U.S. patent application number 13/104136 was filed with the patent office on 2011-11-17 for system and method to produce and control subsidization of targeted materials at point of sale.
This patent application is currently assigned to XEROX CORPORATION. Invention is credited to Shanmuga-nathan Gnanasambandam, Haengju Lee, Reuven J. Sherwin.
Application Number | 20110282729 13/104136 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 44911388 |
Filed Date | 2011-11-17 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110282729 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Gnanasambandam; Shanmuga-nathan ;
et al. |
November 17, 2011 |
SYSTEM AND METHOD TO PRODUCE AND CONTROL SUBSIDIZATION OF TARGETED
MATERIALS AT POINT OF SALE
Abstract
Disclosed is a system and method to produce and control
subsidization of targeted advertising materials. According to one
exemplary method, customized printer material and targeted
advertising material is provided to a consumer, where the price of
the customized printed material is subsidized in exchange for the
consumer agreeing to receive the targeted advertising material.
Inventors: |
Gnanasambandam;
Shanmuga-nathan; (Victor, NY) ; Sherwin; Reuven
J.; (Ra'anana, IL) ; Lee; Haengju; (Webster,
NY) |
Assignee: |
XEROX CORPORATION
Norwalk
CT
|
Family ID: |
44911388 |
Appl. No.: |
13/104136 |
Filed: |
May 10, 2011 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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61345301 |
May 17, 2010 |
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61345377 |
May 17, 2010 |
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61345340 |
May 17, 2010 |
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61345289 |
May 17, 2010 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
705/14.38 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/0251 20130101;
G06Q 30/0238 20130101; G06Q 30/08 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/14.38 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 30/00 20060101
G06Q030/00 |
Claims
1. A method for providing customized printed material and targeted
advertising material to a first party, the customized printed
material including one or both of customized content selected by
the first party and customized content provided by the first party,
the customized printed material and the targeted advertising
material printed at a POS (Point of Sale) printing device for a
subsidized nominal price to be charged by a second party to the
first party, the subsidized nominal price related to a nominal
price subsidized by a third party associated with providing the
targeted advertising material in consideration for the targeted
advertising material being printed along with the customized
printed material, the method comprising: a) the first party
creating customized material including one or both of customized
content selected by the first party and customized content provided
by the first party to be printed by the POS printing device; b)
communicating to one of the printing device and one or more servers
operatively connected to the printing device the created customized
material including the customized content to be printed by the POS
printing device; c) one or more of the POS printing device and the
one or more servers generating the targeted advertising material in
a format for printing by the POS printing device; d) one or more of
the POS printing device and the one or more servers providing
nominal price subsidization information to one or both of the first
party and the second party, the nominal price subsidization
information associated with a subsidization of the nominal price
associated with providing the customized printed material to the
first party in consideration for the targeted advertising material
being printed along with the customized printed material; e) the
POS printing device printing the customized material and the target
advertising material; and f) the first party paying the second
party the subsidized nominal price based on the subsidization
information.
2. The method for providing customized printed material and
targeted advertising material to a first party according to claim
1, wherein the customized material includes one or more of text and
images.
3. The method for providing customized printed material and
targeted advertising material to a first party according to claim
1, wherein the targeted advertising material is generated as a
function of one or more of the context of the customized printed
material, one or more interests of the first party, one or more
preferences of the first party, the location of the POS printing
device, one or more keywords included in the customized printed
material, one or more events associated with the customized printed
material, a time associated with the printing of the customized
printed material, one or more products offered y an advertiser
associated with the targeted advertising material, and one or more
services offered by an advertiser associated with the targeted
advertising material.
4. The method for providing customized printed material and
targeted advertising material to a first party according to claim
1, wherein step a) comprises the first party creating the
customized material at one of a MFD (multi function device) a
KIOSK, a cell phone and a PC (personal computer).
5. The method for providing customized printed material and
targeted advertising material to a first party according to claim
1, wherein: step c) generates targeted advertising material in a
format for printing by the POS device, the format including one or
more of a coupon, an ad, a QRC (Quick Response Code), a Bar Code, a
menu, a promotional item, an insert, an onsert, and an
event-centric coupon.
6. The method for providing customized printed material and
targeted advertising material to a first party according to claim
1, wherein the customized material is one of a greeting card, a
document, a publication, a banner, an event flyer, and a
calendar.
7. The method for providing customized printed material and
targeted advertising material to a first party according to claim
1, wherein step e) includes printing the targeted advertising
material without interfering with the printing of the customized
material.
8. The method for providing customized printed material and
targeted advertising material to a first party according to claim
1, wherein the first party selects one of printing the customized
printed material and targeted advertising material for the
subsidized nominal price and printing the customized printed
material without the targeted advertising material for the nominal
price.
9. The method for providing customized printed material and
targeted advertising material to a first party according to claim
1, wherein step a) comprises the first party creating customized
material including one or both of customized content selected from
one or more of a plurality of predefined materials, and customized
content provided by the first party including one or more of an
image material and text material.
10. The method for providing customized printed material and
targeted advertising material to a first party according to claim
1, wherein the usage of the targeted advertising material by the
first party is tracked and communicated to one of the first party,
the second party, the third party and a fourth party whom receives
the customized printed material from the first party and a fifth
party associated with compiling the usage of the targeted
advertising material.
