JP2004094475A - Dm planning and operating system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To smoothly execute a contingency fee type direct mail plan. <P>SOLUTION: This direct mail planning and operating system 1 is constituted to include a campaign operation server 10 provided with a means 11 for specifying a responder to receive automatically a response of a DM campaign through a network, and provided with a response totalizing means 12 for requiring updating of a campaign control data 23 for controlling status information of campaign objective persons in every of the persons in response to received replies, and a database control server 20 for updating the campaign control data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a DM plan management system for smoothly executing a success reward type direct mail plan.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As a sales promotion campaign, there is a plan to send a direct mail (DM) to a customer for a certain period (campaign period). These proposals may be proposed by a planning company (such as a printing company) and adopted by a client company. In this case, the planning cost and the operating cost of the sales promotion campaign are paid from the client company to the planning company regardless of the success or failure of the planning. However, there was no problem when the campaign was successful, but when the campaign failed, only the planning company and the printing company that received the DM printing received profits, so the customer company was dissatisfied. In addition, there is a problem that the planning company becomes less conscious of responsibility as a result of the plan contents.
[0003]
What is paid by the client company to the planning company regardless of the success or failure of the planning, regardless of the success or failure of the planning, is referred to as a conventional campaign. On the other hand, a case where the amount of payment from the client company to the planning company is determined according to the degree of success of the project is referred to as a success reward type campaign. In order to execute a success-reward-type campaign, it is necessary to have a mechanism capable of easily summarizing the responses of campaign target customers and quantitatively evaluating the degree of success of the campaign. Conventionally, there was no campaign system having such a function.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in consideration of such problems, and has as its object to provide a DM plan management system for smoothly performing a success-reward-type direct mail plan.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided means for automatically receiving a response of a DM campaign by specifying a responder through a network, and transmitting status information of a DM campaign target person for each target in response to the received response. A campaign management server that includes a response aggregation unit that requests updating of campaign management data managed by
A database management server for updating the campaign management data,
This is a DM planning and operation system including a computer that accesses the campaign operation server through a network.
[0006]
The responses from the target customers of the DM campaign are automatically totaled, and the customers who have responded can be specified and recorded in the database, so that the effect of the campaign can be easily grasped.
[0007]
A second preferred aspect of the first invention is a campaign management server comprising: means for automatically receiving a response of a DM campaign via a network; and response totalizing means for accumulating the received response as a response record of the DM campaign. And a DM project management system comprising a computer accessing the campaign management server through a network.
[0008]
If it is not necessary to specify the customers and collect the responses of the DM campaign, it is only necessary to know the total number of responses, so such a simple configuration may be used.
[0009]
A third aspect of the first invention is the DM planning and operation system according to the first aspect, wherein the means for automatically receiving a response of the DM campaign by specifying a responder through a network is provided by WWW server software. This is a DM planning and operation system which is realized by using HTML data for receiving a response and a response from a DM campaign through a computer equipped with a WWW browser via the Internet.
[0010]
Similarly, a fourth aspect is a system in which the DM planning and operating system according to the second aspect is realized using WWW technology.
[0011]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, a DM planning and operation system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram for explaining an outline of a facility for performing a DM project using the system 1. In the following embodiment, a description will be given assuming that the planning company is a printing company. The system 1 has a configuration in which equipment 2 of a printing company, a computer 30 installed in a store of a client company, and a computer 31 used by an end user (consumer) are connected via the Internet 9. The printing company's equipment 2 is composed of a plurality of computers, and has functions for smoothly executing a success-reward-type direct mail project, such as campaign design and estimate creation, customer database management, and receiving and counting responses during the campaign period. Have. Although not considered as a component of the DM planning and operation system 1 in FIG. 1, since it has a close relationship with the system 1, a DM creation system 40 for creating a campaign DM is also provided as a facility to be provided in the printing company. Is shown.
[0012]
Reference numeral 10 denotes a campaign management server. It has a means to design campaigns, create estimates, and accept and count responses during the campaign period. Reference numeral 20 denotes a database management server. Manage customer database. The DM creation system 40 prints a DM to be sent to a campaign planning target customer. A computer 32 of the printing company is used as a client terminal of the server 10 or 20. The management server 10 and the client computers 30 and 31 adopt HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) as a communication protocol at the application level. That is, in the system 1, a well-known WWW (World Wide Web) technology is adopted, a WWW browser is installed in a client computer, and an HTML (HyperText Markup Language) data transmitted by the WWW server is interpreted by the WWW browser as an interactive screen. It is displayed by that.
[0013]
FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining in more detail the equipment 2 of the printing company, which is a main part of the system 1. The operation server 10 includes a WWW server 11 for performing application-level communication with the client computers 30, 31, and 32. It also includes a response totalizing means 12 for executing a function of totaling responses, a campaign evaluating means 13 for evaluating a campaign at the end of a campaign, and a campaign designing means 14 for use in proposing a campaign plan. On the other hand, the database management server 20 includes a database management unit 21. The database management unit 21 searches and updates the customer master 22 and the campaign management data 23 stored and managed in the storage device of the database management server 20 in response to a request from the client terminal 32, the response aggregation unit 12, and the like. Execute.
