Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DISTRIBUTING TEXT CONTENT
FOR USE IN ONE OR MORE CREATIVES
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[1] This application is a continuation-in-part of: U.S. Patent Application
Serial No. 12/220,917, entitled "System and Method for Distributing
Content for Use with Entertainment Creatives, filed July 29, 2008; and
claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No.
61/103,720, entitled, "System and Method for Distributing Text Content
For Use In One Or More Creatives," filed October 8, 2008, the
disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein as if set forth
in their entirety.
[2] U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 12/220,917 is: a continuation-in-part
of U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 12/144,194, entitled "System and
Method for Brand Affinity Content Distribution and Optimization", filed
June 23, 2008 is: a continuation-in-part of U.S. Patent Application Serial
No. 11/981,646, entitled "Engine, System and Method for Generation of
Brand Affinity Content", filed October 31, 2007; a continuation-in-part of
U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 11/981,837, entitled "An Advertising
Request And Rules-Based Content Provision Engine, System and
Method", filed October 31, 2007; a continuation-in-part of U.S. Patent
Application Serial No. 12/072,692, entitled "Engine, System and Method
For Generation of Brand Affinity Content, filed February 27, 2008; and a
continuation in part of U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 12/079,769,
entitled "Engine, System and Method for Generation of Brand Affinity
Content," filed March 27, 2008, the disclosures of which are
incorporated by reference herein as if set forth in their entirety.
[3] U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 11/981,837 claims priority to U.S.
Provisional Application Serial No. 60/993,096, entitled "System and
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Method for Rule-Based Generation of Brand Affinity Content," filed
September 7, 2007, and is related to U.S. Patent Application Serial No.
11/981,646, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference
herein as if set forth in their entirety.
[41 U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 12/079,769 is a continuation-in-part
of U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 12/042,913, entitled "Engine,
System and Method for Generation of Brand Affinity Content," filed
March 5, 2008, which is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. Patent
Application Serial No. 12/072,692, the disclosures of which are
incorporated by reference herein as if set forth in their entirety.
[5] U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 12/072,692 is a continuation-in-part
of U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 11/981,646, the disclosure of
which is incorporated by reference herein as if set forth in the entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[61 The present invention is directed to a creative generation engine and,
more particularly, to an engine for generation of asset-related content,
and a method of making and using same.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[71 It is well understood that high impact advertising is that advertising
that
best grabs the attention of a target consumer. A target consumer is the
ideal customer for the particular goods being advertised, from a socio-
economic perspective, from a morals and values perspective, from an
age or interest level perspective, or based on other similar factors.
181 The impact on an ideal customer of any particular advertisement may
be improved if an advertisement includes endorsements, sponsorships,
or affiliations from those persons, entities, or the like from whom the
ideal target consumer is most likely, or highly likely, to seek guidance,
to identify with, and/or to generally empathize with. More specifically, a
customer experiences the greatest impact from advertising, and all
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aspects of entertainment in general, that the customer can best relate
to. Consequently, factors that will typically increase the impact of an
asset for inclusion in any type of creative, be it an advertisement or
entertainment, include the asset's perceived knowledge of particular
goods or in a particular industry of interest to that customer, the fame or
popularity of the asset as perceived by that customer, the respect
typically accorded a particular asset by those similarly situated to that
customer, the identification with the asset by the target customer, and
other similar factors.
[9] Consequently, the highest impact advertising time or block available for
sale will generally be time that is associated, such as both within the
advertisement and within the program with which the advertisement is
associated, with an endorser or entertainment most likely to have high
impact on the ideal target customer. Similarly, the most expensive
entertainment is that which is most likely to have the greatest number of
customers interested in, or identifying with, that entertainment.
However, the existing art makes little use of this reality.
[10] Thus, there exists a need for an engine, system and method that allows
for the obtaining of an asset or assets, such as the provision of
advertisements or entertainment having associated therewith the one or
more assets, in order to generate the aforementioned high-impact
circumstances.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[11] The present invention includes at least a creative composition engine,
system and method. The creative composition engine includes at least
one vault having media assets, wherein the media assets include at
least one avatar and at least one environment for placement of the at
least one avatar, and a receiver for receiving at least one request for a
creative. The request for creative may include a composition request
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for the at least one avatar, and a request for at least one other of the
media assets. The at least one avatar may be a composed creative
responsive to the at least one request for a creative, and wherein the
composed creative further includes the at least one other of the media
assets.
