Shazam, the UK music recognition startup that has gone on to amass over 250 million users worldwide, has made a major move in its announcement that it will now cover all US TV ads with its super-smart sound recognition app.
It’s a significant development for two reasons. Firstly, Shazam already enjoys a huge following for its music recognition service. Its power was perhaps best evinced by the instant global fame brought to Alex Clare, when his tune Too Close became one of the most ‘Shazamed’ songs ever. Shazam’s 250m users are well accustomed to the culture of ‘Shazaming’, and when they do, it has an impact. Secondly, with every TV ad becoming Shazam-able consumer behaviour could quickly evolve to being ‘Shazam-ready’ during ad breaks – especially if they’re properly incentivised to do so by pioneering brands.
And this is a key point. All brands would be wise to ‘hygiene factor’ Shazam into their TV ads, to control what collateral Shazam delivers to the consumer. But more fundamentally, the content itself can become a hugely important bridge for integrated strategies: it can bring consumers to the online and mobile worlds like never before. Shazam are rolling out their comprehensive coverage in the UK, FR, DE, SP and IT in the coming months. Get prepared!
