Mobile music discovery company Shazam today announced that over the next few months, a variety of companies will begin integrating its technology into their advertising campaigns.
“We’re now seeing companies in nearly every industry sector taking advantage of Shazam’s ‘second screen’ experience to provide consumers with additional product information or give them an easy and fast point-of-interest retail experience at the click of a button,” said Evan Krauss, executive vice president of Advertising Sales at Shazam, in a statement.
Shazam is primarily known for its consumer-facing application that records clips of ambient music and then identifies the song being played, allowing users to buy or share that music with others. With integration in advertising, users will actually be able to “Shazam” ads, allowing them to find out more about the featured product, participate in promotions or shop.
The company says that both Honda and Starbucks have integrated Shazam in their campaigns, allowing users to unlock clues in scavenger hunts. As part of the new Honda Civic campaign, players use Shazam videos on the Honda YouTube channel playlist to find the next clue. Participants in the Starbucks scavenger hunt used Shazam in the first phase of the hunt to tag the Lady Gaga video for instructions on how to move on to the next phase.
Additionally, Paramount Pictures, Proctor & Gamble and Progressive Insurance also will be integrating the service into their ad campaigns.
Shazam says its technology increases engagement, citing one ad campaign where Shazam drove 20 percent more traffic to a company’s mobile microsite than the brand’s website received from all other sources. Additionally, 27 percent of the people who “Shazam’d the ad” either shopped, downloaded the song featured in the ad or viewed additional content.
The company says this latest round of “Shazamable ads” will run throughout the summer with new campaigns being introduced over time.
