Pugpig is the UK’s leading mobile publishing platform powering over 380 media brands and allowing publishers to launch deeply engaging mobile apps that significantly drive up reader revenue and retention.

As ad revenue continues to be challenged and first party data becomes increasingly important, cultivating direct relationships with readers and focusing on reader revenue are the number one priority for publishers. This is where Pugpig apps come in, providing the most beautiful and effective way to engage publishers' most valuable audience, to build habit and to retain them for as long as possible.

Nine of the UK’s top 15 publishers - Reach, Newsquest, Future, NewsUK, Conde, Hearst, MNA, NationalWorld, and DCThomson - representing 865 brands, are powered by Pugpig. Across these, Pugpig delivers unparalleled engagement of 48 monthly sessions per user (e.g. The Pink Un) and an average session duration of over 25m amongst the top performing apps (e.g. The Independent).

Pugpig apps offer many ways to engage readers - articles, audio, video, puzzles, podcasts, community and more. For example, The Scotsman subscribers spend 52m per session in puzzles while New Scientist readers interact with audio 26 times per month.

Their apps drive significant increases in subscriptions and reader revenue. Last year, iNews saw a 38% increase in subscribers, while The Independent reported a 41% increase. Pugpig work with a broad spectrum of publishers from independents to national dailies, working closely with them to enhance and extend the platform to suit their needs:

• Their work with The Independent centred around enhancing their in-app video and premium content offering to retain their most loyal readers, including building a custom video player just for them.
• They worked with The Scotsman to rethink their mobile offering, building a high quality paid product for their most valuable subscribers also helping them strengthen their DTC relationship and drive up ARPU.
• New Scientist wanted to bring audio front and centre to their mobile apps so the Pugpig team designed an exciting new way to listen to their weekly edition in-app. 85% of readers say it played a part in their subscription renewal.

Pugpig are small, but they punch above their weight and are growing fast, with over 80 brands joining the platform in 2023. They make publishers happy - receiving an average NPS score of 8.2 – and readers on average spend 20 minutes each session, 20 times a month, and consume a mix of articles, puzzles, videos and audio, advertising, podcasts, and more.

A few highlights from publisher partners include:

• The Scotsman: 41% of users are returning users since relaunch (compared to 26% pre-launch), while average engagement time increased by 27m per user per session.
• The Spectator: Significantly reduced their tech spend and editorial effort, enabling them to focus resources on other key areas of the business while improving app performance.
• New Scientist: Saw a 65% increase in subscription renewals since harnessing the power of audio and video in their app.
• The Independent: 41% increase in subscriptions from May to December last year.

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