WO2018138563A1

WO2018138563A1 - A method of viewing digital content

Info

Publication number: WO2018138563A1
Application number: PCT/IB2017/057329
Authority: WO
Inventors: Simon Marc WILLSON
Original assignee: Willson Simon Marc
Priority date: 2017-01-27
Filing date: 2017-11-22
Publication date: 2018-08-02
Also published as: ZA201807857B

Abstract

The invention relates to a method (30) and system (10) for viewing digital content on a digital content platform (12) using a smartphone (13) or any other suitable network-enabled computing device. Upon accessing a digital advertisement using the smartphone (13), the user receives an instant, digitally transmitted reward which is credited (24) to a user account at a third party service provider; and/or transmitted directly to the user's smartphone (13) as a digital voucher. In this way users are incentivised to view advertisements by way of the reward scheme. Accordingly, in return for viewing (31) an advertisement, the user receives a mobile data bundle, SMS bundle or airtime which is immediately credited to the user's account at a telecommunications service provider (15). In addition, the user is refunded (33) or compensated for the data spent in watching the advertisement through crediting of his/her account at the telecommunications service provider (15).

Description

A method of viewing digital content

FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention relates to digital marketing and viewing of digital content using computing devices.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

The digital marketing industry is a massive industry which is constantly growing in size. Marketers are constantly trying to think of new ways to reach their customers with marketing material. Over the years, the mainstream marketing methodology or focus has shifted away from traditional forms of marketing such as newspaper advertisements and printed pamphlets to digital media such as online advertisements etcetera. Advertisers now pay to have their ads screened on digital content platforms such as YouTube or other similar platforms. Search engine based advertising such as Google AdWords has also become hugely popular. However, as a result of all these emerging marketing strategies, digital content viewers are almost literally bombarded with digital ads which desensitise users to the content of the ads. Thus the effectiveness or efficacy of digital marketing has been eroded or watered down to a certain extent and advertisers constantly need to explore different ways of effectively reaching their clients.

The present invention aims to address or alleviate, at least to some extent, the drawback discussed above.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

In accordance with a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of viewing digital content, the method including the steps of: accessing a digital advertisement using a user's electronic communication device; and

receiving an instant, digitally transmitted reward, the step of receiving including:

crediting of a user account at a third party service provider; and/or

receiving the digitally transmitted reward at the user's electronic communication device, wherein the reward is accessible and/or redeemable through use of the user's electronic communication device.

The third party user account may be associated with the electronic communication device. The third party service provider may be a telecommunications service provider. The method may include crediting the user account with funds, airtime, data or a MMS or SMS service bundle.

A value of the reward may be associated with a digital size or length of the digital advertisement.

The method may include the prior step of registering the user's electronic communication device on a digital content platform.

The method may include the prior step of filtering available digital content based upon a geolocation of the user's electronic communication device. To this end, the method may include receiving, via the electronic communication device, user input indicative of the geo-specificity of the filtered digital content, which is either at a local, regional, national or international level.

The method may include the prior step of filtering available digital content based upon an age of the user of the electronic communication device.

The reward may be in the form of a promotional message sent to the user's electronic communication device. The service provider or retailer at which the promotional message is redeemable may be associated with the advertisement. Crediting may include refunding the user account at the third party service provider for resources used to access the digital advertisement. The method may include debiting an advertiser for issuance of the digital reward and for the refund of the user account at the third party service provider.

The digital advertisement may be in the form of a video, an audio file or a still image displaying time sensitive promotions. The invention extends to a method of making digital content available for viewing, the method including the steps of:

releasing a digital advertisement by making the advertisement available to one or more users on a digital content platform, the advertisement being accessible using a user's electronic communication device; and

rewarding a user for accessing the advertisement by crediting a user account at a third party service provider and/or forwarding a digital reward in the form of a promotional reward to the user's electronic communication device, the promotional reward being redeemable at a specific service provider or retailer.

The specific service provider or retailer at which the reward is redeemable may be associated with the advertisement accessed.

The method may include ceasing issuance of rewards in the event that a predetermined threshold number of rewards have already been issued within a predefined period of time.

The method may include issuing an access report to an advertiser which contains details of the number of times the digital advert has been accessed.

The method may further include sending a reminder notification to the user's electronic communication device provided that a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the user last accessed an advertisement. In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a system for viewing digital marketing content by accessing a digital content platform using an electronic communication device, wherein the system is configured to:

release a digital advertisement for viewing on the digital content platform;

display the digital advertisement to a user using the user's electronic communication device; and

reward a user for accessing the digital advertisement by issuing a digitally transmitted reward to the user's electronic communication device directly and/or to a third party service provider associated with the user.

A value of the reward may be directly proportional to a digital size or length of the advertisement.

