Somewhat Mobile

This episode we invited on Rockford Yapp, the VP of Acquisition at Public.com, an investing app where you can invest in "everything." Still, most people use it for trading stocks which are on a downward trajectory right now, making user acquisition a challenge. Rockford says while there are headwinds and "doom and gloom" seem to be everywhere, it's presented him the opportunity to shift strategies and the audiences he's targeting. Find out more, AND if Adam was able to stump Rockford in a game of Two Apps And A Lie (24:58). 

"This is a different start to a podcast than I've ever experienced," said this week's guest, Cynthia Kleinbaum Milner, Chief Customer Officer at MoneyLion. MoneyLion is an all encompassing personal finance app where Cynthia leads the marketing team's efforts. We talk about the changing economic conditions and what that means for marketing a personal finance app: "From a marketing perspective, we're keeping an eye on pay back period of customer acquisition investments. We used to be much more focused on CAC and right now CACs are getting lower because there's so many people applying for our lending programs. But the lifetime value of those customers is different because cohorts are behaving differently." We go deeper into her mobile marketing strategy and chat about how she benefits from competitive intelligence.

Apptopia CEO Jonathan Kay joins the podcast for the first time in a long time (despite his many attempts at getting booked) because in today's economic climate, data is the hero we need in order to make smarter and more efficient decisions. Jonathan believes pairing first-party data with third-party data is crucial to answering brands' biggest questions. He lends his expertise on how to start attacking these questions so the data doesn't become overwhelming, and we get into which industries we think have the most opportunity for market share shake ups.

Turns out, everything in Vipul Govil's life has been leading him here to this moment with me on the Somewhat Mobile podcast. Vipul is the VP of Product Management at Sam's Club so naturally we talked about the features and functionality of the Sam's Club app (think Scan & Go), why those mobile app investments were made and how they're working out for the company. We then chat about the role the app plays in customer loyalty and the difference in customers who use the app versus those who don't. Fast forward to 19:55 to find out if I was able to stump Vipul in a game of Two Apps And a Lie.

This week, Birk Cooper, CMO of Fetch Rewards joins me for some full funnel fun. With 40% of Fetch's households retaining through a year, the app team has to be doing something right. Birk walks me through how he thinks about Fetch's best users and where he finds more of them. We touch on app store search, iterating on creatives and pivoting quickly once Apple's Tracking Transparency policies went into place. Fast forward to 22:13 if you're solely interested in hearing our favorite gameshow, Two Apps And a Lie.

This one's for the fans. This week I'm joined by Paula Segal, Head of Consumer Product at SeatGeek, a leading event ticketing and live experience app. Paula walks me through the role the mobile app plays in the customer's journey and how different widgets/SDKs improve the user experience leading up to and on the day of the event. We talk a little 13th century medieval history (obviously) and smoothly transition into how user acquisition and gathering user feedback work at SeatGeek. Fast forward to 26:41 if you're solely interested in hearing our favorite gameshow, Two Apps And a Lie.

The ecommerce legend Matt Hudson is back again, turning into Somewhat Mobile's first return guest. Hudson recently launched his company, BILDIT, a native ecommerce platform for for mobile app development. We talk about the differences between PWAs (progressive web apps) and full-throated mobile apps, common pitfalls of ecommerce apps today, why loyalty & rewards go hand-in-hand with apps, and more. Does learning from the best bore you? Then fast forward to 18:35 to see if I can stump Matt in a game of Two Apps and a Lie.

This week I'm sitting down with Maura Welch, VP of Marketing at Together Labs. Maura helps me figure out exactly what the metaverse is and explains why there's no winner take all scenario for the companies catering to those interested in virtual worlds. Together Labs publishes IMVU, a 100% creator led virtual community (with real people behind it all) where you can ride jet skis in a nightclub... or just relax with friends. Does learning from the best bore you? Then fast forward to 26:51 to see if I can stump Maura in a game of Two Apps and a Lie.

This week I'm sitting down with Makoto Rheault-Kihara, Head of User Acquisition at Hopper. Makoto shares why social is such a strong acquisition channel for the company compared with its competitors. We also talk about the impact Apple's app tracking transparency policies have had on his efforts, and how he's viewing the opportunity of more ad placements within the App Store. Does learning from the best bore you? Then fast forward to 24:00 to see if I can stump Makoto in a game of Two Apps and a Lie. And Edris Elba, if you're reading this, be expecting a call...

