Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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ADAPTIVE ADVERTISEMENTS AND ADAPTIVE ADVERTISING
DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to displaying information, such as
advertisements. More
particularly, the invention relates to video display of adaptive advertising
and notices.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Conventional advertising displays are used to provide a marketing message to
an
audience. One such example of an advertising display is a billboard or poster
advertisement.
This advertisement is displayed for a fixed period of time in a defined place.
The rates
charged for the advertisement are most commonly related to the audience
reached by the
advertisement, the length of time that it will be displayed and the location
of the
advertisement. In an effort to share a single advertising space, numerous
different techniques
have been employed to essentially time-share a single advertising location.
Growing in popularity for a number of different advertising locations is the
use of a
video display. Video displays are often found in transit systems, including in
subway cars,
train cars and other transit vehicles, at transit platforms, at bus stops, and
at other mobile and
fixed locations. These displays are often networked to a central control
system, although they
can also be standalone units that are programmed individually. Advertising
content can be
displayed on the screens for timed intervals, and can include motion and
animation as well as
statically displayed images. The displays can effectively provide advertisers
with the ability to
display television style advertisements in public spaces.
The displayed content is typically stored on a storage medium and retrieved
and
displayed according to an advertisement schedule. The retrieval and rendering
of the
advertisement is often done using a conventional processor. The content
displayed by the
display is often static, in the sense that the playback is governed by a
playback list, so that
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over a length of time, the same advertisements are displayed creating a static
loop. This loop
does not vary until updated by an operator.
In conventional transit systems and retail environments, display units are
either static
billboards, or are displays that provide commuters or retail customers with
rudimentary
graphics and text based messages. On some more sophisticated systems, a pre-
recorded (or
pre-scheduled) video feed is looped through displays. This pre-recorded video
feed is another
example of static content, as after being loaded, the video feed defines a
static list of the
content displayed.
In interactive environments, such as the World-Wide Web on the Internet,
advertising
can be tailored to an audience by allowing a remote advertising server to
select
advertisements based on information known about the viewer, typically stored
in or
referenced in a cookie, or on information, such as what a user is searching
for. These
advertisements are then sent to a user's local computer system where they are
rendered onto
the user's display. This provides a degree of adaptability in on-line
advertising that is lacking
in conventional advertising environments, however, information about the local
environment
of the user viewing the advertisement cannot be accounted for when selecting
the
advertisement. Conventional advertising could greatly benefit from the ability
to tailor
advertising to variable factors in the same way that online advertising can be
adapted, while
providing the further ability to include local input values in the decision
process.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a public display system for displaying
advertisements and other notices as a function of variable criteria.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to obviate or mitigate at least one
disadvantage
of previous advertisement and information dissemination systems.
In a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for
displaying
adaptive advertisements. The system comprises a display, a playlist and a
processor. The
playlist stores an adaptive advertisement containing a plurality of playback
scenarios and a
decision engine. The processor receives at least one input value, determines
advertising
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content, for the adaptive advertisement based on evaluation of at least one
input variable
according to a criterion of the decision engine, and renders the determined
advertising content
onto the display.
In embodiments of the present invention, the system further includes a
secondary
display, and one of the display and the secondary display is selected from a
list including a
cathode ray tube display, a liquid crystal display, a plasma display and an
electronic paper
display. The system can also include a transceiver for connecting the
processor to a central
control system, while the processor can include means for receiving a playlist
from the central
control system through the transceiver, which can be a wired or wireless
transceiver.
In a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an adaptive
advertisement. The advertisement comprises a plurality of playback scenarios
and a decision
engine. The decision engine receives a set of input values, selects at least
one playback
scenario in accordance with the received set of input values, and provides as
output,
advertising content determined in accordance with the at least one selected
playback scenario.
In embodiments of the second aspect of the present invention, one of the
playback
scenarios has at least one associated criteria, and the decision engine
includes selection means
for selecting the at least one playback scenario by evaluating the input
values in view of the at
least one associated criteria. In other embodiments, the set of input values
includes at least
one externally measured input value, which is selected from a list including
current weather
conditions, UV ratings, and a current time. In other embodiments, the set of
input values is
selected from a list including a time, a date, a location, a news feed, a
sports score feed, a
stock ticker feed, current weather conditions, forecast weather conditions,
current traffic
conditions and a manual input. The location can be an absolute geographical
location, a
location relative to a specified venue and a location relative to a transit
stop.
