System and method for group advertisement optimization

• US 7,548,874 B2
• Filed: 10/21/1999
• Issued: 06/16/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Zadrozny, Wlodek W., Kanevsky, Dimitri, Zlatsin, Alexander
• Primary Examiner(s): CHAMPAGNE, DONALD
• Application Number:
  US09/422,195
• Publication Number:
  US 20030088463A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,526 Days
• Field of Search: 705/14
• US Class Current: 705/14.67
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0244 Optimization
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0255 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0267 Wireless devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0271 Personalized advertisement

Abstract

A system and method is disclosed for producing an advertisement that is optimized to a particular user or group of users for a current transaction and is presented to such users at the point of sale or transaction terminal at a public location. The transaction terminal produces current transaction data that includes customer identity, and goods/services being purchased and their prices. The current transaction data is sent to an advertisement server via a network such as the Internet. The advertisement server implements a user database device, a goods database and an advertisement database to locate an existing advertisement or create a new advertisement that is optimized according to common characteristics of the particular group. The optimized advertisement is sent to the transaction terminal for presentation to the user on a monitor or like display device or, printed on a sales receipt.

Claims

1. A system for dynamically generating in real-time an advertisement optimized for a group of people located at a public location, said system comprising:

means for obtaining real-time visual images of members of said group while engaged in a common activity at a public location;

means for obtaining biometric data of one or more members of said group;

means for obtaining transaction data based on current or past transactions performed by one or more group members;

processing means for contemporaneously receiving said obtained visual images, biometric data and transaction data, determining identities of members of said group from said biometric data and transaction data, and common physical attributes of group members or common real-time behavioral activities performed by group members, or both, based on said received visual images, and extracting common personal characteristics based on the determined identities and, one or more determined physical attributes or real-time behavioral activities performed that are common among said group members;

means for associating in real time products/services with said common personal characteristics of said group members;

means for ranking suitable products/services for advertisement according to said common personal characteristics;

means for generating an optimized advertisement related to products or services according to said ranking; and

,

means communicable with said processing means for transmitting said optimized advertisement to a communication device located at said public location for communicating said optimized advertisement to said group while at said public location.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1, further including database memory including data relating to said group of people including identity data, data relating to a plurality of products and services, and advertisement data relating to various ones or categories of said products or services, said processing means collecting data by querying said database memory for identifying two or more persons at said location.

3. The system as claimed in claim 2, wherein said obtained current transaction data includes product purchasing transaction performed by two or more persons at said location.

4. The system as claimed in claim 3, wherein said past transaction data includes a history of prior products and service purchase transactions completed by said two or more persons identified in said group.

5. The system according to claim 4, wherein said processing means further comprises means for classifying obtained data according to predetermined criteria and generating classification data, said classifying means classifying data according to two or more criteria selected from the group consisting of:

a person'"'"'s age, gender, area of residence, citizenship, physical characteristics, type of products involved in a current transaction, and prices of products involved in a current transaction.

6. The system according to claim 5, further including means for relating current obtained data of an identified person to categories of products and services obtained from prior purchase transactions for said identified person and generating relation data, said system including means for updating data relating to said persons in said database memory with said classification data and said relation data.

7. The system according to claim 5, wherein said means for generating an advertisement includes means for selecting an optimized advertisement according to said ranking from said advertisements contained in said database memory.

8. The system according to claim 7, wherein said selecting means further including means for further initiating creation of a new advertisement through use of said products/services data when an optimized advertisement selection is not available.

9. The system according to claim 1, wherein said means communicable with said processing means includes input/output devices and a network interface for communicating said optimized advertisement over a network to said communication device.

10. The system according to claim 9, wherein said network includes the Internet.

11. The system according to claim 1, wherein said communication device includes one of:

a television monitor, a digital display device, a loud speaker device, an electronic billboard device, a printed sales receipt.

12. A method for dynamically generating in real-time an advertisement optimized for a group of persons located at a public location, said method comprising the steps of:

a) obtaining real-time visual images of members of said group while engaged in a common activity at a public location;

b) obtaining biometric data of one or more members of said group;

c) obtaining transaction data based on current or past transactions performed by one or more group members;

d) using a computer to process said obtained visual images, biometric data and transaction data to determine identities of members of said group and, common physical attributes of group members or common real-time behavioral activities performed by group members, or both;

e) using a computer to extract common personal characteristics of said group members based on the determined identities and one or more determined physical attributes and real-time behavioral activities performed that are common among said group members;

f) using a computer to associate in real time products/services with said common personal characteristics of said group members;

g) using a computer to rank suitable products/services for advertisement according to said common personal characteristics;

h) using a computer to generate an optimized advertisement related to products or services according to said ranking; and

,

i) transmitting said optimized advertisement to a communication device located at said public location for communicating said optimized advertisement to said group while at said public location.

