MobileGroove

Big audiences can mean big money, and in India, that’s a model on steroids. A whopping one in three are gaming fans, avid players who also splash the cash to the tune of over 131 billion transactions, a large share of which were attributed to games. The major driver is the country’s real-time payment system, United Payments Interface (UPI), which allows users to pay for products instantly via mobile. It’s a market strapped with immense purchasing power—and a willingness to spend. Piyush Kumar, Founder and CEO of India’s largest game streaming and eSports platform, Rooter, returns to the show to share pages from his playbook on carving out new paths and convincing big brands like Mountain Dew, Hero MotoCorp, and Amazon to engage with this massive audience. He delves into the monetization mix that keeps Rooter’s coffers full, how he ensures brands receive a customized ad experience safe from appearing alongside bad actors, and the models that make major content creators choose Rooter over any other platform.

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

01:30 - From advertising to esports

04:00 - How do games companies fit in?

06:45 - India is a good monetization market

10:46 - Subscription works if you provide value

13:39 - Why influencers choose Rooter

15:10 - Closing the deal with brands

21:34 - Most relevant models and mixes

26:26 - Safe from bad ads

28:20 - A unique user experience

30:55 - Making growth easier for creators

33:15 - Why YouTube isn't a competitor

35:31 - Where teaching comes in

37:50 - Work-life rules for Rooter

In a world where the melody of experience often gets lost in the clamor to cut costs, greyhairworks reminds us that the biggest hits happen when collaboration spans generations and involves seasoned professionals who know how to hit all the right notes. Company co-founder Alex Meisl tells Peggy Anne Salz how he assembled a band of veteran industry rock stars to fuse no BS consultancy services with best-in-class SaaS solutions and why big-name brands are lining up for an encore. He also candidly discusses ageism and why companies that cut experienced talent to keep a lid on costs are going to pay dearly in the end.

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

01:30 - What is greyhairworks

09:40 - Keeping the band together

13:38 - Old dogs know more tricks

18:03 - Modern day consultancy

21:00 - No BS: Let the grown-ups do it

24:30 - Grownups in the portfolio

27:50 - Push back against network loss

31:30 - Making hits in corporate and in the kitchen

32:45 - Connect with Alex

Your brand needs a distinct voice, and now your chatbot needs a dynamic personality to engage and retain customers. Conversica CEO Jim Kaskade joins host Peggy Anne Salz to discuss how harnessing customer-facing AI and chatbots that align with your brand’s tone, style, and values can help drive massive uplift across the customer journey. He reveals how companies that leverage Conversica’s conversational automation solutions reached a 35x increase in email conversions and engagement and a whopping 1400% increase in CTR. He also walks us through the steps any company can take to start integrating AI and chatbots into their sales strategies and lifts the lid on the number one fact about AI that he considers the most shocking of all. 

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

01:45 - A chance meeting with Google

05:25 - Bots are developing personality

08:12 - Brand-safe AI

13:44 - Can AI establish emotional connection

18:25 - How Conversica ensures unique brand voice

23:15 - Managing privacy

24:53 - Use cases

30:00 - Crafting a two-way conversation

35:08 - Strategies to future-proof strategy 

39:22 - Something shocking about AI

Named one of IMPACT’s 50 Most Influential Women in Media & Marketing annually since 2018, Vasuta Agarwal is a resourceful, results-oriented manager who leads from the front. With over 16 years of experience across the digital industry, she began her career as a consultant before switching gears to join InMobi, where she straddled multiple roles and geos—building and scaling businesses within India’s first unicorn. Now Chief Business Officer at InMobi, Vasuta joins Peggy Anne Salz in this episode to share how she built on her experiences across departments to cement her credibility and career. The two discuss the strategy behind Vasuta’s growth, InMobi’s mentorship programs for women in tech, and why “stepping up” and leading with empathy are two tactics every aspiring entrepreneur should learn.

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

00:32 - Vasuta's journey to CBO

02:29 - Growing within one company

05:13 - Mentorship for women in tech 

08:50 - Empathy in leadership

10:52 - Looking forward a year from now

AI is THE buzzword feeding a frenzy of hype, but few brands actually dish out sweet solutions that go beyond to provide real value. This week, we shine a spotlight on AI-powered Appier and lift the lid on how the company's gen-AI capabilities and AI-driven insights generate 130% ROAS and “exceptionally short recoup periods” for its clients. Bobbie Hollanders, Head of Sales & Account Management for EMEA and the US at Appier, details how Appier’s tools equip marketers with advanced behavioral analytics, dynamic customer segmentation, and real-time personalization. It's a combination of key capabilities that equips apps across all verticals to clinch the conversion every time. He also delves into how non-gaming apps can identify their “white whales,” the trends you should tap into, and how his hodgepodge of hobbies enhances creativity and innovation in his work.

