ITV will partner with music recognition service Shazam to provide interactive TV advertising for users of the app.
Shazam users (there are 10m in the UK) will be able to use the app to interact with ads and enter competitions, get more info, view additional content or download free music.
Under the terms of the deal ITV Commercial will have exclusive rights in the UK to offer Shazam-enabled ads.
The partnership follows the launch of Shazam for TV in the US where it has been used in TV shows and events such as American Idol and the Super Bowl (where more than half of the advertisers made their ads interactive).
Early results released by Shazam show response rates which 'exceed that of traditional internet campaigns'.
In one ad campaign, Shazam drove 20% more traffic to the mobile microsite than the brand’s website received from all sources combined.
It's an interesting step for Shazam, which is better known as a music app, but as readwriteweb explains, it sees its future in the 'second screen' market as a response mechanism for TV ads.
As more and more people use laptops, tablets and smartphones while watching TV, it makes sense for advertisers to encourage viewers to use this devices to respond to ads.
There are a number of techniques to get viewers to respond to TV ads, including 'search calls to action', URLs in ads, and QR codes.
How well Shazam works remains to be seen. As with QR codes, it has some potential disadvantages related to the user experience.
Users have to have the app installed in the first place, then need to fire up the app in response to on-screen prompts, then wait for the app to recognise the music played, though this is at least easier than scanning a code.
Can they achieve this in a 30 second ad slot? Are there enough Shazam users watching ITV ads to make it worthwhile? This remains to be seen...
Reader comments (4)
MD at White Hat Media
12:36PM on 19th April 2012
It's interesting that they've teamed up with a channel like ITV as TV channels themselves are now under threat due to the massive growth of on demand with the likes of LoveFilm, Netflix, iTunes and inevitably whatever Google and Amazon come up with.
I'd be interested to see some bang up to date research on the usage of actual TV channels vs on demand, the problem of course being the market is now changing so rapidly that by the time the ink is dry on any report on this, so to speak it's usually out of date.
E-commerce Manager at Joe Browns
1:55PM on 19th April 2012
As a concept it sounds great but the execution with users will need to be excellent.
The customer will be in a chair or sofa and have to get their phone/tablet and turn on the app all within 30seconds, i don't think this will work unless the app is constantly running.
Editor at Econsultancy
4:22PM on 19th April 2012
@Eoin Yes, that's a problem. It's slightly less clunky than a QR code on a TV ad, but still a challenge to get the phone out and the app ready in time.
E-commerce Manager at Joe Browns
4:30PM on 19th April 2012
If it was a perpetual broadcast sound that was on x number of minutes before an interval/break that might get the user involved, but for interactive media you need a hook and without that hook you might buy more ad slots.
If they launched a platform similar to zeebox that would be more understandable.
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