WO2006128225A1

WO2006128225A1 - System and method for associating follow-up events with specific media placements

Info

Publication number: WO2006128225A1
Application number: PCT/AU2006/000725
Authority: WO
Inventors: Mark Edward Mccarthy; Stefan Mats Johan Sepanaho
Original assignee: Memco Solutions Pty Limited
Priority date: 2005-05-30
Filing date: 2006-05-30
Publication date: 2006-12-07

Abstract

A system (100) and a method (200) are disclosed for associating follow-up events with media placements (115). A corresponding unique indicium (176) is incorporated into each media placement (115). A user device (152) is provided which is associated with a user. The user device (152) is configured to receive the indicium (176) extracted from one of said media placements (115), and to communicate the indicium (176), or data extracted there from, to a first server (180). The first server (180) receives the indicium (176), or the data, from the user device (152), together with an identification associated with the user device, and provides, based upon the corresponding identification, a customized web-page for that user. The web-page includes a link associated with each indicium (176) received from that user. A second server (112) is provided for recording follow-up events associated with each indicium (176). Finally, means is provided for compiling reports relating the follow-up events with the indicium (176).

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ASSOCIATING FOLLOW-UP EVENTS WITH

SPECIFIC MEDIA PLACEMENTS

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to associating follow-up events, such as follow-up enquiries or purchases, with specific media placements, such as an advertisement campaign. The present invention in particular relates to compiling reports which associate the follow-up events with the specific media placements. The present invention also relates to a system which facilitates users to follow-up on media placements in their own time.

Background

Most media today is riddled with messages that are directed at consumers, such as advertisements, advertorials and articles. This is particularly true for printed media such as newspapers and magazines. The result is that the reader is bombarded with messages, only a small proportion of which may interest any particular reader.

Most messages are designed to draw the attention of a target audience, such as potential customers in the case of advertisements, and make them aware of a product or product range, a service, etc. Accordingly, most messages are not designed to provide the reader with all the information available, but merely stimulate interest, hi the case of advertisements, the potential customer is merely made aware of the availability of the product, and/or made aware of special deals on offer. Detailed information, such as the full specifications of the products on offer, or conditions that may apply, is typically not included in the advertisement. The potential customer is typically invited to contact the retailer that placed the advertisement for further details, for example by telephone, through the web site of the retailer, or in person by visiting one of the outlets of the retailer.

The number of customers that prefer to obtain such further information using the web site of the retailer is ever increasing. This is evidenced by the fact that most retailers now have a web-site which offers all kinds of information, and most advertisements therefore include a web-site address where such additional information may be obtained. Also, more and more retailers allow the customers to purchase products from their website. However, the above mentioned printed media is normally read while in transit, such as on a bus or a train, or while engaging in some leisure activity, such as lying on the beach or sitting in a park. Whenever the reader does observe an advertisement for a product of interest, contact with the retailer is typically not made at the time the advertisement is observed. The reader typically relies on a mental note to remind him/her to follow up on the advertisement at a later point in time.

This often results in lost opportunities for the retailer. This may be because the potential customer forgets to follow up on the advertisement. In some cases the interest in the advertised product remains, with the interest created by the advertisement, but the particulars of the retailer are not remembered. The customer may then proceed to purchase the product of interest, or a related product, from a different retailer.

Looking further into the interests of the retailer, many retailers spend vast sums of money in placing advertisements. The same advertisement may be placed in a number of different printed media in an attempt to reach potential customers. Also, different advertisement campaigns may be run simultaneously in an attempt to draw different potential customers to the retailer. However, in the event that follow-up contact is made or a purchase results, it is unknown to the retailer which of the advertisements drew the attention of the customer. The retailer is therefore unable to more accurately direct its advertising efforts in the future to the advertising medium that is proven to be most effective. In view of the foregoing, retailers have a need to identify a link between an advertisement in a particular printed media, or a particular advertising campaign in a particular printed media, and a follow-up event, such as a web-based enquiry or a purchase. A need also exists with customers to assist them in following up on advertisements that are of interest to them without relying on their memory.