In a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of
selecting an
adaptive advertisement. The method comprises evaluating an input value in view
of at least
one criterion; selecting a playback scenario in accordance with the evaluation
of the input
value; and rendering the selected playback scenario to a local display.
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According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a
method of
distributing advertisements to displays comprising: evaluating content
attributes associated
with a plurality of advertisements; evaluating display attributes associated
with a plurality of
displays; correlating said attributes to determine matches between said
content attributes and
display attributes; and distributing advertisements to one or more displays
for play based on
said correlation. According to an embodiment, adaptive advertisements , are so
distributed.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a
system for
distributing advertisements to displays comprising: means for evaluating
content attributes
associated with a plurality of advertisements; means for evaluating display
attributes
associated with a plurality of displays; means for correlating said attributes
to determine
matches between said content attributes and display attributes; and means for
distributing
advertisements to one or more displays for play based on said correlation.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a
computer
program product stored in machine readable medium containing software
instructions, which
when executed by a processor of a system for distributing display
advertisements, causes said
processor to execute the steps of evaluating content attributes associated
with a plurality of
advertisements; evaluating display attributes associated with a plurality of
displays;
correlating said attributes to determine matches between said content
attributes and display
attributes; and distributing advertisements to one or more displays for play
based on said
correlation. According to an embodiment of the invention such a system for
distributing
display advertisements comprised a general purpose computer with a network
connection.
Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparent to
those
ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of
specific embodiments
of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example
only,
with reference to the attached Figures, wherein:
Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a system of the present invention;
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Fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of an adaptive
advertisement of the present invention;
Fig. 3 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of the present invention; and
Fig. 5 is a block diagram of an another embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Generally, the present invention provides a method and system for displaying
adaptive
content such as advertisements through a communication system having a
display. The
communication system can be deployed in any number of areas including public
transit
environments, both on transit vehicles and at platforms, stations, or bus
shelters or in
elevators, and at other locations such as in retail, hospitality and public
environments. The
displays of the adaptive advertising system can be coupled with storage and
processing
facilities and can communicate with a central control system by use of a
standard
communications network, such as the Internet, or suitable alternatives. In one
embodiment, a
private wired and wireless network is employed to connect the displays to the
central control
system to provide for the distribution of advertising content to the displays.
The system can provide advertising content, and other related information to
the
display system using messages that may be formatted using extensible mark-up
language
(XML).
In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous details
are set
forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention.
However, it will
be apparent to one skilled in the art that these specific details are not
required in order to
practice the present invention. In other instances, well-known electrical
structures and circuits
are shown in block diagram form in order not to obscure the present invention.
For example,
specific details are not provided as to whether the embodiments of the
invention described
herein are implemented as a software routine, hardware circuit, firmware, or a
combination
thereof.
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At present, advertisers are required to design a single advertisement for use
on a
display. This advertisement is delivered to a storage array in communication
with the display,
and at fixed intervals, the advertisement is played. To provide variety,
advertisers can create
multiple advertisements and insert each of them into the rotation. This could
allow different
advertising "spots" to target different demographics. However, advertisers are
still, in essence,
constrained by static play lists.
In the present invention, a display is intelligently controlled. The displays
may be
autonomous, or can be centrally controlled. Each display in a network, or a
standalone
display, is programmed to allow a more dynamic advertising environment. In
prior art
systems, a complete video loop is often created and is uploaded to the
display, this loop is
then played. Customizing advertisements for external conditions requires
creating a new
video loop and transferring the video loop to the display. This is not
feasible due to the
workload involved in recreating new video loops (or animations) and
distributing them to
various displays if the number of input variables exceeds a small number.
Whereas prior art advertisements were static elements, the present invention
provides
adaptive advertising. An embodiment of the invention utilizes an adaptive
advertisement
structure which can be viewed as a container having a plurality of playback
scenarios. Inputs
are provided to the adaptive advertisement, and on the basis of the inputs,
the playback
scenarios and advertising content are adaptively adjusted.