[12] Thus, the present invention provides an engine, system and method
that allows for the obtaining of an asset or assets, such as the provision
of advertisements or entertainment having associated therewith the one
or more assets, in order to generate the aforementioned high-impact
circumstances.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[13] The present invention will be described hereinbelow in conjunction with
the following figures, in which like numerals represent like items, and
wherein:
[14] Figure 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of aspects of the present
invention; and,
[15] Figure 2 illustrates a consumer messaging system according to an
aspect of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[16] It is to be understood that the figures and descriptions of the present
invention have been simplified to illustrate elements that are relevant for
a clear understanding of the present invention, while eliminating, for the
purposes of clarity, many other elements found in typical computing
engines, systems and methods. Those of ordinary skill in the art will
recognize that other elements are desirable and/or required in order to
implement the present invention. However, because such elements are
well known in the art, and because they do not facilitate a better
understanding of the present invention, a discussion of such elements
is not provided herein.
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[17] As used herein, a "creative" is and includes, for example, an
advertisement, a form of entertainment, or the like, and a creative may
preferably be composed, for example, from one or more media assets
of interest to the composer of the creative. The media assets typically
include media assets that are, or are related to, other assets, such as:
snippets of movies or television, or of celebrities in movies or television;
audio, video or stills showing celebrities or sports figures; photos or
video of well known locales, animals, etc.. In the instant invention, the
media assets may be used exclusively to generate the composed
creative, or the media assets may be added to other assets, or placed
with other items in a per-existing template, to generate the composed
creative.
[18] It is generally accepted that a creative having the highest impact on the
desired consumer base includes relationships, endorsements,
sponsorships, or affiliations from or to those persons, entities, things, or
the like to whom the targeted consumers most relate, such as based on
the endorser's knowledge of particular goods or in a particular industry
of interest to the subject consumer, the fame of an entertainment media
asset as understood by the subject consumer, the respect or desirability
typically accorded a particular asset, and other similar factors. For
example, the easiest manner in which to sell advertising time or blocks
of advertising time is to relay to a particular advertiser that the
advertising time purchased by that advertiser will be used in connection
with an audio visual work that has an endorsement therein for that
particular advertiser's brand of goods or services, thus implying that the
advertiser's goods or services are already endorsed by the composer of
the subject audio visual work. As used herein, such a relationship,
endorsement, sponsorship, or affiliation with another asset within a
creative may include an assertion of use of a particular good or service
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by an actor, actress, or subject in the audio visual work, reference to a
need for a particular types of goods or services in the audio visual work,
or an actual endorsement of the use of a product within the audio visual
work, for example.
[19] An allowable relationship, endorsement, sponsorship, or affiliation may
be limited in certain ways, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art.
Such limitations may include: geographic limitations on the use of
particular assets (for example, endorsers are more likely to endorse
locally in various locales rather than nationally endorse, in part because
national endorsements bring a single endorsement fee and generally
preclude the repetitious collection of many smaller fees for many local
endorsements), or limits on the use of certain assets with certain other
assets or limitations on use in particular creatives or industries, such
as wherein a different product, different service, different industry, or
competitive entertainment is or may be endorsed, related, sponsored or
affiliated (such as in a different geographical area) by the same asset
relationship, endorser, sponsor, or affiliate; or limitations on
relationships, endorsements, sponsorships, or affiliations solely to a
particular field(s) or type(s) of product, service or entertainment. For
example, certain media assets may be employed only with regard to
certain offerings, such as wherein certain movie snippets are made
available only to those composers who wish to generate creative
showing their respective avatars in that/those movie snippets.