Summary

It is an object of the present invention to substantially overcome, or at least

ameliorate, one or more disadvantages of existing arrangements.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system

for associating follow-up events with media placements, each media placement having

incorporated therein a corresponding unique indicium, said system comprising:

a user device associated with a user for receiving said indicium extracted from

one of said media placements, and communicating said indicium, or data extracted there

from, to a first server;

said first server for receiving said indicium, or said data extracted from said

indicium, from at least one user device, together with an identifier associated with the user device, for associating said identifier with one user, and providing, based upon the

identifier, a customized web-page for each user, each web-page including a link

associated with each indicium received from that user; a second server for recording follow-up events associated with each indicium;

and means for compiling reports relating said follow-up events with said indicium.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided system

comprising: a user device associated with a user for receiving an indicium extracted from a

media placement, and for communicating said indicium, or data extracted there from, to a

first server; and

said first server configured to perform the steps of:

receiving said indicium, or said data extracted from said indicium, from at least

one user device, together with an identifier associated with the user device;

associating said identifier with one user; and

providing, based upon the identifier, a customized web-page for each user, each

web-page including a link associated with each indicium received from that user.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method

of associating follow-up events with media placements, said method comprising the steps of:

providing a unique indicium for incorporation into a corresponding media placement;

receiving at least a representation of said indicium from at least one user; sending a code to said user;

receiving a record of at least one follow-up event performed by said user in association with said code;

associating said follow-up events with said indicium; and

compiling reports relating said follow-up events with said indicium. According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method comprising the steps of: providing an indicium for incorporation into a corresponding media placement; receiving at least a representation of said indicium from a user device of at least one user, together with an identifier associated with said user device; associating said identifier with one user; and providing, based upon the associated identifier, a customized web-page for each user, each web-page including a link associated with each indicium received from that user. Other aspects of the invention are also disclosed.

Brief Description of the Drawings

One or more embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings, in which: Fig. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of a system for associating follow-up events with specific media placements;

Fig. 2 is a schematic flow diagram of a method of operation within the system shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 shows a schematic block diagram of another system for associating follow-up events with specific media placements; and

Fig. 4 is a schematic flow diagram of a method of operation within the system shown in Fig. 3. Detailed Description including Best Mode

Where reference is made in any one or more of the accompanying drawings to steps and/or features, which have the same reference numerals, those steps and/or features have for the purposes of this description the same function(s) or operation(s), unless the contrary intention appears.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of a system 100 for associating follow- up events with specific media placements. The main participants involved in the system 100 include a client 110, a user 150, and a service provider 170. An example of a client 110 is an advertiser, for example a retailer, who wishes to obtain a better understanding of the return on its marketing investment, and in particular, wishes to make a distinction as to which of the advertisements placed in which printed media results in follow-up events, such as web-based follow-up enquiries, and/or purchases for a specific marketing campaign. The client 110 has a web-site hosted on a server 112, which is accessible via the Internet 199. The web-site comprises one or more web-site pages, with each page typically designed to provide specific information about a specific product, service, or related information. Such web-site pages typically also allow users to achieve some measurable outcome, such as making an online purchase, exiting the site without making any purchases, or downloading information regarding a product or service.

The user 150 is an individual who desires a system which facilitates easy folio w- up on print-media messages that is of interest to that individual. The user 150 has a portable device 152 and a web-browsing enabled device 154. The portable device may for example be a personal digital assistant (PDA) or a mobile phone.

The web-browser enabled device 154 is a device which is connectable to the

Internet 199, and uses a browser to view web-sites available from servers connected to the Internet 199, such as server 112. The web-browser enabled device 154 may for example be a general purpose computer, a mobile phone, or a PDA, and connects to the Internet 199 through a physical medium, such as a cable, or using wireless technology.

In a preferred implementation the portable device 152 and the web-browsing enabled device 154 of the user 150 are able to communicate with each other. Communication may be effected through connecting the portable device 152 to the web- browsing enabled device 154 via a cable or wireless, for example using Bluetooth® or any other wireless protocol. hi another implementation the portable device 152 is web-browsing enabled. Accordingly, the portable device 152 and the web-browser enabled device 154 are within a single device, removing the need for communication between devices 152 and 154.

