Shazam…It’s Not Just For Music Anymore

January 28, 2015 | Blog | By Lightbox

Looking for a way to extend your brand’s message from our Smart Screens to the screen that matters most to consumers, their mobile device? Why not hit them up through a mobile app that is most likely not only already installed on their phone but also in their top 15 most used? I present to you Adspace’s newest mobile partner…Shazam!

Now, I know what you’re thinking. “Isn’t Shazam that music recognition app? Like when I’m at the bar, and I swear I know the name of a song/artist, and my gal-pals dare to challenge me with what they think is the name of said song/artist and Shazam magically tells everyone that I’m right?” The answer is yes, but wait, there’s more! While Shazam is rooted in the music recognition business, over the past couple years it has started to branch out into general audio recognition that instead of just returning the name of a song/artist to your phone, it can now return a piece of customized mobile content associated with any audio.

And that’s where we come in. At the end of the 2014, Adspace became one of Shazam’s premiere partners in Out-of Home media. So what does that mean for an Adspace advertiser? It means that your brand’s message is no long confined to just 15 seconds on our screens. We now have the ability to send a customized mobile experience, an extension of what runs on our screens, directly to the palms of consumers’ hands. A message that they can not only access right then and there, but take with them and revisit as they go about their day/week/month/whenever!

Sounds like magic, you say? Just like the tried and true music recognition of Shazam, it kinda is. Or rather, it’s so easy and frictionless that it seems like it must be magic. Here’s how it works:

When a Shazam enabled advertising campaign runs on the Adspace Mall Network, a unique, inaudible, ever-present, ultrasonic watermark plays behind all of the advertising and content running on the screens in the mall. The Shazam enabled ad runs with a call-to-action enticing shoppers to Shazam the screen for some sort of incentive (extended content from a movie or tv show, download a song or playlist, exclusive coupon or offer, etc). Since the audio that the Shazam app is recognizing is always-on, playing behind everything that runs within our programming loop, even if the spot ends before the app is finished listening, no sweat, Shazam can still pick up the watermark and deliver the advertiser’s mobile experience right to a shopper’s phone. Once the mobile result is returned to the shopper’s phone (s)he can navigate through the experience right then, and better yet, it’s also saved in the app under the “My Shazam” or the “My Tags” tab (depending upon the version installed on their phone), for the shopper to return to at a future date. What more could an advertiser ask for?!?!?

Take a look at what we did with VH1 and the premiere of their new scripted series Hindsight:

The VH1 ad included a clear call-to-action to Shazam the screen to view the extended trailer and the mobile experience included the video of the trailer, links to social media and a tune in reminder for the premiere that was entered directly into the user’s calendar…talk about keeping your messaging top of mind!

So if you’re looking to amplify your on-screen campaign through a highly recognizable mobile app, Shazam enable your next in-mall spot to create an impression that extends from our screens to the most coveted screen, the one in the palm of a consumers hand.