In this episode, Peggy speaks with Hope Barrett, Director of Product Management for MarTech at SoundCloud, and Simon Thillay, Head of ASO Strategy & Market Insights at AppTweak, about their joint effort to answer the question teams avoid: why should you pay for users who are already searching for your app?

SoundCloud turned off brand spend to find out.

As Hope tells us, the goal was to understand what was incremental and challenge the assumption that brand spend is a must to drive growth. Simon breaks down the data to show when and where brand spend really makes a difference.

The experiment also challenged another assumption. Teams often treat the App Store as top-of-funnel and manage ASO as a separate channel. In practice, ASO is essential across the entire user journey.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• How brand spend influences performance across paid and organic
• Why delivering the same results without this approach could require up to 49% more budget
• Why treating the App Store as top of funnel leads to the wrong conclusions
• How ASO signals connect to paid UA and user intent
• Why growth decisions need to be based on incrementality, not assumptions

It’s just one of the conversations shaping the 2026 Full Funnel Growth Playbook, powered by RZR (formerly Aarki), available soon.

Chapters

00:00 – Exploring Reviews for User Insights

00:43 – Introducing SoundCloud and AppTweak Experts

01:40 – Reframing the App Store’s Role in the Funnel

03:15 – Shifting from Lifecycle Marketing to ASO

05:43 – Using Headlines to Capture User Attention

07:05 – The Bold Decision to Turn Off Brand Spend

09:56 – Modeling Incremental Gains and Efficiency

16:24 – Connecting Search Intent to Subscription Value

29:00 – Mining User Reviews to Power UA Strategy

31:34 – Leveraging Social Proof in Custom Product Pages

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⚡On Point Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7020756661006925824

⚡Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5yFF2InbeIgkIRcxvDy3jm

⚡Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-groove/id1585861460

Let's Connect

⚡ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/peggyannesalz

⚡ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/peggyannesalz

⚡Website - https://www.mobilegrove.com

MAU is having a moment, and Angela Harar is a big reason why.

It’s also an amazing and increasingly massive event, which is exactly why this conversation matters. If you’re heading to MAU, or even thinking about it, this is the podcast to help you understand what’s changing, where the energy is and how to get the most out of the week.

In this episode of MobileGroove, I speak with Angela Harar, VP of Strategy & Growth at MAU Vegas, about what it really takes to build an event that does more than attract a crowd. It has to create momentum, spark real conversations and keep evolving with the industry it serves.

And right now, that momentum is impossible to miss. Angela shares that MAU was up 30% last year and is already tracking 34% ahead again this year, with investor attendance climbing from 47 to 72. That kind of growth doesn’t happen by accident. It comes from listening closely, moving fast and designing an experience that gives people a reason to show up, connect and come back.

What I like about this conversation is that it isn’t just about event logistics. It’s about Angela’s instinct for where mobile is heading and how to build around what people actually need, not what organizers assume they want.

In this conversation, we get into:

• Why MAU has become more than a UA event and now reflects the full mobile ecosystem
• What Angela is seeing across founders, product teams, CRM leaders, creatives, developers and investors
• Why she believes the best events create the conditions for organic conversations instead of overprogramming every minute
• How BrainDates, Mic Drops, meetups and kickoff summits are helping people shape the experience for themselves
• Why MAU is leaning into “mobile audiences unlocked,” not just apps or channels
• What it means to build a serious learning event that still feels energetic, open and human
• How Angela thinks about community, growth and the details that turn a good event into a category-defining one

Angela also talks candidly about the pressure, the curiosity and the constant push behind the scenes, including the moment last year when she realized MAU had become something people didn’t want to leave.

As someone on the advisory board, I can say this conversation captures what makes Angela so effective. She’s strategic, restless, thoughtful and deeply tuned in to what this industry is worried about, building toward and excited to explore next.

If MAU is on your calendar, this will get you even more ready for the week ahead. And if it isn’t, this episode makes a strong case for why it should be.

Subscribe to MobileGroove for conversations with the people shaping what comes next in marketing, growth and mobile.

