Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR LOCALIZED VALUATIONS OF MEDIA ASSETS
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[1] The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional
Application No. 61/113,760 entitled "System and Method For
Localized Valuations of Media Assets," filed November 12, 2008,
and 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, the entire
disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein as if set
forth in their entirety.
[2] U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 12/144,194 is. a continuation-in-
part of U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 111981,646, 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. 111981,837, 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. 121079,769, entitled "Engine, System and Method for
Generation of Brand Affinity Content," filed March 27, 2008.
[3] U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 111981,837 claims priority to U.S.
Provisional Application Serial No. 60/993,096, entitled "System and
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.
[4] U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 12/079,769 is a continuation-in-
part of U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 121042,913, entitled
"Engine, System and Method for Generation of Brand Affinity
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Content," filed March 5, 2008, which is also a continuation-in-part of
U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 121072,692.
[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.
[6] The disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein as if
each is set forth in its entirety,
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[7] The present invention is directed to an advertising engine and, more
particularly, to an engine for generation of brand affinity content, and
a method of making and using same, and more particularly to a
metric system used within such an engine for providing information
on assets within the engine.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[8] High impact advertising is that advertising that best grabs the
attention of a t arget 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. 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. Factors that will increase
the impact of an endorser include the endorser's perceived
knowledge of particular goods or in a particular industry, the fame or
popularity of the endorser, the respect typically accorded a particular
endorser or sponsor, 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 most likely to have
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high impact on the ideal target customer. However, the existing art
makes little use of this advertising reality.
[10] Thus, there exists a need for an engine, system and method that
allows for the obtaining of an endorsement or sponsorship, in the
aforementioned high-impact circumstances, either from a specific
individual, a specific entity, an affinity brand, a marketing partner, or
a sponsor.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[11] The present invention provides an engine, system and method for
selecting at least one endorser for use in one or more
advertisements. The engine, system and method may include a
talent library including a plurality of electronic media assets
delineated by respective ones of the at least one endorser, a
mention tracker that electronically tracks mentions of the media
assets, and that assigns at least one metric to each of the mentions,
and a graphical user display that displays the metrics correspondent
to a selected one of the at least one endorser based on ones
selected from a plurality of geographies, wherein the selected ones
of the geographies are a situs of ones of the mentions.
[12] Thus, the invention provides an engine, system and method that
allows for the obtaining of an endorsement or sponsorship, in the
aforementioned high-impact circumstances, either from a specific
individual, a specific entity, an affinity brand, a marketing partner, or
a sponsor
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[13] The present invention will be described herein below in conjunction
with the following figures, in which like numerals represent like
items, and wherein:
[14] Figure 1 is a graphical illustration of the endorsed advertising engine
of the present invention;
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[15] Figure 2 is a rendering of the operation of an aspect of the present
invention;
[16] Figure 3 illustrates the effect of the present invention with regard to a
search advertising model;
[17] Figure 4 illustrates the effect of the present invention with respect to
a display advertising model;
[18] Figure 5 is a screen shot according to an aspect of the present
invention;
[19] Figure 6 is a screen shot representation of talents according to an
aspect of the present invention;
[20] Figure 7 is a screen shot representation of talents according to an
aspect of the present invention that permits further information to be
displayed regarding the assets for a given talent;
[21) Figure 8 is a focused view on a particular asset of a talent according
to an aspect of the present invention;
[22] Figure 9 is an image of the metrics according to an aspect of the
present invention;
[23] Figure 10 is the image of Figure 9 with an additional dialing in on a
specific time frame, displayed as April 2, 2008;
[24] Figure 11 is the image of Figures 9 and 10 with an additional dialing
in on a specific time frame, displayed as July 9, 2008;
[25] Figure 12 is the image of Figures 9, 10 and 11 with an additional
dropdown menu displayed;
[26] Figure 13 is parameters of the displays of Figure 9-11;
[27] Figure 14 is the images of Figures 9-11 when the coverage selected
has been the DMA of Philadelphia, PA;
[28] Figure 15 is the images of Figures 9-11 with additional selections
that be made with regard to the comparison brands to be used;
[29] Figure 16 is the images of Figures 9-11 with additional selection of
the brands to compare with,
[30] Figure 17 is the display of Figures 9-11 and the ability to effect the
qualitative factors that comprise the metrics score; and,
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[311 Figure 18 is the display of Figures 9-11 with the possible ways to
display the data;
132] Figure 19 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the present
invention;
[33] Figure 20 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the present
invention;
[34] Figure 21 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the present
invention;
[35] Figure 22 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the present
invention; and,
[36] Figure 23 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[37] 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
advertising 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.
[38] It is generally accepted that advertising (hereinafter also referred to
as "ad" or "creative") having the highest impact on the desired
consumer base includes endorsements, sponsorships, or affiliations
from those persons, entities, or the like from whom the targeted
consumers seek guidance, such as based on the endorser's
knowledge of particular goods or in a particular industry, the fame of
the endorser, the respect typically accorded a particular endorser or
sponsor, and other similar factors. Additionally, the easiest manner
in which to sell advertising time or blocks of advertising time is to
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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. As used herein, such an endorsement may
include an assertion of use of a particular good or service 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.
139] Endorsements 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 products (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 limitations on
the use of endorsements in particular industries, wherein a different
product or a different industry may be endorsed (such as in a
different geographical area) by the same endorser, or limitations on
endorsements solely to a particular field(s) or type(s) of product,
rather than to a specific brand of product. Further, endorsements 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
products, types of products, or the like, that are also endorsed by the
NFL.