[20] Further, asset relationships, endorsements, sponsorships, or affiliations
by particular endorsers may be limited to products, brands or products
or services, types of products or services, or the like which are
approved by one or more entities external from, but affiliated with, the
specific endorser. For example, the National Football League may
allow for its players only to endorse certain products, brands of
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products, types of products, or the like, that are also endorsed by the
NFL, or may only allow use of video or audio related to NFL games or
players only in certain circumstances, with certain brands, in certain
advertisements, or in certain product offerings.
[21] More specifically, as used herein, relationships, endorsements,
sponsorships, or affiliations may include: endorsements or
sponsorships, in which an individual or a brand may be used to market
another product or service to improve the marketability of that other
product or service; marketing partnerships, in which short term
relationships between different products or services are employed to
improve the marketing of each respective product or service; brand
affinity, which is built around a long term relationship between different
products or services such that, over time, consumers come to accept
an affinity of one brand based on its typical placement with another
brand in another industry; creative asset relationships, in which two or
more creative assets are, at some point between inception and delivery,
combined to generate a creative that is saleable, marketable, or an
advertisement; and the like.
[22] At present, there is a need for a platform or engine to allow for the
composition of a creative employing one or more assets in any of the
above circumstances, wherein the asset(s) relate to, for example, a
specific individual, a specific entity, an affinity brand, a marketing
partner, a sponsor, a well known media asset, such as a movie or
television show, or the like. In the present invention, a creative engine
10, such as that illustrated in Figure 1, may include a vault 12 that
provides media assets 14 and integration of media assets, in one or
more instances without need of involving the media assets for
permission, a recommendation engine 20 that may, by creative, by
market, by brand affinity, by user request, or otherwise match media
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assets from the vault with a request for a creative 22, and a delivery
engine 26 capable of integrating the requested creative 22 and, the one
or more media asset 14 from the vault 12. The delivery engine may, for
example, be apart From the vault and recommendation engine, either in
control, in software, in location, and the like, and may allow for pre-
binding, binding at request, or late stage binding of the creative 22 and
media asset 16, and delivery of the creative 22 bound with the dynamic
media asset 16 from. the vault to an advertiser, an advertising server, an
entertainment customer/purchaser, or the like. As such, the delivery
engine may generate the mash up of the creative and the media
asset(s), or may receive the mash up for delivery. Creative requests 22
may be made via an "wizard" using templates, as will be apparent to
those skilled in the art.
[23] The vault captures certain media assets, and/or information related
thereto, in a common location, such as a common database, such as,
for example, all major league baseball past and present players,
including statistics, video, and pictures of those players affiliated with
the names of those players, in addition to any endorsement limitations
on those players. The vault may likewise include media assets that
may be associated with audio-visual works. The vault may include
video, audio, photographs, text and text/SMS messages, symbols,
emblems, taglines, pictures, video, press releases, publications, web
links, web links to external content, and media capable of re-purposing
(such as an athlete running in front of a blue screen, wherein the athlete
may be re-purposed by the placement of a background over the blue
screen), and voice.
[24] At least one of the vault and the recommendation engine may also
include one or more rules associated with each of the media assets,
such as exclusions, inclusions, or preferences 50 for the use of the
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media asset or particular items of information associated with the media
asset in the vault. Such inclusions, exclusions, or preferences may
include geographic limitations on certain information items or
endorsements, product limitations, preferred partners or products or
product types for endorsement, preferred or allowed uses, etc.
Exclusions may, of course, be necessary if the requested creative
conflicts with other legalities, such as a pre-existing endorsement
agreement for the requested brand with a competitor, or the like.
[25] Further, media assets in the vault may be marked with different
payment schema 52 based on the requester of the media asset, the
request itself, the creative into which the requested asset will be
incorporated, the requested overall creative including the asset, or the
ultimate use or market for the creative created, for example. For
example, in the event the creative requester is a school, or a student at
a school, and the requested creative is not an advertisement or like
endeavor to sell anything, media assets may be made available for use
for free. Such exceptions may be made, with regard to payment, with
regard to any level of payment variation as between any number of
different user and/or use types, such as non-profit, for-profit, individual,
corporate, in-home, in-business, advertisement, entertainment, and the
like. Additionally, for example, icons of a favorite football player may be
requested by a non-profit individual for at-home use, to be overlayed
over a live football program then on that individual's television, at no
charge, or minimal charge to that individual. Likewise, assets may be
provided to allow a user to create a widget, or like entertainment item,
wherein the user, or a user avatar, is placed into a well-known audio or
video environment, or wherein the user, or the user avatar, is placed
into a video game, or classic video game, for example, and such
situations may allow for a variable charge to be levied on the user
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based on the media asset requested by the user, the use of the ultimate
creative including the requested media asset, the identity of the
requesting party, or the like.
