WO2002015056A1

WO2002015056A1 - Method and system for facilitating the placement of advertisements

Info

Publication number: WO2002015056A1
Application number: PCT/AU2001/001011
Authority: WO
Inventors: Anthony Roger Maughan; Mark Edward Robinson
Original assignee: Mediazu Pty Ltd.
Priority date: 2000-08-14
Filing date: 2001-08-14
Publication date: 2002-02-21
Also published as: AUPQ937900A0

Abstract

A method of using a computer network to facilitate the placement of advertisements by an agency on behalf an advertiser, including the following steps: the advertiser initiates a connection over the computer network between a computer associated with the advertiser and a computer associated with the agency; the advertiser enters into the advertiser's computer requirements information regarding the advertiser's advertising requirements and/or characteristics, and transmits the requirements information to the agency's computer; the agency's computer uses the requirements information to formulate a schedule of advertising placements appropriate to the advertiser's requirements; and the agency selectively reserves and/or purchases advertising placements according to the formulated schedule.

Description

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR FACILITATING THE PLACEMENT OF

ADVERTISEMENTS

Field of Invention

This invention relates to a method and system for facilitating the placement of advertisements. It relates particularly but not exclusively to a method of using a computer network to facilitate the placement of advertisements by an agency on behalf of an advertiser. It also relates particularly but not exclusively to a system including software components for facilitating the placement of advertisements by an agency on behalf of an advertiser. The invention also relates particularly but not exclusively to computer software for facilitating the placement of advertisements.

Background of the Invention

Advertising is a multi-million dollar business with revenues growing steadily. With the increasingly wide range of products and services available in the market place today many companies find advertising an essential element to their business strategy. Advertising allows a company to differentiate from the competition while informing the consumer of their product.

The central objective of any advertising strategy is to cost effectively market products or services to specific consumers with maximum efficiency per advertising dollar. To achieve this objective the advertising is generally targeted to a specific audience. Typically, this audience will be those most likely to influence the purchase of the product or service in question.

To ensure the success of a marketing campaign companies typically enlist the services of another party to act as their agent. Advertising agents generally provide the facility to organise advertising placements with a number of advertising providers. Alternatively, some advertising agents act as a representative for a specific advertising provider; in this case the agent only provides the option to purchase advertising with the advertising provider which he/she represents.

Marketing personnel often work in conjunction with their agent to formulate a campaign that attempts to reach the desired audience. The advertising agent will generally consult with the marketing personnel to determine the needs and wants of the advertiser. The agent will then attempt to formulate a schedule which meets the advertiser's requirements. Delegation to an agent in this sense means that marketing personnel are reliant on the particular agent and his/her experience in the industry. Typically, the agent will come back to the marketing personnel with a single advertising schedule. The schedule tends to be formulated by an agent who has built up contacts with their preferred advertising providers in a specific advertising medium. This may result either consciously or unconsciously in a schedule being skewed towards a particular advertising provider or medium.

The advertisers goal is to reach the greatest number of customers at the lowest possible cost. In many cases the agent is paid a commission according to the value of advertising purchased. This arrangement means that the agent has a vested interest in ensuring that the advertiser spends large amounts on advertising.

Once an advertising schedule has been agreed the agent will typically call the advertising providers to get an indication of the availability and cost of each specific advertising slot scheduled. This is particularly cumbersome where an advertising provider has advertising prices which vary depending on variables such as the number of advertisements already placed in that particular time frame. In radio advertising this is called a dynamic grid. This may mean that by the time the advertiser has approved the schedule it may be significantly more expensive.

The advertiser must give final approval to any advertising placement. However, utilisation of an advertising agent tends leave the advertiser out of the process of choosing a suitable advertising placement. The advertiser or the advertiser's marketing staff will often have an excellent idea of how they envisage their product and accordingly what advertising is suitable.

The object of the present invention is to address some or all of these disadvantages.

