WO2002008990A2 - Method of remuneration program organization and method of managing multiperson games - Google Patents

Description

Method of Remuneration Program Organization and Method of Managing Multiperson Games

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention concerns organizing and conducting campaigns, games, programs involving individuals, which relate the decision made by the participant during execution of the program, to an expected, randomly occurring, remuneration. The proposed invention can be advantageously used in various fields of human activity such as marketing, sales promotion for goods and services, including the field of advertising, as well as public-opinion polls, elections, lotteries, business games.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Widely known in the art are games based on a "chance element", such as lotteries or pools, in which the winner is determined by realization of a random event. These games consist in the participants offering, according to specified criteria, a hypothetical information which is then compared with the result information that may appear on completion of actions connected with holding a lottery or some other activity, such as a sports event. The participants whose prediction has coincided with the result are the winners getting remuneration.

Known in the art are different methods of playing such games. For example, numerous board games exist in which success is achieved by a pure chance (US, A, 4,893,819). Widely practised are games of BINGO type consisting in distribution of special forms filled in by the participants, followed by drawing at a predetermined time, e.g. with the aid of special devices of the lototron type giving out a random set of numbers with which the participants' predictions are compared to determine the winner. Playing the games using special forms incurs large expenses connected with preparation and processing of the forms and also with the necessity to take precautions against taking the forms. There are known games of the lottery and pool type which are also based on a "chance element", but realized without using the forms. The remote participants join the game by means of telecommunication (electronic, optical, etc.), through special data-input equipment such as telephones, mobile telephones, terminals (subscriber stations), home personal computers (PCs).

Some known TV games, for example, enable the viewers at home to actively participate, by phone, in the prediction of the future game result and winning a prize, if the prediction proves to be correct (US, A, 5,108,1 15).

Known in the art is a muliperson game based on a "chance element" and designed to be played through the Internet network (US, A, 6,004,206). To play the game, a certain time interval of the game is set, ranging from several weeks to several months, which is divided into individual equal-duration stages of the game. At each stage, the participants name a position "R" (e.g. 6 positions may be provided) with an integer number "N" assigned by the participant to the given position (for example, from I to 47). The central processor records the participants' choice, ranks the positions and the integer numbers assigned thereto according to the frequency of occurrence at each of the stages. It is the player whose choice, at all the stages, has coincided with the most frequent set of positions and the integer numbers assigned thereto that is judged the winner of the game.

Also known Is a telephone lottery game «INDEXLOTO 10 out of 10» (RU, C, 2053827). In accordance with this method, the participant, dialing a definite phone number from a plain telephone, say 005, orally orders his own variant of the index, using the numerals from 0 to 9, their repetition being excluded, e.g. 3, 0, 8, 6, 1 , 5, 2, 4, 7, 9. On the following day, there is a TV broadcast of the drawing of the telephone lottery «INDEXLOTO». The order is judged to be winning, if the same sequence of numbers is found in the draw as in the variant offered by the participant, I0, 8, 7, 6 correctly guessed numbers give the winning result. The draws are broadcast on the TV three times a week. Reception of orders with variants of the index is terminated within 24 hours before the direct broadcast of the draw is started. Each order received is entered by the operator into an individual subscriber's (player's) memory cell of the central computer, the participant being informed about the symbolic code assigned to him. The order expenses are paid similarly to those for long-distance telephone communication services.

This multiperson game, like all the games mentioned above, is characterized by a low probability of success and, consequently, the small number of participants getting a reward, thereby reducing the attractiveness of the game and hence the number of potential players.

Also known are other fields of human activity in which the individual remuneration is determined by the decision made.

For example, in one known method of revealing unbiased predictions, the payment to the predictor is connected with the contribution of the predictor to the collective prediction (US, A, 5,608,620).

The object of the invention is to reveal unbiased predictions of a plurality of predictors by means of money-and-credit or other sort of compensation. Each individual predictor is recompensed according to his contribution to the accuracy of the collective prediction which is calculated from a plurality of predictions made by individual predictors. The method can be used to estimate any variable whose value is not known at present. The expected cost of the future profit of the company, the expected price of a commodity, or the expected damages which may be due to environmental pollution, - these are examples of variables whose values may require prediction.

One novel feature in the invention of the US Patent No. 5,608,620 is the conception of compensation to predictors, namely: remuneration of predictors for the predictions close to the actual value of the variable, and a fine imposed on predictors for the prediction which if far from the actual value.

Besides, in the field of marketing, in the matter of selling commodities and/or services, particularly, in sales promotion schemes, in order to attract the customers (clients) to commodities and services and to make them buy the commodity or service different gaming methods based on "chance" are extensively used.

According to one of the known sales promotion schemes, symbols indicating the right to a prize, in the form of different images or combinations of alphanumeric characters, are randomly allocated for prospective customers (clients). A variety of symbols and their carriers are used in this case.

