Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02238583 1998-OS-25
Title: SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING AN INTERACTIVE RESPONSE TO
DIRECT MAIL
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the field of direct marketing, and in
particular, to direct mail advertising.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The recent explosion in the popularity of the Internet has provided
tremendous potential for marketing goods and services. However, for
most small to mid-sized companies, advertising their wares and services
through a web-site on the Internet has not proven to be very effective.
One of the difficulties with advertising on the Internet is directing
consumers to visit a particular web-site. The overabundance of web-site
locations has created an information overload for many consumers.
Much of the content available on the Internet is too generalized. As a
result, consumers are often required to spend hours querying search
engines to locate relevant information, often with limited success.
Furthermore, even when consumers access a particular web-site, the web-
site provider is unable to obtain any useful specific information about the
consumer other than the Internet protocol (IP) address of the consumer's
computer, unless the consumer fills in and submits electronic forms
provided by the web-site.
Electronic mail ("e-mail") is one possible solution for advertisers.
Despite its allure, however, promotional e-mail is still frowned upon, and
at present its content is generally limited to unformatted text without
graphics. The sender is not even able to determine the font of the e-mail
message. Additionally, targeted e-mail lists are not yet available for
advertisers.
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At present, a significant amount of advertising is conducted
through direct mail. Some of the benefits of direct mail are that it is
highly targeted, generally accepted or even welcomed, it provides
tremendous creative flexibility for the advertiser, and it has a proven
record of generating results.
Direct mail advertising typically involves the rental of one or more
direct mailing lists from a list broker. Usually, lists are made available for
one-time use only. Further mailings to the same list or lists of individuals
are prohibited without additional payments. In order to ensure that the
names purchased are in fact only used once, the list is usually provided to
a third party direct mail service bureau (also referred to as a data house or
a
data processing service bureau) which processes the data. Although the
direct mail service bureau sometimes prints and addresses the direct mail
pieces, and prepares them for mailing or delivery, often these steps are
performed by a separate organization referred to as a letter shop. Names
and addresses of individuals who respond to the direct mailing are
considered to be the non-exclusive property of the list renter, and can be
used repeatedly without further payment obligations. Phone calls, orders,
and responding mail are considered to be acceptable responses, thereby
triggering title of the correlated data to become the non-exclusive property
of the list renter. Sometimes, the direct mail service bureau will also
provide a telephone answering service for the list renter. Under standard
arrangements, the direct mail service bureau is permitted to release to the
list renter the names and addresses of those individuals who respond to
the direct mail advertisement by calling the answering service.
However, conventional direct mail has certain limitations. A one
percent (1%) response rate is considered a success, while a five to ten
percent (5-10%) response rate is exceptional. Therefore, ninety to ninety-
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nine percent (90-99%) of the direct mailing never generates a response.
The largest single cost component of any campaign, other than postage, is
often list rental. If only a small percentage of recipients respond to a
direct
mailing, the advertiser will have no right to re-mail the bulk of the
individuals on the list without paying additional list rental fees. Direct
mail also lacks the instant gratification and feedback of on-line
interactivity.
While the Internet is capable of providing instant, interactive
information, it has not historically been able to provide the personalized
one-to-one communication provided by direct mail, unless an individual
identifies himself or herself during interaction with an advertiser's web
page.
There is accordingly a need for methods and apparatus which make
it easier and more attractive for recipients to respond to direct mail.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed towards a system for providing an
interactive response to direct marketing programs, which involve the
creation of a personalized computer web page or like computer user
interface accessible by each recipient of the direct mail.
In one aspect, the invention comprises a system for creating a
personalized computer user interface for a communications network, such
as the Internet, in connection with a direct marketing program,
comprising a recipient database which stores a plurality of recipient data
records containing recipient addressing information and a unique
personal identification code for each of the recipients, means for providing
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each of the recipients with an electronic return address, such as a uniform
(universal) resource locator ("URL"), containing the unique personal
identification code, and a computer server means for serving a plurality of
remote computers operationally coupled to the communications network.
