4i tags software company Shazam

Design Group 4i has developed the brand identity, photography and core Web design for software company Shazam in a project worth over £50 000 in design fees.

Shazam, which will launch in early summer, will enable people to identify songs using their mobile telephones.

The consultancy was briefed to come up with a strategic, creative idea on which to base the identity, imagery and communications about the brand, says Shazam marketing director Vijay Solank.

‘The brand is about independence, not going with the flow, and sociability. Music is a social currency and finding something new gives you social ammunition,’ he says.

The group has developed a marque based around the concept of a graffiti signature or ‘tag’, says 4i creative director Mark Norton.

‘We needed to find simple, direct ways of explaining what [the product] is and how to use it. Tagging has the right resonance with the age group we’re trying to target, the slightly rebellious teenager and the early 20s,’ says Norton. ‘It also fits with the service, which doesn’t record music, but lets you label it for later use.’

The consultancy has also developed a series of straplines to allow the idea to be extended into marketing communications pieces.

‘You can build a set of stories around it,’ says Norton. ‘[For example] You can refer to customers as taggers and build tag lists on the website.’

4i was appointed in March, following a creative pitch against Design Bridge, Bamber Forsyth Fitch, Siegelgale and Third Planet.