Summary of the Invention

According to the present invention in a first aspect, there is provided a method of using a computer network to facilitate the placement of advertisements by an agency on behalf of an advertiser, including the following steps :

(a) the advertiser initiates a connection over the computer network between a computer associated with the advertiser and a computer associated with the agency; (b) the advertiser enters into the advertiser's computer requirements information regarding the advertiser's advertising requirements and/or characteristics, and transmits the requirements information to the agency's computer;

(c) the agency's computer uses the requirements information to formulate a schedule of advertising placements appropriate to the advertiser's requirements; and

(d) the agency selectively reserves and/or purchases advertising according to the formulated schedule.

The schedule of advertising may include suggested advertisement placements on any one or more suitable advertising medium. Advertising media particularly suitable to the present invention include radio, television and print media.

Requirements information may be entered and transmitted to the agency's computer in any suitable manner. One suitable method of entering the requirements information is via answers to a series of questions posed by the agency computer. These questions may relate to any particular topic which affects promotion of the product or service. The schedule of advertising may be formulated in any suitable manner. A particularly suitable manner of formulating the schedule is to compare the information received from the advertiser to statistical data held on or linked to the system. The statistical data may be provided in any suitable manner and by the owners of the invention or any suitable party including commercial services providers. Preferably the statistical data includes information concerning both the product and the advertising providers.

The purchasing or reservation of advertising may also be effected by the agency in any suitable manner. A particularly suitable manner to facilitate the purchasing and reserving of such time is to connect to one or more of advertising providers over a computer network. Advertising may be purchased or reserved on any suitable advertising medium. Advertising media particularly suitable to the present invention include radio, television and print media

The method may further be used to request creation of a written advertisement plan. In such a case, the method includes the following additional steps:

(a) the advertiser also enters into the advertiser's computer a request to have an advertisement plan written and transmits the request to the agency's computer;

(b) the agency's computer directs the request to a computer associated with an advertisement plan creator; and

(c) the advertisement plan creator writes the advertisement and transmits it to the agency's computer.

Advertisements may be written by the advertisement plan creator for any suitable medium and in any suitable form. Mediums which are particularly suitable include radio, television and print media.

The method may also be used to request the production of an advertisement. In such a case, the method includes the following additional steps :

(a) the advertiser also enters into the advertiser's computer a request for the provision of a produced advertisement and transmits the request to the agency's computer; (b) the agency's computer directs the request to a computer associated with an advertisement production service;

(c) the advertisement production service creates the advertisement suitable for the pre-determined advertising medium and forwards it to the agency.

Advertisements may be produced by the advertising production service into any suitable final form. The final form will depend on the intended advertising medium to which the advertisement will be directed. This may include production into the form of transparencies, film, video and audio.

The agency may maintain a profile for the advertiser based on the advertiser's requirements and past placements of advertisements. In such a case, the agency's computer may use the advertiser's profile as an additional input in formulating the schedule of advertising placements.

As a preferred feature the agency may provide the advertiser with information regarding the placement of advertising, the information including one or more of the following types of information - (a) information detailing placement and/or reservation of advertisements by the advertiser;

(b) information detailing the advertiser's profile;

(c) information as to the cost of past, present and future advertising placements; (d) information as to advertising rates for one or more advertising providers.

According to the present invention in a second aspect, the invention provides a system for facilitating the placement of advertisements by an agency on behalf of an advertiser, including the following components:

(a) a computer associated with the agency, connected to a computer network;

(b) computer software running on the agency's computer, having the following components: (i) a software component which accepts information entered by the advertiser regarding the advertiser's advertising requirements and/or characteristics;

(ii) a software component which uses the information to formulate a schedule of advertising placements appropriate to the advertiser's requirements.

Preferably, the system further includes :

(c) a software component which places orders with media in accordance with the schedule.

The system may further include a software component which accepts advertisement create requests and routes those requests to at least one online advertisement plan creator.

The system may further include a software component which accepts advertisement recording requests and routes those requests to a producer of recordings suitable for the selected advertising medium.

As a preferred feature, the system may include a facility for maintaining a profile for the advertiser based on the advertiser's requirements and past placements of advertisements, and the agency's computer may use the advertiser's profile as an additional input in formulating the schedule of advertising placements.