The computer server means includes access means for providing a
recipient with access to the web server computer by entering the electronic
return address provided to the recipient into a web browser on a remote
computer. Retrieval means operationally coupled to the computer server
means then retrieves recipient data from the recipient database correlated
to the personal identification code contained in the electronic return
address. User interface creation means coupled to the retrieval means and
the recipient database then uses this recipient data to create a unique
interactive web page and communicate it to the remote computer.
In another aspect, the invention comprises a system for providing
an interactive response to a direct mail marketing program. A database
stores recipient data records containing the name, recipient address, and
unique personal identification code for each of the recipients. A mail
generator retrieves recipient data from the database and generates a
multiplicity of direct mail pieces each displaying the name, address, and a
uniform resource locator containing the personal identification code for
one recipient. A web server computer accessible through the Internet and
capable of serving a plurality of web browsers enables a responding
recipient to access the web server computer by entering the uniform
resource locator displayed on the direct mail piece received by the
responding recipient into a web browser on a remote computer. The web
server computer retrieves recipient data from the recipient database
correlated to the personal identification code contained in the uniform
resource locator and uses this recipient data to create a unique interactive
web page, and download the web page to responding recipient's web
browser.
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In a preferred embodiment, the system also generates a respondent
database containing the recipient data record for each responding recipient.
The system also preferably is capable of detecting unauthorized attempts to
generate personalized web pages by detecting an invalid personal
identification code which does not match any of the personal
identification codes stored in the recipient database.
The present invention is also directed toward a method for
increasing response to direct marketing, comprising the steps of:
(a) creating a recipient database containing a plurality of recipient data
records each comprising a name, an address and a unique personal
identification code;
(b) providing each of a plurality of recipients with a uniform resource
locator containing one of the unique personal identification codes;
(c) providing an Internet communication link between a web server
computer and a plurality of remote computers having web browsers
accessible by recipients;
(d) receiving the uniform resource locator entered by a responding
recipient into the web browser of a remote computer;
(e) extracting the personal identification code contained in the uniform
resource locator;
(f) retrieving recipient data from the recipient database correlated to
the personal identification code; and
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(g) generating a personalized web page based on the recipient data
accessible by the web browser of the responding recipient.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention will now be described, by way of example
only, with reference to the following drawings, in which like reference
numerals refer to like parts and in which:
Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the components of the subject
invention;
Figure 2 is an overhead view of one possible example of a direct
mail piece generated in accordance with the subject invention;
Figure 3 is an overhead view of one possible example of a
personalized web page generated in accordance with the subject invention,
and correlated to the direct mail piece shown in Figure 2; and
Figure 4A - 4E together comprise a flow chart showing the method
used by the subject apparatus to generate pieces of direct mail and
correlated personalized web pages.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to Figure 1, illustrated therein is an interactive direct mail
response system shown generally as 10 made in accordance with a
preferred embodiment of the subject invention. Interactive direct mail
response system 10 comprises a recipient database 12, mail generator 14,
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and web server computer 16 operationally connected through the Internet
18 to a remote computer 20 accessible by a recipient of direct mail.
Recipient database 12 stores recipient data records 22 containing
recipient addressing information, such as the recipient's name and address
and a unique personal identification code for each intended direct mail
recipient. Typically the recipient data contained in the recipient data
records 22 is obtained from a mailing list broker and entered into the
recipient database 12. The recipient database 12 may also include
demographic and tracking information for each recipient.
Mail generator 14, typically located in a lettershop, is electronically
coupled to recipient database 12 so as to be capable of retrieving the
recipient data for each intended direct mail recipient. Preferably, mail
generator 14 comprises a computer system 24 including a printer 25 for
printing direct mail pieces 26 displaying thereon the name, address and
uniform resource locator containing a unique personal identification code,
for each intended recipient. (A uniform resource locator defines an
electronic path to a resource, such as a file, program, directory, or web-
site,
on the Internet.) Mail generator 14 also typically addresses and prepares
direct mail pieces 26 for mailing through a postal system 28, which
delivers mail pieces 26 to a plurality of locations 29, typically the home or
office of each recipient.
