Argos first retailer to launch Shazam ad

Argos is adding audio recognition app Shazam to its Christmas TV advertising in an effort to grow its mobile sales in the run up to Christmas.

Argos will be the first UK retailer to use Shazam.
Argos will be the first UK retailer to use Shazam.

The retailer hopes to take advantage of the growth in ‘dual screening’ behaviour to drive awareness of and traffic to its mobile shopping app and mobile site.

Ads will carry a prompt to let viewers know the ad interacts with Shazam and invite them to activate the app. It will then redirect them to its mobile app or mobile site.

The app ‘listens’ to audio from advertisements and uses it to launch branded experiences on users’ mobile devices when it “recognises” the soundtrack. Shazam began as a music identification tool to help consumers find out the names of tracks they were listening to.  

Carl Nield, head of brand marketing at Argos, says: “We’re really excited about being the first retailer to bring a ‘Shazam-able’ TV advert to UK consumers.  Mobile is our fastest growing channel so we are constantly looking at new ways to interact with our customers through this and other digital platforms.  Shazam for TV allows us to reach out to a potential new audience of Shazam users and link our digital apps with traditional media.”

Argos claims to be the first high street retailer in Europe to use the audio recognition app in TV ads. Brands including Volvo, Cadbury and Microsoft have used Shazam in recent TV campaigns.

CEO John Walden recently outlined his plan to position Argos as “digital retail leader” and move away from its catalogue-reliant model.

Mobile sales currently account for 7 per cent of its £3.9bn total sales and the retailer plans to grow this significantly. Nearly eight in 10 (78%) UK consumers use a mobile device while watching TV, according to Nielsenwire.

A recent study conducted for Shazam by Magid Associates found that brands using Shazam enabled TV ads achieved higher word-of-mouth, brand interaction, future intent, recall and brand ratings from consumers.

Shazam is available on iPhone, Android and some tablet devices.

The Argos TV advert was created by CHI and Partners. Mindshare developed the Shazam activity. It will air during The X-Factor on Saturday (24 November).

  • Shazam users are three times as likely to interact with the brand after seeing an ad than people who don’t use Shazam.
  • People who used Shazam were more than twice as likely to talk about the brand or the ad with others.
  • More than half (55%) of people who use Shazam use it to “bookmark” information to return to after watching the ad.
  • Shazam users have a higher recall of ads and their message than non-users.
    Source: Shazam

 

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