Figure 1 illustrates a system of the present invention, where the adaptive
advertising
system 100 has a processor 102 capable of receiving a plurality of inputs.
Processor 102
reads playlist 104, and renders advertisements contained in playlist 104 to
display 106.
Playlist 104 contains at least one adaptive advertisement. When processor 102
receives the
adaptive advertisement, it provides a set of input values to the
advertisement. Processor 102
can provide all the inputs it receives to the advertisement, allowing the
advertisement to
determine which inputs are relevant, or can obtain a list of required inputs
from the
advertisement and then provide only those inputs. Not all the inputs need be
either external or
live. An exemplary embodiment of an adaptive advertisement is presented below
with
reference to Figure 2.
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s
In some embodiments of the adaptive advertising system 100, a transceiver 108
is
employed to connect to a central control system 110. The central control
system 110 includes
a processor 112, an advertising database 114 and a transceiver 116 for
connecting to the
adaptive advertising system transceiver 108. The central control system 110
can provide
system 100 with playlist 104. The illustration of the use of transceivers 108
and 116 to
facilitate communications will be understood to include intermediate nodes
including portable
programming nodes allowing a manual update of the adaptive advertising system
100 using a
direct wired or wireless connection to a portable programming interface.
Figure 2 provides a block diagram of an exemplary adaptive advertisement 120.
The
adaptive advertisement 120 can be embodied in a software or data structure
that includes a
decision engine 122 and a plurality of playback scenarios 124. These playback
scenarios can
be either major or minor changes to an advertisement. An advertisement can be
made
modular, so that it can be rendered against a number of different backgrounds.
In such a case,
the different backgrounds can be selected as different playback scenarios. In
other cases, text
displayed in the advertisement can be made modular, allowing different
messages to be
treated as different scenarios. Other elements in an advertisement, such as
video, animations
and a price point can all be considered as different playback scenarios.
When the adaptive advertisement 120 is executed by processor 102, decision
engine
122 is provided with a set of inputs from processor 102. These inputs are used
by decision
engine 122 to determine the playback scenario or scenarios that are used in
the construction of
the content that will be rendered by processor 102 onto display 106.
Decision engine 122 evaluates the set of inputs in view of at least one
criterion stored
in the decision engine 122. Based on the evaluation of the set of inputs, the
decision engine
122 selects a set of playback scenarios from the scenarios 124 that are
contained in the
adaptive advertisement 120. The inputs used as criteria in determining the
playback scenario
or scenarios used in the construction of the content can include information
obtained from any
number of inputs including attributes for the display: for example the city
that the display is
situated in, the region that the display is situated in, the absolute location
of a display, the
relative location of the display to a position in a transit system, the
relative location (i.e., the
CA 02569165 2006-12-20
proximity) of the display to a profiled amenity or venue (such as a
restaurant, coffee shop,
other such retail establishment, tourist attraction, or other similar
amenities); and external
factors, for example, the time of day, the date, weather information including
both present
and predicted weather conditions and UV measurements, sports scores, stock
market results,
traffic conditions and any of a number of other such external factors.
It may not be possible for processor 102 to obtain real time inputs for each
time an
adaptive advertisement is displayed. As a result, processor 102 can buffer
input values if they
are not readily available, or if they are not available in real-time, so that
it can provide them to
decision engine 122. The inputs can also be manually controlled, so that an
operator can
provide a new price point over a manual input, allowing the adaptive
advertisement to change
an advertised price.
It should be noted that it is possible for the decision engine 120 to
determine that no
playback scenario is selected, allowing the advertisement to be effectively
skipped or pulled
from rotation. Thus, it would be possible to design an adaptive advertisement
that was played
only under certain circumstance, such as an advertisement for tickets to a
playoff game for a
sports team that would only be played if the team had not been eliminated from
the playoffs.
When decision engine 122 determines the playback scenario, and provides
content to
be rendered, the content can be in any one of a number of formats. In a
presently preferred
embodiment, the content is provided as an XML data structure that can contain,
text, video,
and animations. The XML data structure is then rendered by processor 102 onto
display 106.
