In a sign of its big aspirations for the Moto X, Google is putting up to $500 million in marketing spend behind the new Motorola smartphone. But is it enough to break through the marketing muscle of Apple and Samsung?

While big budgets are becoming a fact of life in the high-end smartphone category, money alone cannot guarantee the success of the device. Instead, Google will need to have a compelling brand message for the Moto X that resonates with consumers.

?It is going to come down to consumer brand awareness,? said Michael Morgan, analyst at ABI Research, New York. ?This is really what helped Samsung go from nothing to dominant with their astronomical spend on marketing and brand and is what Motorola needs to do.

?By and large, this handset will be feature- and hardware-compatible to an HTC or a Samsung or any other premium smartphone,? he said. ?So really it is going to come to the power of their marketing.

?But it not just about the power - Nokia spent hundreds of millions of dollars and look what it netted them. Most importantly, they need to have a position that is going to resonate.?

Table stakes
Apple and Samsung have both found marketing messages that are very compelling for consumers.

Apple rarely even talks about the features in its handsets. Instead, it shows images of people using them with interesting music in the background.

Samsung has found success with its marketing for the Galaxy line by targeting tech enthusiasts who see themselves as always having the newest features and depicting iPhone users as behind the times.

Motorola will need to find a way to carve out a market positioning that both separates itself from Apple and Samsung, while also resonating with consumers if it is to succeed with the Moto X.

Certainly, a $500 million budget is a good first step, particularly in the high-end segment where sales growth has begun to slow.

?If you want to make a splash and move some premium smartphones, $500 million has become table stakes,? Mr. Morgan said.

?They are not overspending and they are not under spending- it is just the right amount of marketing and it is a lot of marketing,? he said.

?Fundamentally, it appears that the high end is essentially saturated. This is the pool that they are jumping into and they need to make a splash to start capturing some market share.?

Big move
The Moto X is an important handset for Google because it is the first device to come out of the search giant?s purchase of Motorola. Several other devices have been released since the acquisition, but development had started on them prior.

While Google is trying to position Motorola as an independent company so as not to put itself into competition with Android OEMs, there is one important way that Motorola is different from these others handset manufacturers: it gets to pull from Google?s deep pockets.

Samsung reportedly is reportedly dishing out $1.2 billion a year to drive interest in Galaxy smartphones and tablets, one of the reasons for its success of late.

However, the Moto X is likely to be shipped primarily in the United States, so most of the budget will be spent here while the Galaxy is being heavily promoted worldwide.

In terms of North American marketing budgets, Apple, Samsung and now Google are all spending between $400 million and $600 million, per Mr. Morgan.

Spending anything less could put a device at a disadvantage.

?Motorola has pretty much retreated from the rest of the world, this is their make-it-or-break-it place,? Mr. Morgan said.

?The HTC One didn?t have the same level of marketing spend and the handset is not performing nearly as well as it needs to,? he said.

Points of differentiation
Google is trying to differentiate the Moto X from the competition in several ways. For example, it is being mostly assembled in the United States, something other devices cannot claim.

The Moto X is also being positioned has having limited bloat ware, or pre-loaded software from wireless carriers.

Also, customers can order the device online to customize its look. It will come with extended battery life and have always-on sensors.

However, for the most part, these points of differentiation are addressing the needs of smaller customer segments and may not have a big impact on the device goes over.

Additionally, most consumers still like to be able to go into a store to touch and feel a new phone before buying it.

?All these efforts means Motorola is looking to differentiate in a unique way rather than heavily customizing phone UI with their own skin and apps, offering a cleaner and personal experience for consumers,? said Neil Shah, senior analyst for the global wireless practice at Strategy Analytics, Newton, MA.

?However, these points of differentiation are limited and competitors can catch up,? he said. 

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Marketer, New York