[0014]
The customer master 22 is a database in which basic and mainly fixed information such as the names, addresses, and genders of the customers of the client companies are collected. The campaign management data is a database that records and manages, for each customer, status information of the customer extracted as a campaign target, that is, whether or not a DM has been sent, whether or not a response has been received, and the content of the response.
[0015]
Although not shown, the management server 10 also prepares some HTML page data. These are page data for displaying a menu screen or the like which is first provided to the accessing person. The campaign design means 14 is an application used by a planner of a printing company to propose a new sales promotion plan to a client company. The planning staff accesses the operation server 10 from the client computer 32 and calls the campaign designing means 14 by selecting the campaign planning menu on the menu screen presented first, and prepares an estimate necessary for the proposal of the campaign planning. I do. Upon receiving the input of the DM unit price and the number of lots from the planner, the campaign design means 14 calculates an estimated amount based on the DM unit price and the number of lots based on the success reward type or the conventional type, and displays the estimated amount on the screen of the client computer. Reply the data to be displayed.
[0016]
As a response to the DM, there are a case where the end user directly accesses the operation server 10 via the Internet and makes a response, and a case where a client company accesses the operation server 10 and makes a response. The former case is, for example, a questionnaire campaign. When the end user accesses the operation server 10 and answers the questionnaire on the browser, the response of the campaign is obtained, and the responses are counted. The latter is, for example, a case of a campaign for prompting a visit to the store, and a case where the end user brings the DM to the store as a response to the campaign. In this case, the response is counted by the clerk accessing the operation server 10 from the client computer of the store and inputting the serial number or the like printed on the DM on the counting screen displayed on the browser. When the end user accesses the operation server 10, if the serial number or the like printed on the DM is input as a password, the individual can be identified and unauthorized access can be prevented. Even when the clerk accesses the operation server 10, illegal access is prevented by inputting the employee number or the like of the clerk as a user name and a password. Authentication using a password can be realized using, for example, a mechanism called a basic authentication function that the WWW server 11 has as a standard.
[0017]
In the latter case, the store may be a virtual store. In such a case, the program on the server of the virtual store generates an HTTP request message for requesting data aggregation by attaching data to be aggregated, and transmits the generated HTTP request message to the operation server 10 so that the client It is also possible to configure the system such that the server of the virtual store operated by the company automatically causes the response totalizing means 12 to execute the response totalization through the WWW server 11 of the operation server 10.
[0018]
In any case, the response tallying means 12 is called from the WWW server 11, and the response tallying means 12 generates HTML data to be displayed as an input screen for an end user such as a questionnaire input or an input screen for a clerk, and generates a response. A request to update the campaign management data 23 is provided to the database management means 21 based on the input contents on the computer screen of the destination computer. In this way, the campaign responses are automatically totaled and reflected in the campaign management data 23.
[0019]
The campaign evaluation means 13 evaluates one campaign. That is, the campaign management data 23 is searched, the number of responses and the response rate are totaled, and an evaluation report including whether or not the target number has been initially reached is created.
[0020]
The DM creation system 40 is composed of a computer for performing DTP editing work and a direct printing machine for performing small number variable printing, and inputs campaign customer list data extracted from the customer master 22 in accordance with the campaign plan contents. And DM printing.
[0021]
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a campaign execution flow utilizing the system 1. Hereinafter, the flow of the DM sales promotion campaign implementation using the system 1 will be described with reference to FIG.
[0022]
First, a printing company designs a campaign (S10). The operation server 10 is accessed from the terminal 32 and the campaign design means 14 is started. An estimate is calculated by inputting the unit price, the number of lots, and the conventional type or the success reward type. The estimate is output and a plan is proposed to the client company (S12).
[0023]
If the test is adopted without a test, a production campaign is immediately executed (step S22). If the test is adopted, test preparation is first performed (S14). That is, a target person for performing the test is extracted from among the original target customers, and a DM is created for those. Then, a DM is sent to those customers, and the test is started (S16). During the test, the operation server 10 also accepts external access via the Internet. The received response is reflected in the campaign management data 23 by the operation of the response totalizing means 12. When the test period ends, a test evaluation is performed (S18). The campaign evaluation means 13 is activated, and the response compiled in the campaign management data 23 is confirmed to create an evaluation report.
[0024]
Based on the test evaluation result, the client company makes a final decision whether to perform the performance based on the success reward type or the conventional type. In the case of the conventional type, a DM print is sent to a target customer for production (S32), and a production campaign is carried out (S34). At this time, the operation server 10 is not used. In the case where the performance proceeds with the success reward type, in step S22, the DM print is sent to the target customer of the performance (S22), and the performance is performed (S24). The response from the end user or the client company is received by the operation server 10, and the campaign management data 23 is updated based on the response received by the response totalizing means 12. When the campaign period ends, the campaign is evaluated (S26). The campaign evaluation means 13 is started, the response compiled in the campaign management data 23 is confirmed, an evaluation report is created, and the success reward is calculated.