[261 The recommendation engine 20 may assess, based on numerous
factors including external factors, the media assets that are most
sensible, or that are available, for a particular requested creative. For
exarnple, such a recommendation engine may gauge proper matches
by assessing inclusion and exclusion rules based on the
aforementioned factors in the vault, such as geography, but additionally
can use stored or external information and/or variable factoring to do
associations for any two media assets, such as association between
two different brands (such as wherein brand associations already
exhibiting brand affinity would have the highest percentage association,
and brands which would make the most sensible association would also
exhibit higher percentage matching for brand association), or to do
matching of a media asset based on the target consumers or creative
requester of the requested creative.
[271 For example, a "profile" 60 may be developed in the vault for a
particular asset. Such a profile may include any of a myriad of
information, both stored in the vault and/or having external references
outside the vault from within the vault. For example, in the event the
requested creative is an advertisement, the profile may include but not
limited to psychological profiles of typical users of a brand that is the
profiled asset (which may include values, motivations, wants, and
needs of brand users, and which may be assessed based on inferences
from on-line, credit card, or television use by those users, for example),
brand profiles of that asset including target customers, target affiliate
profiles (which may include reasons for desired affiliation, such as
sharing marketing costs, increasing brand recognition in certain
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geographies or fields of use, distribution channel access, expedited
market entry, or improved brand perception, for example), and the like,
and such profiles may be used as media assets by the recommendation
engine in order to develop a best match.
[28] As an additional example with regard to advertising, polling may provide
for local or national focus and be maintained in the vault as an
associated media asset with a particular brand, and best matches for
certain brands may be selected according to such polling results. For
example, a "flashy" sports personality may be a best match for a brand
offering in Los Angeles, but a different athlete's endorsement might be
preferably to sell that brand in the mid-west. Such information,
including "who's hot", or where a brand is "hot", may be associated with
the media assets regarding that brand in the vault, and may be thus
used by the recommendation engine to do matching.
[29] Similarly with regard to non-advertising embodiments, the vault of the
present invention may include assets uniquely associated with
particular users/consumers. For example, a user may enter an avatar
to the vault as a media asset to be associated with, and/or form part of,
the user's profile. Additionally, the user need not incorporate an
externally created avatar in the instant invention, but rather may create
an avatar using the present invention as a media asset for inclusion in
the vault. Similarly, the user may use tools provided in the present
invention to create or upload a variety of media assets, such as
widgets, personal audio, photos, text messages, and/or videos, to the
vault in the present invention for use as media assets in generating a
creative in union with other vault assets. Needless to say, such
"personal" vault assets may have access limited by the uploading or
creating user, wherein such access may be limited to the creator, or to
a circle or parties or entities authorized by the creator, or to all
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individual users of the vault, or to all corporate users of the vault, or to
all non-profit users of the vault, etc.
[30] Thus, in the aforementioned exemplary embodiment, the present
invention may allow for the creation of avatars. Such avatars may be
used with other media assets within, or accessible to, the vault, as
creatives, or may constitute purchasable creatives in their own right, for
example. For example, a user of the system may create an avatar for
him/herself, and/or may create an avatar incorporating or based on a
brand or personality. In the latter exemplary embodiment, for example,
the subject brand or personality may allow to be resident in the vault a
series of authorized media assets that may be used by users to
generate creatives constituting, at least in part, the aforementioned
avatar(s) The avatars may thus be used, such as in conjunction with
other assets or associative asset information in the vault, in the
furtherance of brand recognition for the creation of brand affinity with
the subject brand or personality. Needless to say, a user may request
a creative that is a composition including multiple assets in the form of
avatars, or like assets, such as wherein the user's avatar is shown in an
entertaining video meeting up with, and marrying, an avatar of Brad Pitt,
for example.
