WO2004025528A2 - System for distributing advertising by mini compact disc - Google Patents

Abstract

A system (10) utilizes an interactive CD-ROM as a customized direct marketing delivery tool that is sent to select customers (17, 18) on a periodic basis to provide discounts on services and goods with printable coupons, links to advertiser web sites, local content, games, video commercials and a link to a web site (11, 75). The CD can function as a "membership card" to obtain discounts at local stores. Local advertisers (15, 16) and national advertisers (14) provide advertising materials to the headquarters (11) through branches (12, 13) or directly to the web site (75).

Description

TITLE SYSTEM FOR DISTRIBUTING ADVERTISING BY MINI COMPACT DISC

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application claims the benefit of the U.S. provisional patent application serial no. 60/409,758 filed September 11, 2002. The specification of the U.S. provisional patent application serial no. 60/409,758 is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a system, including an apparatus and a method, for delivering advertising to consumers by direct mail mini compact disc and tracking the performance of a direct mail campaign.

Typically, bulk advertising is done by television, radio and direct mail. Each of these methods of advertising has its advantages and disadvantages, but all require substantial additional effort to track success if at all possible. Therefore, there is a need for a new type of advertising distribution system that can track various items of usage for reporting to the advertisers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention concerns a method of distributing advertising and related multimedia content to consumers and tracking the results comprising the steps of: a) obtaining advertising materials from advertisers; b) placing the advertising materials in a compact disc format; c) producing a plurality of compact discs with the advertising materials stored on each of the compact discs; d) distributing the plurality of compact discs to selected customers; e) providing a web site accessible to the customers through operation of the compact discs in computers; and f tracking predetermined items related to the use of the advertising materials by the customers. The advertising materials can include at least one of a printable coupon and a link to an advertiser web site. The method can include permitting the advertisers to access the web site and obtain data related to the tracking of the predetermined items. The method also can include performing said step c) by producing at least two different compact discs with different ones of the advertising materials separated by geographical relationships and performing

1 said step d) by distributing the different compact discs according to the geographical relationships.

The present invention also concerns a system for distributing advertising to customers and tracking the results comprising: a compact disc having stored thereon at least one of an advertisement, a printable coupon and a link to an advertiser web site; a server operating a tracking web site connected to a communications link; and a data tracking database connected to the server whereby when said compact disc is operated by a customer computer connected to said tracking web site through said communications link, said server obtains from said customer computer data related to at least one predetermined item associated with use of said compact disk and stores said data in said data tracking database. The compact disc can be a iniCD and the link can direct the customer's computer to a database of advertisers at said tracking web site including a further link to the advertiser web site. The compact disc has a flash tracking object stored thereon, said flash tracking object being responsive to a request for tracking the at least one predetermined item for sending the related data to said server. The compact disc has a flash encryption object stored thereon for encrypting the related data prior to sending the related data to said server and the compact disc includes indicia on a label side for use of said compact disc as a membership card.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above, as well as other advantages of the present invention, will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment when considered in the light of the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus for distributing and tracking advertising in accordance with the system of the present invention;

Figs. 2-4 are flow diagrams of a method according to the present invention performed by the apparatus of the system shown in Fig. 1;

Figs. 5a through 5c are illustrations of various shapes of the CD's used with the system according to the present invention;

Fig. 6 is a schematic view of the system shown in Fig. 1 operating in a tracking the data mode;

15 Fig. 7 Is a schematic view of the system shown in Fig. 1 operating in a reviewing the data mode; and

Fig. 8 is schematic block diagram of the system shown in Fig. 1 showing data flow between the computer system and the CD-ROM.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A "SurfandSaveCD" system according to the present invention utilizes an interactive CD-ROM (in a mini compact disc format hereinafter "miniCD") as a customized direct marketing delivery tool that is sent to select households on a periodic basis such as every month. The SurfandSaveCD miniCD provides discounts on services and goods with printable coupons, links to advertiser web sites, local content, games, video commercials and a link to a SurfandSaveCD web site. In addition, the

SurfandSaveCD miniCD can function as a "membership card" to obtain discounts at local stores. The SurfandSaveCD system includes a multimedia software interface that permits multiple advertisers to be included on a single miniCD. The recipient of the miniCD can view each selected one of the interactive advertising presentations, view and print associated coupons, view and print maps of business locations, and link directly to advertiser web sites and/or e-mail servers. The SurfandSaveCD method and apparatus are explained in more detail below.