Processor 102 preferably includes a Macromedia FlashTM rendering engine that
can combine
the animation, text and video into an integrated advertisement. One skilled in
the art will
appreciate that any number of other rendering engines can be used, and that
the invention is in
no way limited to the use of Flashy rendering engines.
In an alternate embodiment, individually created advertising content elements
are
stored in an advertising database with a set of associated criteria. Processor
102 is provided
with a playlist 104, that provides criteria for the selection of content
stored in advertising
database . The processor 102 evaluates the received inputs in view of the
specified criteria,
including the last time that a particular advertisement played, determines the
advertisement to
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select from the advertising database. The selected content is then rendered by
processor 102
onto display 106.
Figure 3 illustrates an embodiment of the present invention for use in a
transit system,
where displays are provided on transit vehicles. In transit systems, the
adaptive advertising
system is often not served by always-on connections to the central control
system. The
following discussion refers to the connection to the network of a system on a
train while in a
station, but is equally applicable to other transit vehicles at various
network connection points.
Station 126 is equipped with advertising database 114, processor 112 and
transceiver
116. Transceiver 122 is used to connect to the advertising system on transit
vehicle 128. The
connection to the unillustrated central control system can be using wireline
and/or wireless
means as are known in the art. The playlist 104 is received at transceiver 108
and can be
stored locally. Transceiver 116 can transmit data stored in advertising
database 114 to
transceiver 108 disposed on transit vehicle 128 when transit vehicle 128 is in
communication
range, as it would be while in station 126. Each transit vehicle 126 can
contain a plurality of
monitors including Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD) 106a and 106b, staggered
along the transit
vehicle to provide good viewing for the users. Secondary e-paper displays 106c
and 106d can
also be used to display ancillary advertising material. Upon transit vehicle
128 arriving at
station 126, transceiver 116 transmits the playlist 104 stored in advertising
database 114 to
transceiver 108. The playlist 104 is then handled by processor 102 as
described above.
Processor 102 can track how an adaptive advertisement 120 was rendered the
last time
that it was played, allowing decision engine 122 to avoid selecting the exact
playback
scenario 124 that was previously played, to give the appearance of a variety
of
advertisements, if so desired. Furthermore, external factors such as the time
of day can be
used by the decision engine 120 to select a playback scenario 124, so that an
advertiser can
have different advertising content shown during a morning and evening commute.
The date
can also be considered a factor. This allows adaptive advertisement 120 to be
preloaded with
an advertising campaign as one of the plurality of playback scenarios, and
decision engine
120 will prevent this campaign from being launched prior to a given date by
use of the present
date as an input criteria used to select the playback scenario 124. The date
can also be used to
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v
allow scenarios 124 to be designed for use around events such as summer long
weekends, and
selected by decision engine 120 to be displayed only during those times, while
other content
is displayed at other times. Regional or city considerations can be taken into
effect in the
advertising selection to, for example, allow a sporting goods store to create
advertising
specific to different sports markets. This can also be tied in with the
progress of a sporting
team based on sports scores or other such external inputs.
The location of the display can also be used to determine the selection of
scenarios for
use in the advertising content, allowing advertisers to create advertisements
that indicate the
presence of a restaurant or other such service for a given location. On mobile
installations,
such as transit vehicles, the location of the display can be obtained using
sensors, such as a
Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver that provides a geographic location
that can be
used as a selection factor for advertising scenarios. Weather forecasts,
including UV ratings,
humidity indices, and extreme weather warnings, can be used to determine a
particular
playback scenario that a store may wish to display, allowing for example a
department store
to advertise umbrellas when the weather calls for rain and sunblock when the
UV rating is
high.
One skilled in the art will readily appreciate that decision engine 120 can
make use of
the inputs provided to it to make any number of other decisions regarding
selection of
playback scenarios. Other inputs that may be used can include, but are not
limited to, security
ratings such as terrorist alerts, Amber alerts and other child safety
warnings, traffic congestion
reports and manual inputs.
The use of an adaptive advertisement 120 having a plurality of playback
scenarios
allows playlist 104 to be preloaded with a number of modular advertising
content elements.