[31] Although an avatar may be generated using software in various ways,
as will.. be understood by those skilled in the art, in one such
methodology the user may upload one or more images into the vault as
an asset(s) for use/manipulation, such as use/manipulation in
generating a creative for purchase in the form of an avatar. The images
may be uploaded from an existing photograph, for example, or may be
imported from a camera or a video camera attached to, or accessible
via, a user interface, or through other electronic media. Once such
images are uploaded, the user may for example, crop portions of the
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photographs to be used as to create the avatar. The avatar portion
may include, for example, a particular portion of a face within the
uploaded images and/or the body and face From the uploaded images.
The images may also be cropped to capture only those portions
relevant to the avatar of interest in the requested creative. Once the
cropped portions of the uploaded images are selected, an avatar
creation engine may process the images and create an avatar based on
the selected portion of the uploaded image.
[32] For example, the present invention may, via software, use the multiple
available cropped images to generate a three dimensional estimate of
certain points of interest on the cropped images to allow for preparation
of the avatar. Such points of interest may include, for example, certain
facial contours, wherein such points of interest may be calculated
relative to other points of interests, such as other facial feature.
Needless to say, the availability of multiple images, likely at at least
slightly different angles, improves the availability of relative calculations
of facial or other relative points of interest, although the present
invention may be similarly employed with the uploading of only a single
image.
[33] In an exemplary embodiment, the most prominent point, such as the tip
of the nose, may be selected, and the position of the tip of the nose
versus some predetermined number of other points of interest, such as
five other points of interest, may then be assessed, such as by using a
mathematical relation between the points of interest assessed as
among the multiple uploaded, cropped images. Thereby, in this
exemplary embodiment, the mathematical relation between multiple
points of interest allows for the generation of a three dimensional avatar
model in accordance with the proportions of the user's real physical
facial features. Needless to say, certain facial features may be added
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or modified, either upon generation of such an avatar or thereafter. For
example, upon review of a generated avatar, a user may decide that
she wishes her eyes to be wider, or may select a blue color for her
eyes. The avatar so generated may then be animated in any way
desired by the composer, including for use in requested creatives with
other available or allowable media assets in the vault, such as well
known movie scenes, television shows, video games, music videos,
virtual worlds, or still photos, for example.
[34] By way of further example, if the uploaded portion includes only the
face of the target avatar, the software of the present invention may
further allow the user to add various aspects of the avatar body, face
and/or accessories, including but not limited to hair, hats, tee shirts,
pants, shoes, and the like. More specifically, the avatar produced may
be created in at least two forms, such as the general facial area of the
user, and/or the face and a body portion. As discussed hereinabove,
an avatar may also be imported into the present invention from a third
party source, wherein such avatar may already be developed. By way
of example, the person who has created an avatar in an existing social
network to represent herself may import that avatar into the vault of the
present invention.
[35] An avatar imported or otherwise created in the vault may be further
manipulated and/or otherwise be incorporated with other media assets
from the vault, as discussed hereinthroughout. Such manipulations
may include, for example, changing the color, size and shape of
aspects of the avatar or, for example, creating a sketch look, hazed
look, a blocked face look, or the like for the avatar. Of course, some
variations, modifications, or incorporations may be precluded or not
compatible in accordance with the aforementioned rule set governing
the use of media assets.
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[36] As discussed hereinabove, the present invention may include one or
more vaults which may contain various creatives and/or media assets,
whether or not generated by the present invention or downloaded or
otherwise obtained from external locations or from third parties. Such
media may include for example, movies, television shows or famous
sporting events, by way of non-limiting example. As mentioned
hereinabove, the present invention may allow for the interaction
between such vaulted media assets and at least one avatar in a
requested creative. More specifically, such interaction, for example,
may include the super-imposing of the avatar into a particular piece of
vaulted media asset. By way of example, an avatar created in
accordance with the present invention may be uploaded into an episode
of "Friends." In this case, for example, the avatar may be super-
imposed within the television show as an inert object, have interaction
with the scene, or interact directly with the characters of the show.