Web server computer 16 is electronically coupled to recipient
database 12 to enable web server computer 16 to retrieve the recipient data
for each direct mail recipient. Web server computer 16 is also
operationally connected to the Internet 18 or an equivalent
communications network and comprises access software 32 for enabling
remote computer 20 as operated by a direct mail recipient at location 29 to
access the web server computer 16. Every computer accessing the Internet
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possesses a unique Internet protocol address which identifies the computer
and indicates the electronic pathway by which a computer has gained
access to the Internet. Access software 32 determines the Internet protocol
address of the remote computer 20.
Web browser 34, typically in the form of software resident on
remote computer 20, enables responding recipient at location 29 to
communicate with web server computer 16 through the Internet 18.
Responding recipient enters the uniform resource locator containing the
unique personal identification code displayed on the direct mail piece 26
received by the responding recipient, into the web browser 34.
Unauthorized access detector 36 determines whether the personal
identification code matches one of the personal identification codes stored
in the recipient database 12. Time tracker 38 determines the time at which
an attempt is made to access the web server computer 16. Web page creator
40 generates a personalized web page based on data correlated to the
personal identification code of the responding recipient. Typically web
page creator 40 will access a pre-developed and stored web page and merge
it with data retrieved from the recipient database 12.
Web server computer 16 also includes means for generating a
respondent database 42 containing respondent data records 44 which
duplicate the data stored in the recipient data records 22 for each
responding recipient. Preferably, the respondent data records 44 will also
contain data correlated to the number of visits the responding recipient
has made to the web page, as well as the time of each visit. Additionally,
web server computer 16 preferably includes means for generating an
unauthorized access attempts database 46 which stores unauthorized access
attempts data records 48 correlated to the Internet protocol address of each
remote computer 20 which has entered a non-matching, and therefore
invalid, personal identification code, in addition to the number of, and
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time of each access attempt in which an invalid personal identification
code was contained within an entered uniform resource locator.
As shown in Figure 2, direct mail piece 26 displays information
correlated to the data of one data record 22 stored in recipient database 12.
The recipient's name 50 and address 52 are displayed, as is the uniform
resource locator 54, of which the last series of characters comprises the
unique personal identification code 56. It is this uniform resource locator
54 which is entered by the responding recipient into web browser 34 to
access the web server computer 16 which generates a personalized web
page (as shown in Figure 3).
Figure 3 displays a web page 60 generated by the web page creation
means 40 of the web server computer 16, when the uniform resource
locator 54 (as displayed in Figure 2) is entered into web browser 34.
Typically, web page 60 will be linked to additional web pages containing
more information. Web page 60 may be similar to a standard form letter
into which certain pieces of data, such as the responding recipient's name
62, have been inserted through known merging techniques, and yet will
often include the interactive elements such as forms to fill in and options
to select that standard web pages offer. However, more elaborate web page
creation programs may be devised for generating even more unique web
pages 60.
Web page creation means 40 is preferably a common gateway
interface (CGI) script program or application program interface (API)
which produces dynamic web pages, using hypertext markup language
(HTML), generated through commonly known techniques. Unlike a static
web page which is written once, stored as a data file at a location accessible
by the web server computer, and delivered unchanged when the page's
URL has been requested, a dynamic page is delivered by a CGI script
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program which creates the page as required. The content of a dynamic
page can vary, depending upon the time that it is requested, current
conditions at the web server computer site or data supplied by the user in a
web-form that then calls the CGI script to action it. CGI defines how
information should be passed between a browser and a web server, and
how the server can then deliver content back again as a result of this
interaction. CGI scripts can be written in almost any programming
language.
Typically, web server 16 computer will be configured with one (or
more) of its directories being designated as a CGI script directory. When
web server computer 16 receives a request for a URL in a CGI directory, it
assumes that it is a CGI script program that must be executed, rather than
an HTML document that should simply be served back to the browser. A
typical URL might look something like:
www.abc.com/myproject/mypage.htm. Entering this URL into a web
browser would trigger a request for the document mypage.htm in the
directory myproject on the web server computer www.abc.com.