Persons skilled in the art would understand that each of the portable device 152 and the web-browsing enabled device 154 comprises a display, a user interface such as a keypad, a processor and a memory. Each processor executes applications resident in the associated memory in a known manner. The service provider 170 is an entity that provides a service, mainly to its clients, such as client 110, by providing reports which associate follow-up events with specific media placements. The service provider 170 has a server 180 connected to the Internet 199. The server 180 uses a database (not shown) to store data. The database will also be used to compile the reports, which are typically made available to the client 110 through an on-line application. The service provider 170 also allows the user 150 to more easily follow-up on advertisements that are of interest to that user 150, as is explained below in detail.

Initially the client 110 registers with the service provider 170. This typically includes the client 110 providing to the service provider 170 a company profile, which includes details such as revenue range, employee numbers, industry type, etc. In order to allow the user 150 to follow-up on advertisements, the user 150 makes contact with the service provider 170, and also registers with the service provider 170. In particular, the user 150 connects the web-browsing enabled device 154 via the Internet 199 to the server 180 of the service provider 170 in order to register. During registration, the user 150 provides to the service provider 170 its demographic profile. A user name and password is selected by the user 150, which are to be used during future sessions between the web-browsing enabled device 154 and the server 180 of the service provider 170. Personal details, such as the telephone number of the user's portable device 152 and electronic mail address of the user 150, are also captured. Upon completion of the registration process a program optimised for the portable device 152 of the user 150 is sent to that nominated portable device 152. An example of such a program which is optimised for mobile phones is a MDDlet. Upon receipt of the program, that program is installed on the portable device 152. The program enables the portable device 152 to be used as part of the system 100 and provides a simple user- interface. The program also facilitates the input of indicia 176 and the creation, storing and transfer of data packages including the indicia in the manner described below.

Fig. 2 shows a schematic flow diagram of a method 200, performed within the system 100 shown in Fig. 1, of associating follow-up events with specific media placements. Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 simultaneously, the method 200 starts in step 205 where the client 110 obtains a unique indicium 176 from the service provider 170. In particular, the indicium 176 is unique not only to that client 110, but is also unique to a particular advertising campaign and a particular printed media source in which the client 110 is advertising and for which the client wishes to collect data. The client 110 provides to the service provider 170 web-site details associated with an advertisement 115 into which the indicium 176 is to be incorporated. In step 210 this indicium 176 is incorporated into the advertisement 115 of the client 110 in a printed media 116, such as a newspaper or magazine. In one implementation the indicium 176 is incorporated into the advertisement 115 as a machine readable code, such as a barcode, readable by the portable device 152. m another implementation the indicium 176 is incorporated into the advertisement 115 as a code in human readable form, such as an alphanumeric code, hi yet another implementation the indicium 176 is incorporated into the advertisement 115 as an image which may be captured by an optical input device, such as a built-in camera, on the portable device 152.

Upon reading the printed media 116 the user 150 then observes an advertisement of interest which the user 150 wishes to follow-up later with a web-based enquiry. The user 150 then, in step 215, inputs the indicium 176 incorporated in the advertisement 115 into the portable device 152. hi the case where the indicium 176 is incorporated as a machine readable code, a reader (not illustrated) of the portable device 152 is used to read the code. In the case where the indicium 176 is incorporated as an image, that image is captured using the optical input device of the portable device 152. hi the case where the indicium 176 is incorporated as a human readable code, the user 150 enters the code into the portable device 152 using the keypad of the portable device 152. hi a preferred implementation the indicium 176 includes an encrypted code pattern. The indicium 176 is inputted into the portable device 152 by capturing an image thereof using the optical input device of the portable device 152. The program installed onto the portable device 152 then extracts the encrypted code pattern from the captured image and decrypt the code from the pattern. The code may include a short message, which is displayed on the display of the portable device 152, for example to encourage the user 150 to transfer the indicium 176 to the service provider 170. hi addition to inputting the indicium 176 into the portable device 152, the program optimised for the portable device also gathers data specific to the indicium 176 input in step 215, which it gathers from the portable device 152. Such additional data preferably includes the date and time when the indicium 176 was inputted, the type of technology used to read the indicium 176. Also, in the case where the portable device 152 includes a position sensing device such as global positioning system (GPS), the additional data may further include data regarding to the location of the portable device 152 at the time the indicium 176 was inputted.