US Patent 5,007,641 , for example, discloses one of similar gaming methods of sales promotion, wherein the symbols used are product identification code symbols provided on packages with such products as films, beer, etc.

To encourage customers, banks employ special paying machines, and prize indicators, such as goldstar, are placed on randomly selected payment documents in the machine. The bank customer who receives a payment document with a goldstar put thereon can win a prize on presenting this document (US, A, 4,817,949).

The sales promotion method disclosed in US, A, 5,413,341 somewhat differs from those described above. In this case, cash register tapes are used as carriers of application forms for participation in a game of chance, such as lottery.

The institution using such checks also provides special containers for collecting the filled-in application forms from participants.

After a large number of application forms has been collected the winning forms are selected at random. Each participant whose application form has been selected as winning is notified of winning a prize represented as commodities or services included in the program. The prizes may be financed out of the revenues of the institution distributing the application forms, or out of contributions from companies whose brands of commodities or services are offered to be repaid by the prize, or else by combined efforts of these institutions.

Alternative methods of sales promotion are known in the art, aimed at encouraging the buyers to make a decision and purchase products or services. Consumer goods manufacturers, various institutions, particularly fast-food catering establishments, advertisers and marketing experts attract customers by offering a certain encouragement for anyone who enters the institution and/or buys a commodity and/or service. Such proposals may take the form of either a present to each customer entering the institution and/or making a purchase, or allowing discounts, coupons etc.

Unfortunately, methods of sales promotion such as discounts, coupons or attendant gifts involve substantial expenses, while being frequently unsuccessful in terms of increasing the sales. Consequently, businessmen are not interested in large investments in high-cost commodity sales promotion programs, since such investment will give a negligible or no gain. "The Method of and Equipment for Remuneration Program Control", as disclosed in US Patent No 6,049,778 facilitates presentation and sales of new products.

In accordance with this invention, the new product sales and the buyers are recorded and the recorded data stored. Further, using a special procedure, the success of the product is determined. It may be expressed, for example, in the number of products sold or proportion of said products on the market within a predetermined time interval. In the event of the result obtained exceeding the specified success thresholds a certain number of first buyers of a given product, e.g. the first hundred of them, are remunerated, say, by reimbursement of expenses or provision of a product free of charge. The aforementioned remuneration programs relating to the sales of commodities and/or services are designed to encourage those people whose decision obviously answers the requirements of the program organizers, i.e. purchase of a commodity or service by a participant, and besides, the game aspect of the program is but slight. In prize-oriented programs, such as lotteries, the winning probability is rather low. These factors limit the possibility that a large number of potential participants will be attracted. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of organizing a remuneration program, involving a game aspect of winning remuneration and a high probability of remuneration, with a view to arousing a keen interest in the program and attracting a large number of participants. Another object of the invention is to provide, based on said program, a method of selling commodities and/or services, and a method of managing a multiperson game.

According to the present invention, this aim is achieved by providing at least two voting alternatives for potential participants and by specifying at least one time interval for recording the participants' votes, followed by counting the participants' votes, for each alternative, within a specified time interval, then determining the alternative with the minimum number of votes and allotting remuneration to the participants of this minority-vote alternative.

The presence of choice alternatives and remuneration of the participants whose decisions have been outvoted imparts a competitive and gaming character to the program, with a high remuneration probability and the reward distribution process being easily controlled by the participants, whereby the attractiveness of the program for a large number of potential participants is enhanced.

In addition to that, in some fields of human activity, the proposed program enables us to reveal and protect minority groups.

The program implementation avoids the use of special forms, coupons and external "options" like random-number generators, such as lototrons, to determine the participants to be remunerated.

Still another advantage of the proposed remuneration program is its wide range of application. The numerous embodiments of the proposed program can be realized in different fields of human activity. In particular, it can be applied to marketing commodity and/or service sales, the game process, the multiperson game, and public-opinion polls. Other applications of. the proposed remuneration program are also possible. In accordance with the preferred embodiments the cost of a single vote is established. Remuneration of one vote cast for the minority- vote alternative is the sum of the cost of a single vote plus an established fraction of one-vote cost from each alternative that scored more votes. The simplest case of determining remuneration is when the preset fraction of the single-vote cost from each alternative scoring more votes is equal to unity.

In this case, when two alternatives are provided, the single-vote remuneration is twice the single-vote cost. This embodiment allows the easiest implementation of the program, and it is available for control on the part of the players who may cast one vote each for both alternatives and, based on the results judge the fairness of assigning remuneration.

Another embodiment of the program features a sequence of equal vote-recording time intervals, the votes being counted and remuneration allotted for each interval

Duration of the program with remuneration allotted within each interval allows the results of the previous intervals to be taken account of, when making a decision thus arousing interest in the program and enlisting more participants.

It is preferable that the starting point of each time interval be referenced to the generally accepted current-time scales and that the sequence of the intervals be continuous, e.g. each hour (part of an hour) or a particular day of the week, month etc. Such solution allows the entry into the program, for each individual at any time, which is also favorable for enlisting a large number of participants.

