SXSW: Adly contest for start-ups gives winner a celebrity tweet

BY ANDREA CHANG

AUSTIN, Texas — Want a major celebrity to endorse your start-up company on Twitter?

Westwood-based Adly, a marketing platform that connects brands with celebrities on social media, is holding a contest during South by Southwest for start-ups that want a little boost from a big name.

Entrants just need to submit a pitch of 140 characters or fewer to Adly’s Twitter handle with the format: “Hey @Adly ____________________ #SXSW #pitchadly.”

At a “Sunday Funday” event featuring L.A. tech companies, Adly Chief Executive Walter Delph said that as SXSW’s Interactive festival grows each year, start-ups can struggle to get noticed.

“Now you have multi-billion companies like Samsung who are here, so it’s harder for smaller companies to bubble to the top,” Delph said from Austin’s Frank restaurant, where a capacity crowd snacked on currywurst and downed cocktails adorned with bacon strips. “We want to help in an authentic way.”

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