11 Million Customers: How Kroger Wins Loyalty in Economic Uncertainty with Kay Vizon, Media Director

11 Million Customers: How Kroger Wins Loyalty in Economic Uncertainty with Kay Vizon, Media Director

For enterprise marketing leaders, the challenge isn't just executing campaigns—it's proving their value to the CFO. In this episode, Kay Vizon, Media Director at Kroger, reveals how the retail giant manages engagement for 11 million daily customers by treating their mobile app as the anchor for omnichannel growth. Kay breaks down her rigorous measurement framework, explaining why Kroger moved from annual models to 4-week Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM) readouts to pivot spend in real-time. She also candidly discusses the "language barrier" between marketing and finance, the reality of enterprise AI adoption, and why she defends a 60/40 brand-to-performance split to drive long-term customer value. Key Quotes On the always-on nature of grocery media: "We are on all the time. We are doing all media channels, offsite media channels, traditional and digital. We are live always." On the power of first-party data: "We know our customers incredibly well. They're shopping with us weekly, sometimes twice, sometimes three times a week — so we have a really good view into their preferences." On balancing brand and performance: "If you've got both happening simultaneously, that is the key to unlock long-term growth for a brand. We've tried to strike the balance of a 60/40 blend — 60% towards brand awareness, 40% towards short-term performance tactics." On the language gap between marketing and finance: "Marketing people — we get very caught up in our own language. The way we measure things is constantly changing, and so it kind of makes it hard for us to communicate to the rest of our organization or our finance team." On creative as an untapped growth lever: "We're reaching the right person on the right channels at the right time — we should absolutely be doing everything we can to make sure that the messaging we're putting in front of them is the best messaging we can possibly put out." On the foundation required for speed and agility: "In order to move with the speed and agility that our businesses require today, you've gotta make sure your foundational house is in shape — your data, your ad tech, your measurement systems are all in a good place." Episode Timestamps 00:00 - Why speed and agility rely on "foundational data" health 03:59 - The Scale: Servicing 11 million customers every single day and the data advantage that creates 05:02 - Refreshing the 15-year-old app to unify pharmacy, coupons, and shopping lists 10:11 - How inflation drives loyal customers to check competitor prices in the aisle via mobile 16:07 - The Strategy: Applying Les Binet’s "Long and Short of It" (60/40 split) to balance brand equity with immediate sales 20:56 - How to stop using "marketing language" and start using "finance language" 24:00 - Moving from annual/biannual measurement to 4-week MMM readouts for real-time optimization 30:24 - AI Reality Check: Why data governance and security are the biggest hurdles to Generative AI in the enterprise Links Connect with Kay Vizon on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kay-vizon-a815168/] Connect with Brian Quinn on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianquinnsf/] Learn more about AppsFlyer [https://www.appsflyer.com/] Learn more about Caspian Studios [https://www.caspianstudios.com/] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

How Brands Win in the Moment: Lessons from Live Sports with Reddit, TickPick & Fubo

