Management of personalized advertisements through the mass media

• US 10,229,422 B2
• Filed: 08/28/2012
• Issued: 03/12/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 08/28/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: De, Pradipta, Dey, Kuntal, Nagar, Seema
• Primary Examiner(s): Vanderhorst, Maria V
• Application Number:
  US13/596,397
• Publication Number:
  US 20140067498A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,387 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

Techniques, an apparatus and an article of manufacture for management of personalized advertisements through the mass media. A method includes capturing content of an advertisement that is displayed publically and/or publically accessible to a plurality of individuals through a mass media mechanism by recording an image of the advertisement using a hand-held device, storing the content of the advertisement in a user-dedicated repository, and managing the content of the advertisement in the user-dedicated repository to facilitate distribution of the advertisement through the user to one or more additional individual users.

Claims

1. A method for distributing a mass media advertisement through one or more individual users, the method comprising:

capturing content of an advertisement that is displayed publically and/or publically accessible to a plurality of individuals through a mass media mechanism, wherein said capturing comprises recording an image of the advertisement, via a social network account of a user, using a camera of hand-held device of the user;

personalizing the content of the advertisement to instantiate a personalized version of the advertisement for the user, wherein the personalized version of the advertisement is (a) distinct from the advertisement that is displayed publically and/or publically accessible to a plurality of individuals through a mass media mechanism and (b) distinct from a personalized version of the advertisement instantiated for a second user, wherein said personalizing is based on (i) one or more user preferences, (ii) location of the user, and (iii) past activity of the user, and wherein said personalizing comprises;

mapping a log-in of the user for the social network account of the user to a unique user identifier of the user associated with the personalized advertisement;

updating the content of the personalized advertisement by propagating meta-data and defining advertisement usage rules based on merchant information, wherein defining the advertisement usage rules comprises defining a maximum number of uses of the personalized advertisement and defining a maximum number of users of the personalized advertisement;

storing the personalized version of the advertisement in a user-dedicated repository associated with the user, wherein the user-dedicated repository is located on a backend hosted by a service provider, and wherein said storing comprises transmitting the personalized version of the advertisement from the hand-held device of the user to the user-dedicated repository via a short message system gateway number;

managing the personalized version of the advertisement in the user-dedicated repository, wherein said managing comprises;

annotating the personalized version of the advertisement via a first annotation, wherein the first annotation comprises an identification of one or more additional users expressly permitted to share the personalized version of the advertisement;

annotating the personalized version of the advertisement via a second annotation, wherein the second annotation comprises an identification of one or more additional users expressly precluded from sharing the personalized version of the advertisement;

annotating the personalized version of the advertisement with multiple attributes, wherein said multiple attributes comprise (i) a merchant identifier associated with the personalized version of the advertisement, (ii) an advertisement identifier associated with the personalized version of the advertisement, (iii) a user identifier associated with an uploader of the personalized version of the advertisement, (iv) a user identifier associated with a downloader of the personalized version of the advertisement, and (v) an indication of a tracking status associated with the personalized version of the advertisement;

facilitating distribution of the advertisement through the user to one or more additional individual users based on the first annotation and the second annotation, wherein said facilitating comprises connecting multiple distinct log-ins of the one or more additional individual users for social network accounts of the one or more additional users to the same unique user identifier of the user associated with the personalized advertisement;

routing a first message from the user to the user-dedicated repository, wherein the first message requests redemption of the personalized advertisement;

confirming the user identifier of the user associated with the message;

comparing current usage information of the personalized advertisement, associated with the message, to the defined maximum number of uses of the personalized advertisement and the defined maximum number of users of the personalized advertisement;

confirming compliance of the current usage information to the advertisement usage rules;

sending a second message to the merchant for redemption of the personalized advertisement, wherein the second message includes (i) the personalized version of the advertisement from the user-dedicated repository and (ii) the confirmed user identifier; and

updating, after the redemption of the personalized advertisement, (i) a usage count of the personalized advertisement and (ii) information pertaining to the confirmed user identifier;

wherein the steps are carried out by at least one computer device.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising tracking a flow of the advertisement from the user to the one or more additional users.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said content comprises a quick response (QR) coded message.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said content comprises merchant identity and discount value.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said capturing comprises receiving an image of the advertisement via a user device.

6. The method of claim 5, comprising transferring the image of the advertisement to the user-dedicated repository via short message service or via the Internet.