(40] More specifically, as used herein endorsements 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
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partnerships, in which short term relationships between different
products or services are employed to improve the marketing of each
respective product or service; and 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.
141] The measurement and management of brand value, which may
simplify any transaction involving an endorsement as will be
understood by those skilled in the art, has become a significant
issue for marketers and marketing researchers over the last several
years. The concept of brand value and brand equity goes well
beyond the legal concept of a trademark, or the accounting concept
of goodwill. Brand equity encompasses intrinsic values, or equities,
that add to the tangible, measurable benefits delivered by a
particular product or service. These intrinsic equities may include
such things as the image imparted to the purchaser, advertising
quality, advertising quantity, trust, long term reputation for reliability,
customer support, social responsibility, and so forth.
[42] The key challenges in Brand Value/Brand Equity measurement
include: (1) measuring the importance of "brand" in the consumers
product selection process; and (2) dissecting that measure of
"brand" and determining its key contributing components.
[43] Consumers may see a particular brand name as a contract. That is,
a brand's name may reduce consumers' sense of uncertainty,
allowing the consumer to purchase uncertainty reduction, or trust,
thus improving a sense of value. Promotion of a brand can address,
for example, price/costs, tangible brand attributes or intrinsic brand
attributes (equities). Brand equity is typically communicated using
consistent visual cues and consistent messages, thus allowing the
consumer to quickly and efficiently distinguish between brands and
their intrinsic product attributes. As a purchaser considers tangible
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product features in concert with brand equity (and price), he/she
arrives at a set of products in a category that he/she will consider for
purchase (i.e. their consideration set). Thus, a brand's equity is
dependent on effective communications to the target market(s), and
brand equity can be improved to an extent with improved
effectiveness of communications.
[44] A brand's equity therefore becomes part of the tradeoff a consumer
considers as the consumer first selects his/her consideration set,
and then decides which product or service to purchase. That is,
purchasers actively trade off both the perceived tangible benefits
and the perceived intrinsic benefits delivered by products in a
consideration set against price, to arrive at the purchaser's value
hierarchy, and ultimately the purchase decision.
[45] Brands that have high perceived value are always included in a
purchaser's consideration set. If a brand's combined tangible and
intrinsic equities are consistently higher than any other brand in the
category, that brand will generally have the highest customer loyalty
in terms of purchase, repurchase, and recommendation. Competing
brands can only improve their loyalty against the brand equity leader
by lowering price in the short term, improving their product's tangible
features in the mid term, and/or improving their brand's intrinsic
benefits, or equity, in the long term.
[46] A challenge to both marketers and marketing researchers is
determining how to measure and manage the intrinsic value of a
brand (its equity), and how to tie that value with attempts to improve
value to customer loyalty.
[47] Recent literature addressing brand equity indicates that there are
several different approaches to measurement. Brand equity can be
addressed at either the corporate level or the category level, and
can also be addressed using internal data or external data. At the
corporate level, brand equity can be assessed using internal
financial data from a firm's accounting system, or it can be assessed
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using comparative financial performance data from similar firms (i.e.
external). At the category level, a firm can address brand equity
using unit profit margins, such as in comparison to unit marketing
costs and/or in comparison to the costs of other products in the
category. Alternatively, the firm can use consumer surveys to
measure the perceived value of the product/brand compared versus
other products/brands in a category.
[48] At present, there is a need for a platform or engine to allow for the
obtaining of an endorsement, or endorsed ad, in any of the above
circumstances, either from a specific individual, a specific entity, an
affinity brand, a marketing partner, or a sponsor. In the present
invention, an endorsed advertising engine 10, such as that illustrated
in Figure 1, may include a vault 12 that provides media assets 14
and integration of media assets with or without need of involving the
media assets for permission, a brand association or
recommendation engine 20 that may, by creative, by market, by
brand affinity, by user request, or otherwise match media assets
from the vault with an creative/ad 22, and a delivery engine 26
capable of integrating a requested ad 22 with the media asset 14
from the vault 12, early or late stage binding of the ad 22 and media
asset 16 for delivery to strongest target consumers, and/or delivery
of the ad 22 and the dynamic media asset 16 from the vault to an
advertiser or advertising server, which then places the mash up of
the ad and media asset. Ad requests 22 may be made via an "ad
wizard" using ad templates, as will be apparent to those skilled in the
art.
[49] The vault captures certain brands and information related thereto in
a common database, such as 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 include
media assets that may be associated with audio-visual works. The
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vault may include 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), including pictures,
voice, and video. The vault may also include, associated with the
brand, exclusion, inclusions, or preferences 50 for the use of the
brand or particular items of information associated with the brand 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, etc. Exclusions may, of course, be necessary if
the requested endorsement conflicts with a preexisting
endorsement agreement for the requested brand with a competitor,
or the like.
[50] Further, media assets in the vault may be marked with different
payment schema 52 based on the requester of the media asset. For
example, in the event the ad requester is a school, and the
requested creative is not an ad to sell anything, media assets may
be 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 types, such as non-profit, for-
profit, individual, corporate, in-home, in-business, 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 to that individual.
[51] The brand association and recommendation engine 20 assesses,
based on numerous factors including external factors, the
endorsements that are most sensible for particular advertising. For
example, such a brand association engine gauges proper matches
by assessing inclusions and exclusions based on the
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aforementioned factors in the vault, such as geography, but
additionally can use stored or external information and/or variable
factoring to do brand associations for any two 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 with
an endorsement brand based on the target consumers of the
requesting brand.