As another preferred feature, the system may include a software component which provides the advertiser with one or more of the following types of information -

(a) information detailing placement and/or reservation of advertisements by said advertiser; (b) information detailing the advertiser's profile;

(c) information as to the cost of past, present and future advertising placements;

(d) information as to advertising rates for one or more advertising providers. According to the present invention in a third aspect, the invention provides computer software for facilitating the placement of advertisements by an agency on behalf of an advertiser having the following components :

(a) a software component for receiving requirements information regarding the advertiser's advertising requirements and/or characteristics; and

(b) a software component for using the requirements information to formulate a schedule of advertising placements appropriate to the advertiser's requirements.

Preferably, the computer software further includes a component which allows the user to connect to one or more advertising providers over a computer network allowing the user to directly place orders for advertisements in accordance with a formulated schedule.

The computer software may further include a software component which accepts advertisement create requests and routes those requests to at least one online advertisement plan creator.

The computer software may further include a software component which accepts advertisement create requests and routes those requests to a producer of advertising suitable for the selected medium.

As a preferred feature, the software may include a software component which maintains a profile for the user based on the advertiser's requirements and past placement of advertisements, and the users computer uses the advertiser's profile as an additional input in formulating the schedule of advertising placements.

As another preferred feature, the software may include a software component which provides the user with one or more of the following types of information - (a) information detailing placement and/or reservation of advertisements by the advertiser; (b) information detailing the advertiser's profile;

(d) information as to advertising rates for one or more advertising providers.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The invention will now be described in further detail by reference to the enclosed drawings which show example forms of the invention. It is to be understood that the particularity of the drawing does not supersede the generality of the preceding description of the invention.

Figure 1 is a flow chart showing the operation of a preferred embodiment of the invention. Figure 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the physical components of one embodiment of the invention.

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the logical components of a further embodiment of the invention.

Figure 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the physical components of a still further embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description

Figure 1 illustrates the steps in the placement of an advertisement utilising an embodiment of the invention. The advertiser accesses the agency, preferably via a web site hosted on the Internet, to arrange the placement of one or more advertisements.

To take full advantage of system to place an advertisement the advertiser will be required to register with the agency. Users who choose not to register may access the system to view the features offered. Unregistered users will not be able to have a schedule formulated, purchase advertising or have an advertisement plan written and/or produced. Registration will require the advertiser to complete and submit forms verifying their identity and/or the company they represent. Before completion of the registration process the advertiser will be issued with the terms and conditions of service and asked to consent. Upon registration the advertiser will be allocated a unique company access code. The company access code can be used in conjunction with a password to allow the user to access further facilities which assist in the placement of advertising. After registration the advertiser may access the agency to gain access to the various sub-systems provided including the Advertising Scheduler, Advertising Purchaser, Advertisement Planner, Advertisement Producer, Campaign Administrator and Campaign Competition & Promotions Manager.

To formulate a schedule of advertising which is tailored to the advertiser's requirements the advertiser will access the Advertising Scheduler sub-system. When the user selects this option he/she will be interrogated to elicit information regarding the product or service to be promoted. The system will ask a number of questions including those relating to the product to be promoted, the relevant market, duration options, budget, product details, brand details, sale details, preferred demographics, preferred socio-economic criteria, lifestyle and territories. Once the user is happy with the answers provided he/she may submit the information.

The Advertising Scheduler directly accesses statistical and research databases to process the information provided by the advertiser. The information is further processed with availability information from advertising providers to ensure that the formulated schedule can be provided. The user is then presented with an advertising schedule which identifies a suitable advertising provider together with suggested advertising placements. The schedule may include advertising placements different advertising providers and different advertising mediums. For example, a schedule may recommend placements in two specific radio stations, a television station and a newspaper. The schedule includes information such as session placements, reach and frequency, impacts, cumulative audience reach, average quarter hours, flighting, cost per thousand listeners and total investment The exact information provided by the system will vary depending on the advertising medium or mediums scheduled in the particular instance. Terms and conditions for the various advertising providers selected by the system will also accompany the advertising schedule.

