AU2003204568B9

AU2003204568B9 - Electronic sales and/or promotion system

Info

Publication number: AU2003204568B9
Application number: AU2003204568A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Dean Robert Lonergan
Original assignee: QUICK TEXT Ltd
Current assignee: QUICK TEXT Ltd
Priority date: 2002-08-06
Filing date: 2003-06-06
Publication date: 2011-02-24
Anticipated expiration: 2023-06-06
Also published as: AU2003204568A1; AU2003204568B2

Description

AUSTRALIA PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT ORIGINAL Name of Applicant/s: Quick Text Limited Actual Inventor/s: Dean Robert Lonergan Address for Service: Baldwin Sheiston Waters 60 MARGARET STREET SYDNEY NSW 2000 CCN: 3710000352 Invention Title: ELECTRONIC SALES AND/OR PROMOTION SYSTEM The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us: File: 39217AUP00 2 Electronic Sales and/or Promotion System Technical Field The present invention relates generally to the field of sales/promotion systems using communications networks and methods of sales/promotion using communications networks. 5 Background Many communications networks, in particular many cellular telecommunications networks provide short message services (SMS) that allow text letters and characters to be sent between nodes, typically mobile phones in the telecommunications network. Such messages are often referred to as "text messages" and have been popular as providing a 10 simple means of communicating short information messages. The potential exists to exploit the existing infrastructure provided for SMS systems for promotions and/or sales. As the number of users of SMS systems is now large, many methods of sale and/or promotion using such systems may now become viable alternatives to more traditional techniques. 15 In International Patent Publication Number WO 01/78345 there is described an interactive marketing system in which a person is invited to respond to an advertisement using a mobile or cell phone to send a particular text message. The sender of the text message receives a message back informing them that they have entered a draw and/or directing them to a website for further competition details. This system has similarities to a 20 conventional competition draw, with the users purchasing their "ticket" by sending in a text message. Therefore, unless the prize offered is particularly exciting, there is limited means to entice people to send text messages. This limits the number of people that enter and limits the revenue that may have been sought through the sending of text messages. It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an alternative method of 25 promotion and/or sales using electronic communications networks or at least to provide the public with a useful alternative. Further objects of the present invention may become apparent from the following description, given by way of example only.

