Gaming Publishers Beyond AI Powered Marketing

If you watch trends, then you are laser-focused on mobile gaming. The app vertical is a petri dish of unbridled experimentation spearheaded by data experts and enthusiasts who are defining the future now. Fortunately for us, many of these experience pioneers gathered at PGC London last week to share the strategies and shortcuts that keep them at the top of their game (pun intended).

Watch for more workarounds that harness our behavioral breadcrumb trail of data and what Embrace CEO Eric Futoran calls the “app exhaust” of a multitude of interactions and events to shape our in-app experiences.

Tapping app event stream data for deep(er) insights

Embrace is a company you’ll be hearing a lot from—and that’s a good thing at a time when app store algorithms have begun to rank games based on performance metrics and can punish games that go on the fritz.

His session was a highlight and well-attended. Some wanted to hear Eric muse about his days as a co-founder of Scopely. It’s a great story, but I’m an even bigger fan of how he is taking the guesswork out of what is good (and bad) about the app experience and preventing the crashes that can cost companies (across all verticals, by the way) valuable customers and hard cash.

His company is also democratizing the data and insights that will give engineering a seat at the decision-making table. It’s a smart move as teams evolve to connect the dots between product and marketing. Eric tells me his first focus is to free dev teams to make app experiences that keep players coming back.

But we also share the vision of where this is going.

Tapping into the event stream to equip companies to improve crash rates is just the first step. It opens the path to understanding a new dimension of user behavior and—someday soon—anticipating the precise context when people are most receptive to advertising and incentives.

Fueling a new flywheel of sustainable and profitable growth

Right before PGC, I wrote on Forbes about the latest in a string of acquisitions highlighting the importance of first-party data and the urgent need to unlock it ASAP to power UA in a post-IDFA world.

It’s at the core of what Mike Rhodes, founder and CEO of the award-winning app growth consultancy ConsultMyApp CMA) calls the industry-wide move from “vanity metrics and volume to delivering value.” In this scenario, data (especially first-party data) powers the ability of companies to “join up acquisition and engagement in a positive flywheel of profitable growth that draws on data at the top of the funnel and how users interact with the app deeper in the funnel to customize a compelling and consistent user journey.”

It can be heavy lifting, so Rhodes advises clients across all app verticals (not just gaming) to lean on AI, automation and external agencies to shoulder the burden and connect the dots.

TapNation, a mobile game publisher headquartered in Paris, needed no convincing. Its decision to acquire the AI-powered mobile app user acquisition platform AU Hero (the focus of my Forbes article) was driven by the determination to unlock more data about what players do in-game. In doing so, TapNation joins the list of powerhouse publishers—including King and Zynga—that have snapped up data analytics companies and in-app monetization platforms to automate UA with the help of AI.

Significantly, Vincent Février, TapNation CMO, tells me the ability to optimize player experience and rapidly create and A/B test creatives is just the start. The real prize is understanding the data and patterns that allow studios to forecast outcomes and LTV with high confidence.

AI on steroids

Predictably, AI was the center of action and excitement at PGC—and the focus of the podcasts I hosted during the show.

They drop 1x per week on PG.Biz, so watch for my TLDR of each episode in weeks to come.

• Guy Gadney, Co-founder and CEO, Charisma
• Harry Holmwood, CEO, Magicave
• Karl Knights, Global VP Customer Success, data.ai
• Lirui Ding, Senior Associate, Transcend Fund
• Gabe Lewis, Senior Director, Global Head of Accounts, Mistplay
• Kelly Vero, CEO/CTO, NAK3D

Even though my panel (with Itai Raveh from Uplifted, Logan Jory from Wildfire, Michal Grno from Pixel Federation, Georg Broxtermann from GameInfluencer and Summer Liu from SocialPeta) was about the future of UA—and specifically influencer marketing—AI took center stage.

Itai told us how Uplifted putting the tools of UGC into the hands of people and companies results in high-performing ads. The ability to scale resonated with data-driven marketers, including Michal, who are just moving more of their budget to influencer marketing and community building. Sensing this shift has prompted GameInfluencer to take the lead, releasing a solution to make campaigns entirely performance-based, paying creators on a CPI basis.

An unexpected highlight was connecting with Gus Viegas, VP of Marketing at Cosmic Lounge.

He is one of the few grasping the AI opportunity with both hands to transform his studio and blow my mind. Imagine feeding audience data into AI to develop ad creatives that will attract the right players to your game.

Now, imagine taking it a step further to create a feedback loop that allows AI to learn how players behave to tailor the product. It’s “what you see is what you get” on steroids. AI every step of the way, from game creatives to creating the game.

What sparks joy? I have a fireside with Gus next week and can’t wait for the opportunity to delve into the mind of a truly augmented marketer.

Wheels Up –> GamesForum Barcelona

Next up is the UA Unfiltered Panel, the uncensored (and unrecorded) discussion on the state of mobile games growth with some of the sharpest minds in the space:

• Matej Lancaric, UA Consultant & Co-founder, two & a half gamers
• Luis de la Cámara, VP of Marketing, Rovio
• Malize Evans, CMO, Raftur Games
• David Philippson, CEO, Dateseat (Now a part of Verve Group)

We discuss rising costs, channel diversification, creative trends, budget blockers, AI, when/if marketers need to prepare for Privacy Sandbox, and why AI and influencer marketing might not be the match we thought.

Looking forward to seeing so many of you in Barcelona on the 7th – 8th Feb; if you would like to meet up then drop me a DM, it would be great to catch up and grab a coffee 🍵