11. A method for providing rendered customized material and
targeted advertising material to a first party, the rendered
customized material including one or both of customized content
selected by the first party and customized content provided by the
first party, the customized material and the targeted advertising
material rendered on a rendering device for a subsidized nominal
price to be charged by a second party to the first party, the
subsidized nominal price related to a nominal price subsidized by a
third party associated with providing the targeted advertising
material in consideration for the targeted advertising material
being rendered along with the customized material, the method
comprising: a) the first party creating customized material
including one or both of customized content selected by the first
party and customized content provided by the first party to be
rendered by the rendering device; b) communicating to one of the
rendering device and one or more servers operatively connected to
the rendering device the created customized material including the
customized content to be rendered by the rendering device; c) one
or more of the rendering device and the one or more servers
generating the targeted advertising material in a format for
rendering by the printing device; d) one or more of the rendering
device and the one or more servers providing nominal price
subsidization information to one or both of the first party and the
second party, the nominal price subsidization information
associated with a subsidization of the nominal price associated
with providing the rendered customized material to the first party
in consideration for the targeted advertising material being
rendered along with the customized material; e) the rendering
device rendering the customized material and the target advertising
material; and f) the first party paying the second party the
subsidized nominal price based on the subsidization
information.
12. The method for providing rendered customized material and
targeted advertising material to a first party according to claim
11, wherein the customized material includes one or both of text
and images.
13. The method for providing rendered customized material and
targeted advertising material to a first party according to claim
11, wherein the targeted advertising material is generated as a
function of one or more of the content of the customized material,
one or more interests of the first arty, one or more preferences of
the first party, the location of the rendering device, one or more
keywords included in the customized material, one or more events
associated with the customized material, a time associated with the
rendering of the customized material, one or more products offered
by an advertiser associated with the targeted advertising material,
and one or more services offered by an advertiser associated with
the targeted advertising material.
14. The method for providing rendered customized material and
targeted advertising material to a first party according to claim
11, wherein step a) comprises the first party creating the
customized material at one of a MFD (multi function device) a
KIOSK, a cell phone and a PC (personal computer).
15. The method for providing rendered customized material and
targeted advertising material to a first party according to claim
11, wherein step c) generates targeted advertising material in a
format for rendering by the rendering device, the format including
one or more of a coupon, an ad, a QRC (Quick Response Code), a bar
code, a menu, a promotional item, an insert, an onsert, and an
event-centric coupon.
16. The method for providing rendered customized material and
targeted advertising material to a first party according to claim
11, wherein the customized material is one of a greeting card, a
document, a publication, a banner, an event flyer, and a
calendar.
17. The method for providing rendered customized material and
targeted advertising material to a first party according to claim
11, wherein step e) includes rendering the targeted advertising
material without interfering with the rendering of the customized
material.
18. The method for providing rendered customized material and
targeted advertising material to a first party according to claim
11, wherein the first party selects one of rendering the customized
material and targeted advertising material for the subsidized
nominal price and rendering the customized material without the
targeted advertising material for the nominal price.
19. The method for providing rendered customized material and
targeted advertising material to a first party according to claim
11, wherein step a) comprises the first party creating customized
material including one or both of customized content selected from
one or more of a plurality of predefined materials, and customized
content provided by the first party including one or more of an
image material and text material.
20. The method for providing rendered customized material and
targeted advertising material to a first part, according to claim
11, wherein the usage of the targeted advertising material by the
first party is tracked and communicated to one of the first party,
the second party, the third party and a fourth party whom receives
the rendered customized material from the first party and a fifth
party associated with compiling the usage of the targeted
advertising material.
21. A printing system for providing customized printed material and
targeted advertising material to a first party, the customized
printed material including one or both of customized content
selected by the first party and customized content provided by the
first party, the customized printed material and the targeted
advertising material printed at a POS (Point of Sale) printing
device for a subsidized nominal price to be charged by a second
party to the first party, the subsidized nominal price related to a
nominal price subsidized by a third party associated with providing
the targeted advertising material in consideration for the targeted
advertising material being printed along with the customized
printed material, the printing system comprising: a POS printing
device; and one or more severs operatively connected to the POS
printing device, wherein one or more of the POS printing devices
and the one or more servers are configured to execute a method
comprising: a) the first party creating customized material
including one or both of customized content selected by the first
party and customized content provided by the first party to be
printed by the POS printing device; b) communicating to one of the
printing device and one or more servers operatively connected to
the printing device the created customized material including the
customized content to be printed by the POS printing device; c) one
or more of the POS printing device and the one or more servers
generating the targeted advertising material in a format for
printing by the POS printing device; d) one or more of the POS
printing device and the one or more servers providing nominal price
subsidization information to one or both of the first party and the
second party, the nominal price subsidization information
associated with a subsidization of the nominal price associated
with providing the customized printed material to the first party
in consideration for the targeted advertising material being
printed along with the customized printed material; e) the POS
printing device printing the customized material and the target
advertising material; and f) the first party paying the second
party the subsidized nominal price based on the subsidization
information.
22. The printing system according to claim 21, wherein the targeted
advertising material is generated as a function of one or more of
the context of the customized printed material, one or more
interests of the first party, one or more preferences of the first
party, the location of the POS printing device, one or more
keywords included in the customized printed material, one or more
events associated with the customized printed material, a time
associated with the printing of the customized printed material,
one or more products offered by an advertiser associated with the
targeted advertising material, and one or more services offered by
an advertiser associated with the targeted advertising
material.
23. The printing system according to claim 21, wherein step a)
comprises the first party creating the customized material at one
of a MFD (multi function device) a KIOSK, a cell phone and a PC
(personal computer).
24. The printing system according to claim 21, wherein step c)
generates targeted advertising material in a format for printing by
the POS device, the format including one or more of a coupon, an
ad, a QRC (Quick Response Code), a Bar Code, a menu, a promotional
item, an insert, an onsert, and an event-centric coupon.