[521 For example, a "profile" 60 may be developed in the vault for a
particular brand. Such a profile may include any of a myriad of
information, both stored in the vault and having external references
outside the vault from within the vault, including but not limited to
psychological profiles of typical users of that brand (which may
include values, motivations, wants, and needs of such users, and
which may be assessed based on inferences from on-line, credit
card, or television use by those users, for example), brand profiles
including target customers, target affiliate profiles (which may
include reasons for desired affiliation, such as sharing marketing
costs, increasing brand recognition in certain 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 recognition engine in
order to develop a best match. As an additional example, polling
may provide for local or national focus and 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,
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and may be thus used by the recommendation engine to do
matching.
[53] Thus, the recommendation engine may passively or actively inform
of the best endorsement matches for a particular user's ads, based
on any number of factors. Upon assessment of good matches for
the requesting brand, a user of the present invention may have the
matching options presented to that user for selection by the
recommendation engine, or the user may simply have a best-match
selection made for the user. Needless to say, bids for advertising
may vary based on the matches obtained by the recommendation
engine, and/or the asserted likelihood of success that the ad placed
will be successful. Success, of course, may be different in different
circumstances, and may include a consumer making an on-line or
in-store purchase, a user filling out an on-line or off-line form, a
consumer accessing and downloading information or a coupon, or
the like.
[54] The delivery engine 26 may integrate a requested ad with the media
asset from the vault pursuant to the actions by the recommendation
engine, and can place a particular ad in the environment it deems
best suited for that ad (such as in the event of a re-direct, wherein a
web site gives some information about an ad request, and the best
ad can be placed responsive to the ad request), late stage bind the
ad and media asset for delivery to strongest target consumers (such
as with the improvement in later stage tracking for improved ad
targeting, such as if the consumer's requesting IP address and/or
the referring site information is available just prior to ad delivery), or
deliver the static ad and the dynamic media asset from the vault to
an advertiser or advertising server, which then independently places
the mash up of the ad and media asset. Needless to say, bids for
advertising time may vary depending upon the delivery mechanism
used.
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[55] The delivery engine 26 may also coordinate for the delivery of
assets or creatives based on request criteria, such as in a pre-bind
or late bind embodiment. An asset may, for example, be suitable for
delivery without an accompanying creative for use with particular
parameters. The recommendation engine may receive a request for
an unidentified or non-specifically requested asset to be delivered by
the delivery engine 26 in accordance with a set of request
parameters. These parameters may include information such as
geography, time of day, type of end creative, type of asset, monetary
limit, and the like. In this way, a request may be made for an
unknown asset to maximize a particular set of known parameters.
By way of non-limiting example only, a request may be made to the
present invention for an asset to be used in a condom advertisement
which will be run at 2 a.m. in the city of Seattle, Washington State.
Such a request may ultimately yield a headshot of a local athlete
meeting the parameters for further use in, or delivery of, the creative.
[56] The recommendation engine may delineate the recommended
asset(s) by, for example, type of advertisement. For example, a
local radio personality may have pre-authorized the use of his asset
with creatives surrounding contraception, while none of the players
on the local professional football team may allow such a use. All
other parameters held constant, the recommendation engine may
work with the delivery engine 26 to deliver to the requester not only
the asset that best fits the requester's parameters, but other assets
that may similarly fill the request parameters. This type of
alternative offer may also extend to situations where no asset meets
the request parameters. In this case, the recommendation engine
may provide, counter offer, or offer, to the requester, a series of
assets that fail to meet, or exceed, the request. Similarly, even if an
asset meets the request parameters, multiple assets may be offered
in the attempt to provide greater selection or to provide the requester
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the ability to purchase an asset of greater value than previously
requested, such as in an up-sell effort.
[571 As discussed above, the delivery engine 26 may deliver the
recommended asset only. The asset to be used in accordance with
the request parameters. The delivery engine 26 may also combine
an asset and creative for delivery as a single creative if the request
parameters allow for this action. Additionally, the allowable asset
may ultimately dictate the creative. The asset may have its own
parameters which allow for its joining to only a finite type of specific
creatives, which may in turn, continue to satisfy the request
parameters. In this way, the requester may not just have available a
certain collection of assets, but may have a selection of creatives as
well.
[58] When an asset or asset/creative bundle is delivered in this manner,
the requesting party may be provided the opportunity to reject the
offering. Such a rejection may end the transaction or prompt the
system to provide at least one more possible asset or asset/creative
bundle. This acceptance or rejection may allow the requester to be
the final arbiter over the content of the media used and the cost of
such media. This process may also allow the requester to reject
assets that do not combine or work well with the creative held by or
desired by the requester or other third party, As further discussed
herein, the system may further track the usage of the delivered asset
or asset/creative bundle to ensure compliance with the request
parameters. This tracking may also include feedback, including
metrics surrounding demography, hits, time of day, successful click
through, etc. This information not only allows the system to
measure the success of the asset or asset/creative, it also informs
the recommendation engine. Such metrics may allow the
recommendation engine to further assess recommendations with
regard to the use and success of the asset in a similar scenario and
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to improved the value and efficiency of the system overall as
discussed more fully herein.