[37] By way of further non-limiting example, an avatar consisting of just
facial features may be super-imposed on a media asset available within
the vault. More specifically, for example, the vault media may contain a
still photo or video of Tug McGraw during the 1980 baseball World
Series throwing the last pitch to win the only World Series in the history
of the Philadelphia Phillies. The user may then insert his or her facial
avatar onto the body of Tug McGraw in the photo or video, thereby
creating a new video showing the avatar winning the 1980 World
Series. Of course, such a requested creative might make for a good
gift, such as after incorporation of such an avatar into the 1980 World
Series, wherein the avatar corresponds to a son or daughter, for
delivery as an online "birthday card" or birthday email to that son or
daughter.
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[38] The vault may also contain media specifically designed for use with
avatars, whether created or imported by the user. Such media may
include, for example, generic video of reality upon which an avatar may
be inserted or, by way of further example, a cartoon depiction of life
events. Although innumerable examples exist, the present invention
allows for the interaction of avatars with such media assets, whether or
not the media assets and/or the avatars originate at the vault of the
present invention.
[39] In yet further exemplary embodiments, avatars and avatar interactive
media may be saved by the user to the vault, uploaded or downloaded
locally, or accessed through or as part of a widget, among myriad other
examples. Such a widget may take the form of an access key which,
for a fee, would allow for the display or downloading of the avatar or
avatar interactive media as a creative to a desktop, for example. For
example, an episode of "Friends" that includes an avatar as one of the
characters in a coffee shop may be shown on the webpage of the user
who is the subject of the avatar on the social network page of that user
through the use of a widget. Access in this fashion may be charged as
a one time fee, or may be time based, or per diem or periodically
based, for example. Such a creative may also be accessed, for
example, by mail order DVD or on-demand cable services, among
many other access methodologies, for example.
[40] Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) is a standard for telephone
messaging systems that allows sending messages that include
multimedia objects (images, audio, video, rich text), as well as text,
such as in Short Message Service (SMS). MMS and SMS are used
herein to refer to all similar text, data and multimedia systems known to
those skilled in the art. MMS is typically deployed in cellular networks,
along with other messaging systems like SMS, Mobile Instant
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Messaging and Mobile E-mail. The principal standardization effort for
MMS is done by 3GPP, 3GPP2 and Open Mobile Alliance (OMA).
[411 Text messaging, such as MMS/SMS, is used by people to send short
messages usually from person-to-person. Picture messaging has
become more and more popular now that cell phones often have built in
or attachable cameras to enable people to send picture messaging
back and forth. Picture messaging is made possible through the MMS
system via its support of all kinds of photos, graphics, animation, as
well as video and audio clips. Thus, in the exemplary embodiments
herein, MMS and like systems allow the sending and receiving of any
type of multimedia messages. Further, such systems have been
designed to work with mobile packet data services such as GPRS and
1 x/EVDO.
[421 MMS-enabled mobile phones may thus enable subscribers to compose
and send messages with one or more multimedia parts. Multimedia
parts may include text, images, audio and video. These content types
should conform to the MMS or similar Standards. For example a phone
can send an MPEG-4 video in AVI format. Mobile phones with
multimedia capabilities, such as with built-in MP3 players, are very
likely to include an MMS messaging client-a software program that
interacts with the mobile subscriber to compose, address, send,
receive, and view MMS messages. MMS and/or an MMS client may
thus be used by various companies to suit different solutions. For
example, using a Mobile Photo Sharing Platform called Mobshare,
sports photos are broadcasted to thousands of fans directly on their
mobile phones.
