally, rich media is particularly helpful with this campaign because it shows consumers exactly what the phone?s features are and how it works.

?We are using the real estate of the screen to really create a high impact and engaging ad to capture a consumer,? Ms. Berger said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Marketer, New York