[59] Improvement in later stage tracking for improved ad targeting may
be enabled through the delivery engine 26 and will allow for greater
efficiency the trafficking of ads during or after or with or without
interface with the delivery engine 26. Efficiency may be obtained by
tracking, for example, the data intelligence for use with the delivery
of the creative. By way of non-limiting example, data intelligence
may include click-thru rate, post-click conversion rate, post-
impression activities, as well as geography, demographic and day
part information. Gathered data intelligence may be used as
individual properties in conjunction with each other to form or
produce the level of intelligence needed to achieve the desired
efficiencies. By way of further example, data intelligence may also
include information regarding the number of impressions an ad has
received, and the elapsed time between an impression or a click.
[60] Utilizing data intelligence may allow the delivery engine 26 to
optimize targeting to new and past targets. Optimization may
include efficiencies of time and control over redundancies and ad
targeting. Optimization will allow for the prediction of probable
impressions or clicks that a certain ad or creative may receive when,
for example, pointed towards certain factors, such as demographic
and geography, for example. A prediction may also be made
regarding the efficiency of paid searches and may be further
contrasted with, for example, display ads. Such information as
drawn from the data intelligence may also allow for the higher
success rates related to redundant ad placement based on the prior
behavior of a particular audience. The same can be true for the
avoidance of redundancy when, for example, data intelligence may
be used to keep certain ads or creatives from repeatedly reaching
an audience with, for example, low click-through rates. Redundancy
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avoidance may also include the avoidance of competing ads or
creatives, whether or not placed for the same entity.
[61] The delivery engine 26 may also choose to deactivate and/or modify
certain creatives based on data intelligence and/or user direction.
By way of non-limiting example, the data intelligence may be
collected from several ad or creative types over any number of
varying media formats, allowing for even more sophisticated
optimization based on the allocation of impressions and clicks in the
various media formats. Media formats may include, but are not
limited to, internet, TV, radio, mobile devices, kiosks, billboards,
product placements, and print. By further way of non-limiting
example, data intelligence gathered during a run of a creative on the
radio may affect the play of an ad on the internet. The delivery
engine 26 may additionally allow for the interplay between data
intelligence and real time metrics or community-based information.
This real time intelligence gathering may also be used to calibrate a
campaign(s) of multiple ads or creatives. By way of non-limiting
example only, a campaign of with several creative versions may be
measured based on gathered data intelligence and optimized to
improve, for example, click-through. Such optimization may be done
in real time and over multiple media types. The optimization may, by
way of further non-limiting example, call for the addition of ads or
creatives not currently apart of the campaign(s). Thus suggesting
what type of ads or creatives is required for maximum optimization
regardless of whether or not the ads or creatives reside in inventory.
[62] Optimization of ads and creatives increases the value of ad and
creative inventory and may, for example, provide for greater value
pre and post delivery. The data intelligence may also allow for real-
time valuations based on pre-existing and predicted variables, thus
maximizing the value of the placed ad or ad/creative inventory.
Value can be also maximized for premium and non-premium
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content. Functionality within the delivery engine 26 may also allow
for variable rate sampling and frequency cap forecasting.
[63] Because the bids for advertising time in the present invention may
vary as discussed above, the present invention lends itself to
auction-style placement of advertising, in which bids are solicited for
particular locations, times, or blocks of advertising. Auctions may be
held, for example, on line, and may be broken down by media outlet
type of ad (i.e. television, internet, etc.), product type of ad, or in any
similar manner.
[64] Further, it is known in the existing art to engage in a myriad of
different types of advertisement online. Two such advertisement
types are: a search advertising model, in which a user undertakes
to search for a good or service of interest and receives, as part of or
as indicated with a search result(s), advertisements relevant to
purchasing the good or service for which the search was made
and/or to purchasing goods or services related to the good or
service for which the search was made; and a display advertising
model, in which a user is actively viewing a web site and receives,
as part of the web site under review, advertisements for the
purchase of goods or services relevant to the content of the web site
under review, Needless to say, the former operates on the principal
that, if a user searches for a good or service, he/she would like to
buy that good or service, and the latter operates on the principal that
if a user is interested enough in the content of a web site to view that
web site, he/she is also likely interested in buying goods or services
related to the content of that web site.
[65] The display advertising model mentioned hereinabove is typically
embodied as banner on a web site. For example, such banners may
appear above, below, to the left, or to the right of the content being
viewed, but typically do not impinge upon the content being viewed.
The search advertising model mentioned hereinabove is typically
embodied as advertisements/banners placed proximate to search
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results on the search results page responsive to the user search.
For example, such advertisements may appear along a right hand
side of a search results page, while the search results are displayed
along the left hand side of the same search results page.
[66] As discussed immediately above, it is necessarily the case that the
correlations performed between the user's searched or viewed
content and the advertisements provided will increase the relevance
of, and thus the response to, the advertisements. However, such
responses in the form of either clicks on the advertisements or
purchases made through the advertisement link, once obtained at a
particular rate, cannot be further improved by the relevance of the
advertisements produced. Rather, the only manner to improve the
response rate once relevant advertisements are produced is to
improve the advertisements themselves based on the users viewing
the advertisements.
[67] The present invention provides such improved response
advertisement through the provision of brand affiliations with the
goods and services being advertised, as discussed herein
throughout. As discussed, the present invention allows for the
production of advertisements having brand sponsorship that is
optimized to the market sought. That is, the brand sponsor selected
for an advertised good or service is, though the use of the present
invention, selected to best correspond to the characteristics of the
purchaser sought by the advertisement.