- 3 Throughout this specification, any reference to the prior art does not constitute an admission that such prior art is widely known or forms part of the common general knowledge. Disclosure of the Invention 5 According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a sales/promotion method including the steps of: a) sending one or more invitations to viewers to send their prediction as to at least one outcome of a broadcasted event having two or more possible outcomes as an electronic mail message to a specified destination in a communications network; 10 b) receiving at said specified destination a plurality of electronic mail messages from mobile communications devices through the communications network; c) after the conclusion of the event, identifying each electronic mail message which: i) correctly identifies one or more of the at least one outcomes; and 15 ii) was sent before the conclusion of said broadcasted event; d) recording contact details of at least the viewers who sent an electronic mail message that correctly identified one or more of the at least one outcome; e) randomly selecting one or more of the electronic mail messages identified in step c) and, using the contact details recorded in step d), sending an electronic mail 20 message notification of the winning of a prize; and f) charging each viewer for each text message that they send. According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a program including computer instructions for operating a computer or group of computers to perform the steps of: 25 a) receive a plurality of electronic mail messages from a communications network; b) receive an input specifying the time of the conclusion or occurrence of an event and the outcome of the event; c) identify each electronic mail message that satisfies predetermined criteria 30 including: i) correctly identifying said outcome of the event; and - 3a ii) one of the mail message having been either sent prior to the time of the conclusion of the event or received prior to the time of the conclusion of the event; and d) record contact details from at least the electronic mail messages that were 5 received that satisfy said predetermined criteria; and e) randomly selecting one or more of the electronic mail messages identified in step c) and using the contact details recorded in step d), sending an electronic mail message notification of the winning of a prize. According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided an electronic 10 sales/promotion system including computer processing means in communication with a communications network and operable to: a) receive a plurality of electronic mail messages from the communications network; b) receive an input specifying the time of the conclusion or occurrence of an 15 event and the outcome of the event; c) identify each electronic mail message that satisfies predetermined criteria including: i) correctly identifying said outcome of the event; and ii) one of the mail message having been either sent prior to the time of the 20 conclusion of the event or received prior to the time of the conclusion of the event; and d) record contact details from at least the electronic mail messages that were received that satisfy said predetermined criteria; and e) randomly select one or more of the electronic mail messages identified in step 25 c) and using the contact details recorded in step d), sending an electronic mail message notification of the winning of a prize. According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sales/promotion method including the steps of: a) sending one or more invitations to viewers to send their prediction as to at 30 least one outcome of a broadcasted event having two or more possible outcomes as an electronic mail message to a specified destination in a communications network; b) receiving at said specified destination a plurality of electronic mail messages from mobile communications devices through the communications network; c) after the conclusion of the event, evaluating whether each electronic mail - 3b message sent before the conclusion of said broadcasted event correctly identified the outcome; d) recording contact details of at least the viewers who sent an electronic mail message that correctly identified the outcome; 5 e) using said contact details, contacting at least one viewer who sent a response that satisfied said predetermined criteria and sending to the at least one viewer notification that they have won a prize; and f) charging each viewer for each text message that they send. Preferably, the sales/promotion method may include sending at least one of said 10 invitations to viewers during the broadcasted event as part of the same broadcast during a break in the coverage of the broadcasted event. Preferably, the sales/promotion method may include accepting electronic mail messages any time before the outcome of the broadcasted event becomes known. Preferably, said at least one outcome includes an intermediary event having two 15 or more possible outcomes and the method may include accepting electronic mail messages any time before the outcome of the intermediary event becomes known. Preferably, the event may be a sporting event. Preferably, each electronic mail message may be a text message and the mobile communications device is a mobile telephone.

4 Preferably, the step of charging each viewer for each text message that they send may include charging each viewer at a higher rate than the normal cost of sending a text message. Preferably, the electronic mail message may be sent by viewers using a mobile 5 telecommunications device and the method further includes sending an invitation to order one or more features for the mobile telecommunications device with the one or more invitations to viewers to send their prediction as to at least one outcome of a broadcasted event, wherein the invitation invites viewers to make an order by sending a specified electronic mail message to the specified destination together with their prediction of the 10 outcome of the broadcast event. According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program including computer instructions for operating a computer or group of computers to perform the steps of: a) receive a plurality of electronic mail messages from a communications network; 15 b) receive an input specifying the time of the conclusion or occurrence of an event and the outcome of the event; c) identify each electronic mail message that satisfies predetermined criteria including: i) correctly identifying said outcome of the event; and 20 ii) one of the mail message having been either sent prior to the time of the conclusion of the event or received prior to the time of the conclusion of the event; and d) record contact details from at least the electronic mail messages that were received that satisfy said predetermined criteria. 25 Preferably, the program may include computer instructions to perform the further step of: e) randomly selecting one or more of the electronic mail messages identified in step c) and using the contact details recorded in step d), sending an electronic mail message notification of the winning of a prize. 30 Preferably, the electronic.mail messages may be messages sent from a mobile communications device. Preferably, the electronic mail messages received in step a) may include an order for a feature for the mobile communications device and the program includes instructions to 5 perform the further steps of: f) evaluate whether the order is a valid order and if it is a valid order send the ordered feature back to the mobile communications device. According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic 5 sales/promotion system including computer processing means in communication with a communications network and operable to: a) receive a plurality of electronic mail messages from the communications network; b) receive an input specifying the time of the conclusion or occurrence of an event and the outcome of the event; 10 c) identify each electronic mail message that satisfies predetermined criteria including: i) correctly identifying said outcome of the event; and ii) one of the mail message having been either sent prior to the time of the conclusion of the event or received prior to the time of the conclusion of the event; 15 and d) record contact details from at least the electronic mail messages that were received that satisfy said predetermined criteria. Preferably, the computer processing means may be further operable to: e) randomly select one or more of the electronic mail messages identified in step c) 20 and using the contact details recorded in step d), send an electronic mail message notification of the winning of a prize. Preferably, the electronic mail messages may be messages sent from a mobile communications device. Preferably, the electronic mail messages received in step a) may include an order for 25 a feature for the mobile communications device and the computer processing means is further operable to: f) evaluate whether the order is a valid order and if it is a valid order retrieve the ordered feature from a computer memory and send the ordered feature back to the mobile communications device. 30 Further aspects of the present invention, which should be considered in all its novel aspects, may become apparent from the following description, given by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

