Shazam – The QR code of TV.

Progressive Insurance is running (testing?) TV spots that are Shazam enabled. When I saw the spot the other day I was excited and jealous at the same time.

I love Shazam – it's a very cool music app. Last weekend, after tagging "Pumped Up Kicks," I found myself wondering why Shazam hadn't yet positioned itself as a QR code for TV. TV audio is just like a music track – it's all about ones and zeros. When I later saw the spot I realized I wasn't alone in pondering this question.

Using Shazam to tag the Progressive spot downloads content from Flo, a link to get a quote, a Flo-isms app, etc. Is Progressive the best test case of Shazam? Not sure, but I applaud them for testing it. It would certainly be good for a brand that needs deeper demonstrations or explanations – e.g., cars, computers, financial services, etc.

Comments

alangdell said…

Old Navy also tried this a few months ago with custom music that they created. Shazam it, download it, remember Old Navy every time you hear it. Great idea but the hang up for me was you didn't get songs by artists, just tracks that they cut for the spots.

Maybe I'm just not a 12 year old girl though.

June 13, 2011 at 11:32 AM

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