We usually only hear about an app after it's reached the top of the App Store. But what comes before that? To learn more about launching and marketing an app, we spoke with Till Financial Co-founder, Taylor Burton, to get his first-hand experience. Taylor shares Till's approach to revenue generation, marketing, benchmarking, and his dislike for a certain type of pizza.

Too Good to Go is proving that some of the world’s most pressing problems can be addressed through mobile. Their food-waste fighting app has received millions of downloads in just the past year and is rapidly expanding worldwide. Too Good to Go's Head of Marketing Claire Oliverson joins us on this episode to share how the business balances mission with generating revenue, and what other cause-driven app marketers can do to reach potential users. As we wrap up the show, Claire points us to the best jelly doughnut in NYC and Adam betrays his family in a game of Underrated/Overrated.

"The creator economy" is a phrase you're likely seeing a lot lately, but what exactly is it? Kaya Yurieff, a reporter for The Information who pens a newsletter on this very subject, came on the show to explain what the creator economy is, how these creators are making money, the battle for talent that major platforms like TikTok and YouTube are engaged and more. To cap off the show, we get Kaya's take on a few fast growing platforms in an under the radar pocket of the creator economy that Apptopia's data picked up on.

Adam and Madeline sit down with Harold Teo, Producer of Sea Group's flagship game, Free Fire. Free Fire is one of the most downloaded games globally over the past three years and according to Apptopia estimates, has the highest level of engagement of the top mobile battle royale games. In addition to some good local food talk at the end, Teo explains how his team makes the game so accessible to a geographically diverse player base and the level of community engagement that goes on behind the scenes.

This week in a fun interview with Christoph Sachsenhausen, Managing Director at hypercasual gaming publisher Sunday, we discuss the ideation process of coming up with the next hit mobile game. Christoph wants you to know that even though everyone has a lot of ideas for a mobile game, it's actually really hard to make a game that is loved by million of people. Make sure you have some thick skin and come listen to what happens to games when they don't work out.

Adam and Madeline sit down with Applike Group CEO, Jonas Thiemann to discuss how its three subsidiaries - an ad network, a gaming publisher and a discovery platform - work together in positioning for the future. Jonas explains the advantages of ad networks having their own supply of inventory while warning publishers not to rely too much on big adtechs because they could build products competitive to your own. With the future of mobile advertising and user acquisition uncertain, come for the industry insight, but stay for the schnauzer talk.

Investing in the public markets has become mainstream and apps like Stash are at the center of it. Listen in as Sudev Balakrishnan, chief product officer at Stash, explains how he creates a mobile app product that takes the complex world of investing and makes it accessible to everyone.

Matt Hudson, Senior Mobile Delivery Manager at Belk, is a treasure trove of actionable ideas for all of you brick n' mortar retailers thinking about starting a mobile app or trying to jumpstart growth for your mobile app. From understanding who your specific mobile customers are, the checkout process, the connection the app has to other channels, and Matt's weakness for snacks, we cover it all.

Fresh off Klarna's first Super Bowl commercial, we sit down with David Sandstrom, Chief Marketing Officer at Klarna, to discuss the thinking behind their advertisement, the role its mobile app plays in the company's mission, and all of the increased competition in the 'Buy Now, Pay Later' fintech space.

Adam and Madeline are joined by Glu Mobile’ SVP of Business Dev, Corporate Dev, and Advertising, Chris Akhavan. He reviews how Glu's prototypical games have changed over the years and the incredible role that acquisitions have played in the company's success. Chris teases upcoming games to be released this year and dishes on who he is as a gamer. We also talk influencers and in-game communications, give it a listen!

Adam and Madeline are joined by Electronic Arts’ Senior Director of Mobile Marketing & Growth, Jayne Peressini. She shares her journey into mobile gaming and what she’s doing to shake up the space.

Adam and Madeline discuss the latest news in mobile news, including Amazon GO launching its first full size grocery store. InMobi's Adam Sweet joins the show [22:38] to tell us about the users behind C2C apps and share his opinion on delivery french fries.

On the very first episode of Somewhat Mobile, Adam and Jonathan talk about dating app strategy and more. Also, find out what Adam said to his mom when he thought he was texting his girlfriend.