25. The printing system according to claim 21, wherein the
customized material is one of a greeting card, a document, a
publication, a banner, an event flyer, and a calendar.
26. The printing system according to claim 21, wherein the usage of
the targeted advertising material by the first party is tracked and
communicated to one of the first party, the second party, the third
party and a fourth party whom receives the customized printed
material from the first party and a fifth party associated with
compiling the usage of the targeted advertising material.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENTS AND APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S.
Provisional Application No. 61/345,301, filed May 17, 2010,
entitled "SYSTEM AND METHOD TO PRODUCE AND CONTROL SUBSIDIZATION OF
TARGETED MATERIALS AT POINT OF SALE, by Gnanasambandam et al.,
"U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/345,340, filed May 17, 2010,
entitled "OPTIMAL AUCTION MECHANISM FOR MULTI-LEVEL DEVICE
CLICK-THROUGH (DCT) IN TARGETED PRINT COMMUNICATION," by Lee et
al., U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/345,289, filed May 17,
2010, entitled "SYSTEM AND METHODS TO USE IN-PARTITE SCALE-FREE
GRAPHS FOR INTERPRETING CONTEXTUAL INFORMATION AND TARGETING," by
Gnanasambandam et al., and U.S. Provisional Application No.
61/345,377, filed May 17, 2010, entitled "METHOD FOR
IDENTIFICATION, CATEGORIZATION AND SEARCH OF GRAPHICAL, AUDITORY
AND COMPUTATIONAL PATTERN ENSEMBLES," by Gnanasambandam et al.,
each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in their
entirety.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENTS AND APPLICATIONS
[0002] The following applications, the disclosures of each being
incorporated herein by reference are mentioned: U.S. application
Ser. No. ______, filed ______, by Haengju Lee et al., entitled
"OPTIMAL AUCTION MECHANISM FOR MULTI-LEVEL PRINT CLICK-THROUGH
(PCT) IN TARGETED PRINT COMMUNICATION"; U.S. application Ser. No.
______, filed ______, by Nathan Gnanasambandam et al., entitled
"SYSTEM AND METHODS TO USE N-PARTITE SCALE-FREE GRAPHS FOR
INTERPRETING CONTEXTUAL INFORMATION AND TARGETING"; and, U.S.
application Ser. No. ______, filed ______, by ______, entitled
______.
BACKGROUND
[0003] At a point of sale (POS) such as a card-like store or mall,
producing creative greeting cards and artifacts is difficult for
the average user. From a B2B (Business to Business) sense, scaling
to volumes in an entire franchisee network is even more
difficult--as personalized material and advertisements need to be
created on demand at the POS with a lot size of one in most cases.
Even if personalization is feasible, it is costlier than the
preprinted material already stocked there for the consumer i.e. a
second complication that affects business viability. Even for a
large greeting card company, the process of making it on-site at
the point of sale involves costly printers, software and a length
of time before becoming profitable. In this disclosure, provided is
a method and system to subsidize a rendering process, such as a
printing process, at the point of sale and reduce the break-even
period of the service provider by coupling targeted communications,
such as advertisements, with personalized, i.e., customized,
printed material.
INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE
[0004] The following Patent Applications, Patent Application
Publications and Non-patent references are incorporated herein by
reference in their entirety:
[0005] Lee et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/100,636,
filed May 4, 2011, entitled "Optimal Auction Mechanism for
Multi-Level Device Click-Through (DCT) in Targeted Print
Communication";
[0006] Gnanasambandam et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No.
12/780,543, filed May 14, 2010, entitled "System and Method to
Prearrange Hyper-Local Value-Added Marketing Campaigns and
Communication Along Consumer Trajectories";
[0007] Gnanasambandam et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No.
12/780,267, filed May 14, 2010, entitled "In-Situ Mobile
Application Suggestions and Multi-Application Updates through
Context Specific Analytics";
[0008] Gnanasambandam et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication
No. U.S. 2010/0088178 A1, published Apr. 8, 2010, entitled "System
and Method for Generating and Verifying Targeted Advertisements
Delivered Via a Printer Device";
[0009] Gross, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. U.S.
2010/0005486 A1, published Jan. 7, 2010, entitled "Apparatus and
Method for Embedding Commercials";
[0010] Evevsky, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. U.S.
2009/0313060 A1, published Dec. 17, 2009, entitled "System and
Method for Personalized Printing and Facilitated Delivery of
Personalized Campaign Items";
[0011] Chow et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. U.S.
2009/0157650 A1, published Jun. 18, 2009, entitled "Outbound
Content Filtering Via Automated Inference Detection";
[0012] Chow et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. U.S.
2009/0150365 A1, published Jun. 11, 2009, entitled "Inbound Content
Filtering Via Automated Inference Detection";
[0013] Gnanasambandam, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/761,985,
filed Apr. 16, 2010, entitled "System and Method for Providing
Feedback for Targeted Communications";
[0014] Liu, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/603,999, filed Oct.
22, 2009, entitled "System and Method for Handling Print Requests
from a Mobile Device";
[0015] Liu et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/540,051;
filed Aug. 13, 2009, entitled "System and Method for Communicating
with a Network of Printers Using a Mobile Device";
[0016] Harrington, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/533,901,
filed Jul. 31, 2009, entitled "Method and System for Constructing a
Document Redundancy Graph";
[0017] Gnanasambandam et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No.
12/486,951, filed Jun. 18, 2009, entitled "System and Method for
Policy-driven File Segmentation and Intercloud File Storage and
Retrieval";
[0018] Partridge et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No.
12/480,558, filed Jun. 8, 2009, entitled "Method and System for
Printing Documents from a Portable Device";
[0019] Gnanasambandam et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No.