[68] Referring now to Figure 2, there is a rendering of the operation of an
aspect of the present invention, As may be seen in Figure 2, there
is a brand 200 that may relate at least in part to a product 201, and
potentially other products 202. The brand 200 and products 201
may be monitored for information about brand 200 or product 201,
such as information in the media, such as the limited set 205 that
contains a set of references found in the media or through other
outlets that provide information that is effective in the neural net 210
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of the present invention. This neural net may allow for and monitor
metrics 215, and may ultimately produce a branded advertisement
or schedule of advertisements and endorsements, or a branded
application 220. The neural net 210 may provide an integration of a
plurality of metrics to one or more asset selected as a limited set
from among all brands of assets. The neural net may effectuate
decisions as to what assets, or mentions of assets, are to be rated,
what such ratings are, what statistics are applied to, or in light of,
such ratings, correlations or estimations of value based on such
ratings, and the like. Specifically, neural net 210 may act to provide
metrics 215 using the limited set 205 of information about brand 200
or products 201, for example. In so doing, the system of the present
invention may provide brand application 220.
[69] Selecting the best corresponding brand sponsor for an advertised
good or service is illustrated with respect to Figures 3 and 4. Figure
3 illustrates the effect of the present invention with regard to a
search advertising model, and Figure 4 illustrates the effect of the
present invention with respect to a display advertising model. In
each Figure, a brand sponsor has been selected who will indicate, to
the user for whom the advertisement is deemed most relevant, trust,
quality, value, a relationship to the user, and/or an overall positive
feeling. The sponsor is either selected by the advertiser in the
present invention for inclusion with the subject advertisement, based
on the profile of a desired purchaser and the characteristics of that
sponsor as they relate to that profile, which relation is set forth or
suggested by the present invention, or the sponsor is selected by
the present invention for inclusion in or with the subject advertiser's
advertisement based on a desired responder profile for the
advertisement entered by the advertiser to the engine of the present
invention.
[701 As illustrated graphically in Figures 3 and 4, a positive correlation of
a brand sponsor to a brand, which is necessarily also a correlation of
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a brand sponsor to those purchasers most interested in buying the
subject brand, correlates positively to an increased transaction rate.
In other words, to the extent the present invention provides brand
affiliations, sponsorships, and the like that are well-suited to the
sponsored brand, that brand will show an increase in the number of
users who are shown that advertisement and that either click that
advertisement or purchase that brand through that advertisement. It
is estimated that the increase in the desired response rate in
accordance with the use of the present invention may typically be a
3 to 5 times increase, based on the increased positive correlation
between the sponsored brand and the brand sponsor provided by
the present invention, although those skilled in the art will
understand that more or less improvement in the transaction rate
may occur based on the implementation of the present invention.
[71] Thus, in accordance with the present invention, and as illustrated in
Figures 3 and 4, an increased correlation of a brand sponsor to a
sponsoring brand, and thus an increased correlation of a sponsoring
brand to a desired purchaser's profile, is provided. This increased
correlation generates an improved transaction rate in accordance
with the present invention, for at least a search advertising model
and a display advertising model.
[72] In one embodiment of the present invention, a counter offer may
consist of offering a different media asset than the one originally
requested by the requester. The counter offer may comprise a
barter offer, that is, an offer for an exchange of other than monetary
compensation, such as of exchanging advertising space for use of
an endorsement. The counter offer may also consist of varying the
bartered asset by, for example, altering the size of the space
offered, the time the space will be available for use, and/or the
number of views provided by the space or spaces offered. In this
aspect, the recommendation engine may take into account various
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types of metrics such as demography, hits, time of day, successful
click through, etc.
[73] Returning now to Figure 2, and in light of Figures 3 and 4, as used
herein, a metric is a standard unit of measure, such as mile or
second, or, more generally, is an aspect of a system of parameters,
or of one or more systems of measurement, or of one or more of a
set of ways of quantitatively and periodically measuring, assessing,
controlling or selecting a person, process, event, or institution. A
metric additionally includes procedures to carry out measurements
and the procedures for interpretation of an assessment in light of
previous or comparable assessments. Metrics may be specific to a
certain subject area, in which case they are valid only within a
certain domain and cannot be directly benchmarked or interpreted
outside it.
[74] More specifically, in the system of the present invention, metrics
may be used to provide information regarding an asset, such as a
prospective endorser. Specifically, each asset may have assigned
thereto one or more metrics corresponded to a rating of the asset.
This rating may allow for a valuation of the asset.
[75] Referring now to Figure 5, there is shown a screen shot according to
an aspect of the present invention. As may be seen in Figure 5, the
vault may provide information of a talent library, which talent library
may be or include a plurality of assets accessible, for example, via a
recommendation engine interface. Within the talent library, in the
situation where the talent at issue is individuals, there may be
provided a listing, illustration, graphic, menu, or search interface of
and for the given talent. Associated with the listing of the talent may
be personal information such as sport, team, position, jersey
number, league, college, height, weight, by way of non-limiting
example only. Also, information concerning the market and/or
marketability of the named talent and/or the ranking of the named
talent, such as by market and/or geography, may be made available.
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Such rankings or marketability ratings may take the form, as would
be known to those possessing an ordinary skill in the pertinent arts,
of a ranking with 1 being the highest ranked, or with 1 being the
lowest rank. Alternatively, other rankings schema may also be used.
As may be seen in Figure 5, there may be provided information
regarding ratings that is referenced on a local and national level, in
one market versus another, of one asset versus another, or the like.
[76] Referring additionally to Figure 6, there is shown a representation of
talents according to an aspect of the present invention. As may be
seen in Figure 6, there may be available a drill down for an asset,
such as in the drill-down of Amani Toomer as the talent, through
which may be provided additional or secondary information to
minimize clutter in the primary display of assets, such as various
pictures and clips of mpegs may be seen. Those illustrated are the
specific assets for the talent that is Amani Toomer in this exemplary
embodiment.