The reward may be funds, data, voice, a MMS or SMS bundle. The reward may be automatically credited to the user's account at the third party service provider. The reward may take on the form of a promotional message or reward redeemable from a specific service provider. The promotional message may be a time sensitive message redeemable only within a certain window period, following which the reward will expire. The system may be configured to limit the number of rewards which can be issued within a predefined period of time. The system may be configured periodically to issue a report indicating the number of times the digital advertisement has been accessed. The system may be configured to forward a reminder notification to the user's communication device in the event that a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the user last accessed an advertisement on the digital content platform. The system may be configured to filter digital content released to the user based upon a geolocation of the user's electronic communication device such that advertisements released to the user are geo-specific. The geo-specificity of the content released to the user may be user-selectable to be either at a local, regional, national or international level.

The system may be configured to filter content released to the user based upon an age of the user. The electronic communication device may be a network-enabled computing device including any one of a tablet, watch, pair of glasses, headset, personal computer, laptop, PDA or smartphone.

The invention extends to a computer readable medium having stored thereon a set of instructions, which, when executed by a computing device, allow the device to perform any one of the method steps described above.

The step of accessing an advertisement may include replaying or streaming a video advertisement. Accessing may therefore include displaying a still image containing the advertisement. Accessing may further include replaying an audio advertisement.

The user's account may be credited in monetary terms with airtime or with a data or SMS bundle. The step of rewarding the user for accessing the advertisement may include issuing a promotional reward to the user which is redeemable from a service provider. For example, "present this image/SMS at the checkout counter of any Clicks Store and get 10% discount, valid today only". The reward may therefore be a digital reward. The system may include the digital content platform and a plurality of electronic communication devices which are connected/connectable to the platform over a wired/wireless network. The platform may be localised or distributed across a number of servers. A greater reward may be issued for accessing a larger electronic advertisement. Only a limited number of rewards may be issued per day. The content may be released only for a predetermined period of time. A fee may be charged to an advertiser for each instance the advert is accessed or viewed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS The invention will now be further described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a functional block diagram of a system for viewing digital marketing content in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a flow diagram of a method in accordance with a further aspect of the invention; and

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary graphical user interface used in the method and system of viewing digital content.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN EXAMPLE EMBODIMENT

The following description of the invention is provided as an enabling teaching of the invention. Those skilled in the relevant art will recognise that many changes can be made to the embodiments described, while still attaining the beneficial results of the present invention. It will also be apparent that some of the desired benefits of the present invention can be attained by selecting some of the features of the present invention without utilising other features. Accordingly, those skilled in the art will recognise that modifications and adaptations to the present invention are possible and can even be desirable in certain circumstances, and are a part of the present invention. Thus, the following description is provided as illustrative of the principles of the present invention and not a limitation thereof. In FIG. 1 , reference numeral 10 refers generally to a system for viewing digital marketing content on a digital content platform 12 or portal. The platform 12 may be cloud-based. Therefore it may be distributed across a number of servers. Alternatively, it may be hosted on one or more localised servers. In order to gain access to the platform 12, a user can make use of any one of a variety of network-enabled computing devices such as a tablet, watch, pair of glasses, headset, personal computer, laptop, PDA or any other suitable electronic communication device. However, considering the widespread use of smartphones nowadays, most users will undoubtedly use their smartphone 13 to access the platform 12. In a preferred embodiment, a customer or user is required to download and install a mobile application 17 to their smartphone 13 which grants them access to the digital content platform 12. Prior to gaining access to the platform 12, the user is required to complete a registration process whereby personal or proprietary details of the user may be captured as needed. The proprietary details may comprise any one or more of a cellular phone number, ID number, full names, age, date of birth, e- mail address, physical address or telecommunications service provider user account details etcetera. Accordingly, the user may be required to open an account with the digital content platform 12. Similarly, an advertiser 14 wishing to advertise his goods or services to potential clients by making use of the platform 12, registers with the digital content platform 12 and opens an account. The advertiser 14 is then permitted to upload digital marketing content onto the platform 12 for viewing by customers of the platform 12. The digital marketing content may comprise still images, audio files and videos etcetera.

Obviously, in order to communicate over the cellular network, the smartphone user is required to have an account with a telecommunications service provider 15. Usually a Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card 19 is used to identify a user on a cellular network together with a unique device number or identifier. The primary purpose of the mobile application 17 is to allow a user to view or stream advertisements uploaded onto the digital content platform 12 by advertisers 14 using his/her smartphone 13. The user is incentivised to watch one or more digital adverts through an instantaneous or near instantaneous reward system which will be elaborated on below.