However, in web server computer 16 of the current invention, the
root or main directory is configured to be a CGI script directory so that a
URL request for www.abc.com/myproject/123-456-789-246 would actually
execute the CGI script myproject on the web server computer 16 identified
as www.abc.com. The CGI script myproject then examines the remaining
path information which contains: /123-456-789-246 . Removing the
leading forward slash reveals the unique personal identification code 56.
Once determined, the personal identification code 56 can be used to
retrieve the corresponding recipient data from the recipient database 12.
Alternatively, if only a single project is to be served from the domain
www.abc.com, the center element (e.g. myproject) can be implied and
therefore eliminated from the URL. The resulting URL would then read
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www.abc.com/123-456-789-246. Further, it should be realized that the
pincode portion of the URL can consist of any unique value made up of
letters, numbers, or other punctuation provided that it is unique to the
recipient.
Figure 4 illustrates the steps of the method 100 carried out by
apparatus 10 made in accordance with the subject invention. An
advertiser obtains one or more mailing lists from a list broker, which are
sent to a data house, along with any in-house lists and suppression lists
that the advertiser has previously generated (Block 102). The data
contained on the mailing and in-house lists is processed to eliminate
duplicates and to prevent mail from being sent to certain individuals or
addresses on the suppression lists which the advertiser has previously
determined would be inappropriate, to generate a recipient database 12
(Block 104). In a typical direct mailing, the direct mail pieces 26 would
then be printed by merging a pre-prepared form letter with data from the
mailing lists, and the direct mail pieces 26 would be prepared for mailing
and deposited with the post office 28.
In accordance with the method of the present invention, for each
intended recipient in the recipient database 12, a unique personal
identification code is generated and stored in the correlated recipient data
record 22 (Block 106). The direct mail pieces 26 are then printed by
merging a previously prepared form letter with data from the mailing
lists, so that each displays the name, address and uniform resource locator
containing the unique personal identification code of one recipient (Block
108). The direct mail pieces 26 are then prepared for mailing and deposited
with the post office 28 (Block 110). The recipient database is then copied
onto, or otherwise made accessible to, the web server computer 16 (Block
112). In the meantime, the advertiser or service bureau has developed one
or more CGI script programs capable of producing appropriately
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personalized web pages and related web pages or forms on demand (Block
114).
Once properly configured, the web server computer 16 waits for
URL requests from the Internet (Block 116). Once a uniform resource
locator 54 specifying the web server computer's 16 Internet address is
entered into a remote computer's 20 web browser 34, the access software 32
of the web server computer 16 receives the URL request (Block 118).
The access software 32 then determines if the uniform resource
locator 54 contains a valid CGI script program name correlated to one of
the CGI script programs developed in Block 114 (Block 120). If the uniform
resource locator does not contain a valid CGI script program name, the
web page creator 40 optionally generates and submits a new or previously
stored web page to the web browser 34 of the remote computer 20, which
states that access to the web server computer 16 requires a complete URL
(Block 122). The system then returns to the waiting stage of Block 116. If
the uniform resource locator 54 does contains a valid CGI script program
name, then the corresponding CGI script program is run (Block 124).
The access software 32 then accesses the unauthorized access
attempts data 48 stored in the unauthorized access attempts database 46 to
determine if an excessive amount of invalid personal identification codes
have been submitted within a pre-determined period of time (Block 126).
If this test is positive, the web page creator 40 optionally generates and
submits a new or previously stored web page to the web browser 34 of the
remote computer 20, which states that access to the personalized web page
service is temporarily unavailable (Block 128). The system then returns to
the waiting stage of Block 116. If this test is negative, the web server
computer 16 retrieves the Internet protocol address of the remote
computer 20 requesting information (Block 130).
