System and method for analyzing marketing efforts

• US 7,937,286 B2
• Filed: 06/10/2004
• Issued: 05/03/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/10/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Citicorp Credit Services Incorporated (Citigroup Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Citicorp Credit Services Incorporated (Citigroup Incorporated)
• Inventors: Menai, Noor A., Newman, Alan B.
• Primary Examiner(s): CHOI, PETER H
• Application Number:
  US10/864,529
• Publication Number:
  US 20050055275A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,518 Days
• Field of Search: 705/14, 705/10, 705/7, 707/6
• US Class Current: 705/7.31
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2358 Change logging, detection, and notification replication G06F16/27
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0202 Market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0203 Market surveys; Market polls
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0205 Location or geographical consideration
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0242 Determining effectiveness of advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0245 Surveys

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and system for evaluating the cause and effect of advertising and marketing programs using card transaction data. In one embodiment, access is provided to voluminous card-holder transaction data detailing accurate-to-the-penny transaction amounts, twenty-four hour active customers, and a multi-year transaction history per customer. Furthermore, such data is captured in real-time, and due to the sample size, can provide granular, statistically significant information at a local level for client and merchant coverage.

Claims

1. A resource system for providing market insights comprising:

a transaction database server that includes a transaction database and a first customer information database, wherein;

the transaction database configured to store at least card transaction data;

the first customer information database configured to store at least customer and household information identifying card holders; and

the transaction database is coupled to and interacts with the first customer information database to associate the customer and household identification information with the card transaction data;

a card analytical services component that includes a plurality of reporting and analytical modules, the analytical modules providing marketing analyses based at least on the interaction between the transaction database and the first customer information database,

wherein the analytical modules are configured to analyze information directed towards;

how stores or segments within a store perform relative to a peer group,

revenue by customer or geography,

economic indicators at an industry or merchant level,

trends showing customer buying preferences across industries,

where customers live relative to prospective sites,

profiling of buyers segments of specific goods or services, and

profiling competitor groupings, and

wherein the reporting modules provide marketing-related reports based at least on the marketing analyses provided by the analytical modules, including identifying the sales effect of a campaign, market share based on a geographic segment, demographics of a company'"'"'s customers, or shopping habits of the company'"'"'s customers;

a panel card component creating a transaction questionnaire based at least on the card transaction data from the transaction database, sending an e-mail to each of a plurality of customers, based on the card transaction data of the plurality of customers, requesting that the plurality of customers complete the transaction questionnaire on a website and to receive responses to the questionnaire; and

a value shopper component providing targeted sales programs to customers identified based at least on the marketing analyses, the marketing-related reports, the questionnaire, and the associated responses to the questionnaire.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the reporting modules include:

a first reporting module providing information relating to distance, density, and demographic of customers; and

a second reporting module providing a correlation report of customer behaviors to market spending and talent management based on the first customer information database.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising an applications database server, the applications database server maintaining the card analytical services component, the panel card component, and the value shopper component.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the card analytical services component includes an information transformation and enhancement module receiving the card transaction data and transform and enhance the card transaction data based on predetermined criteria.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the information and enhancement module includes:

a first module generating at least a summary table from the card transaction data summarizing transaction details on individual customers to create a dataset for use in appending additional data to the card transaction data.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the information and enhancement module further includes:

a second module appending customer-specific additional data to the card transaction data based on the created dataset.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the information and enhancement module further includes:

a third module appending non-customer-specific additional data to the card transaction data based on the created dataset.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the customer information database is coupled to at least one database external to the system to receive and append customer segmentation and demographic information to the customer and household identification information.

9. The system of claim 8, further comprising:

a master transaction database storing the card transaction data and the associated customer and household identifiers.

10. The system of claim 9, further comprising:

a second customer information database storing the customer and household identification information appended with the customer segmentation and demographic information.

11. A computer-implemented method for providing market insights comprising:

receiving, by a server, card transaction data from purchases made with stored-value cards at a point-of-sale;

receiving, by a server, customer and household information identifying card holders of stored-value cards;

assessing, by a server, the card transaction data and the customer and household information to assign the customer and household information to the card transaction data;

analyzing, by a server, marketing information based at least on the assessing, wherein the marketing information is directed towards;

how stores or segments within a store perform relative to a peer group,

revenue by customer or geography,

economic indicators at an industry or merchant level,

trends showing customer buying preferences across industries,

where customers live relative to prospective sites,

profiling of buyers segments of specific goods or services, and

profiling competitor groupings;

generating, by a server, marketing-related reports based at least on the provided marketing information;

generating, by a server, a transaction questionnaire based at least on the received card transaction data;

sending, by a server, an e-mail request to each of a plurality of customers, based on the card transaction data of the plurality of customers and the analysis of the marketing information, to complete the transaction questionnaire on a website;

receiving, by a server, at least a response to the transaction questionnaire; and

providing, by a server, a targeted sales program based at least on the marketing information, the marketing-related reports, the questionnaire, and the at least one response to the questionnaire.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the generated marketing-reports comprises:

providing information relating to distance, density, and demographic of customers; and

providing a correlation report of customer behaviors to market spending and talent management.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein at least one of the stored-value cards includes one of:

a credit card, a debit card, a smart card, an optical card, and a magnetic-stripe card.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the providing the assessing the card transaction data comprises:

transforming and enhancing the card transaction data based on predetermined criteria.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the transforming and enhancing comprises:

generating at least a summary table from the card transaction data summarizing transaction details on individual customers to create a dataset for use in appending additional data to the card transaction data.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the transforming and enhancing further comprises:

appending customer-specific additional data to the card transaction data based on the created dataset.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the transforming and enhancing further comprises:

appending non-customer-specific additional data to the card transaction data based on the created dataset.

18. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving and appending customer segmentation and demographic information to the customer and household identification information.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

storing the card transaction data and the associated customer and household identifiers.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

storing the customer and household identification information appended with the customer segmentation and demographic information.