FIG. 2 illustrates a method 30 of viewing digital content in accordance with the invention. As mentioned above, once registered the advertiser 14 uploads a digital advertisement onto the platform 12. The advertisement is then released 22 on the platform 12 for viewing by users. Users are incentivised to view advertisements by way of a reward scheme. Accordingly, in return for watching or viewing 31 a full length advertisement, the user receives 24 a digitally transmitted reward which is in the form of a mobile data bundle, SMS bundle or airtime which is immediately credited to the user's account at the telecommunications service provider 15. In addition, the user is refunded 33 or compensated for the data consumed or spent in watching the advertisement through crediting of his/her account at the telecommunications service provider 15.

Alternatively, or in addition, the digitally transmitted reward may be in the form of a promotional message or reward which is sent 23 directly to the user's smartphone 13 by the platform 12 or advertiser 14. This reward is redeemable at a participating service provider or retailer. I.e. the reward may be associated with and redeemable at the advertiser 14 associated with the advertisement which the user just viewed. Accordingly, the promotional reward may be in the form of a text or multimedia message, image, coupon, URL, barcode, QR code or direct link to a service provider or retailer site or promotion which is forwarded to the user's smartphone 13. For example, "present this image/SMS/coupon/token at the checkout counter of any Clicks Store and get 10% discount, valid today only". Again, the user is refunded 33 for data spent on viewing the advertisement. The advertiser 14, in turn, is debited 32 by the platform 12 for the data refund to the user for viewing the ad and for crediting of the user's account with the data bundle reward. In other words, the advertiser 14 is billed 32 for the data costs of viewing the advert as well as for the cost of the promotional data bundle, SMS bundle or airtime which is credited to the user's account. For example, if the advert uses 21 MB of data and the user reward is 20 MB of data credited to his/her telecommunications service provider account, then the advertiser 14 is charged for the cost associated with the total 41 MB of data. An entity responsible for managing the mobile application 1 7 and digital content platform 1 2 bills the advertiser 14 and initiates the transmission or release of the data bundle, SMS bundle or airtime to the user's account at the telecommunications service provider 1 5. The data bundle, SMS bundle or airtime can be transmitted by referencing the user's mobile phone number. Other methods of distributing the reward also fall within the scope of this invention.

The reward issued is proportional to the size (MB) or length (time) of the advert viewed. In other words, a 20 MB reward may be issued for viewing of a 30 sec advert; a 40 MB data bundle reward may be issued for viewing a 1 min advert and a 60 MB data bundle reward may be issued for an advert of 1 min 30 sec.

The mobile application 17 may categorise adverts, each category associated with a different size reward. In other words, small, medium and large adverts with a different size reward bundle in respect of each. Each advert will play in its entirety and cannot be skipped. The digital content platform 1 2 is further configured to limit the number of times an advertisement can be viewed or played on a particular day. This global or total limit may be selected or specified by the advertiser 1 2. Once the daily limit in terms of views has been reached 25, the advert effectively goes offline 34 and is greyed out of the selection pane of the mobile application 1 7. An advertiser 14 can therefore determine a maximum expenditure per day per advert. The digital content platform 1 2 is further configured to send out a daily and/or monthly report to the advertiser 14 detailing how many times the advert has been viewed alongside a direct debit out of the advertiser's account. If an advertiser's daily limit is 200 views and only 1 50 views were charged, the advertiser is only charged for the 150 views and the next day's viewing allotment may increase to 250. If the full daily limit of 200 views is reached, the next day's allotment remains at 200. From a user's perspective, the mobile application 17 is further configured to send or issue a reminder notification to the user's smartphone 13 if the user has not viewed an advert in the past 48 hours. Each advert may only be viewed once per day by a particular user to prevent abuse. Once an advert has been viewed, it will be greyed out from the selection until the next day.

The mobile application 17 may further be configured to monitor a user's data usage and warn the user by forwarding a notification in the event that the remaining data falls below a predetermined threshold. The predetermined threshold is proportional to the minimum amount of data required to view the least costly advert with the least reward. The user can then access the application 17 to view an advert in order to receive a data bundle refund and an instantaneous data bundle, SMS bundle or airtime reward. With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, adverts available for viewing on the platform 12 may be specific to a geographical location of the user's smartphone 13 or may be based on an age of the user. FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary graphical user interface 40 through which a user can enable/disable 16, 18 toggle switches or buttons for a geolocation filter 26 and an age-based filter 27 for digital content on the platform 12. In other words, a service provider or retailer may only be able to serve clients in a particular city or town. The digital content platform 12 is configured to enlist adverts together with any geolocation parameters or age-related parameters which may be stipulated by the advertiser or may be required by law. As is conventional, the smartphone 13 includes a processor 20 and GPS 21 . In a preferred embodiment, the application 17 requires permission to access the phone's GPS data. Accordingly, when the geolocation filter 26 is enabled 16, the mobile application 17 is configured to display geo-specific adverts to a user based upon a geographical location of the user's smartphone 13. This functionality is selected by the user through user interaction with the interface 40 provided by the application 17. The application 17 can therefore filter adverts based on a geographical location of the user's smartphone 13. I.e. when the geolocation filter 26 is enabled 16, the user is provided with the following geo-specific selection criteria by way of a selection slide-bar 28: International, National, Regional or Local. Should the user not enable the application to gain access to the GPS, only national advertisements will be available to the user, limiting the potential for reward. A user can enable/disable GPS operation or functionality at any time. As mentioned, the application 1 7 can also filter adverts based upon an age of the user entered upon installation of the application 1 7. This is to ensure that sensitive, underage viewers are not exposed to adverts which are inappropriate or unlawful. In other words, minors will not be able to view adverts on the application 1 7 advertising alcohol or tobacco products in compliance with national and international laws.