Chapters

00:00 - Introduction and Vision for MAU Vegas

01:17 - Explosive Growth and Record Engagement

06:43 - Attendee Profiles and Influence

09:36 - Expanded Tuesday Kickoff and Orientation

11:51 - High-Energy Side Events and Networking

13:55 - Specialized App Growth and Gaming Summits

17:04 - Brain Dates: Flipping the Stage for Peer Content

20:48 - Fast-Paced Mic Drops and Themed Meetups

26:30 - Evolving the Conference Format for Connection

31:22 - Celebrating 10 Years and Announcing the Future

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⚡On Point Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7020756661006925824

⚡Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5yFF2InbeIgkIRcxvDy3jm

⚡Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-groove/id1585861460

Let's Connect

⚡ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/peggyannesalz

⚡ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/peggyannesalz

⚡Website - https://www.mobilegrove.com

What if your favorite gaming companion wasn’t human, but knew you better than any player ever could? What if the characters you grew up with could talk to you, remember you, and even build a relationship with you?

That future isn’t far off. It’s already starting to take shape.

In this episode, we explore the future of gaming and brand engagement through the emergence of Character AI Agents. Guest Rebecca Liao, Co-Founder & CEO at Saga, joins the podcast to explain how these AI-driven characters are moving beyond static IP to become living social presences capable of fostering deep, synthetic relationships with users.

This is Part 1 of our in-depth conversation. Stay tuned for Part 2, where we will dive even deeper into the technological evolution and future applications of these agents.

In this episode, we cover:

• The Concept of Character AI Agents: Characters from gaming, film, and TV brought to life as interactive AI trained on specific lore and stories.
• Revolutionizing User Acquisition (UA): How Saga is addressing the $200 billion UA problem in gaming by using agents for high-conversion organic acquisition.
• Case Study: Willie from Trivia Crack: A look at Saga's first launched agent, which achieved a 90% engagement rate on social media.
• The Power of Synthetic Relationships: Moving from traditional "brute force" advertising to meaningful, high-touch conversations.
• Cross-Platform Memory: The technical challenge and importance of an AI agent remembering user interactions across different social media channels.
• The Future of NPCs and In-Game Companions: How these agents will eventually move from social media marketing into the actual gaming experience.

Chapters

00:00 The 13 to 18-month path to free cash flow in gaming.

00:45 Introduction to Character AI agents with Rebecca Liao

01:30 Defining the category: Bringing IP to life through text and voice.

03:09 The philosophy of nailing the "synthetic relationship".

04:05 How AI agents function as performance marketing.

05:06 Why users refuse to believe these agents aren't real people.

07:54 Navigating social platform guardrails and link-sharing bans.

11:33 Comparing AI agent conversion rates vs. traditional ad networks.

13:47 The potential for high-touch engagement with gaming "whales".

16:06 Ensuring transparency: Labeling AI content on social channels.

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⚡On Point Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7020756661006925824

⚡Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5yFF2InbeIgkIRcxvDy3jm

⚡Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-groove/id1585861460

Let's Connect

⚡ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/peggyannesalz

⚡ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/peggyannesalz

⚡Website - https://www.mobilegrove.com

I speak with Nastassia Hubarevich, Senior Ad Monetization Manager at Digitalchemy, to discuss the critical link between ad quality and user experience. Managing a portfolio of over 45 utility apps as a one-person team, Nastassia shares her firsthand experience on why ad quality is a product health issue—not just a partner problem.Key takeaways from this discussion include:

• The Invisible Ad Quality Tax: Learn how low-quality ads—whether harmful, offensive, or technically intrusive—can lead to shorter sessions and a direct hit to your retention and LTV.
• Detecting the Disconnect: Why metrics like high eCPM can be misleading if you aren't tracking "blind spots" like app exits immediately following an ad impression.
• A Publisher’s Roadmap to Control: Nastassia outlines a structured approach to taking back ownership of your ad stack, from manual reviews and category blocking to leveraging AI tools for faster creative detection.
• Benchmarking for Success: How resources like the App Harbor Index help publishers move from a "blame game" to productive, data-driven conversations with demand partners.
• Gaming vs. Non-Gaming Context: Insights into why certain ad formats, like App Open ads, may work for utility apps but fail in gaming by disrupting user expectations.

Stop reacting to bad user reviews and start being proactive about your ad quality strategy. Watch now to learn how to protect your users and your revenue.This conversation is part of PlayerFirst Perspectives, a MobileGroove mini-series powered by AppHarbr. It’s a series about fixing ad quality and developing ad policies so users stay in your app or game, and you can enforce what you believe is right for your players.👉 Join the conversation Be part of the Player First Collective on Slack, where marketers, product teams and platforms swap real examples of bad ads, policy fixes and UX wins, and compare notes on what’s working. Chapters00:00 Managing a Portfolio of 45+ Apps as a One-Person Team03:18 Ad Quality as a Product Health Issue05:53 Identifying the "Invisible Tax"09:51 Tracking Post-Impression Behavior12:43 Taking Back Control with AI17:37 Roadmap for Publishers20:51 Benchmarking Demand Partners24:24 The Strategy of Blocking30:12 Context Matters36:16 Drafting User-First Policies*** Subscribe for More ***⚡On Point Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7020756661006925824⚡Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5yFF2InbeIgkIRcxvDy3jm⚡Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-groove/id1585861460*** Let's Connect ***⚡ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/peggyannesalz⚡ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/peggyannesalz⚡Website - https://www.mobilegrove.com