This preloading can be done at fixed intervals and at convenient times, such
as during off
hours in a transit system, or when a vehicle is in a service depot, although
short playlists can
also be transmitted wirelessly to advertising systems in vehicles as they pass
through stations.
Although reference has previously been made to the use of the present
invention on a
transit system, it should be noted that the adaptive advertising system 100
and the adaptive
advertisement 120 can be used in any number of different environments
including retail,
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corporate, warehouse and hospitality environments. It should be noted that
suitable displays
can be located in bus shelters and other outdoor media properties. The
following example
makes reference to the adaptive advertising system 100 of Figure 1 and the
adaptive
advertisement of Figure 2.
An advertising system 100 in a commercial environment is in use during the
hours that
the commercial space is open to the public. It can be connected to central
control system 110
through a wireline link between transceiver 108 and transceiver 116. During
off hours, or
throughout the day, the advertising system 100 is updated to display a new
playlist containing
an adaptive advertisement. One skilled in the art will note that although in
certain
embodiments it may be preferable to perform updates during off hours, systems
of the present
invention can be updated without impeding playback. This playlist is stored on
a local storage
medium (not illustrated). During operational hours, the adaptive advertisement
is read. The
processor 102 executes the instructions in adaptive advertisement 120. Prior
to the content
being rendered onto display 106 the decision engine evaluates the provided set
of inputs to
select a playback scenario defined by criteria in the adaptive advertisement
120. One skilled
in the art will appreciate that a playlist can contain a plurality of adaptive
advertisements, or a
single adaptive advertisement without departing from the scope of the present
invention.
For example, the criteria can include the latest weather conditions and a
forecast. This
information can be live or it can be stored on a local storage medium.
Decision engine 120
can then select a playback scenario according to the current outdoor
temperature. As an
example of this scenario, if the advertiser is a food chain selling hot and
cold beverages, the
content provided by the adaptive advertisement can advertise for cold
beverages on a hot day,
while a hot beverage scenario can be selected on a cold day. Based on the
location of the
display 106, the decision engine can also select a playback scenario that has
a background
map to indicate the closest location of the restaurant.
In addition to current outdoor temperature and present location, the criteria
by which a
scenario can be selected include external factors discussed above such as time
of day, current
date, city, region, previous and current transit station, current and forecast
sky conditions,
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forecast temperature, and also other factors such as custom data updatable by
a client, or the
number of times the advertisement has played in a predetermined time period,
etc.
Adaptive advertisement 120 can include several advanced FlashTM templates that
dynamically build on-screen layouts and manage the playback of scenarios and
content.
These FlashTM templates can be provided to processor 102 as part of the
content output by the
adaptive advertisement 120 for rendering. In a presently preferred embodiment,
the content is
provided as an extensible mark-up language (XML) file that includes
information such as
which graphical components to display on the screen and where they should be
placed in the
layout.
The dynamic content technology of the present invention allows for easy
advertisement scheduling and allows for maximum power and flexibility for
advertisers.
Advertisements can be developed with Flashy or with a combination of FlashTM
and video
overlay and allows advertisers to combine the power of computer programming
with the
traditional visual elements of a television advertisement spot. The present
invention can use
communication systems to access real-time and real-world information in order
to customize
advertisements in accordance with, for example, the time of day and the
location of the
display.
One skilled in the art will appreciate that when processor 102 controls a
plurality of
displays such as display 106a-d, as illustrated in Figure 3, each of the
displays can receive its
own rendered data stream. Furthermore, each of the multiple displays need not
use the same
display technology. For example, in a transit vehicle, a first display can be
a liquid crystal
display (LCD), cathode ray tube (CRT) or a plasma screen display, while
secondary displays
could be electronic-paper displays. The first display would be used to display
motion and
animated advertisements, while the e-paper displays could provide auxiliary
advertising
related to the content on the first display. One skilled in the art will also
appreciate that other
display technology, including but not limited to cathode-ray tubes can also be
used without
departing from the scope of the present invention.
Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of the present invention. In
step 130,
adaptive advertisement 120 is received and executed by processor 102.