The indicia 176 and the data specific to the input events are then in step 220 transferred from the portable device 152 to the server 180 of the service provider 170 as a data package. The indicium 176 may also be processed by the portable device 152 to extract data encoded in the indicium 176, in which case the encoded data is added to the data package. The data package may be transferred from the portable device 152 to the server 180 following each input event of an indicium, or the data packages resulting from a number of indicium input events may be accumulated and transferred simultaneously at a later time.

The data package may be transferred to the server 180 using the Short Messaging Service (SMS) or Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) as appropriate for the type of indicium 176. The number to which the SMS or MMS is sent may be available from the advertisement 115, may be provided to the user 150 during registration, or it may be automatically provided by the program optimised for the portable device 152. hi another implementation the data package is first transferred to the web-browsing enabled device 154, from where the data package is transferred to the server 180 using a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connection. Upon receipt of the data package, the server 180 associates in step 224 the received data package with the user 150 through the telephone number or electronic mail address of the received SMS, MMS or electronic mail, as appropriate. A database entry is then created where data associated with the indicium 176 encoded in the data package is entered in association with the user 150.

Preferably additional data is also captured and stored in the database. Such additional data preferably includes the date and time when the indicium 176 was inputted into the portable device 152, the type of portable device 152 used, the date and time the data package was received by the service provider server 180, through which medium the indicium 176 was received, the type of technology used to input the indicium 176, the type of browser used, etc.

In the case where the indicium 176 is an image captured with the optical input device of the portable device 152, the image is processed using pattern recognition software to determine there from which indicium 176 the image relates to. At some later point in time the user 150 elects to proceed with a follow-up event.

The user 150, using the web-browsing enabled device 154, logs into the server 180 through the Internet and using a web browser executing on the web-browsing enabled device 154. The server 180 requires the user 150 to enter the user name and password created during registration. Accordingly, the user 150 uniquely identifies himself/herself to the server 180. In step 225 the server 180 accesses its database to retrieve data associated with the indicia received from that particular user 150, and provides to the user 150 on the display device of the web-browsing enabled device 154 a customized web- page. The customized web-page includes among other things links, in the form of universal resource locators (URLs), to the client web-pages relevant to the indicia. In addition to including links to client web pages relevant to indicia inputted into the portable device 152 of the user 150, the customized web-page also provides areas reserved for marketing messages by clients selected by the user 150. Each area is associated with one client 110. When the customized web-page is downloaded from the server 180, each area is populated with a marketing message from the client 110 associated with that area. The contents of the marketing messages are supplied/updated by the respective clients 110 at regular intervals. Examples of such marketing messages include consumer updates on new product releases, notification of special clearance sales, invites to preferred customer events, discount offers or general news updates. The area also acts as an active link to the web-site of the client 110 associated with that area.

These areas provided on customized web-pages of the users provide a special opportunity to the respective clients in that these are users which have identified a special interest in their product or service range. Accordingly, rather than marketing to a broad group of potential customers, these are potential customers that have already shown significant interest in the product or service range. The marketing messages intended for the areas can therefore be more targeted to this group of high interest potential customers.

By following any one of the links to the client web-pages, the browser of the web-browsing enabled device 154 downloads a web page of the client 110 and hosted on the server 112. The user 150 browses the web-pages of the client 110 by following links provided on the various pages of the client 110.

The link to the client web-pages also include data identifying the demographic profile of the user 150. This allows the web-pages of the client 110 to be customized towards the demographic profile of that user 150. For example, the web-pages may include advertisements directed to the demographic group the user 110 belongs to. The server 112 records events in step 245, such as which links are followed by the user 150, information downloaded, and outcomes such as purchases or exits, as well as the date and time each link was followed or when the outcome occurred. By recording the events, a record is created for each user 150, with that record including the events of that user 150. The client server 110 periodically sends in step 250 the records of users to the service provider server 180.

In order for the server 112 to record events of a specific user, the user 150 has to be identified, and matched with the user 150 that was directed to the client server 112 through the service provider server 180. One manner in which this may be done is through URL rewriting, in which case the link provided on the customized web page has associated therewith an identifier for identifying the user 150 to the client server 112.

