Sponsor 
LONDON – November 28, 2013 – Mindshare Worldwide, the global media agency network and Shazam®, the world’s leading media engagement company, are launching AUDIO+, a program to help leading brands audit, map and capitalise on the sound-based elements of their global advertising campaigns.
The companies will work together with Mindshare clients to drive consumer interactions via second screen mobile devices using the Shazam App, Mindshare said in a press release. The Shazam App uses leading, proprietary audio content recognition (ACR) technology to identify in just seconds any of a brand’s audio assets from TV, radio and in-store adverts and connects the consumer to a tailored mobile experience for the campaign.
Brands now operate in an adaptive and fast-paced media environment, so the need to understand the brand’s asset map and to optimise all aspects of it, from text to video, on a global basis, has become more important. Without knowing all the touch points of interaction between brand and consumer, a company can be missing out on the opportunity to interact with their customer and carry on the conversation. Text (search and social), video (YouTube and other platforms) and image (social such as Facebook) assets are all audited and distributed as part of a brand’s paid, owned and earned media strategy, but audio assets have until now gone un-categorised and un-leveraged.
AUDIO+ addresses this by auditing, mapping and then leveraging a brand’s audio assets, helping to provide insights to clients into the ROI on sound-based assets for the first time. All of the client’s advertising campaigns with audio can be Shazam-enabled, potentially presenting different mobile experiences to consumers depending on the type of media or placement.
The deal will provide Mindshare clients with: insights into the ROI on any sound-based assets for the first time (in part using the Shazam Engagement Rate launched and available in the U.S. in June 2013); a bespoke audio audit and strategy that will apply Shazam’s audio recognition service across TV, Radio, Branded Video and In-Store media; attractive pricing for Shazam’s development and license costs; access to consumer engagement data, reporting and insights; first access to Shazam betas for new capabilities and enhancements; co-produced workshops; and an impact study into the value of audio branding on brand metrics, ROI and other benefits.
Nick Emery, Mindshare Worldwide CEO, said, “Brands have spent the last twelve months optimizing their owned assets for search – text, images, video, etc. – they now need to look at the broader brand territory around sound given the rise of technologies like Shazam. TV and online video is an audio visual experience, it’s time that brands were given the power to leverage the audio, not just the picture.”
Rich Riley, Shazam CEO, said, ”This program will help brands worldwide to understand more about when and where people want to engage for more information about their products and services, whether it’s on television, in the cinema, on the radio, in retail locations, online or anywhere else. With Mindshare mapping and the Shazam Engagement Rate, the partnership offers brands an unprecedented way of looking at their ad spend to see which ads at are the most effective and see the most engagement. Additionally, working with Mindshare will help extend these insights so that companies can see the full range of where and how they are reaching their core audience.”
Financial details of the deal are undisclosed.