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The access software 32 then accesses the unauthorized access
attempts data records 48 correlated to the Internet protocol address
(retrieved in Block 130) to determine if an excessive amount of invalid
personal identification codes have been submitted within a pre-
determined period of time by the remote computer 20 (Block 132). If this
test is positive, the web page creator 40 optionally generates and submits a
new or previously stored web page to the web browser 34 of the remote
computer 20, which states that access to the personalized web page service
is temporarily unavailable (Block 134). The system then returns to the
waiting stage of Block 116. If this test is negative, the access software 32
extracts the personal identification code 56 from the uniform resource
locator 54 entered into the web browser 34 of the remote computer 20
(Block 136).
The access software 32 then determines whether the personal
identification code has been correctly formatted (Block 138). If this test is
negative, the web page creator 40 optionally generates and submits a new
or previously stored web form to the web browser 34 of the remote
computer 20, which requests that the personal identification code 56 be re-
entered (Block 140). Once a new personal identification code 56 has been
reentered, the system 100 returns to Block 138.
If a correctly formatted personal identification code 56 has been
entered, the access software 32 then checks the recipient data records 22 to
determine if there is a correlated recipient data record 22 containing a
matching personal identification code 56 (Block 142). If no match is found,
the web server computer 16 creates an unauthorized access attempts data
record 48 containing the Internet protocol address of the remote computer
20 (Block 144). The web page creator 40 then submits a new or previously
stored web page stating that the submitted personal identification code
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could not be found and to try again (Block 146). The system 100 then
returns to Block 116.
If a matching personal identification code 56 is located within the
recipient data records 22, the access software 32 searches the located
recipient data record 22 to determine if the recipient data record 22 has
been flagged as a respondent (Block 148). If the recipient data record 22 has
not been flagged as a respondent, this indicates that this is the first time
that the responding recipient has accessed the personalized web page. The
web server computer 16 accordingly preferably flags the relevant recipient
data record 22 as a respondent, copies the correlated recipient data record 22
to the respondent database 42 in conjunction with data correlated to the
time and date of the visit, and adds a pointer in the recipient data record 22
to the corresponding new respondent data record 44 (Block 150). The web
page creator 40 then generates an appropriate personalized first visit web
page 26 (Block 152). A visit counter is created and stored in the new
respondent data record 44, which is set to equal 1 (Block 153).
If the recipient data record 22 is flagged as a respondent, the web
server computer 16 preferably uses the pointer in the recipient data record
22 to find the correlated respondent data record 44 (Block 154). The web
server computer 16 then increments and stores the visit counter in the
respondent data record 44 (Block 156). The web page creator 40 then
generates an appropriate web page (Block 158). Preferably, such a web page
would be different from the web page displayed during the respondent's
last visit.
During the respondent's visit to the personalized web page, the web
server computer 16 may request additional information from the
respondent or allow the respondent to modify the existing respondent
data by inputting information in accordance with the CGI script program.
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This new or modified data is stored in the correlated respondent data
record 44, and is preferably used to affect the web page content in future
visits (Block 160). Finally, upon completion of the respondent's visit to
the personalized web page, output should be generated by the web server
computer 16 to indicate to the advertiser whether any additional follow-up
actions such as e-mail, telephone calls, or mail are warranted (Block 162).
The system 100 then returns to Block 116. It should be understood that the
advertiser may access the data stored in the respondent database 42 at any
time, although the advertiser will probably only do so once a sufficient
number of respondent data records 44 have been generated.
While one aspect of the subject invention has been illustrated and
described as involving direct mail pieces comprising printed materials
assigned postal addresses and sent through standard postal delivery
systems (such as through the post office or by courier), it should be
understood that with simple and obvious modifications, any form of
targeted one-to-one communication may be used in the system or method
of the claimed invention. Accordingly, the direct mail pieces may
comprise electronic data files provided with e-mail addresses and sent by e-
mail. Alternatively, the direct mail pieces may comprise faxes sent by
facsimile transmission to specified phone numbers.
Thus, while what is shown and described herein constitutes
preferred embodiments of the subject invention, it should be understood
that various changes can be made without departing from the subject
invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims.
