Taste of Home is treating visitors to this year?s Gingerbread Boulevard in New York, sponsored by Folgers, to an inside tour of the life-sized art installation through application Shazam. 

Visitors to Taste of Home?s display will not only get to view the artfully crafted life-sized gingerbread houses from afar, but now they will also get a virtual walkthrough of the inside through Shazam?s visual feature. The new addition to the Folgers-sponsored event brings attendees deeper into the event, making a lasting impression on consumers. 

?Our partnership with Shazam is brand-new and utilizes the Visual Shazam recognition technology they launched earlier this year,? said Joe Losardo, executive marketing director at Taste of Home and Reader?s Digest. ?With Shazam, Taste of Home has created an entire virtual Gingerbread Boulevard world where attendees can explore the interiors of each house through virtual tours, take selfies in each house that can then be shared on social and have access to exclusive Folgers holiday traditions content.  

?This can all be accessed by simply Shazaming each house sign at Gingerbread Blvd from a smartphone,? he said.

The 2015 installment of the holiday celebration is taking the mobile integration one step further to ensure visitors full immersion into the Christmas spirit, following feedback from users requesting more content surrounding the event. This year?s display features four gingerbread houses roughly 9-feet tall that open their doors to viewers through the Shazam app. 

Users hold their smartphones to scan the visuals and Shazam brings up the content coinciding with the event, giving them a 360-degree view of the inside of the gingerbread houses. 

The app also introduces a feature in which users can click on hotspots where they can take selfies inside the houses through augmented reality, as well as access content related to Folgers? countdown of the top holiday traditions.

The coffee brand is sponsoring Taste of Home?s content on social media and its digital Web site in which various traditions are showcased in countdown format regarding the top holiday practices.

Gingerbread Blvd is a fairly new tradition in which Taste of Home installs a scenic gingerbread wonderland at Madison Square Park in New York for the holiday season. This year?s installation will be on display until Dec 22. 

For the launch of the display, Folgers, Mars and Dove are serving visitors treats from their respective brands to celebrate the tree lighting ceremony at Gingerbread Blvd. 

Taste of Home is encouraging fans to get in on the social media conversation with the hashtage #TOHBLVD15. 

Similarly to the Gingerbread Blvd Shazam partnership, Bravo allowed Shazam users a sneak peek of its new docu-series after using the app during the show's trailer, exhibiting the continual merge of television and mobile and ensuring a more resonating promotional experience (see more). 

?We learned that people wanted more content around the Gingerbread Boulevard experience, which is why we increased the footprint in the park by adding a fourth house and created an entire virtual mobile world for people to explore,? Mr. Losardo said. ?As consumers, especially millennials, a growing segment for Taste of Home, spend more and more time on mobile, we wanted to provide an interactive, content-rich experience that went beyond the live installation.  

?With their new recognition technology, Shazam was a no-brainer given their capabilities and extensive reach,? he said.