The SurfandSaveCD system includes a direct marketing tracking system (DMTS) that allows advertisers to track the performance of their advertising campaigns on line. The DMTS provides such information as: 1) how many people viewed the interactive ad; 2) how many people viewed/printed the associated coupon; 3) how many people viewed/printed the associated map; and 4) how many people linked to the website.

There is shown in Fig. 1 a block diagram of a system 10 according to the present invention. A SurfandSave Headquarters 11 includes a DMTS computer system, described below, that maintains a web site. The Headquarters 11 receives advertising information from several sources such as a SurfandSave branch in City A 12, a SurfandSave branch in City B 13 and National Advertisers 14. The advertising information can be in electronic format for direct input into the Headquarters DMTS computer system 11, or can be in hard copy format that is converted to the electronic

15 format. The branches 12 and 13 obtain advertising information from local Advertisers in City A 15 and local Advertisers in City B 16 respectively. The SurfandSave Headquarters 11 packages the advertising information on mini compact discs that are customized to the area of intended distribution. These discs are the distributed to Customers in City A 17 and Customers in City B 18 by either the SurfandSave Headquarters 11 or the SurfandSave branches 12 and 13. Thus, the Customers in City A 17 receive discs containing advertising from the local Advertisers 15 and the National Advertisers 14 while the Customers in City B 18 by receive discs containing advertising from the local Advertisers 16 and the National Advertisers 14. Of course, the Headquarters computer system can operate in a similar manner with any numbers of cities, local advertisers, branches, national advertisers and customers.

The web site maintained by the computer system at the SurfandSave Headquarters 11 is divided into a "public" area and a "private" area. Figs. 2 and 3 are a flow diagrams of a main SurfandSave engine for the public area of the web site whereby a "member" gains access to content for a particular city. A User 20 starts by entering a SurfandSave.asp Request 21. If the User 20 is not a "member" as verified at a Member Logged In decision point 22, then the User is directed to unauthorized access web pages such as a Member Signup Form 23. A "member" is directed from the decision point 22 at "A" to Fig. 3. If the User 20 submitted information at a Form/Data Submission decision point 24, the User is directed to a portion of the engine that identifies and processes the forms at an Advertiser Signup Form Submitted decision point 25 to create an Advertiser account, a Member Signup Form Submitted decision point 26 to create a User Account, and a Login Form Submitted decision point 27 to access an existing account. In Fig. 3, a logged in User can access a Home Page 28 that leads to a Display

Authorized Pages 29 wherein several selections can be made. One selection is an Edit Account page 30 permitting the User to view and update an associated account. Another selection is an Advertisers Page 31 permitting a User that is an advertiser to access statistics (discussed below) and an associated advertiser account. Yet another selection is a Coupon Information page 32 permitting access to coupons, associated statistics and an associated advertiser account.