12/424,858, filed Apr. 16, 2009, entitled "System and Method for
Selectively Controlling the Use of Functionality in One or More
Multifunction Devices and Subsidizing Their Use Through
Advertisements";
[0020] Gnanasambandam et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No.
12/424,820, filed Apr. 16, 2009, entitled "Method and System for
Providing Contract-free `pay-as-you-go` Options for Utilization of
Multi-function Devices";
[0021] St. Jacques, Jr. et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No.
12/335,048, filed Dec. 15, 2008, entitled "Method and System for
Automatically Providing for Multi-point Document Storing, Access,
and Retrieval";
[0022] Edelman, B. and M. Schwarz "Optimal Auction Design in a
Multi-Unit Environment: The Case of Sponsored Search Auctions,"
Unpublished manuscript, Harvard Business School 2006;
[0023] Edelman, B., Ostrovsky, M., and Schwarz, M., "Internet
Advertising and the Generalized Second-Price Auction: Selling
Billions of Dollars Worth of Keywords," American Economic Review,
American Economic Association, Vol. 97(1), pages 242-259, March
2007;
[0024] Google AdWords Select, 2002
https://www.google.co/accounts/ServiceLogin?service=adwords&hl;
[0025] Myerson, R. B. "Optimal Auction Design," Mathematics of
Operations Research, 6(1), pages 58-73, 1981;
[0026] Shazam Entertainment Ltd., 2002,
http://www.shazam.com/music/web/pages/background.html;
[0027] Talluri, K. and van Ryzin, G., "The Theory and Practice of
Revenue Management," Publisher Springer, 1.sup.st Edition, Feb. 23,
2005;
[0028] Ulku, L., "Optimal Combinatorial Mechanism Design,"
Unpublished Manuscript, Rutgers University, 2006;
[0029] Walsh, T., "Search on High Degree Graphs," In Proceedings of
IJCAI-2001, pages 266-271, 2001.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION
[0030] In one embodiment of this disclosure, described is a method
for providing customized printed material and targeted advertising
material to a first party, the customized printed material
including one or both of customized content selected by the first
party and customized content provided by the first party, the
customized printed material and the targeted advertising material
printed at a POS (Point of Sale) printing device for a subsidized
nominal price to be charged by a second party to the first party,
the subsidized nominal price related to a nominal price subsidized
by a third party associated with providing the targeted advertising
material in consideration for the targeted advertising material
being printed along with the customized printed material, the
method comprising a) the first party creating customized material
including one or both of customized content selected by the first
party and customized content provided by the first party to be
printed by the POS printing device; b) communicating to one of the
printing device and one or more servers operatively connected to
the printing device the created customized material including the
customized content to be printed by the POS printing device; c) one
or more of the POS printing device and the one or more servers
generating the targeted advertising material in a format for
printing by the POS printing device; d) one or more of the POS
printing device and the one or more servers providing nominal price
subsidization information to one or both of the first party and the
second party, the nominal price subsidization information
associated with a subsidization of the nominal price associated
with providing the customized printed material to the first party
in consideration for the targeted advertising material being
printed along with the customized printed material; e) the POS
printing device printing the customized material and the target
advertising material; and f) the first party paying the second
party the subsidized nominal price based on the subsidization
information.
[0031] In another embodiment of this disclosure, described is a
method for providing rendered customized material and targeted
advertising material to a first party, the rendered customized
material including one or both of customized content selected by
the first party and customized content provided by the first party,
the customized material and the targeted advertising material
rendered on a rendering device for a subsidized nominal price to be
charged by a second party to the first party, the subsidized
nominal price related to a nominal price subsidized by a third
party associated with providing the targeted advertising material
in consideration for the targeted advertising material being
rendered along with the customized material, the method comprising
a) the first party creating customized material including one or
both of customized content selected by the first party and
customized content provided by the first party to be rendered by
the rendering device; b) communicating to one of the rendering
device and one or more servers operatively connected to the
rendering device the created customized material including the
customized content to be rendered by the rendering device; c) one
or more of the rendering device and the one or more servers
generating the targeted advertising material in a format for
rendering by the printing device; d) one or more of the rendering
device and the one or more servers providing nominal price
subsidization information to one or both of the first party and the
second party, the nominal price subsidization information
associated with a subsidization of the nominal price associated
with providing the rendered customized material to the first party
in consideration for the targeted advertising material being
rendered along with the customized material; e) the rendering
device rendering the customized material and the target advertising
material; and f) the first party paying the second party the
subsidized nominal price based on the subsidization
information.
