It’s always nice to see a social TV integration aimed at a social good. USA and Viggle recently raised funds for Characters Unite, and now E! and Shazam have partnered to “Shazam For A Cause,” an initiative to support the Make-A-Wish Foundation. It’s tied to the new E! show, “Mrs. Eastwood & Company” (below), about the life of Clint Eastwood’s wife, his daughters and the six-person male vocal group from South Africa she manages. We spoke to Annemarie Batur, VP of Marketing & Advertising for E! and David Jones, EVP of Marketing at Shazam.
Batur explained how excited she is to facilitate engagement to, “give as much to Make-A-Wish as possible.” She added that, “we’re always looking for fans to engage and for ways to push content – we give them a bunch of outlets to get info about the show,” Batur told Lost Remote. When we asked why she decided to activate with Shazam for this initiative, she explained that Shazam is, “very recognizable across most of the population,” an asset that many social TV companies still lack. “It’s instant gratification,” she described something Shazam was worked very hard to achieve via faster discovery.
Jones described this first for their platform. “This is the first time viewers of a TV show will see the on-screen call-to-action to ‘Shazam for a Cause,'” he explained. “By simply launching the Shazam App and pressing one button to “tag” the show in just a few seconds, each viewer who does this is directly responsible for $1 being donated to Make-A-Wish by E!”
He added that “E!’s financial contribution to the Make-A-Wish-Foundation, and especially the tireless efforts by all involved in Make-A-Wish, should be center stage.”
With the upfronts coming to an end, we asked him about the role he thought social TV played. “As advertisers and networks make important decisions about next season, it’s important to remember that social TV is changing how people talk about and experience television,” Jones told Lost Remote. “Advertisers are excited, too, since for the first time, Shazam can make their TV ad campaigns interactive – and it couldn’t be easier,” he added. He described how their platform is trying to change the meaning of a commercial. “Shazam is turning 30-second spots into 3 minutes of engagement by consumers in huge numbers – engagement that ranges from more information, samples of a product, special offers, exciting sweepstakes and shopping from the couch – and of course tweeting or commenting about the brand.”
Shazam has a challenging year ahead of them as competition heats up. They’ve definitely seen the most traction among advertisers, and if they can prove ROI, they’ll continue to tap into the billions. This time, Make-A-Wish will benefit.