What happens when you decide not to advertise during the Super Bowl — and your campaigns spend $20,000 anyway? In this live episode recorded at AppsFlyer's MAMA San Francisco 2026, Brian Quinn sits down with marketing leaders from TickPick, Fubo, and Reddit to pressure-test the modern playbook against the biggest moments in sports. The conversation moves fast across three very different vantage points: the marketplace selling the ticket, the streamer delivering the broadcast, and the community platform where fans actually talk about what they just watched. Along the way, the panel digs into why marketing FOMO can cost more than it returns, why late-game subscribers are surprisingly sticky, how a US men's hockey gold medal moved NHL ticket sales overnight, and why 20,000 different communities can be talking about the same Super Bowl at the same time. Whether or not live sports is part of your strategy, this episode is a practical look at how to show up in high-intensity moments, find the human truth inside a tentpole event, and turn spikes of attention into durable customer relationships. KEY QUOTES On finding the human truth in tentpole moments: "These large tentpole events from sports and entertainment are sort of like the last tribal experiences. Your message will resonate if you can connect on a more human level rather than a marketing and performance level." — Matt Ferrel, TickPick On marketing FOMO: "Marketers feel that FOMO too… and the avoidance of marketing FOMO can bite you way harder than it can be a benefit." — Matt Ferrel, TickPick On Reddit as the search layer for live events: "Reddit is added to a Google search 250 times a second. A lot of that activity around sports is planning for how and when to watch." — DJ Capobianco, Reddit On communities vs. audiences: "Over 20,000 communities talked about the Super Bowl on the day of. Communities are different from audiences — they have shared understanding, shared boundaries, shared rules." — DJ Capobianco, Reddit On mobile as the entry point: "No matter the differences between users or how they view the content, the acquisition always starts on mobile." — Vincent Eterlet, Fubo On choosing not to advertise the Super Bowl: "We knew users who wanted to watch the Super Bowl were going to come on their own — and retention was going to be low. So we decided not to advertise it." — Vincent Eterlet, Fubo On riding cultural moments instead of creating them: "It's a lot easier to ride a wave than to create a wave." — Matt Ferrel, TickPick On moving from commerce to connection: "A big focus for us is to pull ourselves out of just the commerce moment and into the connection moment — speaking the fans' language." — Matt Ferrel, TickPick EPISODE TIMESTAMPS 01:21 - Meet the panel: ticketing, streaming, and community 04:19 - Inside TickPick's Super Bowl: speaking the fan's language 05:05 - Why Fubo chose to sit out Super Bowl advertising — and spent $20K anyway 06:47 - Reddit's fandom flywheel: always-on community engagement 08:19 - Marketing FOMO: when the pressure to show up backfires 11:16 - How consumer behavior shifts across screens during live events 12:27 - The late-game subscriber: why last-minute sign-ups stick 14:00 - Reddit + search: 250 times a second 17:12 - Riding the cultural wave: hockey gold and the US/Canada split 18:51 - Treating the World Cup like a full season 21:50 - Rapid fire: what NOT to do at your next tentpole moment 23:25 - Beyond sports: applying live-event thinking to any tentpole LINKS Connect with Matt Ferrel on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrferrel/] Connect with Vincent Eterlet on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincent-eterlet-41089164/] Connect with DJ Capobianco on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/djcap/] Connect with Brian Quinn on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianquinnsf/] Learn more about AppsFlyer [https://www.appsflyer.com/ent_podcast] Learn more about Caspian Studios [https://www.caspianstudios.com/] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Apps That Get You Lost: How The North Face and Anthropologie Use Discovery to Drive Loyalty with Ian Dewar

What if your app wasn't just a shopping tool — it was a storytelling platform that deepened customer relationships? Ian Dewar, who shaped customer experience strategies at The North Face, Anthropologie, and across the VF family of brands, makes a compelling case for rethinking how apps serve customers. In this episode, he explores how leading retailers have transformed their apps from transaction engines into discovery platforms: from rewarding customers for hiking national parks instead of just spending money, to pioneering "in-store mode" that bridges digital wishlists with physical retail, to using curated personalization that introduces customers to products they didn't know the brand even made. This is a deep dive into building brand affinity, using behavioral data to drive frequency over acquisition, and what it actually means to make an app worth opening — not just for checkout, but for connection. -------  On customer frequency vs. acquisition: “The metric for growth for established and mature retailers is not customer acquisition. It's customer frequency." "We don't want to sell people product they're not going to use." On the app being a brand extension: “By creating these other engagement opportunities on the app, it becomes that brand extension versus mobile web or desktop.” On apps sitting at the center of the omnichannel experience: “Apps should have visibility to everything you've bought in the store, online, everything that's sitting in your cart, what's in your wishlist.” On the app as a discovery tool: "The future of where apps really add value is this ability to intertwine content, storytelling, brand messaging with the ease to product discovery." On personalization done right: "It's not marketing gobbledygook to trick people into buying things they don't need. It's really adding to utility." -------  Episode Timestamps 01:28 From bike tours to The North Face — Ian's unconventional journey into retail 03:43 National Parks check-in: Rewarding exploration, not just transactions 06:35 Getting internal buy-in when the ROI isn't immediate 09:34 How the app became the hub for better customers 12:17 In-store mode: Making the app work inside physical store 14:37 The jeans problem: Why omnichannel data silos still break the customer experience 16:59 App strategy — quality over quantity in user acquisition 19:12  Frequency over acquisition — the growth metric that actually matters 21:17 Becoming the brand of choice, not just a consideration 24:48 The future of discovery — curated personalization vs. frictionless checkout 27:56 Using behavioral data to show customers what they didn't know you made -------  Links Connect with Ian Dewar on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/iandewar/] Connect with Brian Quinn on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianquinnsf/] Learn more about AppsFlyer [https://www.appsflyer.com/ent_podcast] Learn more about Caspian Studios [https://www.caspianstudios.com/] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Stop Thinking in Channels. Start Thinking in Relationships. With Stephane Godoy, Head of Digitalization & E-Commerce at KFC

