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Verizon Wireless partners with Shazam for Far East Movement sweepstakes

Verizon Wireless has teamed up with Shazam on a campaign that lets fans tag any song by Far East Movement and be entered for a new sweepstakes promotion.

When consumers tag any song by the band, they are automatically entered for a chance to win a pair of Beats by Dr. Dre headphones signed by the group. The campaign runs through July 14.

?To raise awareness of Far East Movement's new album and Verizon's Apps store with Shazam fans and Verizon customers by jointly promoting the launch of a sweepstakes to win a pair of Beats by Dr. Dre headphones signed by CherryTree/Interscope artists Far East Movement,? said Beatrice Farina, vice president of marketing and communications at Shazam, London.

?Now, when fans use Shazam to tag any song by the band, they can enter to win the headphones,? she said. ?This is part of Shazam?s larger artist partnership strategy and is just one of the many ways Shazam works with it's distribution partners to connect its fans with artists that they love.?

Verizon Wireless serves 93.0 million retail customers, including 88.0 million retail postpaid customers. 

Shazam is discovery company with more than 200 million people in 200 countries and adding another 1.5 million new users each week. 

How it works
In addition to tagging a song by Far East Movement, consumers can also tweet the tag on Twitter and include @vcastmusic in their tweet.

By partnering with Shazam, Verizon is able to reach a broad amount of users.

Both companies are letting fans know about the initiative through respective marketing channels including online marketing, social media and within the Shazam app to raise awareness of the promotion.

Past efforts
Shazam has become a force to reckon with in the mobile space.

Earlier this year, American Idol gave viewers a way to interact with the show as they watched via a partnership with Shazam.

Fans of the show were able to use the Shazam application during the show to access a song list with links so viewers can purchase the music for all the performers (see story).

Most recently, ITV, Britain?s commercial television network, saw 50,000 viewers use the Shazam mobile application to tag Pepsi Max and Cadbury ads in just 60 seconds of airtime during the ?Britain?s Got Talent? finale.

Consumers were invited to use the Shazam mobile app when they saw ads appear for Pepsi Max and the Cadbury Unwrap Gold promotion. Users were encouraged to enter sweepstakes to win tickets to summer festivals and other merchandise from Pepsi Max or London 2012 Opening Ceremony tickets from Cadbury (see story).

?With artists looking for new ways to launch albums and reach fans across multiple platforms, partnerships such as the one between Shazam, Verizon and Far East Movement offer an innovative way for musicians to rise above the noise in the market,? Ms. Farina said.

Final Take
Rimma Kats is associate editor on Mobile Marketer, New York