Further embodiments of the remuneration program concern marketing and sales of commodities and/or services, e.g. for promoting the sales of commodities and/or services, and/or studying the demand for commodities and/or services, as well as for advertising purposes.

At least two alternative commodities and/or services are included in . the program, the sales are evaluated for each alternative within a specified time interval and compared to one another, revealing the lower-sales commodity and/or service. A predetermined remuneration is paid to the participants who bought a lower-sales commodity and/or service.

By implementing the proposed program, the managers simultaneously achieve both the increased sales, through offering an eventual remuneration and imparting a gaming and competitive aspect to the program, and the demand analysis, i.e. the discovery of a more popular commodity and/or service out of a number of competing commodities and/or services. Remuneration of those who, among the commodities and/or services listed in the program, has selected and bought a lower-sales commodity and/or service contributes to promotion of new, heretofore unknown, commodities and/or services.

One advantage of the commodities and/or services sales program is a sufficiently large number of participants getting remuneration, as well as transparency and easy control of the program on the part of the customer. Besides, implementation of the program serves advertising purposes.

The cost of a participant's vote is preferably defined as a rate, or tariff, per unit commodities and/or services, constituting, for example, a specified percentage of the unit price of a commodity and/or service. It will be noted that the price of commodities and/or services included in the program need not increase, which is generally, in the interests of a customer. Various forms of paying the tariff are available. Specifically, the tariff may be paid by the program organizers, e.g. a commodity and/or service selling enterprise, or a commodity and/or service manufacturer.

The program avoids the necessity of substantial investments. It can be realize through existing sales channels, without reverting to an additional equipment. The sales recording, for each alternative, may be made by a sale-fixing apparatus such a cash register, with a payment document issued to a participant, and by a means for identification of the commodity or service purchase. The remuneration program for promotion of the commodity and/or service sales and analysis of the demand for commodities and/or services may also be carried out through a computer network, e.g. over the worldwide Internet network, as applied to electronic sales. Still another embodiment of the program in the above methods of its implementation is a game process, in particular, a multiperson game wherein the winner is determined by realization of a random events consisting in that a time interval of the game is specified and criteria are established by which the participants make their choice within the game interval specified. According to the present invention, at least two alternatives are submitted to the participants as the choice criteria, the choice is then recorded as a stake on one of the established alternatives, the participants' stakes in each alternative for the specified game interval are counted, and the participants who have chosen the alternative that scored fewer stakes are considered winners.

The proposed multiperson game differs from known games by a high probability of the gain and consequently, a larger number of potential winners, by the obviousness of revealing the winners and the simplicity of calculating the remuneration, enabling the participants to easily control distribution of the remuneration. In addition, the proposed multiperson game is easy to implement, all owing its automation using well-known means, such as computer, involving a wide circle of players both enclosed within one room (e.g. gaming room, TV studio etc.) and remote from one another and from the central dispatcher station, the game manager, apart from the possibility to play the game in the world-wide Internet network.

A further embodiment of the program is that employed in public- opinion polls, sociological studies, elections and other campaigns.

The gaming aspect and a prospective remuneration for an "unpopular decision", i.e. the minority remuneration, makes the campaigns attractive for a great number of individuals. When running the public-opinion polls, the proposed remuneration program allows groups of individuals making an "unpopular decision", i.e. the minority groups, to be revealed and protected. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The proposed invention will be further illustrated, in detail, by the following examples of its preferred embodiments, with reference to the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of vote distribution over four alternatives.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The proposed method of managing the remuneration program has many embodiments generally determined by the application field, the technical facilities employed and other factors such as distribution of financial expenses, program location, its mass character and so on. Consequently, potential embodiments of the program are not restricted to the variants given below. The remuneration program is organized by enlisting participants through an eventual remuneration, and it comprises at least two alternatives of voting in favor of either, a predetermined time interval for voting, the participants' vote recording for each alternative within the time interval specified, counting of votes for each alternative to determine the lower-vote alternative, and granting remuneration by votes of the alternative that scored fewer votes.

To allot remuneration, the cost of a single vote is set, which may be expressed in different forms: in money form, in kind, or in some other form. The single-vote remuneration is the sum of the cost of a single vote plus a fixed fraction of the cost of a single vote from each alternative that scored more votes.

Fig 1 shows a schematic diagram of vote distribution over four alternatives denoted by letters of Roman alphabet A., B, C, D. Votes are taken during a time interval Ti with the initial reference point at instant to (not shown) and termination point at instant ti . Beginning from instant to the participants give vote for one of the alternatives presented, and after a time interval Ti at instant t-i , the recording of votes over the specified time interval Ti is completed and votes are counted in each alternative. The height of columns 1 represents the number of votes (∑v) for each alternative within time interval T-i . ^' The cost of one vote is Q. Let us assume, as shown in the diagram of Fig.1 , that the minimum number of votes is for the alternative A (∑A). It is the participants who voted for alternative A that will be remunerated. Remuneration of (QA + KQ_B + KQc+ KQD ) will be assigned to each vote, K being the predetermined fraction of the cost of a single vote for each alternative that scored a greater number of votes (B,C, D).