Another manner to "track" the user is through the use of cookies. Yet another alternative is for the service provider server 180 to host the web-site of the client 110. Yet another alternative is to assign each user 150 an anonymous tracking code which will identify the user 150 to the client server 112 while keeping their identity protected.

An application executing on the server 180 matches the records with the users and indicia in its database in step 255, and stores the recorded events associated with the users and indicia.

Finally, in step 260, the server 180 or another processor sharing the database of server 180, makes the data stored in the database available to the client 110. This is typically achieved through the client 110 accessing a selection of relevant data that is stored in the database of the server 180 on-line. The relevant data is related to indicia specific to the client 110, and is accessed using a web application. This data is not traceable to any specific user 150, as the data is presented anonymously and combined with the data of numerous other users 150. The user data may be embellished with demographic information gathered from users 150 during registration.

The web application provides the client 110 with the ability to access relevant data, mine the data, complete analysis processes and create reports. In a preferred implementation of the system 100, the client 110 accesses the data using a web- application that presents data related to indicia in a simple format and provides the client 110 with functionality to complete data mining, analysis and interpretation on-line. Templates may be incorporated into wizard features on the web application to aid the client 110 to create reports and to surface insights that can help to improve the client's 110 marketing effectiveness and return on investment. Analysis and reports can also make use of the demographic data to further split results and provide insights.

An example would be a client 110 whose data shows that the typical demographic profile of users 150 of the indicia in a costly print media source are not aligned with the client's 110 target market. In this instance, many options for improvement are available to that client 110 and the presentation of factual evidence of user interest has enabled this insight. Another useful analysis would be to analyse the data traffic for each indicium 176 in order to understand which advertisements in different printed media are most successful for attracting users 150 who eventually purchase online. Yet another is to investigate the different demographic segments and to correlate these with the level of interest the users 150 demonstrated as measured by how far each segment continued towards a desired outcome as defined by the client 110.

Such analytical power and reporting capability allow the client 110 to better determine which advertising methods are most effective and which offer the best return on marketing expenditure. Reports may also be made available, typically over the Internet 199 and on the web-browser enabled device 154, to the user 150. Such reports would set out the past behaviour of the user 150, and may provide the user 150 with general interest information about the demographic group their profile most aligns with. The system 100 and method 200 is now further described through a practical example. Company ABC sells sports equipment, and is launching a new advertisement campaign to create interest in their latest running shoes. These shoes shall be advertised in 2 different newspapers, as well as a popular sports magazine.

The company ABC registers with the service provider. In preparing for a major advertising campaign it contacts the service provider, and obtains three unique indicia from the service provider. In this example the indicia are images. The indicia are next incorporated into an advertisement placed in each of the 3 printed media, namely the 2 newspapers and the magazine. Typically the alphanumeric codes are incorporated on the bottom of the main body of the advertisement. User Joe BIo ggs is reading his newspaper while waiting for the bus, and notices, with interest, the advertisement of the running shoes by company ABC. He is a registered user and as such has the required application on his mobile phone. He decides to follow up this interest with a web based enquiry later that week from his home computer. Joe Bloggs inputs the indicium incorporated in the advertisement into his mobile phone by taking a photo of the indicium on the page of the advertisement. The application on his phone creates a data package and prompts him to send the data package to a preprogrammed address of the service provider server.

Upon receipt of the data package including the indicium from Joe Bloggs, the service provider server associates the received data package with Joe Bloggs through his TCP address, and adds data associated with the received indicium to a database and in association with the user Joe Bloggs. The server also associates the received indicium

with the company ABC.

Later that week Joe Bloggs is working on his home computer, and connects to the web site of his service provider. Following a log-in process, Joe is provided with a web page including links associated with all the indicia that he has sent to the service provider. A link to a web site dedicated to the running shoes of company ABC is also presented on the web page.

Joe Bloggs, using his computer's mouse, clicks on the link associated with the running shoes, and he is taken to a web page of company ABC which is dedicated to the running shoes. Joe Bloggs browses the web-site pages of company ABC to enquire about the specifications of the shoes, available colours and styles, and price. He also places an online order for a pair of the shoes.

