With over 175 million downloads, Shazam is the song recognition application extrodinaire. We've all been there, a song comes on and you can't remember who sings it. You open up Shazam, let it listen to the song for a few seconds and voila! the app tells you which song it is, who sings it and links to download the tune. So instead of relying on in-app advertisements for revenue generation, Shazam has decided to take to the TV's. Nearly a third of all Superbowl ads will be Shazam-able. Let the app listen to an ad and it can take viewers to more information, giveaways, deals or just about anything else that lives on the web.

The app is basically working as a substitute, or alternative method, for a QR code and is another fantastic way for advertisers to get audiences to interact with their ad. Making a Shazam-able ad for digital out-of-home is just one of many up-and-coming ways for advertisers to creatively hook audiences in. Include a message to audiences, such as "Shazam to Shop" in the advertising creative for easy scanning instruction. I found an ad for Old Navy that was able to be scanned by Shazam. It was a quick and easy process to load the app, scan and brought to a screen with multiple options. Audiences can then choose, from within the Shazam app, if they'd like to proceed forward to view more content.

Including Shazam in advertisements will work great in places like malls, doctor offices and grocery stores. Essentially, any network location with audio capabilities can use the tools but you'll want audiences to be in a close enough proximity for the app to hear the audio. Try it out for yourself with the video below.

We continue to monitor the media landscape to find new and innovative ways to engage audiences. Stay tuned for other ideas and tools to captivate audiences.

Ashley DiVeronica, Digital Media Strategist