If K is 1 , the amount of remuneration for one vote in alternative A will be Q x 4.

The remaining vote contribution of the participants to the losing alternative (shown in Fig. 1 by hatched areas) within the time interval T-i, amounting to Q x (∑_B - ∑A) + Q x (∑c - ∑A) +.Q x (∑D - ∑A) ( for K = 1 ) is transferred to the program fund. The program may be carried out during continuously repeated equal time intervals T. In this case, beginning from time instant ti , votes are recorded over the succeeding interval, and after its expiration, at instant t2, the vote counting is resumed. The height of columns 2 represents the number of votes (∑v) in each alternative up to the instant t₂. As seen from Fig. 1 fewer votes for alternative B have been scored by the instant t.₂. Accordingly, it is the participants who have voted for alternative B that will get remuneration. It will be noted, that for each vote in alternative B, the remuneration offered will amount to ( Q _B + K Q_a + K Q _c + ... K QD), where K is the predetermined fraction of the cost of one vote from each alternative scoring more votes (A, C, D). The program is then carried out similarly to the vote counting after a time interval T, at instant t₃, columns 3 etc.

In case there are only two alternatives, the remuneration sum on one vote for the alternative that has scored fewer votes will be twice the single-vote cost, i.e. 2Q (with coefficient K = 1 ).

If it is impossible to determine the winners, for example in the case of equal votes for the two alternatives, or if there are no votes in one of the alternatives (out of two available), the contributions of all the votes are reserved for the following game intervals. Other modes of distributing the contribution are also possible.

The simplicity of calculating remuneration provides easy control, on the part of the players, of the process of granting the remuneration.

Since the proposed method can be implemented in different fields of human activity, different embodiments of the program will be further discussed as applied to the specific fields.

For example, the proposed program may be a marketing campaign, in particular, for promotion of commodities and/or services, and/or for analysis of the demand for commodities and/or services, as well as for advertising purposes.

The program organizers may be both enterprises managing the sales of commodities and/or services (sales channels) and the manufacturer of a commodity and/or service included in the program, as well as other persons concerned.

The remuneration program is run over at least one commodity and/or service sales channel (i.e. in one or more retail trading enterprises or service establishments), and at least two different kinds of commodity or service are set down as alternatives. The number of commodities and/or services must be two at the least but more kinds of commodities and/or services is the possible choice. The most common case is when the program is applied to two kinds of similar commodities or services, although it is possible to deal with more kinds, and also apply the program to dissimilar commodities and/or services.

The cost of a participants' vote is set as a tariff for a specified unit of the commodity or service. For packaged and/or piece goods, the tariff is set per unit goods, and for the goods sold by weight or by volume (e.g. when selling fruit, gasoline etc.) the tariff is imposed on a definite unit of the weight or volume of the goods. Specifically, the rate of remuneration (cost of a single vote) may be accounted for by the managers in the price of a commodity or service included in the program as a marketing extra charge which will be say a certain percentage of the unit price of the commodity. Besides the monetary form the tariff may be expressed in kind, e.g. a certain amount of commodity or service.

The tariff of remuneration may be paid by the commodity and/or service sales enterprise, the manufacturer of the commodities and/or services included in the program, or the participant himself. In this case, if the tariff is paid by a source other than the participant, the price of a commodity and/or service included in the program is generally not changed. Also possible is a combined form of paying the remuneration tariff by the persons mentioned above or by other persons interested in execution of the program.

The participants' votes and the sales of commodities/services are recorded by a sale-fixing device such as cash register. For each vote, the participant is given a payment document (e.g. check) certifying the purchase of a commodity and/or service, and a means for identifying the commodity purchased (e.g. commodity brand carrier) or the service, the payment of remuneration being made on presentation of the above payment document and the commodity/service identifying means.

If the brand carrier cannot be presented because the marking is put on the package rather than on the commodity itself which is sold unpacked (e.g. by weight or to be consumed on the premises etc.) or if services are included in the program, or there is no cash register (e.g. when the campaign is carried on during mass festivals or outdoor fetes ), the participants' votes are recorded and the kind of the commodity or service identified using other means, such as code assignments delivery of special tags, tickets, recording information about the participant and his purchase etc.

The time interval of the program is arbitrarily chosen by the managers. It is dependent, among other things, on the kind of the commodity and/or service involved in the program. For consumer commodities and/or services that are not very expensive the time interval is selected within the range from several hours to one day and to a week. For expensive commodities and/or services, the time interval will be longer say up to a month. Depending on the kind of the commodity and service and on the resources and aims of the managers, the sales channels for program implementation are selected. The initiation of the program is announced, like any advertising campaign, according to resources which the managers are prepared to invest to advertising the program. A specific example of the embodiment of a program in a retail trading establishment, within a single time interval, is given hereinbelow.