Joe Bloggs also decides to designate one of the areas on his customized web- page for marketing messages from company ABC. As a result, each time his customized web-page is downloaded from the server 180, that area is populated with a marketing message from company ABC including discount offers and releases of new products.

While Joe is browsing the web site of company ABC, the server hosting that web site records events, such as which links are followed by Joe and his purchase, and creates a record including Joe's events. That server then sends the record of Joe Bloggs, together with the records of all other users, to the service provider server 170.

At the end of a period after the advertising campaign for the running shoes has been launched, the Marketing Manager of company ABC accesses the campaign data online from server 180 through the web-application. She studies the data and runs a couple of simple analyses that help her to interpret the data she has accessed. A report to summarise the findings from her analyses is also run. Among other things, the report provides the total number of orders placed as a result of advertisements in the three different printed media. Because each printed media used a different indicium, it is possible to associate users with specific advertisements in specific printed media through the indicia sent from that user. Events of that user were also tracked and linked with that user. Accordingly, events are associated with specific indicia. The report allows the Marketing Manager of company ABC to determine which of the advertisements in the three printed media offered the best return on their marketing expenditure. Fig. 3 shows a schematic block diagram of an alternative system 101 for associating follow-up events with specific media placements. The main participants involved in the system 101 also include the client 110, the user 150, and the service provider 170 described with reference to Fig. 1. An additional participant in system 101 is a store 190. The store 190 includes a number of cash registers 192 linked to a cental computer 194. The cental computer 194 is connectable to the server 180 of the service provider 170 through the Internet 199.

Unlike the system 100 (Fig. 1), the user 150 in system 101 only has a portable device 152.

Fig. 4 shows a schematic flow diagram of a method 201, performed within the system 101 shown in Fig. 3, of associating follow-up events with specific media placements. The method 201 starts by performing steps 205, 210, 215, 220 and 224 in the manner described with reference to Fig. 2.

After the server 180 has associated the received indicium with the user 150 through the telephone number of the received SMS or MMS, a barcode is sent to the portable device 152 from the server in step 226. The barcode is reproducible on the display of the portable device 152. In a preferred implementation part of the barcode is used as an identifier of the user.

At some later point in time the user 150 enters the store 190 and makes an in- store purchase. The purchase is for the advertised product associated with the indicium 176. The user 150 presents in step 240 the barcode, displayed on the display of the portable device 152, to the shop assistant. The barcode is read into the cash register 192 through its barcode reader. The barcode and purchase details are then forwarded in step

251 to the server 180 of the service provider 170 through the central computer 194 and the Internet 199. The server 180 then in step 255 matches the purchase records with the user in its database through the barcode, as the barcode includes an identifier of the user 150, and stores the purchase records associated with the user.

Reports are then compiled in step 260 in the manner described with reference to

Fig. 2. Even though the operation of systems 100 and 101 are described separately, it would be clear to a person skilled in the art that the systems 100 and 101 may form parts of a single system which allows for web-based follow-up events, such as is the case in system 100, as well as in-store follow-up events, such as is the case in system 101. The same user 150 may elect to use either of the follow-up methods. The service provider 170 may charge its clients 110 using one or more of the following mechanisms:

• A registration fee to be set-up in the system 100;

• Licensing fee for using indicia and the system for a specified period of time during which data for that indicia will be collected; • Cost-per-Click-through rates from links followed from the user's customized web-page, typically with a time and volume based discount. A higher rate would typically be charged for following the link associated with the area populated with marketing messages.

• A charge for sales resulting from following a link on the user's customized web-page;

• A different registration charge for various different levels of information access and reporting; And

• Licence fee for accessing different levels of data and reporting. The foregoing describes only some embodiments of the present invention, and modifications and/or changes can be made thereto without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention, the embodiments being illustrative and not restrictive. For example, the embodiment described relates to printed media with a visible indicium incorporated therein. Visible indicia may equally be incorporated into television placements. Also, the indicia may be audible and incorporated into television and radio placements.

