Wendr Launches Push Notifications

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Budweiser Taps Social-Planning Startup Wendr for $25,000 Partnership at Ad Age Digital

The King of Beers Chose Among Six Competitors

When you’re pitching a big brand, a good idea is a requirement. But energy, charisma and a little swag don’t hurt. Sam Zises, CEO of the social-planning startup Wendr, proved that this afternoon at the Ad Age Digital Conference when AB InBev — maker of more than 200 beers, including Budweiser — chose his company out of a competitor set of six to team up with the giant on a partnership worth up to $25,000.

Winston Wang and Lucas Herscovici of AB InBev present the “brand hack” segment of the Ad Age Digital conference Wednesday in New York.

Competing in Ad Age’s second “Brand Hack,” Mr. Zises unveiled an idea for a mobile app, “Buds by Budweiser,” to help people find friends interested in hanging out that night, find local bars that carry Budweiser beers, and then check in on Foursquare to alert other friends to their whereabouts, which would earn them a free beer or some other type of discount. While AB InBev execs said that specific idea may not be executed, they have committed to pursue a brand experiment with Wendr around the idea of planning a night out through social networking.

“We wanted to do it anyway,” Winston Wang, global director of strategic innovation-technology at AB InBev, said of breaking into social planning. Before the pitches, Mr. Wang had told the audience that “night out” was one of the thematic categories that the company wants to see partners help it innovate in.

Mr. Zises, who has worked for Ogilvy and Big Fuel, got the crowd on his side with enthusiasm that the other entrepreneurs didn’t match and a wardrobe change in which he switched out his Wendr hat for a “Buds by Budweiser” hat. He also supplied hats for each of the judges.

Sam Zises, CEO of Wendr, is awarded the prize for winning the Digital Conference “brand hack” Wednesday.

Rivals included AirTweet, which wanted to help beer drinkers get beverages faster at crowded bars or sporting events by tweeting their order. Consumers would receive a tweet back from a Budweiser Twitter handle when their order was ready for pickup.

Meeps pitched AB InBev execs on sponsoring discussion categories such as “St. Louis Cardinals” within its category-centric social-networking app that connects people on mobile devices who are interested in similar things in real time. Gravity Jack wanted to bring augmented-reality technology to Budweiser campaigns. Two others, Next Play Sports and Are You Watching This?!, presented ideas dealing with experiences that complement TV viewing of live sports.

Before the pitches, Eric Johnson, president of ad agency Ignited, revealed a partnership with a startup resulting from Ad Age’s first Startup Hack, which happened at Ad Age’s first Digital West conference in September. Ignited is working with Placecast to power geo-targeted mobile notifications for Ignited client Zico, a coconut-water maker.

A Placecast exec said will be working with Zico starting this summer to push “timely alerts” that may include marketing messages or offers to the mobile phones of people only when they’re in a location that indicates an active lifestyle, such as a park or beach. (Consumers opt in for the alerts through Zico’s social networks.)

Originally posted on AdAge.com on April 18, 2012

Wendr to Exhibit at NY Tech Day - April 19, 2012

NY Tech Day is a day to celebrate New York’s awesome startup ecosystem. The Expo is our way of giving exhibiting startups some much needed spotlight - enabling them to set up a cool booth to expose their hard work to thousands of early adopters, supporters, prospective employees and investors.  To learn more visit www.nytechday.com

Advertising Age Picks Wendr - Out of 300 Applicants - to Hack Budweiser at Digital Conference — April 18 in NYC

There’s two weeks left until Ad Age Digital 2012, where six promising startups will fast-pitch Anheuser Busch-InBev execs for the chance to work on one of two iconic brands: Budweiser and Bud Light.

Bud’s looking for platforms and technologies that will drive the brand’s connections with consumers in several key areas: sports and entertainment, point-of-sale, and social TV and other tech-driven ideas for the beer category.

Foursquare popularized a world of location-based services, and a new generation of location-aware apps were the rage at the South by Southwest Interactive confab in Austin, Texas. Enter Wendr (tagline: “Find Your Night”), a social-planning app that aims to make it easy to find out what your friends are doing and to access events and activities. To help facilitate the planning process, users are prompted to set their status to “Going Out,” “Staying In” or “Open to Suggestions.” Interestingly, all plans are wiped off the system after 24 hours, which keeps everything focused on the present or immediate future, and eliminates the data trail.

Originally posted on AdAge.com on April 5, 2012

Launchrock’s New Timeline Cover with Wendr

Thanks @Launchrock for including us on your Facebook Timeline Cover!