Processor 102
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provides a set of input values to decision engine 122 in step 132. Processor
102 can provide
all its input values, or a subset of input values to decision engine 122,
depending on the
implementation of the system and method. These inputs can be obtained in real-
time, or can
be buffered. This allows a mobile adaptive advertising system 100 to obtain
input values
intermittently and store them for later use. Decision engine 122 includes at
least one criterion
for selecting playback scenarios. The provided set of input values is
evaluated in view of at
least one criterion in step 134. On the basis of the evaluation of the input
values, at least one
playback scenario is selected in step 136. The selected playback scenarios are
provided as
output advertising content, preferably after they have been formatted in step
138 in a defined
format, such as an XML data structure. This output advertising content is then
rendered by
processor 102 into display 106 in step 140.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the decision making relating to
determining the content to be displayed at a particular location during a
particular time as
described above includes an evaluation of attributes associated with the
Content, an
evaluation of attributes of the display (e.g. location) and an evaluation of
other factors, such
as time of day, weather and other inputs. Such evaluations can be made either
locally at each
display or station, or centrally, for example by the central control system
110, or by some
combination of the two.
We will now discuss an embodiment of the invention directed to intelligent
content
distribution. According to this embodiment, each display (or possibly group of
displays) is
given a profile which includes a set of one or more attributes. Attributes
include: location and
demographic attributes. For example location attributes can include absolute
location
information (e.g., gps co-ordinates); type of location (e.g., an indication
that the screen is
within a subway car, airport or hotel); or relative location or proximity
information (for
example, located within a specified distance from a specified venue. The
specified venue can
be either a general type and/or specific brand, for example a particular
retailer, service
provider or bank machine , a transit hub/airport, attraction, etc.). Screens
within a building or
on a subway train can be considered a group, and given a common profile.
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Multiple attributes can be assigned to each screen or Group in order to more
precisely
position relevant content.
Of course the content itself must be assigned attributes for ascertaining its
placement
(i.e. assignment for playback on selected displays under particular
circumstances). Therefore
each content segment (advertisement, Public service announcement, or
otherwise) is assigned
placement attributes. Some of these placement attributes are assigned to
content segments
consistent with the way attributes are assigned to screens. In other words the
inputs relate to
attributes based on location; attributes relating to content (e.g.,
advertisements for
establishments, or for services and/or types of goods, possibly available near
a given display
or group of displays, etc); and other external factors (e.g., temperature,
time of day, season,
etc. - for example advertise an ice cream store in a heat wave, nearby
restaurants during
lunch, a nearby florist or gourmet chocolate store on valentines day, etc.) .
In addition, the content is assigned play parameters for determining the
timing and
frequency of playback for a particular campaign. For example, a particular
advertising
campaign may have a parameter defining its playback frequency during a time
period
preceding an event. For example a trailer for an upcoming movie with a large
advertising
budget may have parameters for hourly placements during the week prior to, and
following its
opening. These parameters are then provided with rankings and tolerances to
assist in
determining which of many advertisements are to be displayed across which
displays.
For example, a chain of Ice Cream stores may provide attributes which indicate
the
location of all of their stores, and the situations where they wish particular
ads to be displayed
(e.g. displaying ads on displays near colleges and high schools on hot
afternoons within a
specified distance of one of their stores). Such attributes are then
correlated with display
attributes and external factors to determine suitable matches for displaying
their
advertisements.
A centralized approach can be beneficial for situations where a large number
of
displays are distributed in different locations. In such a centralized
approach, the processor
112 of the central control system 110 would execute a plurality of adaptive
advertisements
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120. It would also evaluate the inputs and correlate the attributes and
external factors to
determine which content to distribute to the various displays.
Embodiments of the invention distribute content to displays for playback based
on a
correlation between the attributes of the Content, attributes of the displays,
and other factors.
The other factors include the input values described above, and can in
addition include:
~ Priority of an advertising client andlor particular content. For example, an
operator can assign high priorities for ad placements for repeat clients or
clients with
large advertising budgets.
~ Demand for particular locations and/or timeslots. For example, there may be
limited or no inventory available on a display or Group of displays as higher
priority
content has already been allocated to available timeslots;
~ The budget allocated for a particular content segment (if it's a paid
content
segment) and the price to be charged.
