Why Bringing The Infrastructure Closer To The App Is Changing The Face Of Marketing
In this guest post, NGINX Consumers’ country manager for Australia and New Zealand, Anthony Leverington (pictured below), argues that consumers’ increasing demand for faster services requires a fresh approach to web and app development.
Businesses across a wide variety of industry sectors are recognising the need to adapt to changing customer expectations. In the modern, hyper-connected world we inhabit, customers expect fast, seamless interaction with a company across a variety of touch points including web, social, and applications. It is critical that services are delivered quickly, and that organisations are flexible enough to respond to customer demand.
The adoption of micro-services is rapidly evolving into an essential business practice for delivering marketing and services, with Australia a comparatively early adopter. Lightweight protocols are fast to deploy, which means that the company can upgrade services quickly in response to market and customer expectations.
Customer expectations have evolved considerably in recent times, much of which relates to the ever-present mobile experience. Statistics from analytics vendor App Annie indicate that Australians are spending nearly two hours per day using mobile applications, with banking and travel apps among the most frequently used. Our use of fintech apps has risen by 25 per cent over the past two years and, as a nation, we are spending 80 per cent more time in retail apps than we did two years ago.
This all points to the fact that in order to engage with customers and meet their demand for a fast, seamless, and ever-present mobile experience, web and application services need to be delivered in a way that gets them to market faster, makes website delivery faster, and allows a company to respond to new market forces and customer expectations faster.
‘Bringing the infrastructure closer to the app’ is a phrase that seems to be taking hold among those responsible for developing apps and other online services, and is a critical strategy for meeting these new customer demands. Essentially, it refers to a subtle power shift in an organisation that has implemented a DevOps approach, whereby the development of services and control of the engine that sits behind them is under the direct influence of developers, rather than the broader IT department and networking teams.
For a marketing team, DevOps essentially sits at the intersection of infrastructure/operations and martech development, and exists to better support the integration of media and messaging, as well as the mechanisms for customer experience and outreach such as applications, social, and web services.
A more agile approach to marketing requires a company to respond more quickly to changes and expectations, but this is often a tricky process. Typically, a company’s application servers are still monolithic in nature, and iterating upon or updating applications is a process fraught with risk, as it often requires these legacy components to be taken offline during the process. We’ve all experienced or witnessed situations where a company’s customer-facing assets and marketing tools have been temporarily taken down during ‘system maintenance’.
The ability to now treat infrastructure as software allows the use of containerised applications, which in turn leads to new ways of building applications, such as micro-services. Breaking an application into individual components or micro-services – which typically align with business functions – now enables a DevOps team to make changes to their particular aspect of the business within the application itself, with a much lower risk of breaking other components within the application. This drastically reduces the time it takes to get new or modified services to market, dropping from weeks down to a matter of hours in the case of an organisation that has a mature, continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) process. For a marketing team, this means that new ideas and services can be realised in a fraction of the time.
This agility can be a critical asset for marketing development, as it makes the marketing organisation better able to analyse and respond to the ever-changing nexus of influencers and customers. Tweaking a message or going to market with a new message has never been more targeted, and has never had so much power – if an organisation has the right development tools and mindset to capitalise on it.
In the age of big data analytics, where real-time reporting provides deep insights into consumer behaviour, it is essential to respond much faster than before. Taking six weeks to make changes to an application or bring a new customer touch point online just doesn’t cut it. There is simply no point investing money into analytical reports if the organisation lacks the functionality to respond to customer demand quickly, safely, and efficiently. Stone-age tools and big data do not mix.
Moving to a DevOps mindset has changed the way marketing tools are delivered to the public, and reflects a changing set of priorities. Recognising that an organisation must give more power to those who create and maintain web services is a clear sign that digital tools have taken hold as a fundamental part of the marketing structure. Public-facing assets are the portal through which a company presents itself across web, mobile, and social platforms, so addressing the need for better response times and more efficient go-to-market strategies is a fundamental part of future success.
