ITV and Shazam have revealed that around 50,000 viewers used the Shazam app to tag the Pepsi MAX and Cadbury ads that aired in just 60 seconds of airtime during special ad breaks in Saturday’s final of Britain’s Got Talent.  

Viewers with Shazam on their smartphones were able to enter contests to win summer music festivals from Pepsi MAX and an Olympic Ceremony package from Cadbury, as well as participate in the conversation on social networks. The Pepsi MAX ‘Crowd Surfing’ football ad also included the chance to unlock other prizes, free screen savers, merchandise and a link to download the Calvin Harris track, Let’s Go, the ad’s official soundtrack.

“We’re thrilled that the first UK Shazam-enabled ads achieved this level of interaction in Saturday’s amazing Britain’s Got Talent final, – proving there is a real appetite from consumers to go deeper with quality content, including spot advertising,” says Simon Daglish, group commercial sales director at ITV. “We’re very excited about talking to all our advertisers about this exclusive new opportunity to drive real-time engagement with their brands.”

Shazam CEO Andrew Fisher notes that during the last year, the company has worked with over 100  of the world’s leading brands on Shazam for TV custom integrations in the US, Australia and continental Europe. “The response to the launch of Shazam-enable television adverts has been amazing,” says Fisher. “We make it simple for brands to amplify their message and deepen engagement by turning 30 seconds of television into three minutes of interaction.”