VIDEO INTERVIEW: ZTE’s US head said that the company is looking to build its brand from the “grass roots”, and unlike its rivals “will not take the consumer’s money to burn that money building a premium brand”.

Speaking on the sidelines of the recent Mobile 360 North America event, Lixin Cheng said: “We are big on digital and social media. We focus on interaction with our end consumers, we involve them for our product concepts, development, and also launching the products, so they are part of our whole design process. I think this kind of grass-roots not only helps us to very effectively build the brand, but also save our costs.”

“We don’t, like some other big names, spend so much money on the TV for promotion, and to educate consumers to look for the phone they see on the TV, but they cannot afford,” he continued.

ZTE is building its position in the US on its premise of “affordable premium”, and the company has seen some considerable success in the market – the executive claimed number four smartphone spot for the vendor in the market, and number two in the “no-contract” space.

The company recently unveiled its ZMAX phablet, which is being sold by T-Mobile USA. “I used to joke that in the US, we live in a big house, drive in big cars, and we also like big phones,” the ZTE head said.

See the full interview here.