Bringing the infrastructure closer to the app is critical to helping marketers achieve their goals and stay on top of the rapidly evolving marketing landscape.
Please login with linkedin to comment
Anthony Leverington App development DevOps NGINX Consumers web developmentLatest News
The Sydney Morning Herald Marks 190 Years Of Print
New South Wales masthead The Sydney Morning Herald celebrates its 190th anniversary today, as one of the oldest continuously printed metropolitan newspapers in the world. In today’s paper, a souvenir wrap-around will show how The Herald forged trust with generations of Sydneysiders with its quality journalism and unique lens on reporting the life and times […]
Google Considers An Appeal After Federal Court Rules It Misled Australians
Google has said it is considering an appeal, after the Federal Court ruled the tech giant had misled consumers in regards to how it collected location data from Android devices. The decision comes as a major win for the ACCC, which initiated the court proceedings in October 2019. The competition watchdog argued that Google misled […]
Nine Announces Judging Panel For State Of Originality
Nine has named the judging panel for its much-anticipated State of Originality, Australia’s richest advertising award, aimed at making State of Origin the equivalent of Australia’s Super Bowl in advertising terms. Announced at Nine’s Upfront last September, the winning campaign will take home much more than a trophy – there’s $1 million in advertising inventory […]
British Supermarket Begins Court Case Over Copycat Caterpillar Cake
British supermarket Marks & Spencer has taken an intellectual property claim against fellow supermarket ALDI over the latter’s Cuthbert The Caterpillar Cake, which they allege is too similar to their own iconic Colin The Caterpillar Cake. Colin the Caterpillar (pictured above) has been a staple of birthday parties across the UK since 1990, when the […]
DDB Sydney Unveils Australian Red Cross’ First Brand Campaign In Almost A Decade
We all felt helpless in the face of 2020’s constant barrage of disasters and catastrophes. And 2021 hasn’t let up either. Last year, Australian Red Cross experienced its biggest demand since World War II, so it has responded with a new brand campaign bringing attention to this overwhelming feeling and highlighting its 106-year track record […]
“Food Is A Way Of Answering Emotional Questions In Ourselves”: The Masterchef Judges On Season 13
As Master Chef prepares to launch back onto screens on Monday 19th April, B&T had the opportunity to speak to the show’s hosts, food critic Melissa Leong and chefs Jock Zonfrillo and Andy Allan, who won the show’s fourth season. The three judges first appeared on last year’s Masterchef: Back To Win, which saw returning contestants […]
Which 50? Has The Datafication Of Advertising Finally Killed Off Adland’s Favourite Slogan?
Undoubtedly one of the most overused slogans in marketing’s and advertising’s history is John Wanamaker’s iconic “half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half”. And it’s a credit to the quip’s longevity that last year the line celebrated a real milestone – its 100th birthday. But […]
Leadership, Humanity, Technology – The Sweet Spot
The SingularityU Australia Executive Program will take place this may, celebrating leadership at the intersection of the values of humanity and the value of technology. The Elon Musks, Apples and Xeros of the world are taking risks for humanity and creating new technologies that streamline and beautify business operations. They simplify life by providing basic […]
OMD Alumnus Launches Specialist Media Agency For The Franchise Sector; TFM Digital
Brisbane media professional and former OMD Australia Account Director Taylor Fielding (pictured) has officially launched TFM Digital. TFM Digital is a specialist media agency based in Newstead which primarily provides media buying services, and strategy development, to businesses chiefly, but not exclusively, within the franchise sector. Prior to the launch of TFM Digital, Fielding spent […]
“Very Creepy”: ABC Forced To Apologise Over Navy Ship Twerking Video
This twerk video has divided the B&T office this morning. By that we mean "hilarious" to "absolutely f@cking hilarious".
Urth Teams Up With Croud To Drive International Growth
The Australian camera accessory brand, Urth, famed for their focus on sustainability, has appointed Croud as their new digital marketing partner, in order to power global and local growth.