A direct link between the system and advertising providers ensures that the formulated schedule can provide current information including information regarding commercial availability of advertising space, current session and placement rates.

The advertiser then has the option to accept or amend the schedule. Alternatively, the advertiser may request that the system re-process the schedule with alternative input information. The advertiser may also change the input variables in order to see the effect on the final schedule.

When the advertiser is satisfied with the proposed schedule the agency provides the advertiser with the option to purchase the advertising time and/or space according to the schedule. This occurs in the Advertising Purchaser subsystem provided by the agency. The Advertising Purchaser sub-system provides a direct link to the advertising provider enabling the advertiser to purchase or reserve advertising space according to a particular advertising schedule. To purchase or reserve the advertising space the advertiser is required to read the billing terms and conditions and enter payment details. Alternatively, the advertiser may request that each of the advertising providers provide an invoice directly to the advertiser.

The advertiser is then presented with an option to have the commercial written in the Advertisement Planner sub-system. Where the advertiser chooses this option the system will further interrogate the user to elicit further information including advertising history, product, brand, sale, range, price, quality, benefits, positioning statements, points of difference, imaging, locations, store comfort and current marketing perceptions. Upon receipt the information will be forwarded to an advertisement plan creator who will analyse the information and write an advertisement plan. The completed plan will then be forwarded to the user for approval. The advertiser will further be prompted to access Advertisement Producer subsystem which provides the facility to have advertisement plan produced into an advertisement. The system will interrogate the advertiser by asking a number of questions regarding the intended sound and/or look of the proposed advertisement. The request will then be forwarded to selected online production facilities. Upon receipt of the request the Advertisement Producer facility will produce an advertisement suitable for the selected medium through the use of producers, artists, voice-over talent and jingle arrangers. The produced commercial will then be forwarded to the advertiser for approval. Upon approval the commercial may be forwarded to the relevant advertising provider.

The system provided also includes a Campaign Administrator sub-system. This provides users with the facility to access information regarding their advertising campaign. Information available to the user includes the schedule history, daily pre and post on-air times, current account details and account history. The advertiser also has the option to modify, transfer or cancel current advertising bookings from this sub-system.

Figure 2 provides an illustration of the components present in an embodiment of the invention. The advertiser 10 connects over 'a computer network to a computer associated with the agency 20. The advertiser 10 then enters and transmits over the network information regarding the product or service which will be promoted. The agency's computer 20 processes the information received and formulates a schedule of advertising placements appropriate to the advertiser's requirements. This is facilitated by a connection to one or more providers of advertising 30 and access to a statistical database 40. Access to the statistical database 40 provides the agency with a source from which to compare the advertiser's information allowing formulation of the advertising schedule. Access to advertising providers 30 allows the agency to provide accurate pricing and availability information. The agency also includes provision to route requests to an associated advertisement planner 50 and an advertising production service 60. The produced advertisements may then be routed through the agency 20 to the advertising provider 30 ready to be played on air.

The software components of the system present in one embodiment of the invention are illustrated in Figure 3. The advertiser may access the main navigational interface which gives access the advertiser access to the Advertising Scheduler, Advertising Purchaser, Advertisement Planner, Advertisement Producer, Campaign Administrator and Campaign Competition & Promotions Manager. This gives an advertiser the ability to access one or more of these systems to facilitate the placement of their advertisement.

In a further preferred embodiment of the invention the agency is provided in the form of computer software which operates directly from the computer of the advertising provider 10 enabling the advertising provider to formulate a schedule for their clients. This embodiment is illustrated in Figure 4. To formulate an advertising schedule the software interrogates the user to elicit information regarding the intended advertising. The information is then processed together with statistical information 40. Ideally, the statistical information will be included with the software component. However, the statistical information may be located on another computer located on a common network. In this instance the software would allow the user to access that network and retrieve the statistical information as required to form the schedule. When the user 10 has agreed to the schedule he/she may then utilise the software to connect directly to the selected advertising providers advertising booking and purchasing system. This will allow the user to purchase or reserve advertising time directly from the users computer. The software may also allow the user to send requests for an advertisement plan directly to an on-line advertisement plan creator 50. Furthermore, the software may allow the advertiser to arrange for production of an advertisement by establishing a direct link, over the computer network, to the advertisement producer.