What if your app wasn't a sales channel — it was your face to the customer? Stephane Godoy, who leads eCommerce and digitization at KFC, has spent years proving exactly that across a complex, multi-market, franchise-operated footprint. In this episode, he breaks down how KFC turned its app into a relationship engine: from the moment leadership stopped seeing mobile as a cost and started seeing it as the connective tissue between every other channel, to running 70+ simultaneous personalized campaigns, to using AI to discover that the restaurant — not the app — was driving customer churn. This is a masterclass in change management, behavioral data, and what it actually means to build loyalty without leaning on discounts. -------  On what the app actually is: "Stop seeing the app as a sales channel. It's what connects every other channel you have. It becomes the heart of it." On app design philosophy: "It's not about the speed to checkout. It's the speed to confidence." On loyalty programs: "Loyalty is not about discounts. Loyalty is a way of creating behaviors in our customers." On personalization: "Once you understand that personalization is not about surveillance — it's about service — the game changes." On the closing philosophy: "Stop thinking in channels. Start thinking in relationships." -------  Episode Timestamps →  00:00 — Cold Open: The Confidence Problem →  01:34 — What Mobile First Actually Means Inside a Business →  03:29 — The Moment KFC Leadership Took the App Seriously →  05:46 — Designing for Context, Not Pages →  07:37 — Why Loyalty Is Not About Discounts →  09:31 — Personalization: The Abandoned Cart Family Example →  12:07 — Running 70–100 Campaigns Simultaneously With Data →  15:10 — The AI Chatbot Flop (And What They Learned) →  16:31 — When the Restaurant Is Causing the Churn, Not the App →  19:02 — Connecting Intent Before Arrival: What's Next →  19:55 — Final Advice: Stop Thinking in Channels -------  Featured Resource AppsFlyer recently published The Omnichannel Business Advantage — a practical playbook for connecting channels, measuring real impact, and scaling app-led growth. It covers the four-value-stream ROI model Stephane references (direct revenue, influenced revenue, operational savings, and lifetime value lift), the behavioral intelligence framework, and a 90-day proof-of-value sprint you can run inside your organization. →  Download the playbook [https://www.appsflyer.com/resources/reports/omnichannel-advantage/?utm_source=af_blog&afc_source=af_blog&utm_medium=social&afc_medium=social&utm_campaign=omnichannel_business_advantage&afc_campaign=omnichannel_business_advantage&utm_content=podcast_stephane_kfc&afc_content=podcast_stephane_kfc] -------  Links Connect with Stephane Godoy on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanegodoy/?originalSubdomain=mx] Connect with Brian Quinn on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianquinnsf/] Learn more about AppsFlyer [https://www.appsflyer.com/ent_podcast] Learn more about Caspian Studios [https://www.caspianstudios.com/] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

From $30M to $190M: U-Haul's Mobile Transformation Playbook with David LoPresti, Director of Apps

David LoPresti reveals how U-Haul's Moving Help program grew from $30M to $190M by reimagining their mobile app as a profit engine. In this episode, discover U-Haul's strategic focus on customer lifetime value, their approach to cross channel marketing attribution, and why their analytics-driven strategy leads them to benchmark against Starbucks rather than industry competitors. -------  On anticipating customer needs: “ Now I know that if the user opens up the app and they don't have a truck reserved, and I know that this particular customer moved 10 months ago, so they're likely in an apartment and they're moving two months later, now is my opportunity to make sure that this customer is in the frame of mind that this is the thing that they're likely to need. So how do I make it accessible to them without them having to search for it? And I think that's ultimately what we're trying to do is anticipate what the customer's trying to find and just put it front and center in front of them so they don't have to search for it.” On presenting the right services at the right moment: “  You have truck rental, you have self storage, you have labor, you have boxes. You have all these individual business units that of course are laser focused on their individual piece of that pile. But the reality is is that customer is moving across multiple product lines.  There's a flow and there's a balance of when these things need to be presented.  Those recommendations and those things were presented need to be rooted in an actual data-driven source. I am offering this or am I presenting this piece of information or this product or service at this point in time because the data reflects that.” -------  Episode Timestamps: *(01:50): David's 21-Year Journey at U-Haul *(03:15): How U-Haul transformed the rental experience with self-service mobile access *(06:45): Why U-Haul prioritizes customer lifetime value over acquisition *(09:05): Mining first-party data to understand behavior and anticipate needs *(12:16): A new homescreen experience that presents the right information at the right time *(17:30): Lessons learned -------  Links: Connect with David LoPresti on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-lopresti-475224179/] Connect with Brian Quinn on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianquinnsf/] Learn more about AppsFlyer [https://www.appsflyer.com/ent_podcast] Learn more about Caspian Studios [https://www.caspianstudios.com/] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.