Shazam! Aim your phone at the Super Bowl TV ad, win two Toyotas
Here's the Super Bowl story that hasn't been told: how almost half the advertisers in the biggest TV show on earth were "Shazamable": all the viewer had to do to get direct access to the advertiser was to point their smartphone with the Shazam app at the TV set .
Shazam: the gateway to goodies
Some ads carried a Shazam button on the screen; in others the app just "listened in," as it has in the past in the app's former role, naming songs.
Toyota boasted their Super Bowl ad was "the first and biggest giveaway of its kind to utilize Shazam technology. " The top prize was two Camrys - one for the winner and one for a friend.
Super Bowl Viewers were also able to "shazam" free music downloads, gift cards, donate to charity and enter sweepstakes for other giveaways. Even Madonna's half-time show was covered.
In last years's Superbowl there was just one Shazam ad. That was an experimental giveaway for Dockers. Roughly 20,000 users "Shazam-ed that ad,said Evan Krauss, vice president of advertising at the company.
This year the Shazam rocket took off.
Apart from Toyota ,advertisers who were Shazam-enabled included:
• Best Buy, who ran a $50 gift card offer for consumers looking to buy and activate a mobile phone in 2012 when they tag the ad.
• Cars.com – when viewers used Shazam to tag their ad, Cars.com were to donate $1.00 to one of seven charities, up to a maximum $100,000.
• Pepsi – their ad featured X Factor winner Melanie Amaro, performing Otis Redding’s song “Respect” . Shazamers could unlock a free video.
• Teleflora : Viewers who tagged Teleflora’s “Give” ad starring super model Adriana Lima were to receive a secret offer.
Other Shazamable commercials, providing offers, included GE, Relativity’s new Navy Seals action-thriller, “Act of Valor” and Disney’s new movie “John Carter"
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Through a partnership with Bud Light, the Bridgestone Super Bowl Hal- ftime show was also Shazam-enabled.
Originally the "Name that tune " app, in the last year, Shazam says it has established itself as the leader in the “second-screen” interactive TV category. And the Super Bowl was the perfect example.
Andrew Fisher, Shazam CEO, said he was proud that Shazam was being woven into the entire broadcast "so that people can discover more about the game, the half-time show and the must-see ads – all on their smartphones or tablets.”
When viewers used Shazam during the game, they were also able to :
• Access up-to-the-minute statistics to keep track of all the key plays and players;
• Participate in polls about the game and ads with other fans;
• Share their experience with their friends on Facebook and Twitter;
• Buy stuff including hats and jerseys and much more from Shazam’s mobile store.
The free app can be found everywhere: on iTunes App Store, Android Market, Amazon App Store, AT&T’s AppCenter, Verizon VCast app store, Nokia Store, Windows Phone Marketplace, BlackBerry App World, and GetJar.
Shazam says it has more than 175 million people in 200 countries and is adding another 1.5 million new users each week.
The company says it is " the best way for people to discover, explore, buy, and share, music, TV shows and branded content. For further information visit www.shazam.com or
@ShazamNews on Twitter or on Facebook.