Analytic data set creation for modeling in a customer relationship management system

• US 7,272,617 B1
• Filed: 11/30/2001
• Issued: 09/18/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Teradata US, Inc. (Teradata Corporation)
• Original Assignee: NCR Corporation (NCR Voyix Corporation)
• Inventors: Collins, Scott M., Bayer, Judith A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Jeanty; Romain
• Application Number:
  US09/998,680
• Time in Patent Office: 2,118 Days
• Field of Search: 705/7, 705/10, 707/104.1
• US Class Current: 707/810
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2428 Query predicate definition using graphical user interfaces, including menus and forms G06F16/2423 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2216/03 Data mining
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system includes a CRM Client, CRM Engine, and Relational Database Management System (RDBMS). The CRM Client, CRM Engine, and RDBMS integrate a suite of services that allow users to plan, manage, and execute promotional or marketing campaigns, build customer segments, score customers, and analyze customer behavior, product purchases, and response to promotional campaigns. The services include an automated Analytic Data Set Creation service, which simplifies and automates the process of creating analytic data sets useful for modeling and analysis out of operational data stored in the relational database, and a Response Modeling service, which automatically creates promotion response models to score individual customers based on that model in order to predict which customers are most likely to respond to a future promotional campaign.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of generating an Analytic Data Set for use in modeling in customer relationship marketing, comprising:

(a) specifying one or more Variable Groups, wherein each Variable Group is a set of one or more Analytic Variables with similar characteristics and each Analytic Variable is comprised of both primitives and conditions;

(b) creating an Analytic Data Set Template containing one or more of the Analytic Variables selected from the specified Variable Groups that are required for a specific analysis task, wherein execution conditions are defined for the Analytic Data Set Template; and

(c) automatically generating SQL statements to retrieve and generate the Analytic Variables contained in the Analytic Data Set Template from a database using the primitives and conditions of the Analytic Variables for use in modeling in customer relationship marketing.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the database contains operational data and the Analytic Variables are derived from the operational data.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the operational data comprises transaction data.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the primitives are base variables.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the conditions are predicates, aggregates or functions.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the specifying step (a) comprises performing a Smart Variable Definition that allows the user to define multiple Analytic Variables that are variations on a base variable.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the creating step (b) further comprises defining execution conditions for the Analytic Data Set Template.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the generated instructions contain variable transformation information, wherein transaction data from the database is identified, aggregated or modified to generate the Analytic Variables.

9. A computer-implemented system for generating an Analytic Data Set for use in modeling in customer relationship marketing, comprising:

(a) a computer;

(b) logic, performed by the computer, for;

(1) specifying one or more Variable Groups, wherein each Variable Group is a set of one or more Analytic Variables with similar characteristics and each Analytic Variable is comprised of both primitives and conditions;

(2) creating an Analytic Data Set Template containing one or more of the Analytic Variables selected from the specified Variable Groups that are required for a specific analysis task, wherein execution conditions are defined for the Analytic Data Set Template; and

(3) automatically generating SQL statements to retrieve and generate the Analytic Variables contained in the Analytic Data Set Template from a database using the primitives and conditions of the Analytic Variables for use in modeling in customer relationship marketing.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the database contains operational data and the Analytic Variables are derived from the operational data.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the operational data comprises transaction data.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the primitives are base variables.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the conditions are predicates, aggregates or functions.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the logic for specifying (1) comprises logic for performing a Smart Variable Definition that allows the user to define multiple Analytic Variables that are variations on a base variable.

15. The system of claim 9, wherein the logic for creating (2) further comprises logic for defining execution conditions for the Analytic Data Set Template.

16. The system of claim 9, wherein the generated instructions contain variable transformation information, wherein transaction data from the database is identified, aggregated or modified to generate the Analytic Variables.

17. An article of manufacture comprising a computer program storage device for storing instructions that, when read and executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to perform a method for generating an Analytic Data Set for use in customer relationship marketing, comprising:

(a) specifying one or more Variable Groups, wherein each Variable Group is a set of one or more Analytic Variables with similar characteristics and each Analytic Variable is comprised of both primitives and conditions;

(b) creating an Analytic Data Set Template containing one or more of the Analytic Variables selected from the specified Variable Groups that are required for a specific analysis task, wherein execution conditions are defined for the Analytic Data Set Template; and

(c) automatically generating SQL statements to retrieve and generate the Analytic Variables contained in the Analytic Data Set Template from a database using the primitives and conditions of the Analytic Variables for use in modeling in customer relationship marketing.

18. The article of manufacture of claim 17, wherein the database contains operational data and the Analytic Variables are derived from the operational data.

19. The article of manufacture of claim 18, wherein the operational data comprises transaction data.

20. The article of manufacture of claim 17, wherein the primitives are base variables.

21. The article of manufacture of claim 17, wherein the conditions are predicates, aggregates or functions.

22. The article of manufacture of claim 17, wherein the specifying step (a) comprises performing a Smart Variable Definition that allows the user to define multiple Analytic Variables that are variations on a base variable.

23. The article of manufacture of claim 17, wherein the creating step (b) further comprises defining execution conditions for the Analytic Data Set Template.

24. The article of manufacture of claim 17, wherein the generated instructions contain variable transformation information, wherein transaction data from the database is identified, aggregated or modified to generate the Analytic Variables.