Claims

The claims defining the invention are as follows:

1. A system for associating follow-up events with media placements, each media placement having incorporated therein a corresponding unique indicium, said system comprising: a user device associated with a user for receiving said indicium extracted from one of said media placements, and communicating said indicium, or data extracted there from, to a first server; said first server for receiving said indicium, or said data extracted from said indicium, from at least one user device, together with an identifier associated with the user device, for associating said identifier with one user, and providing, based upon the identifier, a customized web-page for each user, each web-page including a link associated with each indicium received from that user; a second server for recording follow-up events associated with each indicium; and means for compiling reports relating said follow-up events with said indicium.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1 further including a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) enabled device, wherein said indicium, or data extracted from said indicium, is first transferred from said user device to said TCP enabled device, from where said indicium, or data extracted from said indicium, is communicated to said first server.

3. The system as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein said user device is a mobile phone.

4. The system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein said user device includes an imaging device, and said indicium is received by said user device through imaging said indicium.

5. The system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein said link provides demographic profile information to said second server, and said second server provides customised data to said user during said follow-up events.

6. A system comprising: a user device associated with a user for receiving an indicium extracted from a media placement, and for communicating said indicium, or data extracted there from, to a first server; and said first server configured to perform the steps of: receiving said indicium, or said data extracted from said indicium, from at least one user device, together with an identifier associated with the user device; associating said identifier with one user; and providing, based upon the identifier, a customized web-page for each user, each web-page including a link associated with each indicium received from that user.

7. The system as claimed in claim 6 further including an electronic mail enabled device, wherein said indicium, or data extracted from said indicium, is first transferred from said user device to said electronic mail enabled device, from where said indicium, or data extracted from said indicium, is communicated to said first server.

8. The system as claimed in claim 6 or 7 wherein said user device is a mobile phone.

9. The system as claimed in claim 6 or 7 wherein said user device is a personal digital assistant.

10. The system as claimed in any one of claims 6 to 9 wherein said user device includes an imaging device, and said indicium is received by said user device through imaging said indicium.

11. A method of associating follow-up events with media placements, said method comprising the steps of: providing a unique indicium for incorporation into a corresponding media placement; receiving at least a representation of said indicium from at least one user; sending a code to said user; receiving a record of at least one follow-up event performed by said user in association with said code; associating said follow-up events with said indicium; and compiling reports relating said follow-up events with said indicium.

12. The method as claimed in claim 11 wherein said indicium is processed by said user, and data associated with said indicium is received from said user.

13. The method as claimed in claim 11 or 12 wherein said indicium is received from at least one user through Short Messaging Service.

14. The method as claimed in claim 11 wherein said indicium is received from at least one user through Multimedia Messaging Service.

15. The method as claimed in claim 11 wherein said indicium is one or more of an image, a human readable code or a machine readable code.

16. The method as claimed in claim 11 wherein said code is displayable on a user device, and presentable at a point of sale when performing said follow-up event.

17. The method as claimed in claim 16 wherein said follow-up event is an in- store purchase.

18. A method comprising the steps of: providing an indicium for incorporation into a media placement; receiving at least a representation of said indicium from a user device of at least one user, together with an identifier associated with said user device; associating said identifier with one user; and providing, based upon the associated identifier, a customized web-page for each user, each web-page including a link associated with each indicium received from that user.

19. The method as claimed in claim 18 wherein said indicium is processed by said user device, and data associated with said indicium is received from said user device.

20. The method as claimed in claim 18 or 19 wherein said indicium, or data extracted from said indicium, is first transferred from said user device to an electronic mail enabled device, from where said indicium, or data extracted from said indicium, is received.

21. The method as claimed in any one of claims 18 to 20 further comprising the steps of: recording follow-up events associated with each indicium made as a result of following said links provided on said customized web-pages; and compiling reports relating said follow-up events with said indicium.

22. An apparatus for associating follow-up events with media placements, each media placement having incorporated therein a corresponding unique indicium, said apparatus comprising: means for receiving at least a representation of said indicium from at least one user; means for sending a code to said user; means for receiving a record of at least one follow-up event performed by said user in association with said code; means for associating said follow-up events with said indicium; and means for compiling reports relating said follow-up events with said indicium.

23. A method substantially as described herein with reference to any one of the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

24. An apparatus substantially as described herein with reference to any one of the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

25. A system substantially as described herein with reference to any one of the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.