Telefónica O2 UK Ltd. has signed an exclusive sponsorship deal with Shazam, letting the carrier deliver targeted ads for its Priority Tickets service to Shazam users.

Customers will be served relevant ads for O2 Priority pre-sales based on the music they have tagged through Shazam?s iPhone application. The dynamic ads are being delivered using mobile ad network 4th Screen Advertising?s ad-serving platform, Mpression.

?O2 is the first operator in the UK to have the iPhone, so they have the highest market share of iPhone user base, and a high percentage of Shazam iPhone app users are their customers,? said Mark Slade, managing director of 4th Screen Advertising, London. ?The campaign is driven around their association with music here in the U.K.?they sponsor O2 Arena, the biggest music venue in the world, along with a number of other venues in the country.

?O2 is trying to do something new and innovative around mobile media, something more engaging than standard banners,? he said. ?They have iPhone apps that they?re promoting, and they?re letting O2 customers know how they can get priority tickets to various venues.?

O2 is a communications company and wireless carrier targeting consumers and businesses in Britain, with 21 million mobile customers as of September 2009. 

Telefónica O2 UK Ltd. is part of Telefónica Europe plc, a business division of Telefónica S.A., which uses O2 as its commercial brand in Britain, Ireland, Slovakia, Germany and the Czech Republic, and has 46 million customers across these markets.

4th Screen Advertising is part of Mobile Interactive Group, a global integrated mobile and digital communications business. 4th Screen Advertising secured a European-wide mobile advertising deal with Shazam in October 2009.

Shazam has more than 50 million users to date, and claims to be the leading music discovery application.

Engaging music lovers via mobile
Shazam?s success as the de facto global music discovery service was a natural choice for O2 Priority when looking to engage with a music-loving audience, according to 4th Screen Advertising.

This fully integrated service allows the user to buy the song they have tagged on iTunes, and the integrated ad campaign fully supports this slick music journey experience.

O2 Priority Tickets is a unique offer for O2 customers that gives them the ability to buy tickets for gigs at The O2 and O2 Academy venues up to 48 hours before they go on general sale.

O2?s sponsorship of Shazam?s iPhone app means that customers will only see ads for pre-sales that they might be interested in based on the artists or tracks they have tagged using Shazam.

For example, if a Cheryl Cole pop song is identified and she is performing at The O2 or one of the O2 Academy venues, the ad will promote the gig. 

These relevant and contextual ads will be delivered using a variety of formats including standard banners and integrated links.

?We?re a premium European ad network, and we represent Shazam?s mobile inventory,? Mr. Slade said. ?We offer a unique way of creating a Shazam experience with O2?s own Priority Ticketing campaign, a personal interaction between the brand and the consumer.?