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00- Intro

01:45 - AI solutions that stand out

06:41 -  130% ROAS case study

09:50 - Maximising your data and personalization

14:35 - Whale watching for non-gaming apps

17:52 - Latest trends and advice

22:20 - Asking AI smart questions

24:40 - Meeting demands of the future marketer

26:33 - An unexpected lesson

28:20 - A hodgepodge of hobbies

Creativity powers connection and conversion, offering brands an edge, especially in a post-privacy world where performance marketing can miss the mark. But what is the creative process, how can it be made accessible, and what steps does your brand need to take to capture the hearts—and wallets—of consumers today? Walter T Geer III and Imsety Taylor answer all these questions and more in this week's episode. The two marketers—CCO of Innovation at VML and Founder of Set Angle, respectively—discuss the power of combining tech and great design to create friction-free experiences, drive real-time revenue, and allow for authentic, personalized interactions in a privacy-first world. Alongside Peggy Anne Salz, they dive into how they’re approaching both the creative process and the results, touching upon the role of AI, knowing your audience on an individual level, and how designing with diversity in mind enhances both brand love and campaign success.

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

02:57 - Imsety's intro video

05:10 - Blending tech and great design

07:16 - Authenticity in advertising

12:55 - Know your audience

23:27 - Giving up creative control

25:15 - AI's seat at the table

28:03 - How a diverse team influences the creative process

34:38 - Balancing art and science

37:20 - What's next in the world of design?

43:55- Getting in touch with Walt and Imsety

Profitable growth in a privacy-first landscape means embracing the shifts and shakes in the adtech industry. But staying up to date is no small feat—especially as major players continue to move goalposts and muddy the water with unclear expectations on enforcement. Luckily, David Philippson, Co-Founder and CEO of Dataseat, a contextual mobile DSP, is on top of it all. David unpacks everything from what Apple’s Privacy Manifest and Google’s Privacy Sandbox mean for developers to the five major advantages of adopting a SKAN-only attribution system and why zeroing in on publishers rather than individual users is the key to tapping into your target audience with contextual advertising.

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

01:14 - Adtech privacy evolved

04:10 - Apple's Privacy Manifest

07:45 - Preparing for Apple's enforcement

10:02 - Become the SME

12:15 - 5 big advantages of SKAN

16:00 - Privacy Sandbox from an app perspective

21:05 -  Behavioral vs contextual advertising

24:42 - Know your internal audience

26:18 - ATOM SDK

29:45 - Advice for finding the positives

32:30 - How to get in touch with David

It’s time to ditch traditional tools and adopt a fiercely customer-centric focus—or risk losing your customers altogether. This is unchartered territory for most marketers, and we get much-needed inspiration and direction from Paul Meinshausen, Co-founder and CEO of Aampe, a company that reimagines personalization through messaging and revitalizes brands' communication stacks with its reinforcement learning APIs. From tough love for your tech stack to what is possible when marketers expand their mindset towards messaging, Paul offers concrete advice on executing effective communication campaigns and driving customer engagement.

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro 

02:37 - Tough love for your tech stack

09:20 - Why data makes Paul "cringe"

11:10 - Is it a tool or mindset problem?

13:45 - Evolving your messaging

22:00 - Evolving with Aampe

25:00 - ML messaging use cases

Driven by their frustration with a New York Times piece showcasing the movers and shakers of AI without mentioning a single woman, Jenny Kay Pollock and Reut Lazo took action and founded Women and AI, a powerhouse nonprofit committed to smashing gender biases and celebrating the remarkable strides women are making in the artificial intelligence field. Jenny and Reut team up with Peggy Anne Salz in this captivating episode to unveil their groundbreaking initiatives and exciting prospects for mentoring and networking.

For most brands, the spray-and-pray approach to ad creative has taken a backseat, favored instead by precise targeting that increases the chances of connecting with consumers and clinching the conversion. Crystal Bai, Senior Director of Marketing, joins the show this week to discuss how SocialPeta ensures its clients' creatives hit the right audience with the right message every time.

**CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS**

00:00 - Intro

03:00 - Social Peta's USP

06:38 - How Social Peta tells what's hot in every industry

13:30 - Smart strategies for creatives in 2024