[77] Referring now additionally to Figure 7, there is shown a
representation of assets according to an aspect of the present
invention, wherein further information regarding assets for a given
asset talent is displayed. As may be seen in Figure 7, the assets for
the selected asset talent may be displayed in a shuffled-card format,
wherein one asset may be displayed prominently in the middle with
each side displaying other assets in a turned/side type view. From
this perspective, more information may be displayed for each asset,
such as a title of asset, the type of asset, dimensions and size of a
picture of an asset, by way of non-limiting example only.
[78] Referring now to Figure 8, there is shown a focused view on a
particular asset according to an aspect of the present invention. In
this particular case, Figure 8 shows an asset of the asset talent
Amani Toomer catching a football in an action shot. This particular
image may be a still image taken of a catch, or may be a frozen
frame of a movie asset, for example.
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[79] Turning now to metricizing an asset, a metric may be constituted by
any of a plurality of methodologies of valuing the marketability of an
asset. For example, a metric may be determined by searching to
look up brands, wherein any word, or specifically proper noun, is
effectively a brand, particularly on the internet, for example. The
results of a brand search may be stored, and a metric computed
therefrom by reviewing data collected in the brand search. For
example, domain lookup and page information may be reviewed in a
database. From the domain and page information, the system of the
present invention may infer information, such as based on
information available regarding consumership or the subject domain
or page. For example, if in the database it is known from available
information that a certain percentage of readers of the domain
"Technology Innovations Weekly" are engineers/scientists, or the
domain "Baseball World" are males under the age of forty, the
system of the present invention may infer information regarding
viewers of that page, and thereby underscore a computation for a
metric according to inferred information as applied to the brand
referenced by the page. Further, for example, the page rank from a
search engine may also be used to infer popularity of a page to
thereby provide a metric of the brand asset based on the page on
which the brand is found, i.e. popularity with which the asset brand is
viewed.
[80] Google trends may also be used to metricize a given brand.
Google trends charts how often a particular search term is entered
relative the total search volume across various regions of the world,
and in various languages. Often, the display of Google trends may
illustrate a horizontal axis representing time, and a vertical
representing how often a term is searched for relative to the total
number of searches, globally. The data may be graphed with
popularity broken down by region, city and/or language, for example.
It is also possible to refine by region and time period. Google
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trends may also allow comparison of the volume of searches
between two or more terms. An additional feature of Google
Trends is in its ability to show news related to the search term
overlaid on the chart showing how new events affect search
popularity. The above may provide data for a metric in accordance
with the present invention. For example, Google trends may be
used to compare a certain brand against a baseline, such as all
brands or all brands in a particular field, thereby allowing for
calculation of a "buzz" relative to other brands. Additionally, an
interpolation of trends against known qualities of a certain domain
increases the level of detail of the popularity of that domain and its
brands with the sects of population associated with the qualities of
the domain. Further, for example, if searches for a certain online
newspaper are known, and a second newspaper has half the
readership of the first, it can be interpolated that searches for the
second paper are half in number of those for the first, and thus the
second paper is half of the first in overall popularity.
[$1] Further, other metrics may be made available in accordance with the
above. For example, data may be gained regarding links that lead
to the subject domain. Thereby, for example, the demographics of
those linked domains may be included in the analysis of the subject
domain. Additionally, closed captioning may be metricized, such as
for TV and radio. Closed captioning allows for a textual presentation
of all brands (proper nouns) mentioned on TV and radio. With
knowledge of viewership or listenership, such as via Nielsen ratings
for TV, monitoring of data regarding mentions, such as via
monitoring closed captioning, allows for knowledge of what
percentage of viewers/listeners were presented with a brand
mention, and whether the mention was good or poor. Further, the
demographic data available regarding viewers and listeners allows
for an interpolation of the brand mention along demographic lines.
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[82] Survey data may also be used to quantify the metric of a given
brand. Surveys may be used at each level of branded product
development. Specifically, surveys at the category level to measure
brand value and brand equity may be used, then that information
may be used to aggregate brand equities to the corporate level.
Such use of surveys may allow a metricization of the brand metric
score.
[83] Similarly, positive or negative mentions of assets may be tracked,
such as by monitoring online text via/and/or monitoring RSS feeds.
Such mentions may be rated, such as by offline manual rating of
each mention, and such as by comparison to lists of good or bad
non-proper nouns used in conjunction with the asset. Such ratings,
of course, constitute a metric.
184] Likewise, a gross number of views or listens may be tracked, such
as by using domains that provide such information, such as
YouTube. Such information allows not only for a gross metric with
regard to an asset, but further, if used in conjunction with, for
example, demographic or geographic information, allows for one or
more detailed metrics.
[85] Referring now to Figure 9, there is shown an exemplary presentation
of metrics according to an aspect of the present invention. As may
be seen in Figure 9, a graphical display of a metric score as a
function of time may be displayed for the asset of interest - that is, a
brand rating. This can be overlayed with a graphical presentation of
the average of all U.S. brands, for example, and may include a
shaded plus/minus a standard deviation of the metrics score of all
U.S. brands, for example. Similarly, a tabular display of this
information may also be presented, in this case below the graphical
display.