6 Brief Description of Drawings Figure 1: Shows very diagrammatically an example of a sales and/or promotion system according to an aspect of the present invention. Figures 2A-C: Shows example text messages that may be sent and received by a 5 viewer. Figure 3: Shows a flow chart of the steps taken by the server shown in Figure 1. Modes for Carrying Out the Invention The present invention relates generally to a sales and/or promotion method and also to a fund raising method. 10 Referring first to Figure 1, an example of a sales/promotion system in which the method of the present invention may be implemented is shown and referenced by arrow 100. A broadcasting event that has a definable outcome, for example a sporting event is broadcast to a number of viewers. In this example, the event is broadcast by a broadcaster 1A from a microwave transmitter 1 via a satellite 2 to a receiving microwave antenna 3. A 15 viewer may thus watch the event on their personal television set 4. Many of the viewers will have a mobile phone 5, due to the increasingly high use of such phones worldwide. The mobile phone 5 communicates with a telecommunications network 6,- which in the embodiment shown in Figure 1 includes a cellular network, and in either direct or indirect communication with the telecommunications network 6 is a server 7 for managing and 20 administering the sales/promotion system 100. The server 7 may be a single computer including one or more processors or a group of computers, which may geographically separated, depending on the processing and communication requirements for the sale/promotion system. The broadcaster 1A intersperses throughout the broadcasting event at least one 25 advertisement that invites viewers to purchase a character or picture for use on their mobile phones. The advertisement specifies a number to which a particular text message is to be sent to order the picture. For example, the user may text the word "PAWS" to the specified number to order a picture showing two paws. For users with more advanced phones, photographs, video clips, ring tones and/or more detailed drawings may be ordered. The 30 advertisement may provide two or more options for purchase, each option having a different 7 word or alphanumeric combination associated with it to allow the viewer to order any one of the purchase options. In addition, the advertisement requests the viewer to answer a query, involving some level of skill and/or luck in relation to an outcome of the broadcast event. For example, in a 5 sporting contest between two teams, one dressed in red and the other dressed in blue, the advertisement may request the viewer to specify who they think will win the event by sending a text message including the word "red" or the word "blue" in it. The viewer then texts their answer together with their purchase order. The advertisement preferably states that responses may be sent at any time during the event up to the conclusion of the event. For 10 example,.in a soccer match, the advertisement may state that responses may be sent any time up to the final whistle. The query may alternatively ask for a response indicating an intermediary result, for example asking which team will be leading at the half-time whistle, in this way allowing for multiple query and answer sessions during a single event. More complex queries may ask 15 for the score at the end, at half time or at another point of time during the event or ask for other information, such as the name of the first person to score a goal. Each period for sending text messages expires at the moment that the result becomes known, allowing text messages to be sent up to immediately before the result is known. The actual cut-off time for receiving entries may be when the text message is received by the server 7 instead of when 20 it was sent if the time. of sending is not easily determinable by the server 7. Figure 2A shows an example of a text message that may be sent by a viewer in response to a request in an advertisement. The viewer wishes to purchase the paws character and also guesses that the blue team will win the sporting event. In return, regardless of their specification of the blue team or any other team, outcome or answer, 25 including no specification of any team, the viewer receives a character of paws, see Figure 2B. The viewer may then save this character into their phone 5 for their future use. Should the viewer win the prize, they will also receive the message in Figure 2C, providing notification that they have won and details as to how they may claim their prize. Any text message notification may be used and the details of how to claim the prize may be 30 omitted if such information is provided by other means. In an alternative embodiment, other forms of notification may be used, depending on the notification requirements. For example, the administrators of the promotion may call the winner on their mobile phone instead of sending a text message.

