Last month we announced an exciting new addition to MSQ in the form of user acquisition and creative services agency Miri Growth. Miri have since moved into our Bow Street office in London as we continue to build our creatively led, tech-enabled, data driven business model.

With a strong track-record in servicing the mobile gaming and mobile apps market, Miri will enhance our existing skills, particularly bringing greater depth in mobile app acquisition and harnessing of digital channels. So to find out more about the talented group we chatted with Co-Founders Zach van Driel and Adam Turowski who were delighted to give us the rundown…

Tell us a little bit about where Miri Growth all started from…

We [Adam and Zach] were working together at our previous company, Peak, managing the growth and user acquisition activity of a brain training app. After scaling the marketing spend successfully we went down for a few drinks one Friday evening when a colleague suggested that we should set up a business together. The name of the colleague was Miri (you can see where this is going). 

Just how much have you grown in those five years?

Miri started as a two-man band in October 2017. The first hire joined in January 2018. Since then the team’s grown a fair bit with our 40th member joining in January 2023. In that timespan, Miri went from servicing 3 clients to 30 clients, working with more than 100 apps and mobile games along the way. The team manages several million pounds of media spend and produces hundreds of engaging creatives every month.

Talk us through what it is you offer…

In a nutshell, Miri helps mobile apps and games scale profitably. We combine hypothesis-driven creative testing with meticulous campaign management and optimisation towards the ultimate goal of finding high-value users for our clients.

Miri’s offer is divided in two: user acquisition and creative testing.

From the user acquisition side, we develop launch strategies, plan and execute campaigns for apps and games on platforms such as Meta, TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube with a clear performance target in mind. In order to drive the best budget efficiency, we also need high-performing creative. This is where our second pillar of expertise comes in.

We offer creative testing as part of user acquisition and as a standalone service; we ideate, produce and, importantly, test short videos and static images to be run on paid social channels. This allows us and our clients to find the most engaging content for users leading to great performance and scalability.

What direction do you see mobile gaming/apps heading towards in coming years?

Mobile gaming has gone through significant growth and new challenges in the past few years. Enhancements in privacy and limitations to tracking have entirely changed the way we behave as mobile marketers. We’ve seen increased diversification in terms of channels, as publishers don’t only rely on Meta and Google for growth anymore. We also expect to see a bigger need for creatives to sustain growth on these, and new channels where there are fewer personalised targeting options available. The quality of creative production may also continue to improve as the industry matures and branding becomes more important in performance. A wildcard prediction is that Apple may finally make a bigger move in the advertising market on iOS, but that’s not as likely.

And what about 2023, big things in store for Miri?

Well 2023 will be Miri’s first year as part of MSQ of course! This is huge for us in and of itself. We will focus on maintaining and improving the quality of our work as we explore how to make the most of this opportunity. We plan to strengthen and expand our channel offering as well as increase the variety of our creative execution capabilities. We are also expecting to expand into new markets and app verticals, making the most of MSQ’s breadth of presence and depth of knowledge.

We’re all about joined-up thinking at MSQ which I’m sure you know all about. What areas do you think make Miri a perfect fit for the group?

We’ve developed a strong methodology in user acquisition, efficient creative production, and hypothesis-driven creative testing. We believe these skills are relevant for many verticals just as they are for gaming and apps. As we integrate with MSQ, we are looking forward to discovering where our capabilities will find the strongest fit. 

And finally, what excites you most about working with MSQ?

We’re very excited to be part of the group that will give us the support we need in the next phase of growth for Miri. We appreciate the flexibility and independence that MSQ offers whilst enabling us to connect and collaborate with smart and like-minded teams. It’s the best of both worlds, putting us in the best condition to be successful in the next few years and to contribute to the growth story of MSQ.