A new partnership between Shazam; Mobext, the mobile business division of Havas; and Mobile Network Group will help brands use app data to personalize ads.
Since January, when Havas partnered with Universal to use consumer data around music to better target ads to fans, the global agency has been looking for solutions to help brands target relevant content to brand-appropriate music. Shazam, an app that allows users to search online for music with short song clips, offers a wealth of data around what music consumers are seeking, along with other valuable data, such as geo-location.
According to Paul Amsellem, chief executive (CEO) of Mobile Network Group, that data can predict future hit songs, allowing brands to get on board with relevant artists even before they make headlines.
“At the moment, using data from what people are Shazaming, we can predict the [music] charts for most of the country,” Amsellem says. “And Havas has a specific algorithm that makes it possible to connect brands to relevant music. Combining all the emotion of the music with the ability to know what will be at the top of the charts can help us to find a perfect match for the DNA of the brand, which is quite amazing, if you think about it.”
However, Havas and Shazam hope to soon use consumer data for targeting that goes beyond music, says Marco Rigon, global head of Mobext. For example, French car company Peugeot recently used Shazam in conjunction with a TV spot that allowed users to “Shazam” the ad and find more information on the car. In the future, an automaker might even be able to target users based on geo-location and interest.
“From a general standpoint, the knowledge on how and where people are using an application is something extremely valuable for marketers,” Rigon says. “We can give a history to car manufacturers who want to target someone in the process of buying a car. This can tell that a person has been in a dealership in the last couple of months several times. And this information can help us target consumers and be more relevant.”
According to Rigon, partnering with popular apps is the best way for brands to reach consumers on mobile, since most consumers use only a handful of apps for a wealth of different purposes. Mobext hopes to form similar partnerships with other leading apps in the near future.
“This is the first step as we move to partner with leading apps,” Rigon says. “Apps are really the main entry point on mobile. Most people are using just a few of the hundreds they download, so we’re looking to partner beyond Shazam with other apps that drive engagement.”
Currently, the partnership only applies to Europe, but according to Amsellem, there are plans to launch in North and Latin America soon.