8 A viewer wishing to purchase a character or picture, using their mobile phone 5, sends a text message to the advertised number through the telecommunications network 6. The server 7 at the network address specified by the advertised number receives the text message. 5 Each text containing an order is charged to the viewer's mobile phone account in the usual manner, but preferably at a higher rate than the usual cost of sending text messages. In the preferred embodiment, there is no limit on the number of orders that a viewer may make. Referring particularly to Figure 3, a flow diagram of the steps that the server 7 may 10 make is shown. In step A, the server 7 receives a text message containing an order from a viewer. Any text messages not containing a valid order are discarded, without charging the higher rate for the text message if one is charged to valid orders, although it is anticipated that the usual rate for sending text messages will still be charged. If there is no requirement for any particular message to be sent in order to constitute a valid order, all received 15 messages will represent a valid order. For valid orders, the server 7 records the number of the mobile phone 5 of the sender in memory and identifies which character or picture that the viewer has ordered, see step B. In step C, the server 7 retrieves from memory a file defining the ordered character, picture or clip and sends it back to the mobile phone 5 of the viewer, using the number that was stored in memory. The character, picture or clip may be sent 20 back almost immediately, or at some later time, for example during a time when it is expected that the cellular network will be less busy, to take advantage of any cheaper rates that may be available. In the later case, the details of what needs to be sent later may be recorded in step C for use when the characters or pictures are to be sent. The server compares the time index of the received message with the time of the 25 conclusion of the event (or the intermediary cut-off time if relevant) to identify valid entries that were sent before the conclusion of the event. If the text message was sent after the conclusion of the event, the server moves on to the next received text message, optionally deleting the details of the sender or moving the details to a different location in memory. If the entry had a valid time index, the response provided in the text message is then compared 30 with the correct response. Correct entries are recorded in memory, which may involve simply transferring the contact number of the viewer to one of a set of pre-allocated memory blocks, or otherwise identifying the numbers of the viewers that sent in a correct answer to the query, see step E. The server then deals with the next received text message.

9 After all the valid text messages have been received, the server moves onto step F and randomly selects one or more of the correct entries as a winner or as winners of the one or more prizes on offer. Once each winner has been identified, a text message or other notification is sent to each winner's mobile number informing them of their win and how to 5 claim their prize, see step G. The notification may take the form described herein above in relation to Figure 2C. As indicated by the dotted arrow in Figure 7, step C may be omitted where, for example, the promotion is used for fund raising purposes. In this second embodiment, the advertisement invites users to respond to a query by a text message, and in consideration of 10 their text message they enter the draw to win one or more advertised prizes. The event is one that has at least two definable outcomes, and the advertisement requests viewers to send a text message to a specified number stating what they think the outcome will be. Again, text messages may be sent at any time before the conclusion of the broadcast event or intermediary event.. 15 The present invention may be implemented in different systems. For example, the event may be broadcast over the internet instead of through a television network. In this case, the advertisements during the event still request the sending of text messages through a cellular network or similar, as this represents a convenient way to charge the viewers for their purchase and/or entry. 20 Preferably, as a preliminary step to implementing the above described promotional method, some market research is performed to establish who the likely viewers of a particular event are: The demographics of likely viewers may be used to select a prize more likely to entice the viewers to send in text message responses. Where in the foregoing description reference has been made to specific components 25 or integers of the invention having known equivalents then such equivalents are herein incorporated as if individually set forth. Although this invention has been described by way of example and with reference to possible embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that modifications or improvements may be made thereto without departing frorn the scope of the invention as defined in the 30 appended claims.