~ Restrictions to playback. For example, an ad for a hotel chain should not be
played in the lobby of a competing brand's location.
~ The playback duration and desired frequency for a given Content Segment, as
well as the length of time a particular advertising campaign featuring a given
Content
Segment is expected to last. For example a client may pay for an advertising
campaign featuring a 20 second advertisement for a one time concert to be
played
daily for the month prior to the concert, then hourly for the week preceding
the day of
the concert, at which point the campaign will end.
For example, embodiments of the invention may not distribute particular
content to
displays with a strong correlation based on the following factors:
~ Insufficient budget to pay for the Content Slot (e.g., the budget would
have been exhausted within 3 hours if distributed to the all displays with
high
correlations , and the purchaser has requested a 5 week campaign);
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~ a time slot on a display which matches the criteria specified by the
advertiser is too expensive due to a premium charged for high traffic areas
and/or times.
Embodiments of the invention can provide a play forecast for a content
segment/advertiser based on the characteristics of the advertiser, and content
segment
attributes that are entered into the system. The advertiser is able to review
the play forecast,
and enable the advertiser to make additional customizations and changes. For
example,
responsive after the play forecast is generated, the placement attributes can
be modified and
then another play forecast is generated for customer review. This is a
"Quality Assurance"
process which enables the advertiser to review where their ads will play, for
how long, and
the anticipated audience reach, etc. prior to approving and purchasing a
campaign.
Furthermore, embodiments of the invention can allow an advertiser to purchase
an advertising
campaign online by inputting their preferences/attributes and having the
system
compute/recommend a content distribution scenario automatically. This can
reduce or even
eliminate the need for any human involvement with the purchase process.
One skilled in the art may envision and example whereby an advertiser would
input
their $50,000 budget, select the types of networks (retail, hospitality,
transit, etc.) and then a
duration for the campaign. Further embodiments would allow more specific
information to be
added- for example, a desire for geographic placement 1 km from a location,
and to only play
in urban centres in western North America. With these attributed loaded, as
well as the type
of product (used for product separation) and restrictions the placement
decision engine would
schedule the ad to play on multiple screens on multiple networks. The
placement of these ads
would be reported back for verification to the media buyer. An embodiment of
the invention
could allow further modifying the placement attributes and then generating a
revised play
forecast for customer review. Once the plan is verified, the system books the
ad for play out
and eventual billing.
Embodiments of the invention track the actual display of the content, based on
the
matched attributes, and generate a display report. Such a report can include
such items as:
When the Content played, where it played and how much that play cost
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'
details on exactly how the total budget was allocated
the basis of determining how the content was distributed.
An embodiment of the invention allows a web-based system to allow a client to
log in
to view their particular ad contract, and the results of it's playout. For
example, the client can
see when the ad played, where the ad played, and the associated costs with
that ad play. As
well as giving a user the ability to view how budgeted amount decreases as the
play outs
happen, an embodiment of the invention provides the ability for a media buyer
to 'top up'
their spend in order to alter or prolong a campaign.
At times, an inventory slot may be 'booked' or filled. By inventory slot, we
mean a
place (i.e., a display) and timeslot in which an ad can be played. An
embodiment of the
invention allows a buyer to place a reservation in for an inventory slot in
case it becomes
free again, for example, due to a cancellation or a 'bidding war' ensuing
between rival media
buyers. In some embodiments, particularly when adaptive advertisements are
used, a buyer
may not know they have received a coveted spot until moments before the ad
plays, as real
time criteria can determine which of several possible ads are actually played
out at any given
time.
Email notification can be added to the automated system to let buyers know
when
budgets are exhausted, or are approaching exhaustion. One skilled in the art
can should
appreciate that other factors that can trigger email notifications, including
user defined lists
set by the buyer.
Embodiments of the invention allow clients (e.g., advertisers) to login in
real-time to
see the status of a campaign. Such a client can then request changes or
revision, and can
renew, or allocate more funds to the account online. Conversely embodiments of
the invention
automatically send messages (e.g., Email or SMS, etc.) to advertisers that
their campaign is
running out of funds or otherwise coming to an end.