[0032] In still another embodiment of this disclosure, described is
a printing system for providing customized printed material and
targeted advertising material to a first party, the customized
printed material including one or both of customized content
selected by the first party and customized content provided by the
first party, the customized printed material and the targeted
advertising material printed at a POS (Point of Sale) printing
device for a subsidized nominal price to be charged by a second
party to the first party, the subsidized nominal price related to a
nominal price subsidized by a third party associated with providing
the targeted advertising material in consideration for the targeted
advertising material being printed along with the customized
printed material, the printing system comprising a POS printing
device; and one or more severs operatively connected to the POS
printing device, wherein one or more of the POS printing devices
and the one or more servers are configured to execute a method
comprising: a) the first party creating customized material
including one or both of customized content selected by the first
party and customized content provided by the first party to be
printed by the POS printing device; b) communicating to one of the
printing device and one or more servers operatively connected to
the printing device the created customized material including the
customized content to be printed by the POS printing device; c) one
or more of the POS printing device and the one or more servers
generating the targeted advertising material in a format for
printing by the POS printing device; d) one or more of the POS
printing device and the one or more servers providing nominal price
subsidization information to one or both of the first party and the
second party, the nominal price subsidization information
associated with a subsidization of the nominal price associated
with providing the customized printed material to the first party
in consideration for the targeted advertising material being
printed along with the customized printed material; e) the POS
printing device printing the customized material and the target
advertising material; and f) the first party paying the second
party the subsidized nominal price based on the subsidization
information.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0033] FIG. 1 is an architecture of subsidized point of sale
personalized artifact;
[0034] FIG. 2 is a mobile interface for subsidized creative
artifact--Rimon cards with option to be ad sponsored and delivered
via print or email;
[0035] FIG. 3 is a categorized list of communication material;
[0036] FIG. 4 is a submission modalities interaction with
kiosk/MFD;
[0037] FIG. 5 is a smart-phone to print;
[0038] FIG. 6 shows using context graph to associate and predict
chain of correlated events;
[0039] FIG. 7 shows relevance determination for a given category of
event (e.g., birthday vs. graduation party);
[0040] FIG. 8 shows generalized workflow from consumer
perspective;
[0041] FIG. 9 shows a targeted communications system within
hyper-local domain;
[0042] FIG. 10 shows relative trends in the hyper-local domain
across vendors or stores;
[0043] FIGS. 11-20 illustrate one exemplary embodiment of this
disclosure including an iPhone application.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0044] This disclosure provides a system for producing targeted,
creative rendered material (e.g. greeting card) at a point of sale
at a price subsidized more than other comparable rendered material.
In particular, addressed is the case of a greeting or an event card
at a card-like store where a customized and targeted greeting card
is made cheaper relative to other cards there. While on-demand
cards with personal effects and seemingly hand-written notes on
them can be expensive to produce on-demand, involving both printing
equipment and creative software, included herein are targeted
event-centric coupons or communications that help the receiver of
the card avail of discounts. The targeted communications or coupons
are also created in-situ through a closed loop targeting engine
operating from the cloud. The provider of the coupons offers
payments to the targeting engine that is shared with the greeting
card printer and the greeting card purchaser. The communications
printed have other tracking mechanisms so that users of the coupons
or the person receiving the card can track usage. Usage information
is shared with marketing agencies to provide revenue for the
targeting engine.
[0045] It is to be understood the following detailed description
focuses primarily on printed customized material, however, the
exemplary embodiments described are applicable to rendering
customized material with any rendering device, for example, but not
limited to a cell phone, personal computer display, etc.
[0046] At a physical point of sale, there are limited ways to
dynamically control subsidization of a creative artifact,
especially paper-based goods such as greeting cards. Real-world
hyper-local domains (e.g. malls, stores, etc.) cannot produce
targeted material at point of sale at a price lower than the
pre-printed material there.
[0047] Most printed materials at point of sale are pre-printed, for
example, printed greeting cards, marketing material etc.
[0048] Any personalization of customizations leads to higher cost
as creating the customization involves resources & software.
Accordingly, it is not made cheaper relative to other printed
material.
[0049] Furthermore, current card printing systems provide no notion
of a campaign, such as personal event, marketing event and no
online tie-up & tracking for a card that is printed at the
point of sale.
[0050] Other problems associated with current card printing systems
include the inability to include semi-structured customization,
advertisements and messages (e.g, handwritten information, pictures
taken on site, captured pictures personalized with
hand-writing-like embellishments and other text etc.); and, the
inability to provide inputs about friends and target audiences at
the point of sale in order to produce custom cards for each.
[0051] This disclosure provides targeted, creative printed material
(e.g. greeting card) at a point of sale at a price subsidized more
than other comparable printed material. In particular, addressed is
the case of a greeting or an event card at a card-like store where
a customized and targeted greeting card is made cheaper relative to
other cards there. While on-demand cards with personal effects and
seemingly hand-written notes on them can be expensive to produce
on-demand, involving both printing equipment and creative software,
included herein are targeted event-centric coupons or
communications that help the receiver of the card avail of
discounts. The targeted communications or coupons are also created
in-situ through a closed loop targeting engine operating from the
cloud. The provider of the coupons offers payments to the targeting
engine that is shared with the greeting card printer and the
greeting card purchaser. The communications printed have other
tracking mechanisms so that users of the coupons or the person
receiving the card can track usage. Usage information is shared
with marketing agencies to provide revenue for the targeting
engine.
[0052] As previously discussed, at a physical point of sale, there
are limited ways to dynamically control subsidization of a creative
artifact, especially paper-based goods such as greeting card.
Real-world hyper-local domains (e.g. malls, stores etc.) cannot
produce targeted material at point of sale at a price lower than
the pre-printed material there.
[0053] One other subsidization includes that of the postage charges
that can be decreased for the end-user by mailing from a location
proximal to the recipient. The produced artifact can be mailed from
a local mailing service closer to the point of contact rather than
the point of sale. This makes tremendous sense especially if the
recipients are located all over the globe. Though the artifact is
created at the point of sale, some of it may be digitally
transmitted and printed by a special purpose mailing service. The
mailing service could also be a production print-shop which
automates some of the off-shore mail production and delivery.
[0054] At a point of sale (POS) such as a card-like store or mall,
producing creative greeting cards and artifacts is difficult for
the average user. From a B2B (Business to Business) sense, scaling
to volumes in an entire franchisee network is even more
difficult--as personalized material and advertisements need to be
created on demand at the POS with a lot size of one in most cases.
