A year after issuing the first BRAG Index, BRAG Index 3 shows how brands like Tubi, Audiomack, TikTok, Temu, and Hopper succeeded in Q1 2023 despite a tumultuous year for mobile apps

Digital Turbine and Apptopia announced that one year after revealing the inaugural edition of the BRAG Index at Mobile Apps Unlocked (MAU), the newly released BRAG Index 3 continues to uncover the relationship between brand building and user growth for mobile apps. Like the previous two reports, the third installment combines analytics of both UA growth and full-funnel brand performance – resulting in the first and only report that informs “Brand Relative App Growth” for Q1 2023.

Beyond just the results, the report also identifies common winning strategies that leading apps use to break their brand barrier. The initial BRAG Index gave us three strategies: Product-Led Growth, Device Integration, and Offline Partnerships. One year later, the first two of these strategies continue to drive success for mobile apps, while the third, Offline Partnerships, has evolved into Community Marketing.

The BRAG Index 3 also brings to light a 4th winning strategy around Ad Execution. Following Apple’s restriction of IDFA, UA marketers have had to define new ways to reach and engage their target markets effectively. That has involved significant investment in changing how they advertise, raising their levels of creativity, and exploring new ways to spread their messages.

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“BRAG Index 3 unpacks the strategies that helped brands succeed in Q1 2023 despite a tumultuous year for mobile apps.”

“Digital Turbine and Apptopia have created an index that exposes the winning strategies that allow apps to punch above their weight,” says mobile analyst and influencer Peggy Anne Salz (who also contributed to the report foreword). “The index is also more pertinent than ever because it provides marketers with an understanding of how brand and growth are interlocked and a roadmap to learn, adapt and apply these approaches for themselves.”

One app that exploded early in 2023 was Temu, the top BRAG-er for Shopping, which is an example of how effective Ad Execution can elevate an app brand and grow users. While the brand wasn’t known to mass audiences until it revealed its Super Bowl ad in February, it was quietly setting the groundwork with months of UA acquisition before the spot. When people looked at the app after seeing the ad, they saw an app that already had a lot of great reviews.

One of the two strategies that continue to drive success over the past year is Product-Led Growth. Tubi, the top BRAG-er in Streaming Video, lets its product lead user growth and brand-building in two ways: 1) Being “free” of charge, attracting those not willing to pay subscription fees, and 2) Letting users talk about their positive experiences. Tubi’s positive app review sentiment of 92% encourages new users to see the app, where they will find no cost barrier to trying it.

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The other prevailing strategy from a year ago is Device Integration. TikTok, the top BRAG-er for social media, has found ways to make its app easy to discover, like pre-installing it on new devices. Since the app uses “frictionless” discovery for people to find new videos, extending that ease of discovery to the app itself has led to transcendent brand-building and UA growth.

Finally, Community Marketing is the fourth common strategy leading brands use to create winning apps in 2023. One year ago, the initial BRAG Index found that brands used partnerships with sports teams and social media influencers to drive growth, primarily offline. Over the last year, we’ve seen this extend to a more nuanced strategy of targeting specific market segments through digital channels. For example, Beat Maker Pro was one of our Top BRAG-ers for Streaming Music thanks to creating viral marketing campaigns with DJs, their primary target audience.