[43] MMS and like or associated types of consumer messaging may be
provided through the system of the present invention. For example,
voice profiles may be included with the vaulted assets of the present
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invention, such as to provide a celebrity wishing a happy birthday to a
friend. The celebrities' voices may be modified to pronounce almost
anything based on the base voice profile, such as the name of the
person to whom the aforementioned birthday wish is sent, as will be
understood by those skilled in the art. Such a modification may also be
performed using names selectable from a list, such as numerous
available names previously pronounced by the celebrity and made
available via a drop down menu or search, for example. As would be
understood to those possessing an ordinary skill in the pertinent arts,
other greetings may also be sent, such as teasing or bad wishes, for
example. Limitations may be included within the system to prevent the
use of explicit wishes, either favorable or unfavorable, and may also be
used to limit the use of certain celebrities with certain wishes via the
aforementioned vault rules, for example. Such disassociation of
celebrities with wishes/causes/holidays may be provided to prevent
abuse of an consumer messaging, to prevent the injury to the celebrity
persona and name, and/or to prevent support of causes or brands
contrary to those generally supported by that celebrity. Needless to
say, this exemplary embodiment is readily modifiable to likewise employ
celebrity or famous video, avatars or pictures, for example.
[441 Similarly, for example, any type of text advertisements may be placed
through the use of the present invention. Such text advertisements
may include the use or purchase of certain keywords, including proper
keywords, for associative advertisement placement of such text
advertisements. More specifically, the prior art typically blocks the use
or purchase of certain keywords, such as proper names, for association
with the placement of advertising. For example, modern "bots" are
enabled to seek out trademarked terms. However, the present
invention, at least in that the present invention allows for the use of
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brands indicated by formal nouns via the brand affinity of the present
invention, allows for the use or purchase of formal brand names for
brand affinity, including the use or purchase of such formal brands as
keywords for associative advertisement placement. Additionally, those
skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention may, in
accordance with the discussion herein, additionally upsell an
endorsement, such as a text endorsement, to the party placing an
advertisement or text advertisement as discussed hereinabove.
Thereby, the present invention provides an at least partially automated
methodology whereby a marketer or advertiser may research, price,
purchase and deliver an upsold, endorsed advertisement, such as a
text advertisement. Such a text endorsement may additionally be
associated with an avatar of a famous person making the endorsement,
or any other asset in the vault associated with the endorser, in light of
the discussion hereinabove.
[45] Referring now to Figure 2, there is shown a consumer messaging
system according to an aspect of the present invention. As may be
seen in Figure 2, there is a first device, a second device, and the
recommendation engine, vault, content and delivery discussed
hereinthroughout. While the discussion herein will focus on an example
wherein the consumer messaging occurs from one-to-one, separate
examples of one-to-many may also be included. As shown in Figure 2,
the first device, such as a cellular phone, pager, personal computing
device, or the like, is directed to send a consumer message to a second
device, such as a cellular phone, pager, personal computing device, or
the like. In this scenario, the user of the first device may want to deliver
to the user of the second device a happy birthday message from
Madonna, for example. According to an aspect of the present
invention, the first device couples to the recommendation engine with a
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request for a happy birthday message from Madonna. The
recommendation engine, as described herein throughout, interacts with
the vault and content to recommend a happy birthday message that
meets the desired criteria. This message may include Madonna's voice
modified to say the second user's name to be included within the
birthday wish. Once recommended and selected, the birthday wish
may be delivered to the second device using the consumer messaging
and/or network of or associated with the present invention. The system
of the present invention may employ pre-binding, late binding and
sponsoring page/content dynamically delivered in delivery/creating the
happy birthday wish.
[46] Further, the present invention may also be used to deliver pictures
and/or movies, for example, as referenced hereinabove. In such a
configuration the present system may be able to send a message to a
up and coming baseball player by integrating that up and coming
baseball player into his favorite movie, Field of Dreams. Using this
technique, a picture or multiple pictures of the up and coming baseball
player may be added into the motion picture Field of Dreams and then
delivered to the device of the up and coming baseball player.
[47] As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the engines of the
present
invention may draw on any number of communication access points
and media sources, including wired and wireless, radio and cable,
telephone, television and internet, personal electronic devices, satellite,
databases, data files, and the like, in order to increase media asset
content in the vault, contribute media asset content to the vault, and to
best allow for recommendations and delivery.
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[48] Although the invention has been described and pictured in an
exemplary form with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood
that the present disclosure of the exemplary form has been made by
way of example, and that numerous changes in the details of
construction and combination and arrangement of parts and steps may
be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as
set forth in the claims hereinafter.