Even if personalization is feasible, it is costlier than the
preprinted material already stocked there for the consumer i.e. a
second complication that affects business viability. Even for a
large greeting card company, the process of making it on-site at
the point of sale involves costly printers, software and a length
of time before becoming profitable. In this disclosure, provided is
a method to subsidize this printing process at the point of sale
and reduce the break-even period of the service provider by
coupling targeted communications (including advertisements) with
personalized printed material.
[0055] Notably, currently sending targeted advertisements and
personalized communications to an arbitrary machine is not done.
Interaction mechanisms for personalization at remote devices are
limited and the subsidization mechanisms available are not
dynamic.
[0056] A nonexclusive list of motivations for the disclosed
embodiments include the following:
[0057] (a) Current creative products/approaches are not scalable at
a POS: It is difficult/hard to produce personalized (greeting card)
material at scale & professional quality at a point of sale
(i.e., personalized cards with hard-written notes, pictures or
drawings still have appeal.)--the volume coming from a large
geographic area--such as the entire franchisee network of a large
card store chain.
[0058] (b) Reducing the price: Most people are willing pay more for
customized cards than they will spend on a preprinted card. The
proposition is to make the customized card less expensive.
[0059] (c) POS advantage: Customized cards can carry pictures that
are submitted or taken on the spot or at the point of sale. The
fact that customer is already at a POS (e.g. mall) can be leveraged
to market additional artifacts.
[0060] (d) MFD features: Messages can be custom and seemingly
handwritten as well. MFDs and scan-in can facilitate some of
this.
[0061] (e) Take advantage of personalized images by adding these
images to graphics and pictures.
[0062] (f) Inventory: A shop owner can carry less static inventory.
Pre-printed cards can result in the necessity for large inventory
and real-estate.
[0063] All-in-all the value proposition and customer experience can
be greater within the disclosed POS systems/methods than
traditional greeting cards. While people have focused on
personalizing and charging more, real-time subsidization schemes
for point-of-sale event merchandise has not been a focus.
[0064] Through a revenue sharing scheme between the store, user and
advertisement aggregator, more usage can be driven and a faster
return on investment can be facilitated (specifically with money
being transferred to the store).
Exemplary Embodiments Relating to Controlling POS Advertising in a
Hyper-Local Domain:
[0065] (a) Producing and subsidizing point of sale printed material
with activity-driven targeting.
[0066] (b) Leveraging event and activity-oriented targeting &
group (e.g. invitees to a party; a couple) plans/interactions.
[0067] (c) Attracting and providing a cross-media experience and
elicit feedback from a group and its activity (email, portal, evite
collaboration site) by controlling the targeting as an extension to
POS purchase and confirmation of coupon/ad use.
[0068] (d) Extracting meta-data from such activities and selling to
a marketer.
[0069] (e) (Semi-structured inputs) Method for an individual person
to run a marketing campaign using hand-drawn or semi-structured
inputs and dynamically retrieving and printing them on paper
depending on meta-data.
[0070] (f) Method to track and provide feedback and/or monetary
incentives for handing off personalized paper-based printed
artifacts and using the results of the tracking to place
advertisements/messages optimally in another region or time.
System and Methodology
[0071] According to one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure,
the customer interacts with just one mobile device (or elements of
kiosk on occasion). The personalization, targeting and delivery are
centrally controlled and the artifact is delivered to the consumer
near his current location (mall, card store etc.). In another
exemplary embodiment, some consumers (i.e. the recipients of the
artifact) are located farther away. For these consumers, the
artifact is digitally transmitted and produced (and mailed) at a
proximal location.
Step 0.
[0072] Consumer is interested in getting a card for personal event
and/or a number of them for a group event. The card requires deep
customization and the consumer expects some subsidization if
willing to accept coupons. Coupons will subsidize the activity
around the event. (party supplies, couple vacation, clothes
etc.)
Step 1.
[0073] Consumer enters details (for example, name, sex, keywords,
wording, location and date/time are sensed, artifact of interest
etc.) from mobile device. Alternatively, in another embodiment it
can be from a kiosk. Some of these details can be available as part
of an iPhone app and the registration that goes along with it.
Also, other details such as context, interests and preferences can
be pre-collected in other ways.
Step 2.
[0074] The central server uses one of the available templates and
starts to produce a personalized artifact i.e., customized
material, on a central server. This includes a personalized card as
well as some personalization pieces that will be part of the coupon
itself.
Step 3.
[0075] A script within the central server passes the context for
generating targeted advertisements to a Targeted Ads Server.
Targeted Ads will be generated as explained in detail below for the
specific activity-driven purpose. A web-service routine to space
getCoupons (context), for example, is called to activate the
backend. The context can be a combination of name, sex, place,
date/time, event and Keywords. The required output format can also
be requested.
Step 4.
[0076] The targeted ads server sends the information and session
information back to a mobile print server. The mobile print server
rips the artifact and ads, identifies the POS, and sends the
information to the POS at the location/store of the user. A
categorized coupon page is printed (or individually emailed). One
example is shown in FIG. 3. The print-server can also store the
information for subsequent use at a location different than the
consumer's current location.
[0077] With reference to FIG. 1, shown is a schematic of an
exemplary system for providing customized printed material and
targeted advertising material according to this disclosure. The
system includes a mobile device 10, a host server 12, a mobile
print server 14, a targeted Ads server 16, a printing device 18 and
an internet cloud which operatively connects the devices.
[0078] With reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B, illustrated are screen
shots associated with the mobile device including an initial start
page 20, a card type selection page 22, a vacation cards page 24
subcategory, a vacation card composition page 26 and a settings
page 28.
[0079] FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate two exemplary embodiments to
provide the system of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. FIG. 4 is a Kiosk system 50
including a MFD 58 and a GUI 60. FIG. 5 includes a mobile device
configuration including a mobile device 56 and a MFD 54.