Claims

1. A sales/promotion method including the steps of: a) sending one or more invitations to viewers to send their prediction as to at least one outcome of a broadcasted event having two or more possible outcomes as an 5 electronic mail message to a specified destination in a communications network; b) receiving at said specified destination a plurality of electronic mail messages from mobile communications devices through the communications network; c) after the conclusion of the event, identifying each electronic mail message which: 10 i) correctly identifies one or more of the at least one outcomes; and ii) was sent before the conclusion of said broadcasted event; d) recording contact details of at least the viewers who sent an electronic mail message that correctly identified one or more of the at least one outcome; e) randomly selecting one or more of the electronic mail messages identified in 15 step c) and, using the contact details recorded in step d), sending an electronic mail message notification of the winning of a prize; and f) charging each viewer for each text message that they send.

2. The sales/promotion method of claim 1, including sending at least one of said invitations to viewers during the broadcasted event as part of the same broadcast 20 during a break in the coverage of the broadcasted event.

3. The sales/promotion method of either claim 1 of claim 2, including accepting electronic mail messages any time before the outcome of the broadcasted event becomes known.

4. The sales/promotion method of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said at 25 least one outcome includes an intermediary event having two or more possible outcomes and the method includes accepting electronic mail messages any time before the outcome of the intermediary event becomes known.

5. The sales/promotion method of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the event is a sporting event. - II

6. The sales/promotion method of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein each electronic mail message is a text message and the mobile communications device is a mobile telephone.

7. The sales/promotion method of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the step of 5 charging each viewer for each text message that they send includes charging each viewer at a higher rate than the normal cost of sending a text message.

8. The sales/promotion method of any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the electronic mail message is sent by viewers using a mobile telecommunications device and the method further includes sending an invitation to order one or more features for 10 the mobile telecommunications device with the one or more invitations to viewers to send their prediction as to at least one outcome of a broadcasted event, wherein the invitation invites viewers to make an order by sending a specified electronic mail message to the specified destination together with their prediction of the outcome of the broadcast event. 15

9. A program including computer instructions for operating a computer or group of computers to perform the steps of: a) receive a plurality of electronic mail messages from a communications network; b) receive an input specifying the time of the conclusion or occurrence of an 20 event and the outcome of the event; c) identify each electronic mail message that satisfies predetermined criteria including: i) correctly identifying said outcome of the event; and ii) one of the mail message having been either sent prior to the time of the 25 conclusion of the event or received prior to the time of the conclusion of the event; and d) record contact details from at least the electronic mail messages that were received that satisfy said predetermined criteria; and e) randomly selecting one or more of the electronic mail messages identified in 30 step c) and using the contact details recorded in step d), sending an electronic mail message notification of the winning of a prize. - 12

10. The program of claim 9, wherein the electronic mail messages are messages sent from a mobile communications device.

11. The program of claim 10, wherein the electronic mail messages received in step a) include an order for a feature for the mobile communications device and the 5 program includes instructions to perform the further steps of: f) evaluate whether the order is a valid order and if it is a valid order send the ordered feature back to the mobile communications device.

12. An electronic sales/promotion system including computer processing means in communication with a communications network and operable to: 10 a) receive a plurality of electronic mail messages from the communications network; b) receive an input specifying the time of the conclusion or occurrence of an event and the outcome of the event; c) identify each electronic mail message that satisfies predetermined criteria 15 including: i) correctly identifying said outcome of the event; and ii) one of the mail message having been either sent prior to the time of the conclusion of the event or received prior to the time of the conclusion of the event; and 20 d) record contact details from at least the electronic mail messages that were received that satisfy said predetermined criteria; and e) randomly select one or more of the electronic mail messages identified in step c) and using the contact details recorded in step d), sending an electronic mail message notification of the winning of a prize. 25

13. The sales/promotion system of claim 12 wherein the electronic mail messages are messages sent from a mobile communications device.

14. The sales/promotion system of claim 13, wherein the electronic mail messages received in step a) include an order for a feature for the mobile communications device and the computer processing means is further operable to: 30 f) evaluate whether the order is a valid order and if it is a valid order retrieve the ordered feature from a computer memory and send the ordered feature back to the mobile communications device. - 13

15. A sales/promotion method substantially according to any one of the embodiments as herein described.

16. An electronic sales/promotion system substantially according to any one of the embodiments herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.