15 There is shown in Fig. 4 a flow diagram of a SurfandSave Advertiser Area of the "private" area of the web site whereby a potential advertiser can establish an account and an advertiser gains access to its account. The User 20 enters Advertiser, asp to access a Home page 33. The Home page 33 leads to a Data Submission decision point 34 and either a Signup Form Submitted decision point 35 or a Login Form Submitted decision point 36. This permits access to advertiser accounts. No data submission at decision point 34 leads to requests for an Advertiser Signup page 37, an Advertiser Account Statistics page 38, an Edit Advertiser Account page 39 and a General Advertiser Information page 40. Figs. 5a through 5c show various shapes of miniCD's that can be used to deliver the content to consumers. However, any shape that provides sufficient storage capacity and can be operated in a CD drive could be used. In Fig. 5 a, there is shown an outline 50 of a standard size CD as compared with a miniCD 51 that can be provided in various data storage capacities such 40 MB, 55 MB, 80 MB and 100MB. The miniCD 51 has a pair of opposed flats 51a formed on a periphery thereof. In Fig. 5b, there is shown a miniCD 52 that can be provided in capacities of 40 MB and 80 MB. This miniCD has a pair of opposed flats 52a and a pair of arcuate cutouts 52b defining the periphery thereof. In Fig. 5c, there is shown a miniCD 53 that can be provided in a capacity of 40 MB. This miniCD has a pair of longer opposed flats 53a, a pair of shorter opposed flats 53b and angled corners 53c connecting the flats. Each of the miniCD's 51, 52 and 53 displays on a label side indicia that permits the miniCD to function as an identification or membership card allowing the user to obtain discounts and specials at the business locations participating advertisers. Other shapes of miniCD's are shown in Figs. 5d through 5p of the provisional application serial no. 60/409,758 incorporated herein by reference. All of the miniCD's shown represent shapes that are available from

Microbizcard, Inc. of Toronto, ON, Canada.

There is shown in Fig. 6 a DMTS (Direct Marketing Tracking System) 41 in accordance with the present invention. The DMTS system 41 permits the tracking of any item or event from any media type device that can connect to the Internet. A DMTS computer 42 is provided, typically at the SurfandSave Headquarters 11 of Fig. 1. The computer 42 includes a software program 43 (Database Updater) that manages a Tracking Database 44 that can be stored in the memory of the computer 42. Dynamic content web pages display tracking results to authorized users through 128 bit encryption. These web pages connect to the database located within a secure area so that no data is visible without proper authorization.

Information about tracking items is processed by the program 43 to store updated 5 values of the tracked items in the Database 44 and to obtain current values of the tracked items from the Database 44. An Audiences' s Computer 45 used by a customer can be connected to the computer 42 by any suitable communication link 46 such as the Internet. The Audience's Computer 45 is loaded with the miniCD and generates a tracking data send request to the computer 42, which returns an acknowledgement. The computer 42

10 will now track the item or event requested as data is generated through the use of the miniCD by the Audience's computer 45.

The tracked data is reviewed as shown in Fig. 7 wherein the computer 42 includes a software program 47 (DMTS Homepage Display) that obtains current values of the requested data in response to a data request to the Tracking Database 44. The program

15 47 responds to a verified authorized client request by generating a formatted DMTS web page through the computer 42. A Client computer 48 is connected to the computer 42 over the Internet 46 to send a DMTS web page request and receive in return the formatted DMTS web page that was requested to display the data on the Client computer 48.

20 Fig. 8 shows the data flow between a DMTS computer system 75 at the

Headquarters 11 and a miniCD (CD-ROM) 49 being used by the customer. The miniCD 49 has stored thereon a Flash Tracker Object 73 that is a reusable module that can be used by any program at the web site that uses or interacts with the flash file format. When in use, the Flash Tracker Object 73 has three components: 1) a data buffer to store

25 the items to be tracked; 2) a status property to test whether the tracker is waiting or tracking; and 3) a code-loop to test and send the data to the DMTS computer system 75. To initiate a tracking sequence, the item to be tracked must be added to the data buffer.

The Flash Tracker Object 73 sends Encrypted Data to the Database Updater 43. The Updater 43 receives the Tracked Data information and updates the records in the

30 Data Tracking Database 44. The Database Updater 43 operates identically to a webpage for data transfer using the hyper text transfer protocol (http) as the method of transport. The tracking information is embedded into the universal resource locator (URL) and

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15 parsed into its tracking values by the web server 42 (Fig. 6) at the web site 75. These values are compared with the existing values in the Database 44 and either a new tracking item is generated or a current tracking item is updated.