Reference to a computer network includes reference to any suitable computer network including the Internet or analogous network such as an intranet. It is to be understood that various additions, alterations and/or modifications may be made to the parts previously described without departing from the ambit of the invention.

Claims

Claims defining the invention are as follows -

1. A method of using a computer network to facilitate the placement of advertisements by an agency on behalf of an advertiser, including the following steps :

(a) the advertiser initiates a connection over the computer network between a computer associated with the advertiser and a computer associated with the agency;

(b) the advertiser enters into the advertiser's computer requirements information regarding the advertiser's advertising requirements and/or characteristics, and transmits the requirements information to the agency's computer;

(d) the agency selectively reserves and/or purchases advertising placements according to the formulated schedule.

2. A method according to claim 1 including the following additional steps:

3. A method according to claim 1 or claim 2 including the following additional steps :

4. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the agency maintains a profile for the advertiser based on the advertiser's requirements and past placements of advertisements, and the agency's computer uses the advertiser's profile as an additional input in formulating the schedule of advertising placements.

5. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein the agency provides the advertiser with one or more of the following types of information -

(a) information detailing placement and/or reservation of advertisements by the advertiser;

(b) information detailing the advertiser's profile;

(d) information as to advertising rates for one or more advertising providers.

6. A system for facilitating the placement of advertisements by an agency on behalf of an advertiser, including the following components:

(a) a computer associated with the agency, connected to a computer network;

(b) computer software running on the agency's computer, having the following components:

(i) a software component which accepts information entered by the advertiser regarding the advertiser's advertising requirements and/or characteristics; (ii) a software component which uses the information to formulate a schedule of advertising placements appropriate to the advertiser's requirements.

7. A system according to claim 6, further including :

8. A system according to claim 6 or claim 7, further including a software component which accepts advertisement create requests and routes those requests to at least one online advertisement plan creator.

9. A system according to any one of claims 6 to 8, further including a software component which accepts advertisement production requests and routes those requests to a producer of advertising suitable for the selected advertising medium.

10. A system according to any one of claims 6 to 9 wherein the agency maintains a profile for the advertiser based on the advertiser's requirements and past placements of advertisements, and the agency's computer uses the advertiser's profile as an additional input in formulating the schedule of advertising placements.

11. A system according to any one of claims 6 to 10, further including a software component which provides the advertiser with one or more of the following types of information -

(a) information detailing placement and/or reservation of advertisements by said advertiser;

(b) information detailing the advertiser's profile; (c) information as to the cost of past, present and future advertising placements;

(d) information as to advertising rates for one or more advertising providers.

12. Computer software for facilitating the placement of advertisements by an agency on behalf of an advertiser having the following components : (a) a software component for receiving requirements information regarding the advertiser's advertising requirements and/or characteristics; and

13. Computer software according to claim 12 wherein the software further includes a component which allows the user to connect to one or more advertising providers over a computer network allowing user to directly place orders for advertisements in accordance with a formulated schedule.

14. Computer software according to claim 12 or 13 which additionally includes a software component which accepts advertisement create requests and routes those requests to at least one online advertisement plan creator.

15. Computer software according to any one of claims 12 to 14 additionally includes a software component which accepts advertisement create requests and routes those requests to a producer of advertising suitable for the selected medium.

16. Computer software according to any one of claims 12 to 15 additionally including a component which maintains a profile for the user based on the advertiser's requirements and past placement of advertisements, and the users computer uses the advertiser's profile as an additional input in formulating the schedule of advertising placements.

7. Computer software according to any one of claims 12 to 16 additionally including a computer software component which provides the user with one or more of the following types of information -

(b) information detailing the advertiser's profile;

(d) information as to advertising rates for one or more advertising providers.