[861 Referring now to Figure 10, there is shown the image of Figure 9
with an additional focus on a specific time frame, displayed as April
2, 2008. The data on that specific day is graphically illustrated for an
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asset graphical display of interest metrics as a score of 44.32, with
an average of all U.S. brands metrics score of 21.467, and with a
+std of 31.863 and a -std of 11.071.
[87] Referring now to Figure 11, there is shown the image of Figures 9
and 10 with an additional focus on a specific time frame, displayed
as July 9, 2008. The data on that specific day may be displayed as
illustrated.
188] Referring now to Figure 12, there is shown the images of Figures 9,
and 11 with an additional dropdown menu displayed. The
specific dropdown menu displayed in Figure 12 relates to the display
and computation associated with the metrics of Figures 9-11.
Specifically, the drop down may provide as to whether the metrics
are calculated yearly, monthly, weekly or daily, for example.
189] Referring now to Figure 13, there is shown a plurality of parameters
based on the displays of Figures 9-11. The coverage that is
selected may be modified to select a specific region of the world.
Specifically, regions of the United States may be selected, such a
Baltimore, MD, for example. For example, a DMA, local, or national
area may be used. DMA is an acronym for Designated Market Area.
DMAs are a way of designating particular geographic markets, and
are often ranked by size of population. The graphical presentation
may also be based on a zone, such as a local area or subset of a
DMA.
[90] Referring now also to Figure 14, there is shown the image based on
Figures 9-11 when the coverage selected has been the DMA of
Philadelphia, PA. In such a scenario, the graphical interface
computes and displays the metrics score of the asset selected as a
function of time, and also plots the average of all brands in the
Philadelphia DMA with associated standard deviations.
[91] Referring now to Figure 15, there are shown additional selections
that may be made with regard to the comparison brands to be used.
For example, it may be beneficial to compare to only brands within a
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segment, such as in a situation wherein the segment has been
subjected to some unique circumstance, for example, or wherein a
specific positive incident, like the Super Bowl, may have an effect on
all football brands, for example. Further, a comparison may be
made to a specific brand as well. Referring now also to Figure 16, a
selection of the brands to compare with is shown. This may include
most improved brands, hot 100, recently added, and recently
viewed, by way of non-limiting examples only.
[92] Referring now to Figure 17, there is shown the ability to affect the
qualitative factors that comprise a metrics score. As described
hereinabove, metrics may be computed a number of ways and may
further include components associated with awards, drugs, sex, dui,
and crime, for example. The metrics score may be examined with
selected ones of these filters removed or included as desired.
[93] Referring now to Figure 18, there is shown the display of Figures 9-
11 with several possible ways to display the data. For example,
data may be displayed in normalized data over time, normalized
data over DMA, and qualitative data, for example.
[94] The present invention also provides for the comparison of metrics for
assets for which metrics are tracked or are otherwise computed. As
previously mentioned, metrics may be continuously collected and
calculated for a given asset. In the most general sense, the present
invention may further provide for the comparison of specific asset
metric(s) to an average of those metric(s) within the system. More
specifically, the present invention may provide for the comparison of
any number of discrete asset metric(s) with one or more distinct
asset metric(s).
[95] As shown in Figure 19, a general value of the metrics for a specific
asset may be continuously compared to the same metrics as
averaged for all related tracked assets, whether in the system or not.
The information may include a brand rating value for the asset, the
average brand rating for related assets, and the various deviations
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or other comparison information. As further shown in Figure 19, the
brand value may be calculated (and compared) for an asset across
all national metrics and against a specific time period. Although the
time period may be viewed in hours, days, weeks, months, and
years, a standard view of ninety (90) days allows for the viewing of
changes in the asset brand value and the average brand value.
Further, the system allows for "pin-point" assessment of the brand
value which may be viewed by hovering the cursor over a portion of
the graph.
[96] As shown in Figure 20, the geographic area by which metric(s) may
be valued for a particular asset may be changed and may
encompass one or more DMAs. As illustrated in Figure 21, metric
evaluations may be valued, or further refined, by filtering for specific
asset classifications, or, as illustrated in Figure 22, through
customized groupings of system and non-system asset(s) and/or
metric(s). As previously discussed, the features provide the ability to
compare and analyze at least one asset to at least one other asset
in relation to at least one metric.
[97] In an embodiment of the present invention, the rating of assets and
comparison against each other provides for a listing of assets by
brand rating score, all other delineations held equal. In this manner,
a sudden drop in brand rating may cause at least one asset to fall in
ranking. As discussed previously hereinabove, drops in brand rating
may occur if attention is turned away from the asset, negative
ratings affect the asset, and/or other assets spring gain in value, for
example. By way of non-limiting example only, national events may
devalue some assets by reducing measurable metrics related to the
asset(s), such as a natural disaster in Louisiana which may
dominate all news and the public's attention for a brief period of
time. Similarly, a national event, such as the Olympics, may
dominate the measurable metrics. In any case, the metrics of
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individual assets may be affected such that drastic value swings
occur.
1981 In another embodiment of the present invention, an asset's brand
rating or comparison data may be displayed as a graphical
representation of data where the values taken by a variable in a two-
dimensional map are represented as colors, otherwise known as a
heat map. Such a heat map may illustrate the relative values of
brand ratings for an asset over a given dimension. For example, a
heat map may be used to show the brand rating for a particular
professional athelete over a geographical area, such as the
continental United States. Such a heat map may show high, low
and zero value brand ratings by DMAs, county, major cities, or in
any breakdown which may adequately show the changes, if any, in
the brand rating of the given asset. The present invention also
provides for the overlaying of such heat map and "reverse heat map"
which may indicate where negative metrics affect brand rating. Heat
map overlays may also include overlays or other embedded data
representing other emperical data, such as average brand ratings,
population and demography statitics, and media viewership ratings,
for example.
