Marketing systems and methods that preserve consumer privacy
First Claim
1. A computer-based marketing system for directing customized offers to consumers, the marketing system comprising:
- a secure server comprising;
an individual records database of individual records derived from a consumer data set; and
a first communications facility that enables the secure server to communication offers with individual consumers;
a marketing server in communication with the secure server, comprising;
a classes database of class records derived from an abstraction of the individual records database, wherein said classes database identifies individual records of said individual records database to which electronic offers are to be sent based on a user-selected marketing profile, and the said class records are devoid of information specifying the identify of the consumers associated with the class records; and
a second communication facility that provides access by marketers to the marketing server; and
a third communications facilities that enables the marketing server to communication with the secure server;
wherein the secure server, in response to instructions received from the marketing server, communicates offers to individual consumers.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Real-time marketing systems and methods are provided for creating marketing profiles and for directing customized offers to consumers while preserving consumer privacy. The systems and methods permit marketers to communicate offers directly to consumers without marketer knowledge of consumer identity. The systems and methods abstract from consumer profile records and securely index the class records created thereby to individual consumers. Without knowledge of consumer identity, marketers can frame real-time offers according to a marketing profile describing elements of the class records and then direct those offers to individual consumers.
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Citations
37 Claims
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1. A computer-based marketing system for directing customized offers to consumers, the marketing system comprising:
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a secure server comprising;
an individual records database of individual records derived from a consumer data set; and
a first communications facility that enables the secure server to communication offers with individual consumers;
a marketing server in communication with the secure server, comprising;
a classes database of class records derived from an abstraction of the individual records database, wherein said classes database identifies individual records of said individual records database to which electronic offers are to be sent based on a user-selected marketing profile, and the said class records are devoid of information specifying the identify of the consumers associated with the class records; and
a second communication facility that provides access by marketers to the marketing server; and
a third communications facilities that enables the marketing server to communication with the secure server;
wherein the secure server, in response to instructions received from the marketing server, communicates offers to individual consumers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A computer-based marketing system for directing customized offers to consumers while preserving consumer privacy, the marketing system comprising:
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a secure server comprising;
a first communications facility that communicates with a consumer data set derived from consumer data;
an individual records database of individual records derived from the consumer data set; and
a second communications facility that enables the secure server to communicate with individual consumers;
a marketing server in communication with the secure server comprising;
a classes database of class records derived from an abstraction of the individual records database, wherein said classes database identifies individual records of said individual records database to which electronic offers are to be sent based on a user-selected marketing profile;
marketing profiles describing elements of the classes database; and
a third communications facility that provides access by marketers to the marketing server, and a fourth communications facility that enables the marketing server to communicate with the secure server;
wherein the secure server, in response to instructions received from the marketing server, communicates offers to individual consumers; and
wherein information identifying individual consumers is shielded from the marketing server and from marketers by the secure server. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of directing customized offers to consumers, the method comprising the steps of:
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creating individual records in an individual records database by aggregating consumer data;
generating class records in a classes database, the class records generating step comprising the steps of;
abstracting the individual records to create class records;
creating an index tracing the class records to the individual records wherein the index is not accessible by the classes database;
creating marketing profiles describing elements of the classes database in response to a request from a marketer;
generating an offer to individual consumers in response to offer initiation by a marketer; and
communicating the offer to individual consumers. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
collecting consumer data from at least one on-line data repository, the consumer data including a consumer identifier; using data mining tools to help marketers frame their requests;
storing marketing profiles in a search results database;
updating individual records and class records in response to a marketer request and as additional consumer behavior data is aggregated;
processing consumer responses to the offer;
updating individual records and class records in response to a marketer request and as consumer responses to the offer are processed; and
forwarding consumer responses to marketers;
wherein the index creating step comprises creating an index tracing the class records to the individual records, wherein the index is not accessible by the classes database; and
wherein the communicating step comprises communicating the offer electronically to individual consumers.
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28. A method of directing customized offers to consumer, the method comprising the steps of:
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creating an individual records database including a plurality of individual records that describe consumer behavior;
storing the individual records database on a secure server;
abstracting in the secure server the individual records in the individual records database to generate class records that are stored in a class records database on a marketing server, wherein the step of abstracting generates class records devoid of information identifying individual consumers, and wherein each of the class records is traceable to a corresponding individual record;
identifying in the marketing server a subset of individual records associated with consumers to whom communications are to be directed based on a marketing profile submitted by a marketer;
identifying in the secure server a subset of individual records by tracing the subset of class records to individual records; and
generating in the secure server a communication to those consumers who are associated with the identified subset of individual records. - View Dependent Claims (29)
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30. A computer-based marketing system for directing customized offers to consumers, the marketing system comprising:
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means for organizing an individual records database containing individual records from a variety of consumer data sources;
means for generating class records in a classes database, the class records generating means further comprising means for abstracting the individual records to create class records;
means for creating a marketing profile describing elements of the classes database in response to a request from a marketer; and
means for generating offers to individual consumers described by the marketing profile in response to offer initiation by a marketer;
wherein the abstracting means eliminates all individual consumer identifying information from the class records in order to preserve consumer privacy. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A computer program product for directing customized offers to consumers, the computer program product comprising:
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a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code means embodied in said medium, said computer-readable program code means comprising;
computer readable program code means for organizing an individual records database containing individual records from a variety of consumer data sources;
computer readable program code means for generating class records in a classes database, the class records generating means further comprising means for abstracting the individual records to create class records;
computer readable program code means for creating a marketing profile describing elements of the classes database in response to a request from a marketer; and
computer readable program code means for generating offers to individual consumers described by the marketing profile in response to offer initiation by a marketer, wherein the computer readable program code abstracting means eliminates al individual consumer identifying information from the class records in order to preserve consumer privacy.
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Specification