The announcement about the startup of the program carries information as follows:

- two sorts of soft drinks: X and Y; - commodity identification means, i.e. brand carrier such as label, cap of the bottle etc.;

- program period - one week, beginning from 15 August of the current year;

- remuneration tariff - Q monetary units. The remuneration tariff is included in the commodity unit price (price of one bottle) as a marketing extra charge, and it does not increase the commodity price agreed upon prior to starting the program;

- remuneration sum - twice the tariff cost, i.e. 2Q monetary units;

- retailers realizing the program - stores A., B., C ... The buyers who wish to take part in the program buy competing goods X and Y in the stores mentioned for a period of one week. Now, each individual buyer may purchase bottles of both the soft drink X and the soft drink Y in any quantity. The buy is recorded by the cash register separately for each kind of commodity, an a check is given to the buyer together with the product. A week later, the managers count the sales of each kind of product and publish the sales results. The sales counting for commodities of a specified range presents no difficulties and is accomplished using known methods.

Suppose we have revealed that the sales of the soft drink X are higher than those of the soft drink Y, i.e. drink X is more popular than Y. The buyers who have found themselves in the minority groups i.e. they have bought a less popular drink Y are remunerated. The remuneration sum per bottle of drink X purchased is then 2Q monetary units. To get remuneration, the buyer should present a check and a brand carrier, in this case, the label on the bottle or the cap of the bottle, or some other preset commodity identifier.

The program is applied to services in essentially the same way. For example, the program may be carried out for two different sales channels

(two retailers) and a uniform commodity, in order to find out a more popular sales channel, e.g. for a given kind of commodity and/or for drawing attention to another sales charm.

A further embodiment of the program is the assignment of 10 alternative kind of commodities/services (designated by numerals «1 »or «2» or «3» or «4» or «5» or «6» or «7» or «8» or «9» or «10») with a remuneration tariff of 10% of the commodity unit price. Each participant who has bought the least popular kind of commodity/service (say, number I) gets remuneration equal to one tariff plus an extra tariff from each unit of the higher-sales commodity, i.e.10% Q-i + 10% Q₂ + 10% Q₃ + 10% Q₄...10% Qιo, which amounts to a total of 10% x 10 = 100% of the commodity price. Thus the customers who have bought the least popular commodity/service, in accordance with the established rules, are remunerated by either compensating the sum paid by them for the purchased commodity or service, or by offering them the commodity/ service again free of charge. Such option is supposed to be most desirable for the customer when high-cost commodities services, such as tourist accommodations are provided as alternatives. Duration of the sales interval within the program is then substantially increased and will range from several months to a year.

The program may include periodically repeated equal intervals beginning and ending at a definite time in accordance with the generally accepted current-time scale; for example, in retail trading shops (mostly those selling cheap goods), the interval preferably established is one working week. So the program will last, say, a month or two and consist of "N" intervals six days each. Each interval begins on Monday and ends on Saturday. Counting of votes and assignment of remuneration to winners takes place at the end of each interval, e.g. after the program - running retailers have been closed. It will be emphasized that as early as on Sunday, the participants may know the results for this interval, which are very likely to influence the buyers' choice in subsequent intervals. For example, the demand for a less popular, in the preceding interval, kind of commodity may increase, which answers the interests of commodity/service sales promotion program managers.

At least two aims are attained by implementing the program in marketing. First, it is increased sales as a result of stimulating the buyers to make a purchase through offering an eventual remuneration and imparting a gaming, competitive, aspect to the program. Secondly, it is the marketing analysis, i.e. selection of a more popular commodity/service out of two competing ones. In addition, the program implementation is an element of advertising business.

For customers, the attractiveness of the program lies in a competitive, gaming, aspect of the program and also in the material compensation of their "moral loss", when they purchase a less "popular" commodity.

In addition to that, the remuneration program in the field of commodity/service sales may be realized in a computer network, e.g. the world-wide Internet network, in which, currently, electronic sales are increasingly more common. While the basic conception of the program implementation does not change, other sales channels well known in electronic sales are employed, as well as alternative means for vote recording and counting, payment for purchases, and paying-out of remuneration (using credit cards, electronic methods of funds transfer from a bank account etc.).

Another embodiment of the remuneration program is a new game process, in particular a new multiperson, or collective, game.

The basic principle of playing the game is similar to remuneration program managing schemes described above.

In the multiperson game, the cost of a vote in the preferred embodiment of the game is paid by the participants as an established stake, similarly to many known multiperson games of the lottery type in which the winner is determined by realization of a random event. In other embodiments, the game may be played on a different financial basis, with no stakes. Various designations of the alternatives are possible, namely, as semantic questions with a choice of the answer such as YES or NO or DO NOT KNOW etc., or as any symbols ("black" or "white" or "red"; numbers "I" or "2" or "3" or "4" ... etc.). As an alternative, it is also possible to establish outside events that will take place in future, such as sports competitions. The rules of the game, including the number of established alternatives and the size of the stake, may widely vary under control of the managers. For example, the participants may be limited by the number of stakes and their size and by the possibility to stake on only one alternative, or else there may be no such limitations in general, the game process runs as follows.