The Applicant believes that the method 30 and system 1 0 in accordance with the invention will incentivise users to make use of the mobile application 1 7 to watch adverts for which they will be rewarded by way of airtime, a complementary data bundle, a SMS bundle or a promotional message sent directly to their smartphone 1 3. At the same time, advertisers will get greater exposure for their adverts. The method and system are advantageous because the reward accruing to the user is immediately available and redeemable. There is no minimum threshold that the user needs to obtain before he/she can gain access to or redeem their reward.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1 . A method of viewing digital content, the method including the steps of: accessing a digital advertisement using a user's electronic communication device; and

crediting of a user account at a third party service provider; and/or

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the third party user account is associated with the electronic communication device.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the third party service provider is a telecommunications service provider.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3, which includes crediting the user account with funds, airtime, data or a MMS or SMS service bundle.

5. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein a value of the reward is associated with a digital size or length of the digital advertisement.

6. The method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, which includes the prior step of registering the user's electronic communication device on a digital content platform.

7. The method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, which includes the prior step of filtering available digital content based upon a geolocation of the user's electronic communication device.

8. The method as claimed in claim 7, which includes receiving, via the electronic communication device, user input indicative of the geo-specificity of the filtered digital content, which is either at a local, regional, national or international level.

9. The method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, which includes the prior step of filtering available digital content based upon an age of the user of the electronic communication device.

10. The method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the reward is in the form of a promotional message sent to the user's electronic communication device.

1 1 . The method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein crediting includes refunding the user account at the third party service provider for resources used to access the digital advertisement.

12. The method as claimed in claim 1 1 , which includes debiting an advertiser for issuance of the digital reward and for the refund of the user account at the third party service provider.

13. The method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the digital advertisement is in the form of a video, an audio file or a still image displaying time sensitive promotions.

14. A method of making digital content available for viewing, the method including the steps of:

1 5. The method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims which includes ceasing issuance of rewards in the event that a predetermined threshold number of rewards have already been issued within a predefined period of time.

1 6. The method as claimed in claim 14, which includes issuing an access report to an advertiser which contains details of the number of times the digital advert has been accessed.

1 7. The method as claimed in claim 14 or 1 6, which includes sending a reminder notification to the user's electronic communication device provided that a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the user last accessed an advertisement.

1 8. A system for viewing digital marketing content by accessing a digital content platform using an electronic communication device, wherein the system is configured to:

release a digital advertisement for viewing on the digital content platform;

1 9. The system as claimed in claim 18, wherein a value of the reward is directly proportional to a digital size or length of the advertisement.

20. The system as claimed in claim 1 8 or 1 9, wherein the reward is funds, data, voice, a MMS or SMS bundle and the reward is automatically credited to the user's account at the third party service provider.

21 . The system as claimed in claim 1 8 or 19, wherein the reward takes on the form of a promotional message or reward redeemable from a specific service provider, the promotional message being a time sensitive message redeemable only within a certain window period, following which the reward will expire.

22. The system as claimed in any one of claims 18 to 21 , which is configured to limit the number of rewards which can be issued within a predefined period of time.

23. The system as claimed in any one of claims 18 to 22, which is configured periodically to issue a report indicating the number of times the digital advertisement has been accessed.

24. The system as claimed in any one of claims 18 to 23, which is configured to forward a reminder notification to the user's communication device in the event that a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the user last accessed an advertisement on the digital content platform.

25. The system as claimed in any one of claims 18 to 24, which is configured to filter digital content released to the user based upon a geolocation of the user's electronic communication device such that advertisements released to the user are geo-specific, wherein the geo- specificity of the content released to the user is user-selectable to be either at a local, regional, national or international level.

26. The system as claimed in any one of claims 18 to 25, which is configured to filter content released to the user based upon an age of the user.

27. The system as claimed in any one of claims 18 to 26, wherein the electronic communication device is a network-enabled computing device including any one of a tablet, watch, pair of glasses, headset, personal computer, laptop, PDA or smartphone.

28. A computer readable medium having stored thereon a set of instructions, which, when executed by a computing device, allow the device to perform any one of method claims 1 to 17.