7. An article of manufacture comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer readable instructions tangibly embodied thereon which, when implemented, cause a computer to carry out a plurality of method steps comprising:

capturing content of an advertisement that is displayed publically and/or publically accessible to a plurality of individuals through a mass media mechanism, wherein said capturing comprises recording an image of the advertisement, via a social network account of a user, using a camera of hand-held device of the user;

personalizing the content of the advertisement to instantiate a personalized version of the advertisement for the user, wherein the personalized version of the advertisement is (a) distinct from the advertisement that is displayed publically and/or publically accessible to a plurality of individuals through a mass media mechanism and (b) distinct from a personalized version of the advertisement instantiated for a second user, wherein said personalizing is based on (i) one or more user preferences, (ii) location of the user, and (iii) past activity of the user, and wherein said personalizing comprises;

mapping a log-in of the user for the social network account of the user to a unique user identifier of the user associated with the personalized advertisement;

updating the content of the personalized advertisement by propagating meta-data and defining advertisement usage rules based on merchant information, wherein defining the advertisement usage rules comprises defining a maximum number of uses of the personalized advertisement and defining a maximum number of users of the personalized advertisement;

storing the personalized version of the advertisement in a user-dedicated repository associated with the user, wherein the user-dedicated repository is located on a backend hosted by a service provider, and wherein said storing comprises transmitting the personalized version of the advertisement from the hand-held device of the user to the user-dedicated repository via a short message system gateway number;

managing the personalized version of the advertisement in the user-dedicated repository, wherein said managing comprises;

annotating the personalized version of the advertisement via a first annotation, wherein the first annotation comprises an identification of one or more additional users expressly permitted to share the personalized version of the advertisement;

annotating the personalized version of the advertisement via a second annotation, wherein the second annotation comprises an identification of one or more additional users expressly precluded from sharing the personalized version of the advertisement;

annotating the personalized version of the advertisement with multiple attributes, wherein said multiple attributes comprise (i) a merchant identifier associated with the personalized version of the advertisement, (ii) an advertisement identifier associated with the personalized version of the advertisement, (iii) a user identifier associated with an uploader of the personalized version of the advertisement, (iv) a user identifier associated with a downloader of the personalized version of the advertisement, and (v) an indication of a tracking status associated with the personalized version of the advertisement;

facilitating distribution of the advertisement through the user to one or more additional individual users based on the first annotation and the second annotation, wherein said facilitating comprises connecting multiple distinct log-ins of the one or more additional individual users for social network accounts of the one or more additional users to the same unique user identifier of the user associated with the personalized advertisement;

routing a first message from the user to the user-dedicated repository, wherein the first message requests redemption of the personalized advertisement;

confirming the user identifier of the user associated with the message;

comparing current usage information of the personalized advertisement, associated with the message, to the defined maximum number of uses of the personalized advertisement and the defined maximum number of users of the personalized advertisement;

confirming compliance of the current usage information to the advertisement usage rules;

sending a second message to the merchant for redemption of the personalized advertisement, wherein the second message includes (i) the personalized version of the advertisement from the user-dedicated repository and (ii) the confirmed user identifier; and

updating, after the redemption of the personalized advertisement, (i) a usage count of the personalized advertisement and (ii) information pertaining to the confirmed user identifier.

8. A system for distributing a mass media advertisement through one or more individual users, comprising:

a memory; and

at least one processor coupled to the memory and operative for;

capturing content of an advertisement that is displayed publically and/or publically accessible to a plurality of individuals through a mass media mechanism, wherein said capturing comprises recording an image of the advertisement, via a social network account of a user, using a camera of hand-held device of the user;

personalizing the content of the advertisement to instantiate a personalized version of the advertisement for the user, wherein the personalized version of the advertisement is (a) distinct from the advertisement that is displayed publically and/or publically accessible to a plurality of individuals through a mass media mechanism and (b) distinct from a personalized version of the advertisement instantiated for a second user, wherein said personalizing is based on (i) one or more user preferences, (ii) location of the user, and (iii) past activity of the user, and wherein said personalizing comprises;

mapping a log-in of the user for the social network account of the user to a unique user identifier of the user associated with the personalized advertisement;

updating the content of the personalized advertisement by propagating meta-data and defining advertisement usage rules based on merchant information, wherein defining the advertisement usage rules comprises defining a maximum number of uses of the personalized advertisement and defining a maximum number of users of the personalized advertisement;

storing the personalized version of the advertisement in a user-dedicated repository associated with the user, wherein the user-dedicated repository is located on a backend hosted by a service provider, and wherein said storing comprises transmitting the personalized version of the advertisement from the hand-held device of the user to the user-dedicated repository via a short message system gateway number;

managing the personalized version of the advertisement in the user-dedicated repository, wherein said managing comprises;