Once the established time interval of the game has started, the participants put stakes on (give votes to) one of the alternatives. After a certain time interval of the game, the stakes stop to be received and the stake counting process begins in each of the alternatives, to find the alternative that collected fewer stakes.

It is the participants who have staked on the alternative which collected fewer stakes that get remuneration. The remuneration per stake of the winning alternative is the sum of the winner's stake and the fraction of the stake on each alternative that scored more stakes, established by the managers. In the simplest embodiment, two alternatives and 100% of the stake of the losing alternative are established, i.e. in this case, the stake of the winning alternative is doubled.

The difference between the total sum contributed by the participants as stakes and the remuneration paid out to the winners goes to the game managers' fund.

Clearly, the total sum of the stakes will always exceed the sum of the stakes which is to be paid out to the winners.

If it is impossible to determine the winner, for example, in the absence of the stakes on one of the alternatives (out of two) or with equal number of stakes on each alternative, the total sum staked within this interval is reserved for the next game.

The time interval of the game varies with the kind of game and the technical facilities used to play the game, ranging from a rather brief interval, of the order of minutes or hours, to an interval several days, weeks, months etc., long.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the game process is a continuous sequence of equal time intervals assigned to record the stakes (votes). The beginning of each time interval is referenced to the generally accepted current-time scale. For example, the time intervals may begin every 15 minutes ( 1 hour; 1 hour 15 min; 1 h 30 min; 1 h 45 min; 2 h etc.) or every hour, every Monday etc. The stakes are counted and remuneration assigned for each interval. One advantage of such embodiment is that a participant can join the game practically at any moment of the day. He can also watch the game and monitor the results within the sequence of intervals. The knowledge of the results of previous intervals still more enhances the players' interest in the game.

Specific embodiments of the game are largely dependent on the technical facilities employed, the location and time limits of the game. According to the preferred embodiments the stakes (votes) of the participants are collected and processed by the central dispatcher station, and the participants' stakes are classified by the alternatives through data- input means remote from the dispatcher.

The game may be played inside a gaming room or TV studio, considering the fact that, with a restricted circle of people, there must be at least three players.

There also exists an embodiment of playing a multiperson game for dispatcher-remote participants, using communication means providing exchange of information between the data-input equipment and the central dispatcher. The game is here controlled by an automated system such as the central processing unit (central computer) which specifies time intervals of the game and sets its limits, collects the stakes (votes), by alternatives, from data-input devices, counts the stakes (votes) by alternatives, within the specified time intervals compares the number of stakes (votes) between alternatives, and determines the alternative that scored fewer stakes (votes). In addition, if necessary, the central dispatcher carries out identification of the players, recording and transfer of payments. These functions may be performed using known devices employed in multiperson games, such as lottery pools, which are controlled by the central dispatcher (e.g. computer).

A variety of known communication means can be used to establish connection between the game participants and the central dispatcher, such as telecommunication lines (both wire and radio), lightguide (optical- fiber) communication lines etc. The choice of communication lines is governed by the choice of the data-input equipment whose functions include receiving, recording and transmitting information, according to established alternatives. Furthers the data input devices may perform the function of identifying a participant and his stakes acceptance of the payment of the stake. The data input devices may be well known devices employed in games of the type "lottery", "pool' e.g. terminals (subscriber stations), home PCs equipped with modems, telephones, mobile telephones with WAP-protocols identification systems for electronic means of payments etc. Identification of participants and their stakes may be made using special codes. Telephone communication allows the use of dedicated channels. Switched telephone circuits and high-speed wideband channels may also be available for use.

The game can be played in TV (radio broadcast) studio, with participants simultaneously enlisted from the outside.

The payment of stakes, according to the game conditions, may be both a cash payment, i.e. in the terminals (subscriber stations), and a payment by written order from the participant's account or his credit card, through the data-input device. Remuneration is paid out in a similar manner. Information about the results of the game may reach the participant via the data-input devices having a two-way communication link with the dispatcher and including a received-data imaging unit (display units, printers etc.). According to one of the embodiments, the game results are transmitted over TV/radio broadcasting channels.

The game process may also be carried out in the world-wide Internet network. The method of displaying the alternatives also depends on technical facilities used to implement the game. For example, when information is transmitted over telephone lines, the alternatives may represent either different phone numbers which the participants dial to put through a call or some words previously agreed upon, such as YES or NO. When using terminals (subscriber stations), the alternative may be marked by symbols such as numerals «1 » or «2» or «3», by color code of the keys or their location («RIGHT», «LEFT») etc. The advantages of the game include easy control of distributing the remuneration by the participants: the participant stakes on both alternatives and makes sure that he has got the money back. A wide range of varying the rules of the game and its embodiments, along with an easy access and the fascination it holds for the players, are other attractive features of the game.

