Latest / The Marketing Funnel Podcast with Fexingo: Awareness, Interest, Decision, and Action Stages / How Apple Uses Shazam to Track Real World Ads
Transcript
- Lucas: Let's talk about the hardest part of the top of the funnel: knowing if your awareness campaign actually worked. For years, we've relied on surveys, which are slow and often inaccurate. But there is a cleaner signal hidden in plain sight. It lives in the songs we listen to. Luna: You mean Shazam? That feels like a niche tool, Lucas. How does identifying a track help a brand understand its marketing ROI? Lucas: It is not just about the music. It is about the moment. When someone hears an advertisement in a movie, a TV show, or even a podcast, they might want to know what that song is. They use Shazam to find it. And that action is a direct response to a creative asset. It proves they paid attention. Luna: So you are saying the act of searching for a song is a proxy for engagement with the ad that featured it. That is a clever way to capture intent without asking the user to click a banner. Lucas: Exactly. And because Apple owns both Shazam and a massive chunk of the advertising ecosystem, they can link that search to downstream behavior. If you Shazam a song after seeing a Nike ad, and then you buy sneakers online, Apple has a complete loop. No guesswork involved. Luna: But wait. Is this really new? People have been Shazaming songs for over fifteen years. Why is it suddenly a critical marketing metric now? Lucas: The technology has matured, and the privacy landscape has shifted. With cookies disappearing and tracking becoming harder, brands need first-party signals that are genuine. A Shazam event is voluntary. It is a clear, positive action. It tells you the person was curious enough to stop and identify something. That is high-value intent. Luna: I see. So it replaces the old 'did you see this ad?' survey with actual behavior. But does it work for all products, or just those with strong audio cues? Lucas: Mostly audio-heavy campaigns. Think of a car commercial with a distinct engine roar or a soundtrack that stands out. Or a luxury perfume ad where the music sets the mood. If the audio is memorable, people will want to identify it. It is a test of creative quality as much as it is a tracking mechanism. Luna: That makes sense. It forces advertisers to make their audio distinctive. You cannot have background noise if you want people to Shazam it. It raises the bar for production value. Lucas: Precisely. And this data helps them optimize. If a campaign generates thousands of Shazams but zero sales, they know the creative is sticky but the offer is weak. If it generates few Shazams, the audio itself failed to grab attention. It gives you a diagnostic tool for the entire creative process. Luna: I had not thought about it as a diagnostic tool. Usually, we just look at the final conversion. This lets you debug the middle stages of the funnel. Lucas: Right. The middle is where most campaigns die. They get awareness but no interest. The Shazam event bridges that gap. It shows that the consumer moved from passive viewing to active inquiry. That is a huge shift in mindset for the buyer. Luna: Does Apple share this data openly, or is it locked inside their walled garden? I imagine other platforms would love access to this kind of signal. Lucas: It is largely within Apple's ecosystem. They sell these insights through their advertising partners. But the principle is transferable. Any company with a unique identifier in their media can track similar behaviors. It is about finding those 'aha' moments where the audience interacts with the content beyond just watching. Luna: So it is less about the specific app and more about the concept of 'identification events'. You could do this with QR codes, or even voice assistants. It is about capturing the moment of curiosity. Lucas: Yes, exactly. Though Shazam has a network effect that others lack. Everyone knows what it is. You don't have to explain the app. You just say, 'What is this song?' and it happens. That ubiquity makes the data richer and more reliable than niche tools. Luna: That is a fair point. Friction kills data collection. If you have to download a new app to tell me you saw my ad, nobody will do it. Shazam is already there. It is frictionless. Lucas: And that frictionlessness is key. We are living in an era of attention scarcity. Every extra step reduces participation. By leveraging a tool people already use for entertainment, brands get a window into their minds without demanding extra effort. Luna: It feels almost organic. Like the audience is helping the marketer, rather than being tracked by them. There is a subtle difference in perception there. Lucas: There is. And it builds trust. If I am using Shazam to find a song, I am not feeling spied on. I am engaging with art. The fact that the brand benefits from that engagement is a secondary outcome. It is a win-win dynamic that respects the user's experience. Luna: I like that framing. It shifts the focus from extraction to exchange. The user gets information, the brand gets data. It is a clean transaction. Lucas: Now, let's look at the numbers. In recent quarters, brands using Shazam attribution have seen up to a thirty percent lift in purchase probability compared to non-interacting viewers. That is significant. It moves the needle from 'maybe' to 'likely'. Luna: Thirty percent is a big jump. Does that hold up across different industries, or is it mostly lifestyle and entertainment brands? Lucas: It works well for lifestyle, fashion, and automotive. These are categories where audio branding is strong. A car engine sound or a fashion show soundtrack creates an emotional hook. Financial services struggle a bit here, unless they use jingles or distinctive audio logos, which is rare. Luna: So it is not a universal solution. It requires creative assets that are designed to be heard, not just seen. That changes how marketers approach scriptwriting and sound design. Lucas: Absolutely. Sound designers are now just as important as copywriters. They have to craft audio that stands out in a noisy world. If the music blends in, nobody Shazams it. The audio must be intentional, memorable, and distinct. Luna: This raises the cost of production, doesn't it? Better audio means higher budgets. Can small businesses compete in this space? Lucas: They can, if they are clever. You don't need a million-dollar score. You need a signature sound. A unique sonic logo or a catchy phrase set to music. Some small brands use custom jingles that become viral. It is about creativity, not just budget. Luna: I agree. Creativity often beats budget. If the audio is genuinely interesting, people will engage with it regardless of who made it. It levels the playing field slightly. Lucas: It does. And it rewards authenticity. Listeners can smell fake audio from a mile away. If the music feels forced, they skip it. If it feels right, they stay. This feedback loop forces brands to be more honest in their storytelling. Luna: That is a refreshing change from the polished, sterile ads we usually see. It brings a human element back into the equation. Lucas: Before we wrap up, I want to mention that our conversations stay ad-free thanks to listeners like you. If today was actually useful to you, the way these stay ad-free is listener support — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo — that's F. E. X. I. N. G. O. Luna: Thanks for keeping the signal clear and the noise low. It really helps us dig into these details without distraction. Lucas: Back to the funnel. The next step after the Shazam is usually a digital follow-up. Brands retarget those users with relevant offers. It is a seamless bridge from offline curiosity to online action. Luna: And that retargeting is highly effective because the intent is fresh. They just identified the song, so the brand is top of mind. The conversion rate should be much higher than generic retargeting. Lucas: It is. And it closes the loop. We started with awareness, moved to interest via the Shazam, and now we are driving decision through targeted offers. It is a complete, measurable journey. Luna: One last question. Do you think this will become standard practice for all major brands, or will it remain a premium tactic for larger players? Lucas: I think it will trickle down. As the tools become easier to use, smaller brands will adopt it. But the core advantage lies with those who invest in great audio. It is a moat built on creativity, not just code. Luna: So the winners will be the ones who make the best sounds. Interesting twist on the old 'content is king' mantra. Lucas: Exactly. Audio is king. And now, finally, we have a way to measure it properly. The future of marketing is listening.