The DMTS web sit 75 allows authenticated clients (advertisers and related parties) to review and analyze their tracking results. The web site logic verifies the connected user by checking identification numbers saved on the user's computer 48 (Fig. 7) during the login process. If the user is not authenticated, the login page will be displayed (Advertiser Login Fig. 4). If the user is authenticated, the current area the user requested along with any accompanying data will be shown. The DMTS web site 75 allows clients to connect with 128 bit encryption or plain text mode depending upon the protocol that the user requested the page through; (https) for encrypted or (http) for plain text.

The DMTS home page 33 (Fig. 4) permits the user to review all tracking data received to date by the DMTS server 42 (Fig. 7) along with a detailed graphical analysis. Every time the page 33 is refreshed, or an option is selected, the web page script will retrieve the current set of relevant data from the DMTS Database 44. Selecting an "issue" (a selected distributed miniCD) will show all tracking items for that issue found in the Database 44 or show a message indicating that no items were found. Initially the graph displays the overall issue usage, which is the only preselected item. Selecting any other tracking item will visually/graphically compare the selected item with the issue usage. Selecting the usage item will reset the graph to its initial state. These displays can be printed by the computer 48.

The Flash Tracking Object 73 (Fig. 8) on the miniCD 49 sends tracking data to the Database Updater 43 at the web site 75. The miniCD 49 also stores a Flash Encryption Object 74 that encrypts the tracking data and sets encryption keys received from an Encryption Key Generator 76 at the web site 75. An associated Decryption Object 77 is provided at the web site 75.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, the present invention has been described in what is considered to represent its preferred embodiment. However, it should be noted that the invention can be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described without departing from its spirit or scope.

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Claims

WHAT IS CLA ED IS:

1. A method of distributing advertising and related multimedia content to consumers and tracking the results comprising the steps of: a) obtaining advertising materials from advertisers; b) placing the advertising materials in a compact disc format; c) producing a plurality of compact discs with the advertising materials stored on each of the compact discs; d) distributing the plurality of compact discs to selected customers; e) providing a web site accessible to the customers through operation of the compact discs in computers; and f) tracking predetermined items related to the use of the advertising materials by the customers.

2. The method according to claim 2 wherein the advertising materials include at least one of a printable coupon and a link to an advertiser web site.

3. The method according to claim 2 including permitting the advertisers to access the web site and obtain data related to the tracking of the predetermined items.

4. The method according to claim 1 including performing said step c) by producing at least two different compact discs with different ones of the advertising materials separated by geographical relationships and performing said step d) by distributing the different compact discs according to the geographical relationships.

5. A system for distributing advertising to customers and tracking the results comprising: a compact disc having stored thereon at least one of an advertisement, a printable coupon and a link to an advertiser web site; a server operating a tracking web site connected to a communications link; and a data tracking database connected to the server whereby when said compact disc is operated by a customer computer connected to said tracking web site

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15 through said communications link, said server obtains from said customer computer data related to at least one predetermined item associated with use of said compact disk and stores said data in said data tracking database.

6. The system according to claim 5 wherein said compact disc is a miniCD.

7. The system according to claim 5 wherein said link directs the customer's computer to a database of advertisers at said tracking web site including a further link to the advertiser web site.

8. The system according to claim 5 wherein said compact disc has a flash tracking object stored thereon, said flash tracking object being responsive to a request for tracking the at least one predetermined item for sending the related data to said server.

9. The system according to claim 8 wherein said compact disc has a flash encryption object stored thereon for encrypting the related data prior to sending the related data to said server.

10. The system according to claim 5 wherein said compact disc includes indicia on a label side for use of said compact disc as a membership card.

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