Interacting with consumers to inform, educate, consult, and assist with the purchase and use of personal care products

• US 20060149570A1
• Filed: 12/30/2004
• Published: 07/06/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kimberly-Clark Worldwide Incorporated (Kimberly-Clark Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kimberly-Clark Worldwide Incorporated (Kimberly-Clark Corporation)
• Inventors: Marvin, Jennifer, McDaniel, Mary Lou, Schweitzer, Kurtis F., Meyer, Mary Jo, Tanner, James Jay
• Granted Patent: US 7,950,925 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/27
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0281 Customer communication at a business location, e.g. providing product or service information, consulting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]

Abstract

Educating a consumer about a personal care product. A request for information regarding a personal care product is received from a consumer. A description of one or more physical characteristics associated with the consumer and related to the personal care product is also received from the consumer. In response to the received request and description, a visual representation of a three-dimensional model is provided to the consumer. The three-dimensional model is a function of the received physical characteristics and the personal care product.

Claims

1. A method for educating a consumer about a personal care product, said method comprising:

receiving a request from a consumer for information regarding a personal care product;

receiving from the consumer a description of one or more physical characteristics associated with the consumer and related to the personal care product; and

providing to the consumer the requested information in the form of a visual representation of a three-dimensional model, said three-dimensional model being a function of the received physical characteristics and the personal care product.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising requesting the description of the one or more physical characteristics from the consumer.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a legitimacy level of the consumer, and wherein providing the requested information comprises providing the requested information to the consumer as a function of the determined legitimacy level.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a request from the consumer to manipulate the provided visual representation of the three-dimensional model in one or more of the following ways:

pan, tilt, zoom, rotate, scale, flip, brighten, darken, adjust the point-of-view, adjust lighting, and adjust colors.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the requested information comprises sending the consumer a pamphlet including the requested information in one or more of the following ways:

postal mail and electronic mail.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising obtaining contact information from the consumer to register the consumer, and wherein providing the requested information comprises providing the requested information to the registered consumer.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining an education level associated with the consumer, and wherein providing the requested information comprises providing the requested information as a function of the determined education level.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying the personal care product.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein identifying the personal care product comprises receiving one or more of the following codes associated with the personal care product from the consumer:

a universal product code (UPC) and an electronic product code (EPC).

10. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the requested information to the consumer comprises directing the consumer to a content source containing the requested information.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the content source comprises one or more of the following:

a web site, a medical professional, an audio source, and a video source.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein directing the consumer to the content source comprises providing the consumer with a password for use at a web site containing the requested information, and wherein entering the password at the web site enables the consumer to view the visual representation of the three-dimensional model.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the requested information to the consumer comprises displaying the visual representation of the three-dimensional model to the consumer.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating the visual representation of the three-dimensional model.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a purchase incentive relating to the personal care product to the consumer.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the request for the information comprises receiving a request for information regarding one or more of the following:

a feminine care product, a baby care product, an elder care product, and a pregnancy test.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving an instruction time from the consumer, and wherein providing the requested information comprises providing to the consumer the requested information at the received instruction time.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the requested information comprises providing the requested information to a computing device associated with the consumer.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the requested information to the consumer comprises confidentially providing the requested information to the consumer.

20. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving another request for the information from another consumer, and wherein providing the requested information comprises providing the requested information to the consumer and the other consumer simultaneously.

21. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving another request from the consumer for information relating to the provided visual representation of the three-dimensional model; and

providing additional information to the consumer in response to the received other request.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the requested information assists the consumer in making a purchase decision regarding the personal care product.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the three-dimensional model comprises a pre-existing model which does not correspond to the physical characteristics of the consumer, and wherein the pre-existing model is modified according to anthropometric data corresponding to the physical characteristics of the consumer so that the pre-existing model more closely approximates the physical characteristics of the consumer.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the request for information regarding the personal care product comprises receiving a request to illustrate use of a feminine care product.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the requested information to the consumer comprises providing, by a human agent, the requested information to the consumer in a confidential setting.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the requested information to the consumer comprises generating the visual representation of the three-dimensional model based on the received physical characteristics and the personal care product.

27. The method of claim 1, wherein providing to the consumer the requested information in the form of the visual representation of the three-dimensional model comprises providing to the consumer the requested information in the form of a sequence of visual representations of the three-dimensional model to animate the three-dimensional model.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the sequence of visual representations comprises a series of events pertaining to the personal care product.

29. The method of claim 1, wherein providing to the consumer the requested information comprises providing to the consumer the requested information in the form of the visual representation of the three-dimensional model via one or more of the following:

a computing device and an electronic device.

30. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more computer-readable media have computer-executable instructions for performing the method recited in claim 1.

31. A system for educating a consumer about a personal care product, said system comprising:

means for receiving a request from a consumer for information regarding a personal care product and for receiving from the user a description of one or more physical characteristics associated with the consumer and related to the personal care product;

means for providing to the consumer the requested information in the form of a visual representation of a three-dimensional model, said three-dimensional model being a function of the received physical characteristics and the personal care product; and

means for manipulating the provided visual representation of the three-dimensional model responsive to input from the consumer.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein the physical characteristics comprise one or more of the following:

height, weight, body geometry, and spoken language.

33. The system of claim 31, wherein the three-dimensional model comprises one or more of the following:

a black-and-white mesh, a color mesh, a high-resolution image, and a low-resolution image.

34. The system of claim 31, wherein the provided visual representation of the three-dimensional model assists the consumer in making a purchase decision regarding the personal care product.

35. A method of enabling a resource to educate a consumer, said method comprising:

transmitting, from the consumer to the resource, a request for information regarding a personal care product;

transmitting, from the consumer to the resource, a description of one or more physical characteristics associated with the consumer and related to the personal care product; and

transmitting, from the resource to the consumer, the requested information in the form of a visual representation of a three-dimensional model, said three-dimensional model being a function of the physical characteristics and the personal care product.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the resource comprises one or more of the following:

a customer service representative (CSR), a database, a server, and an agent.

37. The method of claim 35, further comprising:

transmitting, from the consumer to the resource, a request to manipulate the visual representation of the three-dimensional model; and

transmitting, from the resource to the consumer, a visual representation of the manipulated three-dimensional model.

38. The method of claim 35, wherein transmitting the requested information assists the consumer in making a purchase decision regarding the personal care product.

39. The method of claim 35, wherein transmitting the request for information comprises transmitting a request to illustrate use of a feminine care product.

40. The method of claim 35, wherein transmitting the requested information comprises transmitting, from a human agent to the consumer in a confidential setting, the visual representation of a three-dimensional model.

41. The method of claim 35, wherein transmitting the requested information comprises generating the visual representation of the three-dimensional model based on the physical characteristics and the personal care product.

42. The method of claim 35, wherein transmitting the requested information comprises transmitting the requested information in the form of a sequence of visual representations of the three-dimensional model to animate the three-dimensional model.

43. A method for educating a consumer about a personal care product in a confidential setting, said method comprising:

receiving, by a human agent, a request from a consumer for information regarding a personal care product;

receiving from the consumer a description of one or more physical characteristics associated with the consumer and related to the personal care product;

selecting a multimedia resource based on the personal care product and the received description of the one or more physical characteristics; and

providing to the consumer the requested information confidentially in the form of the selected multimedia resource.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein selecting the multimedia resource comprises selecting one or more of the following:

a three-dimensional model, a movie, and an audio clip.

45. The method of claim 43, wherein selecting the multimedia resource comprises selecting a visual representation of the multimedia resource.

46. The method of claim 43, wherein receiving the request for information regarding the personal care product comprises receiving a request to illustrate use of a feminine care product.