Advanced Television

Shazam-enabled BGT ad receives 50,000 tags in a minute

May 15, 2012

Shazam-enabled advertising during ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent marked a major milestone for interactive adverts in the UK.  Around 50,000 viewers used the Shazam App to tag the Pepsi MAX and Cadbury ads in just 60 seconds of airtime during special ad breaks in Saturday’s final.

Fans of the show who had Shazam on their smartphones were able to enter contests to win summer music festival tickets from Pepsi MAX and an Olympic Ceremony package from Cadbury as well as participate in the conversation on social networks.  The Pepsi MAX ‘Crowd Surfing’ football advert also included the chance to unlock other prizes, free merchandise and a link to download the ad’s official soundtrack.

“The response to the launch of Shazam-enable television adverts has been amazing.  We make it simple for brands to amplify their message and deepen engagement by turning 30 seconds of television into three minutes of interaction,” said Andrew Fisher, Shazam CEO.  “During the last year, we have successfully worked with over one hundred of the world’s leading brands on Shazam for TV custom integrations in the US, Australia and continental Europe and we are excited to now bring this service to the UK in partnership with ITV.”

Simon Daglish, Group Commercial Sales Director, ITV said: “We’re thrilled that the first UK Shazam-enabled ads achieved this level of interaction in Saturday’s amazing Britain’s Got Talent final  – proving there is a real appetite from consumers to go deeper with quality content including spot advertising. We’re very excited about talking to all our advertisers about this exclusive new opportunity to drive real-time engagement with their brands.”

Shazam recently launched the industry’s fastest tagging and includes unlimited tagging in the apps on Android and iOS devices, making it easy for people to share their discoveries with their friends on Facebook using the Shazam Friends feature.

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