13. The method as claimed in claim 12, further including the step of:

storing data in a database memory, said data relating to said group of people including identity data, data relating to a plurality of products and services, and advertisement data relating to various ones or categories of said products or services, said processing step including the step of querying said database memory for identifying two or more persons at said location.

14. The method as claimed in claim 13, wherein said current transaction data is obtained from product purchasing transactions performed by two or more persons at said location.

15. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein said past transaction data includes a history of prior products and service purchase transactions completed by two or more persons identified in said group.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein said processing step further includes the steps of classifying obtained data according to predetermined criteria and generating classification data, said predetermined criteria selected from the group consisting of:

a person'"'"'s age, gender, area of residence, citizenship, physical characteristics, type of products involved in a current transaction, and prices of products involved in a current transaction.

17. The method according to claim 16, further including the steps of:

relating current obtained data of an identified person to categories of products and services obtained from prior purchase transactions for said identified person and generating relation data; and

,

updating data relating to said persons in said database memory with said classification data and said relation data.

18. The method according to claim 16, wherein said generating step h) further includes the step of selecting an optimized advertisement according to said ranking from said advertisements contained in said database memory.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein said selecting step further includes the step of initiating creation of a new advertisement through use of said products/services data when an optimized advertisement selection is not available.

20. The method according to claim 12, wherein said optimized advertisement is transmitted to a communication device via a network.

21. A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for dynamically generating in realt-time an advertisement optimized for a group of-persons located at a public location, the method steps comprising:

a) obtaining real-time visual images of members of said group while engaged in a common activity at a public location;

b) obtaining biometric data of one or more members of said group;

c) obtaining transaction data based on current or past transactions performed by one or more group members;

d) using a computer to process said obtained visual images, biometric data and transaction data to determine identities of members of said group and, common physical attributes of group members or common real-time behavioral activities performed by group members, or both;

e) using a computer to extract common personal characteristics of said group members based on the determined identities and one or more determined physical attributes and real-time behavioral activities performed that are common among said group members;

f) using a computer to associate in real time products/services with said common personal characteristics of said group members;

g) using a computer to rank suitable products/services for advertisement according to said common personal characteristics;

h) using a computer to generate an optimized advertisement related to products or services according to said ranking; and

,

i) transmitting said optimized advertisement to a communication device located at said public location for communicating said optimized advertisement to said group while at said public location.

22. The program storage device as claimed in claim 21, wherein the method steps further includes the step of:

storing data in a database memory, said data relating to said group of people including identity data, data relating to a plurality of products and services, and advertisement data relating to various ones or categories of said products or services, said collecting data step b) including the step of querying said database memory for identifying two or more persons at said location.

23. The program storage device as claimed in claim 22, wherein said current transaction data is obtained from product purchasing transactions performed by two or more persons at said location.

24. The program storage device as claimed in claim 23, wherein said past transaction data includes a history of prior products and service purchase transactions completed by said two or more persons identified in said group.

25. The program storage device according to claim 24, wherein said processing step further includes the steps of classifying obtained data according to predetermined criteria and generating classification data, said predetermined criteria selected from the group consisting of:

a person'"'"'s age, gender, area of residence, citizenship, physical characteristics, type of products involved in a current transaction, and prices of products involved in a current transaction.

26. The program storage device according to claim 25, wherein said method steps further includes the steps of:

relating current obtained data of an identified person to categories of products and services obtained from prior purchase transactions for said identified person and generating relation data; and

,

updating data relating to said persons in said database memory with said classification data and said relation data.

27. The program storage device according to claim 25, wherein said generating step h) further includes the step of selecting an optimized advertisement according to said ranking from said advertisements contained in said database memory.

28. The program storage device according to claim 27, wherein said selecting step further includes the step of initiating creation of a new advertisement through use of said products/services data when an optimized advertisement selection is not available.

29. The program storage device according to claim 21, wherein said optimized advertisement is transmitted to a communication device via a network.