Introduction
Client is a fandom promoting platform that mainly focuses on attracting social media audiences who are fan(s) of artists/celebrities/movies and would like their favorite fandom(s) to be on top of their list. Its function is to provide a platform for the end users who could compete to showcase their fandoms and engage in a healthy conversation between the fans from other fandoms and groups. Being a part of the entertainment industry, the client understood the unorganized structure the fandoms presented across different platforms and thus sought to bring them together under one platform which could also be efficiently maintained.
The Need Statement
The core challenge faced by the client was the lack of a single platform which has the contents of all the fandoms from various social platforms like YouTube, Twitter, and Tumblr. The client, owing to the popularity of fan groups and fandoms, was looking for a centralized app where users can promote their fandom by earning more stars to create a sense of fun competitive scenario among the fans. Currently there are individual apps for each fandom in the market, which discuss or promote its own fandom. They envisioned an app that did away with this individual model fandom. However, the need went beyond the concept of one app. They were looking for a centralized solution that ties up all social media platforms together where it stores respective content that the users would like to share.
In addition to social media connect, they also wanted an engagement factor in the form of trivia, competitions, and reward systems to keep things interesting. Moreover, the entire solution had to generate and present analytical reports as well as be cost-effective, auditable, and scalable. That did not end with just the app development but the end-end management of the app’s under-the-hood setup, its security and the infrastructure including customer service support.
The client was also looking for Managed Detection and Response (MDR) offering to meet compliance requirements and to protect their endpoints and networks. They were also looking up to us to resolve incidents related to their functioning in the shortest turnaround time possible. A cost-effective fully-managed solution was their preference, and they were looking for someone who could scale their services based on their growth rate.
The Solution Value-Adds
Since the client is from the entertainment industry, Impiger Technologies wanted to create a solution that would be vibrant, casual, and extremely engaging for the users. Not to mention, the solution should also score high on performance management as it will directly impact on the user experience. Impiger’s strong managed services capability made sure the app was functioning efficiently by providing uninterrupted technical infrastructure and support. Available on both iOS and Android, the application was created to cater the fandom audience with frequent activities on the social media platforms. InApp purchases were also taken care of.
The solution plays a vital role in encouraging fandoms and groups to engage as well as interact via games & competitions. We also provided value-additions like YouTube, Twitter, and Tumblr integrations for each fandom to retrieve data. Users can also post their own content with Image (all formats including GIF) and Video, discuss among the other users. The system makes use of Artificial Intelligence to automate image validation of the uploaded contents using Google Vision API (Application Programming Interfaces).
It also affirms custom text validation and manual approval process through admin portal. Its high performance and effective feed is built using Azure Search service to retrieve the contents of each fandom. Once the user subscribes to the app, you are asked to subscribe to your favorite personalities and later can add preferences. A complex algorithm, deployed ranking based on social media engagement, uses both Fan page and social popularity as well as recency. In case fans want to know more about their favorite artist, they can also make use of the Fan DNA which, upon clicking, unveils a helical structure of information about the celebrity in focus.
In addition to helping fans connect with co-fans and join their favorite communities, the application also acts as a platform for the artists to reach out to their fans and engage with the community. It is a great scope for advertisers and publicists to leverage this exposure as well. Since the security maintenance was also in the hands of Impiger, we integrated the app with a patented auto containment technology product. This way the app was secured from ransomware, malware, and other types of cyber-attacks quite easily. This way our client could benefit from a competitive advantage in the market.
The Technical Value-Adds
The application developed scores high on aesthetics as well as utility. At the backend, the client was offered an array of support that helped manage reports, groups and much more. Customer is provided with an admin portal for accessing analytical reports, powered by Google and Firebase analytics, for measuring the user’s interest in the application’s various modules. They can also perform activities like Contest Announcement, Manage Fandoms, Content Approval, etc. Configurable, dynamic, and scalable contest creations were designed so that no code changes were required when new contests are introduced. These contests can be for a fandom or a group of fandoms, which can be a generic or trivia contest.
Cloud services were introduced with the help of Azure queue storage, which enables user activities such as share/like/comment, earning presents and badges, score calculation etc. This queueing helped the application more scalable and reduce the load on the app server and SQL server. A separate app service is dedicated for all the Hang fire jobs (background jobs), which includes Push/SMS and Email notifications, calculating the Contest results, weekly email notifications, Content ranking system, Pull contents from social media etc. When contest is in-progress, the load of the application is controlled through auto scaling ability provided in Azure, Azure Redis Cache, In-memory Cache and Azure Queuing mechanism with Azure Cloud service. An auto containment technology product was also integrated to take care of the data from active breaches.
The Results
Regarding App performance:
The application has around 1M user base. Within a few weeks we were able to see all fans of different fandoms participating in the competition and winning rewards as active contests were held by the client as well as the media partner. Load test was run on the server, and we were able to see it can handle around 4K active users who are performing activities every 5 seconds. When the first contest was introduced for iHeart radio, the active users were around 50K and the system was able to handle such a load, without any upgradation. The other popular contests for the Boise Music Festival were also conducted and were an enormous success. The system manages around 30 million posts, 250 contests, 100 trivia games and 2K in-app purchases made. The client has signed a contract with celebrities like Marshmello for promotion purposes and joined the iHeart radio channel, indicating a tremendous success.
Regarding Managed Services:
The Security events reduced by more than 40% with our continued & sustained efforts. With Impiger’s approach to using the right tools with automation, response to attacks were also reduced to seconds from a few minutes. Our extra mile effort has also led to a reduction in false positives to nearly zero over 3 months.
Future Outlook
The application is up for constant upgradation. Enhancements (based on external and internal user input) are estimated to be rolled out. Currently, the client is looking at improving its market presence by upgrading its customer engagement and enhancing its competitive edge. To help them in their vision, we are also working towards building similar apps/solutions with respect to the entertainment industry. For instance, we are currently working on a novel application which has already gone live with its alpha version for select audience and will be working on enhancing the app in the coming days. We have also enhanced and scaled up our managed services capability rapidly to serve and cater to provide uninterrupted, hassle-free services to match our clients’ growth and expectations.