In this episode, I speak with Andrew Burrington, Senior Growth Leader at onX, and Andy Carvell, Co-Founder and CEO of Phiture, about what happens after the early growth wins and why scaling a product portfolio forces teams to rethink the playbook that got them there.

This is Part 2 of a two-part conversation built around five practical lessons for subscription apps. If Part 1 focused on identifying the users who truly get value, this episode picks up from there and asks the harder question: what do you keep, what do you change, and how do you know when your own playbook is starting to hold you back?

As Andrew explains, continuity used to mean repeating what worked. Now it means carrying forward why something worked and being willing to change everything else.

That shift matters when you are growing from one product to a portfolio, serving different audiences, use cases, and stages of maturity. What works in one app, or at one moment in the business, will not always work in the next.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

- How to know when to break your own rules

- Why early-stage products need bigger swings, not just endless optimization

- How to tell whether a learning is real or just noise

- What changes when retention becomes as important as acquisition

- Why strong teams build around intent, not just channels

Part 1 was about finding value early; this episode is about learning how to scale it without losing the thinking that made it work in the first place.

This is one of the conversations shaping the 2026 Full Funnel Growth Playbook, powered by RZR (formerly Aarki), available soon.

Chapters

00:00 - Five Essential Lessons for Sustainable Growth

00:48 - Making Growth Learning Visible

01:20 - Utilizing AI and Automation for Optimization

03:08 - Case Study: 40% Growth Lift Through AI-Generated Assets

06:12 - Balancing "Big Swings" and Incremental Improvements

08:39 - Maximizing Resource Efficiency in User Acquisition

09:48 - Shifting Strategies Based on Product Maturity

11:58 - Pivoting from Acquisition to User Retention

15:05 - Onboarding and Engaging Diverse User Cohorts

18:00 - Leveraging Intent and Continuity for Long-Term Success

*** Subscribe for More ***

⚡On Point Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7020756661006925824

⚡Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5yFF2InbeIgkIRcxvDy3jm

⚡Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-groove/id1585861460

*** Let's Connect ***

⚡ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/peggyannesalz

⚡ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/peggyannesalz

⚡Website - https://www.mobilegrove.com

In this episode, I speak with Andrew Burrington, Senior Growth Leader at onX, and Andy Carvell, Co-Founder and CEO of Phiture, about what sustainable growth really looks like when an app grows from 3 people to 500 and from one product to a portfolio.

This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation built around five practical lessons for subscription apps. It starts with a deceptively simple idea: not every user who installs the app matters.

As Andrew explains, the shift came when onX stopped blasting users with purchase prompts and started focusing on what actually qualified them. In their case, that meant helping users understand the core actions that made the product valuable in the first place.

The result is a conversation about what strong teams do early, what they carry forward, and why commitment beats volume.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Why sustainable growth starts with identifying the users who actually get value
• How onX used key actions to qualify users instead of just pushing conversion
• Why onboarding should teach value, not just sell features
• What changes when one app becomes a growing portfolio
• Why repeating what worked is not the same as understanding why it worked

If you work on a subscription app, this episode is packed with practical thinking you can apply immediately.

Part 2 continues the conversation, focusing on when to break your own playbook, how to recognize real learning, and why growth priorities change as products mature.

This is one of the conversations shaping the 2026 Full Funnel Growth Playbook, powered by RZR (formerly Aarki), available soon.

Chapters

00:00 Intro: Growth Beyond Theory

01:32 Meet the Guests: Andy Carvell and Andrew Burrington

03:00 A Decade of Growth: Building a Data-Driven Partnership

08:33 Lesson 1: Commitment Over Volume in User Retention

10:14 Qualifying Users: Finding Real Value in Your Product

15:53 Lesson 2: Don’t Reinvent the Wheel for New Products

18:02 Team Structure: Vertical Expertise vs. Service Centers

25:00 Lesson 3: Knowing When to Break Your Own Playbook

26:23 Maturity Curves: Adapting Strategies Across the S-Curve

33:45 Lesson 4: Making Growth Visible with AI and Automation

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⚡On Point Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7020756661006925824

⚡Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5yFF2InbeIgkIRcxvDy3jm

⚡Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-groove/id1585861460

Let's Connect

⚡ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/peggyannesalz

⚡ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/peggyannesalz

⚡Website - https://www.mobilegrove.com

Brands still talk about Latino audiences as if they are a segment to target, rather than communities to understand.

