AlyaBuzz Gives You

Everything that’s Buzzing in the Ad World and there’s a lot with a Philadelphia-based startup front and center!

First and foremost, Philly’s DreamIt backed Meerkat and BioBots charm the SXSW crowd with the Live video streaming app Meerkat possibly the biggest thing to come out of South by Southwest Interactive this year, proving startups can still hit it big at the festival. (Adweek).

Meerkat developer Life On Air and BioBots have this in common: Both are backed by Philadelphia-based money and each enjoyed start-up financial and technical backing from DreamIt Ventures, the University City start-up support network that makes an initial $25,000 investment, and sometimes follow-up investments from its affiliated investment fund + legal, patent and organizational support, in new firms, in exchange for 6% of the company and rights to 25% more in a second investment round.  I’ve been following DreamIt for a few years now and was excited to see that in 2013, they launched DreamIt Health.  Now in it’s second year spanning Philadelphia and Baltimore and with partners like Johns Hopkins and Penn Medicine, they’re well poised for bringing the next wave of technology and innovation into the complex and ever-evolving healthcare space.  Congratulations to friend and founder, David Bookspan…next time, drinks on you!

A look at Ryanair’s $15 fare promise
Ryanair, the low-budget European airline, announced plans to add transatlantic flights for as low as $15. Analysts, however, say the real cost will likely be a lot higher. And the board chimed in to say it flat-out won’t happen. (Adweek)

10 things that made this year’s SXSW awesome
Leading up to SXSW a lot of people questioned the value of the annual festival, but here are 10 things that made it all worthwhile. (Adweek)

72andSunny launches initiative to give back
Nonprofit veteran Jim Moriarty will lead a new brand citizenship initiative from 72andSunny, aimed at helping clients get more involved in giving back and hopefully driving profits in the long term. (Adweek)

The hottest Twitter topics from SXSW
There were over 900,000 tweets about SXSW during the five-day event, and Twitter pulled together some of the hottest hashtags people were using. (Adweek)

Will Ferrell is not the new Little Debbie spokesman
Will Ferrell told Jimmy Fallon on the Tonight Show that he was the new spokesman for Little Debbie, but the brand says otherwise. It was, however, flattered by the idea. (Adweek)

HomeAway encourages you to bring your pet on vacation

Vacation rental company HomeAway created two spots, one from the perspective of a little girl and the other from the family dog, encouraging you to bring your pets on your next trip. (Adweek)

Around the Web:

Amazon takes one-hour delivery to new locations
Amazon announced plans to take its one-hour delivery service, initially available in Manhattan and Brooklyn, to select areas in Baltimore and Maryland. (The Verge)

AppNexus buys Yieldex
New York ad tech company AppNexus bought Yieldex, a digital advertising company and analytics firm, for $100 million. (Media Post)

DigitasLBi boycotts Dolce & Gabbana
DigitasLBi temporarily renamed itself “iitasLBi,” dropping the “D” and G” from its name to boycott Dolce & Gabbana after the design duo made questionable comments about gay couples adopting. (The Huffington Post)

Mercedes-Benz adds music festival to sponsorship list
Mercedes-Benz has been on the lookout for a perfect music festival to sponsor and finally decided on the Rock in Rio USA festival in Las Vegas. (The New York Times)

Coke CEO’s plan to boost sales
Sales of Coca-Cola and soda in general continue to fall, but Coke’s CEO said he plans to get out of the sales slump by spending more to sell more. (The Wall Street Journal)

Target ups minimum wage
Target is following the lead of other major retailers and announced plans to increase minimum wage for its workers in April, up to $9 an hour. (CNBC)

Industry Shake-Ups:

JWT CEO builds up senior management team
Gustavo Martinez, JWT CEO, named Lyle Tick as the agency’s global chief growth officer, a newly created role. Tick joins from Bacardi. (Adweek)

Hearts on Fire looks for a lead agency
The jewelry company Hearts on Fire, which previously had an in-house group working on its creative, briefed three finalists in its creative search: the New York offices of Arnold, TBWAChiatDay and The Brooklyn Brothers. (Adweek)

Covered California
Covered California, the state’s healthcare exchange, is looking for a lead agency to handle its account, which has a media budget of $50 million. (Adweek)

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