Shazam: "Smartphone, tablet technology the ideal way to deliver on the promise of iTV"

On the back of a hugely successful Super Bowl campaign earlier this year, media discovery specialist Shazam has been pushing ever deeper into the TV space, and now has Europe and other key regions firmly in its sights, as Iain Dendle, Business Development Director for Europe, tells us.

What exciting opportunities do you see for Shazam from the proliferation of smart devices?

When you consider that more and more people are engaging with their smartphones and tablets while they are watching television (currently 88 per cent and 86 per cent, respectively, in the United States), we think that smartphone and tablet technology is the ideal way to deliver on the promise of interactive television.

Shazam has more than 200 million people who currently use the service in 200 countries and continues to grow at a rate of more than 1.5 million new fans each week – with that growth accelerating as smartphones and tablets continue to take over the mobile market, we expect the rate of growth to continue increasing.

In fact, it took Shazam 10 years to receive our first billion tags – we received our second billion tags in ten months, with our daily tag rate currently standing at a mind-blowing six million+ tags/day.

And it’s this scale that is one of the reasons that we have been successful with so many broadcasters and advertisers, enabling them to reach a large portion of their audience instantly.

What principles does Shazam adhere to when building customer-friendly apps and services?

Shazam always keeps the customer experience at the centre of everything we do. We are constantly innovating to deliver a richer experience that is also simple and intuitive. In addition to this, consistently improving the speed and accuracy of our service is very important to us.

For example, with the launch of the industry’s fastest tagging in April, content such as music and Shazam-enabled television shows and advertising can be identified in as little as one second, making it even faster for people to discover, explore and share more of the music, shows and brands they love.

What new partnership opportunities do you expect to emerge for Shazam as consumers becomes increasingly connected?

With Shazam’s expansion into television over the last 18 months+, we have partnered with America’s leading broadcasters to incorporate our Shazam for TV service into some of their most popular television programmes such as American Idol and Covert Affairs as well as major events such as the Super Bowl, GRAMMY Awards and Billboard Music Awards.

We’ve also launched key partnerships with global A-List brands such as Honda, Toyota, Pepsi, Smirnoff, and Procter and Gamble to integrate Shazam into their national ad campaigns.

Most recently, we announced a strategic partnership with ITV to extend our Shazam for TV offerings to advertisers in the UK, launching with Pepsi and Cadbury during the Britain’s Got Talent final.  We plan to continue the expansion into Europe and other key countries.

How might existing business models have to be adapted as consumer connectivity increases?

As mobile devices overtake computers in how consumers access the internet, it is key that businesses make mobile commerce – and mobile marketing – a key component of their strategy, including creating a simple way for people to transact business.

As connectivity increases, we are seeing more and more media and content (personal and public) stored in the cloud. As a media discovery service, this provides a huge business opportunity for Shazam and the opportunity to continuously bring new, innovative and exciting features and services to our fans.

Iain will be speaking at the Broadband World Forum 2012 event taking place in Amsterdam on 16-18 October. For more information and to register, please visit http://broadbandworldforum.com