Take That and Faithless Team Up with Shazam

Two new mobile marketing campaigns have appeared this week that are particularly interesting. First, Faithless added the Shazam logo to their TV ad. Users could tag it through Shazam and be able to buy their tickets through their mobile. Take That took and different take on it. They are using Shazam as a means of competition entry: when fans hear their new single, The Flood, they can tag it on Shazam and they are automatically entered into their Golden Tickets competition. Fans will also receive updates when the track and their new album become available on i-tunes.

Whether you’re a fan of the two bands or not, this is an interesting take on mobile response marketing. Whilst Shazam users have been able to buy concert tickets before (for example with O2 Priority), linking it directly to the band’s promotion is a new move.

For the last ten years texting a keyword to a shortcode has been a common method to engagement: whether it be voting, asking for more information or even getting a web-link, it is pretty common place. However, keywords and shortcodes do not have to be the only response mechanism. Some brands have played with QR codes and image recognition. Although the likes of Pepsi have seen some success with QR, they haven’t exactly caught the public imagination. However, the idea of tagging some music as a means of engagement is interesting. I think it has potential, so it would be good to see where it all goes.