I recorded this conversation with Kirk Gimenez, Founder of Sizzle TV, at POSSIBLE last year, and I’m bringing it back now because it feels just as relevant as we head into POSSIBLE again.

Kirk is on a mission to elevate Latino voices and tell stories that reflect real people, not assumptions. That perspective shapes everything he does, from media to marketing to financial education.

He brings serious charisma, but he also brings a clear point of view on storytelling, representation and what brands still get wrong when they try to connect with Latino communities in ways that feel real and respectful.

In this conversation, we get into:

• What brands misunderstand about Latino audiences
• Why language matters less than cultural understanding
• How storytelling becomes more powerful when it leads to action
• Why collaboration is a more powerful mindset than competition

As a media partner of POSSIBLE, I wanted to bring this conversation back because it captures something the event does especially well. The value is not only in the stages or the sessions. It’s also in the unexpected conversations that challenge your thinking and stay with you long after the event is over.

If you’re heading to POSSIBLE, or simply thinking more deeply about how brands connect with culture and community, this episode is for you.

Subscribe to MobileGroove for conversations with the people shaping what comes next in marketing, media and technology.

Chapters

00:00 - Introduction to Sizzle TV and Kirk's Mission

02:44 - Networking and Key Connections at the Possible Event

04:30 - Impactful Sessions: NFL and Big Brothers Big Sisters

05:31 - Bridging the Wealth Gap and Financial Advice

08:51 - Authenticity in Marketing to the Latino Community

*** Subscribe for More ***

⚡On Point Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7020756661006925824

⚡Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5yFF2InbeIgkIRcxvDy3jm

⚡Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-groove/id1585861460

*** Let's Connect ***

⚡ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/peggyannesalz

⚡ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/peggyannesalz

⚡Website - https://www.mobilegrove.com

In this episode of MobileGroove, I’m speaking with Christian Muche, Global President and Co-Founder of POSSIBLE, about what it really takes to build something people want to be part of, not just attend.

POSSIBLE is not trying to win on size. It’s winning on intention and impact.💥

Christian’s philosophy is simple, but not easy to execute: bring the right people together, design the right environment and focus on outcomes, not optics. Growth follows when the experience delivers.

And it is delivering. POSSIBLE has grown from 2,500 to more than 5,000 participants in just a few years, not by chasing scale, but by building something the industry wants to co-create.

We also talk about why time, not budget, is now the most valuable currency for attendees, why most networking falls short and how curated connections, from small-group formats to thousands of pre-arranged meetings, are changing what people expect from events.

In this conversation, we explore:

• Why building for relevance and long-term value matters more than chasing audience numbers or rapid growth
• How POSSIBLE is designed to create intentional connections through curated meetings, smaller formats and purpose-built environments
• Why the intersection of marketing, technology and culture is where the most important conversations are happening now

As a media partner of POSSIBLE and someone who has experienced it firsthand, I’m especially excited about what’s coming next.

This is not just another stop on the event circuit. It brings together business, culture and community. And that matters, because the most valuable ideas happen when the right people are in the right place, having the right conversations.

If you’re heading to POSSIBLE in Miami, or considering it, this episode is your inside look at what makes it different and why it continues to gain momentum.

Subscribe to MobileGroove for conversations with the people building what's next in marketing, media, and technology.

Chapters

00:00 Challenging the Need for New Industry Events

04:41 Prioritizing Human Connections Amidst Industry Noise

06:05 Reimagining the Event Format as a Platform

07:41 Focusing on Relevance and Quality Over Scale

10:05 Curating Intentional Business Outcomes and Networking

13:42 Navigating the Intersection of Marketing, Tech, and Culture

18:18 Shifting from a Seasonal Event to a Year-Round Platform

19:53 Growth Milestones and New Formats for 2024

26:58 The Power of Co-Creation with the Industry

*** Subscribe for More ***

⚡On Point Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7020756661006925824

⚡Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5yFF2InbeIgkIRcxvDy3jm

⚡Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-groove/id1585861460

*** Let's Connect ***

⚡ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/peggyannesalz

⚡ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/peggyannesalz

⚡Website - https://www.mobilegrove.com