Interconnected (Print/Computational/Mobile) Infrastructure in
Hyper-Local Domain (Mall or Card-Like Store):
[0080] (1) A cloud inter-connected collection of deployed
print/scan/image captures devices, for example, in kiosk format as
illustrated in FIG. 4, that are connected to a server that can
remotely respond to a keyword or image "context".
[0081] (2) Capability through smart phone or e-reader to provide
contextual information. The context can be semi-structured and can
be algorithmically assigned to relevant portions of a template.
[0082] The result is a printed ad, a set of ads/coupons arranged by
category as shown in FIG. 3. Alternatively they can be directions,
maps, information, news feeds, etc. Inputs can be supplied from
anywhere and outputs can be printed anywhere on devices near the
POS. Of particular importance is the installation of this
interconnected infrastructure in a hyper-local domain viz. malls,
airports, bus-stations, groceries, stores etc because of the
proximity of the customer to other stores. The proximity of other
stores (and by extension other hyper-local domains) increases the
value of the results provided to the user.
Mobile-Device/Query in Hyper-Local Domain
[0083] With reference to FIG. 5, according to one exemplary
embodiment, a query is submitted via a mobile device before
reaching a destination, for example, the mall or hallmark
store.
[0084] This exemplary embodiment satisfies a need for a search for
finding goods, services, directions or other news items of
interest.
[0085] Upon such input from a mobile device the print output can be
generated to a candidate set of pick-up locations. Optionally,
these coupons may take an e-form--sent via email or text/MMS to the
user for "green" scenarios.
[0086] Notably, there is no need to scan coupon by coupon (i.e.
individually). The entire page can be scanned in one go. This is
the option where a personalized list of coupons are scanned in one
pass.
[0087] Any known interface can be used to facilitate the
search--GUI (Graphical User Interface), search kiosk, mobile phone,
hand-written search, marking/scanning things of interest, email
from phone, scans from phone screen, etc. After submitting to the
system, the system prints a list of available services, goods or
messages pertinent to the search. It also prints a detailed map to
get to the locations requested along with status of the different
vendors in a mall or airport within the hyper-local domain. The
search is typically restricted to the hyper-local domain but is
more detailed--personalized menus, deals relevant to the customer,
current restrictions in the domain, operational changes, news,
shopping comparisons, etc.
Expected Consumer Action with the Printed Artifact and Event
Correlations:
[0088] The printed artifact and the targeted coupons are correlated
to the event or activity. For example, a birthday party,
anniversary, graduation party etc.
[0089] The targeted ads are customized to the entire group as
opposed to one person.
[0090] The consumer (either individual or member of the group) is
expected to hand-over the printed artifact when demanded by service
providers or shop-keepers to show proof of their involvement with
the event.
[0091] Through a bar-code, DataGlyphs (a Xerox Trademark) or QR
(Quick Response) code on a section of the printed artifact to
enable scanning, etc., the loop may be closed from the entire
event: searching->party planning->artifact printing->usage
by individual people->determination of interests etc.
Participating shop owners or service provider can provide some
incentive or discounts upon the production of that coupon.
Tracking Consumer Action with Precision:
[0092] Marketing information provided back to the advertiser that
are granular and progress tracking--such as which stage within an
event a planner is. Notably, an event can be a series of actions
such as searching from a device->party planning->artifact
printing->usage by individual people/scan back at
POS->determination of interests->feedback
recommendations.
Nature of Visit to the Hyper-Local Domain:
[0093] (a) Normally with mobile phones it is impossible to say
within a shop as to what the nature of visit is. With customized
coupons that get handed in, granular information on the interest
level can be recorded; for example one can delineate between the
browsing consumer; a consumer enquiring about a product, consumers
talking to a representatives, consumers that are buying a product,
consumers using a coupon that was dispensed to another person, and
consumers spending a lot of time in the hyper-local domain
(interest validation/strengthening).
[0094] (b) If the visit resulted in a transaction (e.g. using a
coupon from the card at a gift store within the same hyper-local
domain or another hyper-local domain)
[0095] (c) If more information was gathered from store-owners etc.
(e.g. feedback on interest categories the user in interested in for
future, satisfaction survey on receipt etc.).
[0096] Such information, such as (a), (b) and (c) is valuable from
a marketing standpoint. The shop-person performs a simple "ticket
checking"-like operation and subsequently provides input to the
system. MFDs can act as an on-ramp for incoming feedback from the
consumer. For example, at the location where the coupon is
used.
Targeting Method
Card-Like Case
Step 1: Known/Supplied Attributes:
[0097] Known are the user's identity, the location (latitude and
longitude), the date/time, sex, past coupons, keywords and interest
categories. In part, an application that is running on the user's
device can be utilized to retrieve the aforementioned
information.
Step 2: Event Correlations:
[0098] Further known are the event--birthday, party, anniversary
and something that the event might generally be associated with, as
is shown in FIG. 6. These event correlations are mined and stored
as a context graph. FIG. 6 is a snapshot of a context graph from
one exemplary system. A context graph stores associations between
sets of keywords and captures a chain or sub-graph of events. A
chain or sub-graph of events from the context graph is more
amenable to targeting purposes even though individual keywords may
appear uncorrelated. The context graph in FIG. 6 is for the entire
population. However, the context graph can be structured to be
dedicated for a single user, event type or locality. It can be used
for both keywords and meta-data about events. The degree
distribution, which describes the hubs and spokes in the graph
helps to understand the correlated events as well as enable
efficient searching. For example, see search High Degree Graphs by
T. Walsh, Proceedings of the ACM IJCAI, 2001.
Step 3: Retrieving Relevant Event Correlations:
[0099] From the known attributes and the event correlations from
the context graph a collection of associated event meta-data and
keyword associations is extracted. Extracted meta-data may have a
high probability of occurring in the system. Through the graph it
can be quantified how much one piece of meta-data is further along
than the other--e.g. using the measure hop-distance relative to the
diameter of the graph. From the event correlations and other
meta-data, the relevance of past history versus current information
can be ranked. For example, the data from proximal devices that are
related to the user (e.g. such as those devices that were
frequented by the user in the past), temporal patterns etc.