Besides, the proposed program can be used in public-opinion polls, sociological studies, public voting, campaigns of election to governing bodies of different levels.

Depending on the mass character of the program, registration, identification of the participants and counting of votes may be done manually or with the aid of known technical facilities and methods. Payment of the vote cost may be at the expense of both the participants and the poll organizers, depending on the poll type.

For example, sociological polls and public-opinion polls may be conducted in a way essentially similar to the above process of multiperson game. The questions studied serve as alternatives. The participants who have made a less popular decision and found themselves in the minority are remunerated. Thus minority groups are revealed and protected. Further, this action may be an act of charity, and it is the minority groups revealed in the course of the proposed program, rather than the participants themselves, that get remuneration in this case. The promise of remuneration and the gaming aspect of its distribution are factors tending to attract more participants to the program in question.

It will be noted that the proposed invention is not restricted to the above examples of its preferred embodiment and allows of modifications apparent to those skilled in the art, without going beyond the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by its claims.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION The proposed invention can preferably be applied to marketing, particularly in the field of commodities and/or services sales, namely: for promotion of the sales of commodities and/or services, in marketing studies; in multiperson games of the lottery type; in sociological studies, public-opinion polls, elections, acts of charity etc.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A method of organizing a remuneration program by stimulating participants to join the program through a prospective remuneration dependent on the number of the participants' votes recorded, characterized in that at least two voting alternatives are established and at least one time interval for recording the votes is specified, the participants' votes in each alternative with the specified time interval are counted, the minority-vote alternative is determined and remuneration assigned for this minority-vote alternative.

2. A method of Claim 1 characterized in that the remuneration is assigned for votes of the alternative that scored the minimum number of votes, the cost of one vote being specified, the one-vote remuneration constituting the sum of the one-vote cost and a predetermined fraction of the one-vote cost for each alternative that scored more votes.

3. A method of Claim 2 characterized in that the predetermined fraction of the one-vote cost for each alternative scoring more votes is equal to unity.

4. A method of Claim 3 characterized in that two alternatives are established, and the one-vote remuneration is twice the one-vote cost.

5. A method of Claims 1 to 4 characterized in that the remuneration program consists of a sequence of equal time intervals of vote record the vote counting and remuneration being assigned within each interval.

6. A method of Claim 5 characterized in that the beginning of each time interval of vote recording is predetermined and referenced to the generally accepted current time scale.

7. A method of Claims 5, 6 characterized in that the sequence of said intervals is continuous.

8. A method of Claims 1 to 7 characterized in that the remuneration program control is automated, e.g. by a computer.

9. A method of Claims 1 to 7 characterized in that the remuneration program is carried out in a computer network such as the world - wide Internet network.

10. A method of Claims 1 to 8 characterized in that the remuneration program is a program selected out of the group: commodities and/or; services sales program, demand analysis program for commodities and/or services commodities and/or services advertising.

11. A method of Claim 10 characterized in that the cost of votes is paid by persons selected either individually or in the aggregate from the following group: commodity and/or service sales establishment, commodity and/or service manufacturer, participants.

12. A method of Claims 10 and 11 characterized in that the cost of a vote is included in the price of a commodity and/or service as a predetermined percentage of the unit price of the commodity or service.

13. A method of Claims 10 to 12 characterized in that the participants' votes are recorded through a commodities/ services sales channel by a sale-fixing device, a payment document is issued to the participant together with a means for identifying the commodity and/or service purchased by the participant, the remuneration being paid out on presentation of said payment document and commodity and/or service identification means.

14. A method of Claim 13 characterized in that the remuneration program is carried out in a retail trading establishment, at least two kinds of commodity are established as alternatives, the participants' votes in each alternative are counted by a cash register, the payment of the remuneration being made on presentation of a commodity identification means such as the label and the check of the cash register of the retail trading establishment in which the program is carried out.

15. A method of Claims 10 to 13 characterized in that at least two different sales channels for uniform commodities and/or services are set down as alternatives.

16. A method of Claims 10 to 13 characterized in that the remuneration program is realized in a computer network, e.g. the world - wide Internet network.

17. A method of Claims 1 to 8 characterized in that the remuneration program is a game process.

18. A method of Claim 17 characterized in that when choosing the alternative, the cost of a vote is paid by the participant in the form of a stake, the difference between the total sum contributed by the participants as stakes and the remuneration sum paid out to the winners is allocated to the game fund.

19. A method of Claims 17, 18 characterized in that the participants' votes are collected and processed by the central dispatcher unit, the participants recording their votes by specified alternatives through data- input devices.

20. A method of Claims to 19 characterized in that the game is controlled by an automated system such as the central processing unit using communication means allowing exchange of information between the data-input devices and the central dispatcher.