[0025]
The campaign execution flow using the DM project management system 1 according to the present invention has been described above. By using the system 1, the response from the DM target is automatically aggregated, so that the success-reward-type DM plan is smoothly operated.
[0026]
Next, FIG. 4 is a view for explaining different aspects of the equipment 2 of the printing company, which is a main part of the system 1. In FIG. 4, the operation server 10 includes a WWW server 11, a response totalizing unit 12b, and a campaign designing unit 14. The function of the response tallying unit 12b is slightly different from that of the response tallying unit 12 shown in FIG. That is, the response tallying unit 12b counts the responses from the customer as the response record data 24 without specifying from whom. Therefore, the campaign management data 23 is not created. If only the customer who has received the DM knows and can access the URL of the operation server 10, all the responses received by the WWW server 11 can be said to be the effect of the DM. The response record data 24 is, for example, recorded and stored sales data for each date. The questionnaire data may be input by a customer. In this case, as a result, the customer may be specified from the contents of the questionnaire data.
[0027]
Although the campaign evaluation means 13 existing in FIG. 2 is not depicted in the operation server 10 in FIG. 4, it is expected that the recorded contents of the response record data 24 will be variously changed depending on the purpose of the campaign. Therefore, it is considered that it is not appropriate to represent the information as a means having a fixed function. That is, after the campaign ends, the campaign operator manually reads out the response record data and evaluates the content.
[0028]
For the same reason, the campaign evaluation means 13 shown in FIG. 2 is not an essential component of the system 1. Further, the campaign evaluation means 13 shown in the operation server 10 of FIG. 2 and the campaign design means 14 shown in the operation server 10 of FIG. 2 or 4 exist on a server device different from the operation server 10 connected to the network. May be. Actually, in order to protect the operation server 10 and the database management server 20 which are the facilities of the printing company from unauthorized intrusion from outside,
Well-known security measures, such as placing a firewall in front of these servers, should be taken. Further, depending on the content of the campaign, for example, in the case where personal information is included in the contents of the questionnaire input from the customer, in order to prevent eavesdropping and tampering on the Internet route, a communication between the WWW server 11 and the WWW browser is performed. It is necessary to set the operation server 10 so that the communication contents are encrypted by using SSL (Secure Socket Layer).
[0029]
Finally, the significance of the fact that the success-reward-type DM project can be implemented will be summarized again. Conventionally, even if a printing company makes a proposal, the amount of the order is calculated only based on the cost related to the DM printing, and it is rare that the price for the proposal is recognized and recorded separately from the DM printing cost. Therefore, printing companies were less motivated to make excellent proposals, but rather more likely to win orders due to price competition. Clients had to pay the print company a fixed amount if the campaign failed, and if not, they were dissatisfied with the payment. Increasing adoption of success-reward-type DM projects will reduce such dissatisfaction of client companies, and at the same time, will motivate printing companies to make excellent proposals and will not result in price competition. There is a possibility that you can develop excellent planning skills. It is also expected to have a great effect that it will be easier for the client company to understand how to charge for the plan itself.
[0030]
【The invention's effect】
The system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention has been described above in detail. The DM plan management system 1 according to the present invention has a remarkable effect that the DM plan can be smoothly executed.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an overall schematic diagram of a DM planning and operation system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an operation server 10 and a database management server 20, which are main parts of the system 1.
FIG. 3 is a flow chart of implementing a campaign utilizing the system 1;
FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing another mode of an operation server 10 and a database management server 20 which are main parts of the system 1.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 DM plan management system 1
9 Internet 10 Campaign management server 11 WWW server 12 Response tallying means 13 Campaign evaluation means 14 Campaign design means 20 Database management server 21 Database management means 22 Customer master 23 Campaign management data 24 Response record data 30 Personal computer 31 Personal computer 32 Client computer

Claims (4)

A means for automatically receiving the response of the DM campaign by specifying the responder through the network, and a response for requesting updating of campaign management data for managing status information of the DM campaign target for each target in accordance with the received response. A campaign management server having an aggregation means,
A database management server for updating the campaign management data,
A DM project management system comprising a computer accessing the campaign management server through a network. A campaign operation server including: means for automatically receiving the response of the DM campaign through the network; and response aggregation means for accumulating the received response as a response record of the DM campaign.
A database management server for updating the campaign management data,
A DM project management system comprising a computer accessing the campaign management server through a network. 2. The DM planning and operating system according to claim 1, wherein the means for automatically receiving the response of the DM campaign through a network is realized by WWW server software and HTML data for receiving the response, and the response of the DM campaign is WWW. A DM planning and operation system configured to be accepted via the Internet from a computer equipped with a browser. 3. The DM planning and operating system according to claim 2, wherein the means for automatically receiving the response of the DM campaign through a network is realized by WWW server software and HTML data for receiving the response, and the response of the DM campaign is WWW. A DM planning and operation system configured to be accepted via the Internet from a computer equipped with a browser.

Images