[0100] FIG. 7 shows a determination of the relative importance of
current context, historical context, users that are known to or
like the current user; spatio-temporal patterns and the adjacency
of other devices that the user has frequented.
Step 4: Subsidization:
[0101] After relevant meta-data has been identified, it is sent to
a monetization engine. The monetization engine retrieves coupons,
text ads and other ads that have been stored in the past, (i.e.
cached ads either in the past or for the same user. For each of the
ads printed and subsequently used at an alternate vendor, a credit
is posted to the user's account. For example, this can be to the
smart-phone account from which the process was started. Other known
mechanisms are also applicable. For example, credit card, phone,
check, giving a credit based on average coupon use by user or
entire population, loyalty points, reward points etc. Regardless of
the manner, the amount of subsidization may vary from person to
person and depend on the ads available. However, it is expected to
be lesser or equal to the standard price of the personalized
card.
Step 5: Coupon Usage Tracking:
[0102] Since the amount of subsidization (for the next iteration)
is dependent of usage of the dispensed advertisements or coupons,
the coupons are tracked at participating vendors using standard
bar-code readers and image processing. The usage is correlated to
the card purchase and stored for providing credit to the user that
initiated the process. Other sorts of known tracking such as XMPie
Response URL, Persistent URLs, event portals may also aid activity
tracking. Generalized workflow
Generalized Workflow
[0103] While the above described method and system pertains to the
coupon and advertisement mechanism, the method and system described
can be applied to other transactions involving subsidization in a
hyper-local domain as shown in FIG. 8, including steps 80, 82, 84,
86, 88, 90 and 92.
[0104] FIG. 9 depicts an overall system according to an exemplary
embodiment within the hyper-local domain that can be utilized for
other forms of communication such as customized routes within a
mall. These other forms of communication can themselves be of
monetary value as it takes customers to certain regions of the
mall.
[0105] The system includes a hyper-local domain 106, consumers 104,
advertisers 102, a campaign broker 100, a placement module 108, a
click-through module 110, campaign analytics 112, payment
authorization 114 and incentive transfer 116.
Examples of an Advertiser Campaign (Several Forms of Targeted
Communication)
[0106] Show a categorized list of coupons or ads.
[0107] Showing cached ads->ads stored within the hyper-local
domain.
[0108] Showing information that relates only to the mall, store or
hyper-local domain.
Examples of Materials that are Printed or Shown on Mobile Phone
[0109] While the main purpose of visiting the hyperlocal domain may
be the POS purchase at a card-like store, other materials can
provide marketing opportunities. The range of materials printed can
cater to both first-time and regular users of the hyper-local
domain. A list of examples is provided below. [0110] Notably, the
charge for printing is often free. [0111] Sale details for the
hyper-local domain; [0112] Comparison shopping of all the deals;
[0113] Personalized Menus (e.g. only chicken dinners in the
hyper-local domain across vendors); [0114] Public service messages
for the hearing impaired; [0115] Public news announcements; [0116]
Personalized News (only categories of interest to the user or those
that draw consumers to the hyper-local domain such as fashion
news); [0117] Personalized Routes (a personalized shopping path to
all the shoe shops); [0118] Perforations--to give show-owners as
"crumbs" of tracking in return for discounts; [0119] Identifying
information--login name, barcodes, QR code, color codes,
dataglyphs; [0120] Coded information that advertisers put--item
codes etc.; [0121] General reading material; [0122] Local weather;
[0123] Pictures and XMPie ulmage personalized images (e.g. keepsake
articles).
Usage of Statistics Collected & Inferences/Analytics Thereof
(Fringe Statistics)
[0124] In addition to direct subsidization, the use of printed
artifacts or inputs from mobile devices can themselves have a value
because of their user tracking potential. This can be revenue that
is used in the subsidization of POS artifact.
EXAMPLE 1
[0125] An example of searched items (on mobile or kiosk) and the
relative popularity. These values can be used to place coupons/ads
on the printed artifact in a preferential manner (top vs bottom).
Searched items can be within the card-like shop. Searched values
reveal intent of the user. FIG. 10 illustrates relative trends in a
hyper-local domain across vendors or stores.
EXAMPLE 2
[0126] From the "ticket" that is collected by one or more
shop-keepers, statistics such as those below can have value for
marketing professionals. [0127] Time spent at the
mall/shop/station; [0128] Purpose of visit; [0129] Kind of
interactions at the store-input from the shop-person goes into the
same system as explained earlier; [0130] Time spent at the
store--with or without buying a good; [0131] Items purchased;
[0132] Printing location; and, [0133] Trajectories or paths taken
to the end-point (giving information on which other points of sale
are of interest to the user).
[0134] With reference to FIGS. 11-19, illustrated is another
exemplary embodiment of this disclosure including an iPhone
application.
[0135] It will be appreciated that variants of the above-disclosed
and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be
combined into many other different systems or applications. Various
presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications,
variations or improvements therein may be subsequently made by
those skilled in the art which are also intended to be encompassed
by the following claims.
* * * * *
References