Individualized Marketing to Improve Capacity Utilization

• US 20110145061A1
• Filed: 02/22/2011
• Published: 06/16/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/07/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kayak Software Corporation (Booking Holdings, Inc., fka Priceline Group Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Kayak Software Corporation (Booking Holdings, Inc., fka Priceline Group Inc.)
• Inventors: Hafner, Steve, English, Paul, Giza, Jim, Hafner, Daniel S., Patterson, Andrew, Spurr, Charles L.
• Granted Patent: US 8,583,485 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.49
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0223 based on inventory
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0244 Optimization
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0275 Auctions

Abstract

Suppliers of goods and/or services subject to shifts in capacity utilization design and implement marketing campaigns around utilization forecasts, targeting marketing expenditures on periods of excess capacity rather than periods without excess capacity, and in some embodiments also to alter variables such as pricing, consumer targeting, or even the intensity of the campaign itself on a dynamic basis in response to changing market conditions.

Claims

1. A method for executing marketing campaigns, the method executed by a computer system and comprising:

receiving, via a computer interface, information for a marketing campaign associated with a supplier of items characterized by fixed capacity and deferred consumption, the information for the marketing campaign including a promotion for an item of the supplier and execution criteria for executing the marketing campaign to present the promotion via a computer network site;

receiving, via the computer interface, forecast data for the supplier, the forecast data computed based on future availability of one or more items provided by the supplier; and

automatically modifying the execution criteria of the marketing campaign based on the forecast data.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to receiving, from a client device, a request for an item to be consumed in the future, determining whether the request matches the modified execution criteria of the marketing campaign; and

responsive to the request matching the modified execution criteria, automatically determining whether to transmit the promotion for presentation from a plurality of promotions of marketing campaigns whose execution criteria matches the request.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein forecast data for the supplier is computed periodically by a forecast server and provided by the forecast server for modifying the execution criteria.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein forecast data for the supplier is computed responsive to an event and provided by the forecast server for modifying the execution criteria.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the event is a booking pace not being according to a booking projection.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the event is a set number of reservations being canceled.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the execution criteria includes a set of users for whom the marketing campaign is intended, and wherein the modification results in a change in the set of users.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the execution criteria includes behaviors of users for whom the marketing campaign is intended, and wherein the modification results in a change in the behaviors.

9. A system for executing marketing campaigns, the system comprising:

a processor; and

a computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions that when executed by the processor are configured to;

receive information for a marketing campaign associated with a supplier of items characterized by fixed capacity and deferred consumption, the information for the marketing campaign including a promotion for an item of the supplier and execution criteria for executing the marketing campaign to present the promotion via a computer network site;

receiving forecast data for the supplier, the forecast data computed based on future availability of one or more items provided by the supplier; and

automatically modify the execution criteria of the marketing campaign based on the forecast data.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the computer-executable instructions when executed by the processor are further configured to:

responsive to receiving, from a client device, a request for an item to be consumed in the future, determine whether the request matches the modified execution criteria of the marketing campaign; and

responsive to the request matching the modified execution criteria, automatically determine whether to transmit the promotion for presentation from a plurality of promotions of marketing campaigns whose execution criteria matches the request.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein forecast data for the supplier is computed periodically by a forecast server and provided by the forecast server for modifying the execution criteria.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein forecast data for the supplier is computed responsive to an event and provided by the forecast server for modifying the execution criteria.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the event is a booking pace not being according to a booking projection.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the event is a set number of reservations being canceled.

15. The system of claim 9, wherein the execution criteria includes a set of users for whom the marketing campaign is intended, and wherein the modification results in a change in the set of users.

16. The system of claim 9, wherein the execution criteria includes behaviors of users for whom the marketing campaign is intended, and wherein the modification results in a change in the behaviors.

17. A computer program product having a computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions for executing marketing campaigns, the computer-executable instructions when executed by a processor configured to:

receive information for a marketing campaign associated with a supplier of items characterized by fixed capacity and deferred consumption, the information for the marketing campaign including a promotion for an item of the supplier and execution criteria for executing the marketing campaign to present the promotion via a computer network site;

receiving forecast data for the supplier, the forecast data computed based on future availability of one or more items provided by the supplier; and

automatically modify the execution criteria of the marketing campaign based on the forecast data.

18. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the computer-executable instructions when executed by the processor are further configured to:

responsive to receiving, from a client device, a request for an item to be consumed in the future, determine whether the request matches the modified execution criteria of the marketing campaign; and

responsive to the request matching the modified execution criteria, automatically determine whether to transmit the promotion for presentation from a plurality of promotions of marketing campaigns whose execution criteria matches the request.

19. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the execution criteria includes a set of users for whom the marketing campaign is intended, and wherein the modification results in a change in the set of users.

20. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the execution criteria includes behaviors of users for whom the marketing campaign is intended, and wherein the modification results in a change in the behaviors.