VMG Digital And TreSensa Join Forces To Provide Best-Of-Breed Playable Ads
Leading mobile creative technology companies, VMG Digital and TreSensa Technologies, join forces to fuel best-of-breed playable Facebook Ads to help clients drive app installs.
Furphy Celebrates Tellers Of Tall Tales In New ‘Unearthing Unbelievable’ Brand Experience
Eight in ten Aussies (86%)* believe telling a furphy is a unique part of Australian culture, now Furphy is on a mission to celebrate the art of storytelling and uncover the nation’s best furphies.
Know A Standout Marketing Boss? Nominate Them For B&T’s CMO Power List!
B&T's on the hunt for Australia's top marketers! Sure, not as interesting as Australia's top yodellers or log rollers.
Winners! Frocks! Tears! Your Party Pictorial To Last Night’s 30 Under 30!
Judging by the hangovers in the B&T office today you can count yourself damn lucky we even managed this photo thingy.
Publicis Groupe Beats Q1 Expectations, As Aussie Ops Record “Dynamic Organic Growth”
B&T would've added sacre bleu to this Publicis headline, however, we have no idea what it means or how to spell it.
REVEALED: All The Finalists For The 2021 Snapchat Young Lions Competition
There's sure to be some tears with the reveal of the Young Lions competition. Even more so if you actually entered.
Canva Brings Instagram Scheduling To Canva Pro
Canva owners set to become even more obscenely billionairey after doing latest thing.
Getty Images Announces $US85,000 In Grants For Photojournalists
In this day & age of tech behemoths & media barons, it's nice to see the humble old photojournalist getting a look in.
How To Harness The Skills Of A Gen Y & Z workforce To Future-Proof Your Business
Look, it's top tips to harnessing your Gen Y and Z employees sans any Spanish Inquisition torture techniques.
FutureFeed Appoints Five By Five For Global Launch
Launch marketing specialists Five by Five Global have been appointed by FutureFeed to develop their brand, international certification trademark and go to market strategy. The innovative livestock feed ingredient developed by CSIRO, Meat and Livestock Australian and James Cook University uses a specific genus of seaweed, Asparagopsis, which significantly reduces methane emissions in ruminant livestock. […]
Clems Melbourne Announces 10 New Starters
Excellent hair clearly part of the recruitment process, as Clems Melbourne announces 10 new hirsute starters.
Thursday TV Wrap: Gogglebox Continues Rise While Seven Wins The Night
B&T hosted the 30 Under 30 awards last night AND is bringing you last night's telly numbers. Live the lies here.
SKMG’s Andrew Knowles Snares B&T’s 30 Under 30 For PR
Andrew Knowles, partner and co-founder of the corporate communications consultancy Shoebridge Knowles Media Group (SKMG), has won the PR category in the 2021 B&T 30 Under 30 Awards. Knowles received the award at a ceremony in Sydney last night, claiming victory in a highly competitive field that included leading executives from some of Australia’s biggest […]
WPP AUNZ Launches NextGen Leaders Program
WPP AUNZ says its nextgen leaders program isn't solely open to the company's crawlers and sycophants.
JCDecaux Launches Programmatic Offering & Announces Partnership With Adobe, Building A New Digital And Data Ecosystem
JCDecaux announces Adobe partnership. Which, admittedly, isn't as interesting as, say, a Dannii Minogue partnership.
VGood Launches ‘Undercover Healthy’ Creative Campaign
VGood is a "nut-free, chickpea based range of snacks". Absolutely perfect for boring everyone with your dietary habits.
Nova Boy Turns Up The Feel Good In A New National Marketing Campaign
To its credit, this NOVA pretty press photo totally debunks the "face for radio" adage.
Congratulations To All Our 30 Under 30 Winners!
There is more talent in this 30 Under 30 winners list than a Manpower strip show at Panthers World Of Entertainment.
Purpose-led PR And Digital Marketing Agency Compass Studio Wins New Clients B Lab Australia & New Zealand And Verve Super
Boutique PR and digital marketing agency Compass Studio announces a host of new clients this month including B Lab Australia & New Zealand and Verve Super.