21. A method of Claim 20 characterized in that at least part of the data-input devices has a two-way communication with the central dispatcher, and the game results are displayed on the data-input device.

22. A method of Claims 17 to 21 characterized in that the game results are transmitted over TV/radio broadcasting channels.

23. A method of Claims 17, 18 characterized in that the game process Is run in a computer network, e.g. in the world - wide Internet network.

24. A method of Claims 1 to 9 characterized in that the remuneration program is a program selected out of a set of programs: public-opinion polls, sociological studies, elections.

25. Method of Claim 24 characterized in that the program is an act of charity in favor of the alternative that scored fewer vote.

26. A method of organizing a remuneration program in the field of the sale: commodities and/or services by attracting participants to the program through a prospective remuneration depending on the sales of the commodities and/or services included in the program, comprising the recording of the sales and the counting the sales of a commodity and/or service within a specified time interval, characterized in that at least two alternative commodities and/or services are included in the program, the sales are evaluated for each alternative within the time interval specified, followed by comparing them to one another to reveal the lower-sales commodity and/or service, and an established remuneration is paid out to the participants who have bought the lower-sales commodity and/or service.

27. A method of Claim 26 characterized in that a remuneration tariff per unit commodities and/or services is established, the remuneration to the participants being assigned for each commodity and/or service unit bought, out of a group with lower sales, constituting the sum of the remuneration tariff per unit the lower-sales commodity and/or service, plus a certain fraction of the remuneration tariff per unit the higher-sales commodity and/or service.

28. A method of Claim 27 characterized in that the remuneration tariff is a specified percentage of the unit price of a commodity and/or service.

29. A method of Claims 27, 28 characterized in that the established fraction of the remuneration tariff per unit commodity and/or service with higher sales is equal to unity.

30. A method of Claims 27 to 29 characterized in that the cost of the remuneration tariff is paid by persons selected, either individually or in the aggregate, out of a group: commodity or service sales enterprise, commodity or service manufacturer, participant.

31. A method of Claims 26 to 30 characterized in that the sales of each alternative commodity and/or service are recorded by a sale-fixing apparatus with the attendant issue of a payment document, and by a means for identification of the commodity and/or service sold, the payment of the remuneration being made on presentation of said payment document and commodity and/or service identification means.

32. A method of Claims 26 to 31 characterized in that the remuneration program is run in a retail trading establishment, at least two kinds of commodity are established as alternatives, the sales, for each alternative are recorded by a cash register, the remuneration being paid out on presentation of a commodity identification means, such as label, and the check of the cash register of the retail trading establishment.

33. A method of Claims 26 to 30 characterized in that the sales of commodities and/or services are conducted in the world - wide Internet network.

34. A method of conducting a multiperson game wherein the winner is determined by realization of a random event, consisting in specifying the game interval and setting down the criteria by which, during the specified game interval, the participants' make their choice, characterized in that at least two alternatives are established for the participants as the choice criteria, the choice is recorded as stakes on one of the established alternatives, the participants' stakes in each alternative, within the specified game interval, are counted, and the participants who have chosen the alternative that scored fewer stakes are judged to be winners.

35. A method of Claim 34 characterized in that the cost of the stake is specified and remuneration paid out on each stake for the alternative that scored fewer stakes, the remuneration on each stake being the sum of the cost of this stake and an established fraction of the stake from each alternative that scored more stakes.

36. A method of Claim 35 characterized in that the established fraction of the stake cost is equal to unity.

37. A method of Claims 34,35 characterized in that two alternatives are established and the remuneration per stake is twice the stake cost.

38. A method of Claims 34 to 37 characterized in that the difference between the sum contributed by the participants as stakes and the sum of remuneration paid out to the winners is transferred to the game fund.

39. A method of Claims 34 to 38 characterized in that each participant may have any number of stakes in each of the alternatives,

40. A method of Claim 34 characterized in that the multiperson game consists of a sequence of equal game intervals, and the stakes are counted and remuneration assigned within each interval.

41. A method of Claim 40 characterized in that the initial point of each interval is predetermined and referenced to the generally accepted current-time scale.

42. A method of Claims 40, 41 characterized in that the sequence of intervals is continuous.

43. A method of Claim 34 characterized in that the stakes are collected and processed by the central dispatcher, the alternative stakes being recorded by the participants through data-input devices.

44. A method of Claim 43 characterized in that the game is controlled by an automated system, such as the central processing unlit, using communication means providing for exchange of information between the data-input devices and the central dispatcher.

45. A method of Claims 43, 44 characterized in that at least part of the data-input devices has a two-way communication with the central dispatcher, and the game results are displayed on the data-input device.

46. A method of Claims 34-45 characterized in that the game results are transmitted over TV/radio broadcasting channels.

47. A method of Claims 34 to 43 characterized in that the game process carried on in a computer network, e.g. the world-wide Internet network.