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SHAZAM SELECTS PREMIUM MOBILE AD NETWORK 4TH SCREEN ADVERTISING FOR EUROPEAN MOBILE ADVERTISING CONTRACT

13 October 2009

* Mpression ad-serving platform to enable music genre targeting for the first time

* New rich media in application ad-formats

www.4th-screen.com
www.shazam.com

4th Screen Advertising, the UK’s largest independent premium mobile ad-network today announced that it has cut a Europe-wide mobile advertising deal with Shazam, the world’s leading mobile music discovery provider with over 35 million users.

Shazam has enabled 4th Screen’s Advertising sales team and ad serving technology platform, Mpression, to serve targeted adverts into its leading European territories namely, the UK, Germany, France and Spain. Mpression will be using the music tagging information to enable advanced targeting for advertisers. As well as the usual mobile targeting parameters such as handset type and time of day, advertisers will be able to target consumers based on their music tastes, for example by artist name or by individual track names.

It is expected that this targeting will appeal to music related brands, as well as brands with an association with music.

The launch comes as 4th Screen Advertising rolls out its new rich media in-application ad formats for iPhone, Android and Ovi applications. These formats will allow advertisers to access the Video, GPS and call functions on the handsets to engage with consumers. The iSlide formats will offer touch to expand, touch to video, touch to call as well as touch to find my nearest.

Rated the fifth most popular application overall in the iPhone App Store and with over 35 million users globally across all platforms the addition of Shazam will bolster 4th Screen’s premium ad-network which also includes other tier one publishers such as ITN ON and the Guardian.

Jonathan Symons, EVP of Business Development at Shazam Entertainment said “We are delighted to be working with 4th Screen Advertising, to connect users of Shazam to relevant brands and advertisers by making the most of the targeting capabilities of 4th Screens impressive ad serving platform, and embracing its more progressive ad formats. It is our ambition to push the envelope of mobile advertising.”

Mark Slade, MD at 4th Screen Advertising said: “We are extremely excited to be working with one of the leading global mobile applications. This is a truly mobile service so we expect it will be very appealing for brands looking to advertise on mobile. In application advertising also allows us to run far more targeted and compelling advertising formats. We will be able to serve adverts based on what music users like and where they are located – this is a unique advertising opportunity.”

Three things you need to know about smartphone growth and usage...

* £3.5bn will be spent on globally on mobile marketing by 2014 ( Juniper Research )

* 81% of iPhone users browse the web daily ( Revolution )

* 36.5 million smartphones sold worldwide ( Revolution )