Embodiments of the invention will also adjust the price of a content segment
for a
given display or group based on supply and demand criteria. This enables the
operator to
charge a premium or offer a discount for certain displays and/or timeslots.
This can be based
on anticipated demand or previous cost data. For example if a transit group
(e.g., a group of
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displays operating on a subway line) is sold out at $ 50 per ad in a first
month, the system will
identify the significant demand for transit group, and therefore increase the
price charged
from $50 to $60 in a subsequent month. Or, if not adjusted automatically,
embodiments of
the invention can provide recommendations and feedback to a system operator.
For example an operator can deploy displays or groups of displays at locations
owned
by third parties. The operator can of course pay a fixed rent charge per
display. Alternatively
One useful feature which can be incorporated according to embodiments of the
invention is a
revenue sharing scheme, whereby the operator and the landlord share the
advertising
revenues. For example a chain of hotels may deploy a display in the lobbies of
its hotels, for
a set share of the advertising revenues. The system will track the revenue
generated in each
hotel (or all of the hotels) and automatically calculate how much revenue each
hotel location
(for example, in the case of a franchisee) or the entire hotel Network is
owed. The system can
also provide the appropriate documentation and evidence to support the revenue
share (based
on the above described audit trail reports). Thus each hotel will receive an
accurate revenue
share and associated report based on the actual dollar amount generated by
that real-estate.
Figure 5 is a block diagram of the system according to an alternative
embodiment of
the invention which includes a centralized decision engine 230 for
distributing adds to remote
displays, for example, display 310 located at Real Estate 1; display 410
located at Real Estate
2; and display 510 located at Real Estate N. It should be noted that a group
of displays may be
located at any given Real Estate location. Each real estate location has an
associated set of
assigned attributes, for example demographics, location, cost per minute of ad
space, etc., as
described above. Thus display 310 has assigned attribute 315; display 410 has
assigned
attribute 415; and similarly display 510 has assigned attribute 515. As
discussed above some
of these attributes may be fixed and some may include data collected from the
real estate
location for example, temperature, as discussed above. These attributes are
then sent to a real
estate database 240. Each ad includes an advertising creative piece 225
containing the media
to be displayed, as well as ad contract attributes 228. Ad contract attributes
can include
content attributes associated with the advertisement as well as other factors.
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The decision engine 230 correlates the attributes of the displays with the ad
contract
attributes and other factors to determine were and when the ads are displayed.
The system also includes a tracking and auditing engine which collects
information as
to which ads were displayed at which locations at which time. In the
embodiment as shown
this information is tracked directly from the real estate locations although
it should be
understood that the information can be collected from the decision engine
directly when Ad X
is sent to Real Estate Y. The tracking and auditing engine provides ad
placement reporting
260, possibly in real time, and billing features 270. Embodiments of the
invention also include
an graphical user interface 280 for allowing a user to view a play forecast or
to view the status
of a campaign as described herein. The graphical user interface 280 also
allows an operator
to enter or view cost or other data.
It should be understood that the system can be implemented on a general
purpose
computer with the different engines and databases representing appropriate
software and data
blocks. Alternatively, a distributing system can be implemented.
Embodiments of the invention may be represented as a software product stored
in a
machine-readable medium (also referred to as a computer-readable medium, a
processor-
readable medium, or a computer usable medium having a computer readable
program code
embodied therein). The machine-readable medium may be any suitable tangible
medium,
including magnetic, optical, or electrical storage medium including a
diskette, compact disk
read only memory (CD-ROM), memory device (volatile or non-volatile), or
similar storage
mechanism. The machine-readable medium may contain various sets of
instructions, code
sequences, configuration information, or other data, which, when executed,
cause a processor
to perform steps in a method according to an embodiment of the invention.
Those of ordinary
skill in the art will appreciate that other instructions and operations
necessary to implement
the described invention may also be stored on the machine-readable medium.
Software
running from the machine readable medium may interface with circuitry to
perform the
described tasks.
The above-described embodiments of the present invention are intended to be
examples only. Alterations, modifications and variations may be effected to
the particular
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CA 02569165 2006-12-20
embodiments by those of skill in the art without departing from the scope of
the invention,
which is defined solely by the claims appended hereto.
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