[99] Although many forms of assets have been discussed, profiles and
statistics may also become assets in their own rights. In each case,
they may be linked to one or more distinct assets, whether or not a
particular asset is made available by the system, or other profiles
and/or statitcs. Further, each of a particular profile or statistic may
be further grouped into modules to create super groups which
themselevs may create value, and in some cases sufficient value for
the individual profile(s) and statistic(s) to reach an asset class.
[100] More specifically, a profile may be developed around an existing
asset. For example, information may be gathered about an asset
and compiled to provide an information rich collection of data for the
particular asset. This information may be gathered through the
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methods used to collect metrics, as discussed above, or through the
use of profile specifc building tools. These tools may include
quieries directed to the particular asset which may collect
information related to the asset not otherwise gathered through the
use of metrics. By way of non-limited example only, the asset may
be requested or required to answer thirty (30) questions related to
the market most realted to the asset.
(1011 Furthermore, statistics gathered for available and non-available
assets may also be valued as assets themeselves. Although a
particular asset individually may not necessarily be valued as an
asset, a combination of statistics may be combined to form an asset.
Such a combination may be one or more statistics related to an
individual asset or any combination of statistics not necessarily
realted to any particular asset or grouping of assets. For example,
professional athlete performance statistics may be compiled by
player or by sport. By way of non-limiting example only, a compiled
statistical asset may provide information related to the popularity of
particular sports in a given geographical area, Similarly, a compiled
statistical asset may provide information more detailed information
such as the popularity of various sporting events and micro events in
a given geographical area, DMA, or demography, for example.
More specifically, for example, a compiled statistical asset may
inform the user that a particuler DMA in the western United States
prefers watching golf events over all other sports. Similarly, a
compiled statistical asset may show that each time a particular
athelete scores or does something of merit, the local DMA becomes
pre-desposed to the advertising around that particular sport, player,
and/or team.
[102] As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the engines within the
endorsed advertising engine 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
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and internet, personal electronic devices, satellite, databases, data
files, and the like, in order to increase content in the vault, contribute
content for intelligent selection of brand associations, and best allow
for recommendations and delivery.
[103] Further, there may be instances where the metricizing of an asset
may have periods where the asset does not have any media
attention. This could occur for example when a player is in the off-
season, when a player retires, or during other periods where an
asset is no longer in the media. Such a situation may occur when a
sports figure, such as a hall of fame caliber player retires from the
game. After the fanfare of the retirement festivities occurs, this
player may be in the background while other ventures begin to
materialize. Such other ventures may be at the early stage,
because of the close proximity of the retirement, or because they
generally are not news worthy. Such occurrences may keep quotes,
statements or facts in the background.
[104] Further, there are many sports legends that choose to live away
from the public eye. One such example, Sandy Koufax, who played
baseball from 1955 to 1966, was the most valuable player in the
National League in 1963, won Cy Young Awards (at a time when
only one award was given a year) by unanimous votes in 1963, 1965
and 1966, and in each year won the pitching triple crown by leading
the league in wins, strikeouts and ERA, and pitched numerous no-
hitters and a perfect game on September 9, 1965 Mr. Koufax was a
baseball broadcaster after his career until 1973, was elected to the
hall of fame in 1972 as the youngest member ever to enter the hall
of fame, has his uniform number 32 retired for the Dodgers, and is
still a highly regarded athlete. But Mr. Koufax presently does not
garner press coverage on a daily, monthly or yearly basis. Such an
individual may still possess a very high metric score, even though
current data would not support such a score. Having someone such
as Mr. Koufax endorse a product might thus still be costly, but would
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also be considered great validation of the product in spite of the lack
of recent mention or search metrics. As such, the system of the
present invention may maintain a metricized score over a
predetermined time frame, such as when that score reaches a
certain threshold, or maintains itself at or above a score for a certain
period of time, or when the score relative to others in that same
profession, position, city, or the like, exceeds a certain threshold.
[105] For example, the system of the present invention may provide a
stability control to such individuals or assets during periods of
decreased news activity, or periods where there is no activity on that
asset. Further, the present invention may provide an exponential or
linear component to the buzz, rating, or the like, of an asset, in either
a increasing or decreasing fashion. By way of non-limiting example
only, the system may provide a linearly decaying function in order to
take the metric value of an asset to zero over a fifty year time frame,
such that if the metric value prior to the inactivity period was fifty, this
metric would decrease by one every year during the inactive period.
Similarly, for an asset that has achieved unique status, such as a
hall of fame credential, the asset may increase linearly each year as
the asset develops a longer history in the field of the asset's
endeavor. By way of further example, the asset's metric may
decrease to a DC baseline, such that when new mentions occur, the
mention plus the DC baseline becomes the asset's rating metric.
Such a baseline may be half of the value of the average of the three
highest metrics achieved for a one year period for the asset, for
example. Needless to say, assets in different fields, such as sports
versus entertainment versus Fortune 500, may have applicable
thereto different formulae for the exponential or linear increase or
decrease, over different times, of the metricized buzz rating
associated with those assets.
[106] Thus, as would be evident to those possessing an ordinary skill in
the pertinent arts, any myriad of formulations may be implemented
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to calculate the metrics of an asset. The system of the present
invention may thus account for assets differently based on the
underlying metric of the asset or previously achieved metrics of the
asset.
[107] 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.
