Interview with Thierry Guiot from App Annie - Applause 2017 Skip to main content

Interview with Thierry Guiot from App Annie

In two weeks we will be celebrating Applause, the first App Marketing congress held in Spain. One of the speakers will be Thierry Guiot, Territory Director South Europe at App Annie. He will explain to all of us a case study of App Analytics. We are eager to listen him next May 27 th!

Also, we are grateful because App Annie is one of Applause 2017 golden sponsors. App Annie is the standard in app analytics and app market data, giving customers one easy-to-use platform for running every stage of their app business.

If you want to learn more about App Analytics trends and do not miss Applause 2017. Now, get to know more abut Thierry!

Thierry Guiot

Quick Quiz Thierry Guiot – App Annie

I’d call myself a ‘digital veteran’. I started my career in Paris 30 years ago, with Minitel (otherwise known as the ‘France-wide-web). I created my first company, Magnitude, in 1995 – one of the earliest French web pioneers, which I successfully developed up until 2003. A year prior to that, in 2002, I launched one of the first European Microsoft.Net Web CMS ‘Magnisite’, with a team of 30 passionate and talented engineers and web designers.

I subsequently spent a few years as International senior sales exec in the IT and oil & gas industries, as well as an external consultant or Board Advisor for several Web & IT startups. In 2008, I specialised in social media analytics and held several senior international sales & business development positions in major European companies.

1. What’s your story?

I joined App Annie in August 2015, heading up the launch the new Paris office and leading the South Europe & Africa regional team.

2. How is your day-to-day?

My work involves a lot of travel, but when I’m in Paris I start my day by leaving a houseful of my very own tech-savvy millennials; 4 out of my 5 children are noughties kids. I then join my team in our office in the centre of Paris and spend the day communicating with clients across the region as well as our very international internal team – whether that’s via Slack, WhatsApp, Lifesize or even a straightforward phone call. Slick communication across an internationally diverse team in this fast-moving industry is essential to collaboration and reaching our goals.

3. What was your biggest mistake and what did you learn from it?

I feel like I missed the mark when it comes to the birth of mobile and its impact on our lives; I should have joined App Annie in the early days! But each step in my journey has taught me something invaluable which I bring to business every day: the fact that the pace and the industry will always shift quicker than you realise! The lesson is that we should always have an open mind and keep an eye on what’s going on in the other regions. APAC, for example, is a key region to keep an eye on when it comes to mobile economy.

4. If you didn’t work in app marketing sector, what would you be doing?

As it’s probably too late for starting a professional tennis career, and too early for retiring, maybe I would still be a Digital Head Hunter. This was a brief chapter of an alternative life for me, two and years prior to joining App Annie.

5. How many years have you been working in the mobile industry? What has changed since you started to nowadays?

I joined App Annie 20 months ago – so you could say I entered the world of mobile then, although I had my foot in the mobile door a while back still. I worked with WAP systems in the early 2000s and mobile devices for sales forces in the 90s, which were all part of the mobile industry.

Two years in this incredibly fast-moving industry is a century and we saw a tremendous explosion of time spent in apps, together with the emergence of non-gaming apps (categories like Travel & Tourism, Retail & Shopping, Retail Banking & Fintech, Video & Entertainment, Dating, Messaging & Social Media etc ) and the growing maturity of traditional large companies in almost all verticals which now put mobile at the heart of their digital strategies.

6. Which are the hottest apps that have surprised you the most?

Probably Slack, the “professional WhatsApp”. I’m amazed at how a simple copycat of a successful social app, well adapted to the professional environment, could revolutionise the way an entire company communicates in a structured but transparent and agile mode.

7. What is the main contribution of apps to our society?

The integration of apps into society has fundamentally changed how many businesses function and how consumers go about their day to day in various aspects.

Via an app, people can shop, find and book places to eat, travel – from destination inspiration to accommodation; open a bank account and manage their finances, learn languages, find an array of local services and even manage their car insurance. The list is endless.

Fundamentally, people are spending more and more time in apps – now up to 2 hours a day – and that increase is not expected to stall anytime soon. Apps are an invaluable tool through which to engage and build a community. Importantly, apps are data rich so not only can you reach out to your customers more easily than ever before, you can know them better.

8. How do you think the app marketing ecosystem would be in 3-5 years?

The number of smartphones will double – from 3 billion today to more than 6 billion in 2020. More than 40,000 new apps are added each month to the app stores. App store revenue grew by over 40% between 2015 and 2016. We’re seeing massive adoption of mobile in emerging countries and an explosion of mobile usage in mature economies. AR and VR is increasingly integrated in mobile apps and we’re seeing continuous improvement of UX/UI. My best advice for a young marketing student would be to choose a mobile company for his first job!

9. If you’d have to give any advice to an entrepreneur/business who’s ready to launch an app, what would it be?

Take a look at App Annie data before spending time and money in wrong direction.
1- Discover and understand your market landscape and competition.
2- Strategize
3- Optimise user acquisition
4- Drive deeper engagement
5- You are ready to define the winning monetisation model, either via in-app purchases and/or through advertising, or even outside of the app. Cherish your ASO: keep an eye on your reviews and strive for ratings above 3.8!

10. Could you give us a hint about your keynote?

As app markets continue to mature, we are going to experience huge monetisation opportunities for new services: over 15% worldwide app store downloads and over 40% worldwide app store revenue YoY. Consumers are spending more time in apps than ever before – up to 2 hours per day – and 900 billion hours spent in apps in 2016! Consumers now use more than 30 apps per month on average in mature markets. Apps are now integral to many industries; it’s become a case of adapt or be disrupted.

11. What do you think will be the next app marketing hit?

Difficult to say, but probably a combination of winning ingredients coming from different horizons, such as AR, brought into non-gaming apps, as well as AI & chatbots enhancing UX, integrating seamlessly into apps.

12. Is there something you’d like to add?

Being at the forefront of the mobile market, what we see is that all industries are being deeply impacted by mobile. There will be no exception.

The most agile and visionary will transform this market disruption into tremendous business opportunities, the others will be in great trouble. Who knows if there will still be bank branches in 15 years from now, or if automotive manufacturers will be making more outside of their core business? What will the classical retail market look like in 2030?

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Daniel PM

Author Daniel PM

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