annotating the personalized version of the advertisement via a first annotation, wherein the first annotation comprises an identification of one or more additional users expressly permitted to share the personalized version of the advertisement;

annotating the personalized version of the advertisement via a second annotation, wherein the second annotation comprises an identification of one or more additional users expressly precluded from sharing the personalized version of the advertisement;

annotating the personalized version of the advertisement with multiple attributes, wherein said multiple attributes comprise (i) a merchant identifier associated with the personalized version of the advertisement, (ii) an advertisement identifier associated with the personalized version of the advertisement, (iii) a user identifier associated with an uploader of the personalized version of the advertisement, (iv) a user identifier associated with a downloader of the personalized version of the advertisement, and (v) an indication of a tracking status associated with the personalized version of the advertisement;

facilitating distribution of the advertisement through the user to one or more additional individual users based on the first annotation and the second annotation, wherein said facilitating comprises connecting multiple distinct log-ins of the one or more additional individual users for social network accounts of the one or more additional users to the same unique user identifier of the user associated with the personalized advertisement;

routing a first message from the user to the user-dedicated repository, wherein the first message requests redemption of the personalized advertisement;

confirming the user identifier of the user associated with the message;

comparing current usage information of the personalized advertisement, associated with the message, to the defined maximum number of uses of the personalized advertisement and the defined maximum number of users of the personalized advertisement;

confirming compliance of the current usage information to the advertisement usage rules;

sending a second message to the merchant for redemption of the personalized advertisement, wherein the second message includes (i) the personalized version of the advertisement from the user-dedicated repository and (ii) the confirmed user identifier; and

updating, after the redemption of the personalized advertisement, (i) a usage count of the personalized advertisement and (ii) information pertaining to the confirmed user identifier.

9. A method for tracking a mass media advertisement through one or more individual users, the method comprising:

capturing content of an advertisement that is displayed publically and/or publically accessible to a plurality of individuals through a mass media mechanism, wherein said capturing comprises recording an image of the advertisement, via a social network account of a user, using a camera of hand-held device of the user;

personalizing the content of the advertisement to instantiate a personalized version of the advertisement for the user, wherein the personalized version of the advertisement is (a) distinct from the advertisement that is displayed publically and/or publically accessible to a plurality of individuals through a mass media mechanism and (b) distinct from a personalized version of the advertisement instantiated for a second user, wherein said personalizing is based on (i) one or more user preferences, (ii) location of the user, and (iii) past activity of the user, and wherein said personalizing comprises;

mapping a log-in of the user for the social network account of the user to a unique user identifier of the user associated with the personalized advertisement; and

annotating the personalized advertisement with multiple attributes, wherein said multiple attributes comprise (i) a merchant identifier associated with the personalized advertisement, (ii) an advertisement identifier associated with the personalized advertisement, (iii) a user identifier associated with an uploader of the personalized advertisement, (iv) a user identifier associated with a downloader of the personalized advertisement, and (v) an indication of a tracking status associated with the personalized advertisement;

updating the content of the personalized advertisement by propagating meta-data and defining advertisement usage rules based on merchant information, wherein defining the advertisement usage rules comprises defining a maximum number of uses of the personalized advertisement and defining a maximum number of users of the personalized advertisement;

storing the personalized version of the advertisement in a user-dedicated repository associated with the user that is searchable by one or more additional users, wherein the user-dedicated repository is located on a backend hosted by a service provider, and wherein said storing comprises transmitting the personalized version of the advertisement from the hand-held device of the user to the user-dedicated repository via a short message system gateway number;

enabling the one or more additional users to obtain the personalized version of the advertisement from the user-dedicated repository, wherein said enabling comprises connecting multiple distinct log-ins of the one or more additional users for social network accounts of the one or more additional users to the same unique user identifier of the user associated with the personalized advertisement;

tracking a flow of the advertisement from the user to the one or more additional users until redemption of the advertisement by monitoring unique user identifier corresponding to each user that obtains the personalized version of the advertisement from a user-dedicated repository of another user, wherein said tracking comprises;

comparing the unique user identifier corresponding to each user that obtains the personalized version of the advertisement to the unique user identifiers for the one or more additional users associated with the personalized advertisement;

comparing current usage information of the personalized advertisement to the defined maximum number of uses of the personalized advertisement and the defined maximum number of users of the personalized advertisement;

confirming (i) the unique user identifier corresponding to each user that obtains the personalized version of the advertisement and (ii) compliance of the current usage information to the advertisement usage rules; and

providing, based on said tracking, an incentive to the user whose stored personalized version of the advertisement is redeemed from the user dedicated repository at a pre-defined frequency and a pre-defined amount;

wherein the steps are carried out by at least one computer device.