System and method for managing multimedia sales promotions

• US 9,865,007 B2
• Filed: 06/24/2014
• Issued: 01/09/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 05/02/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: James E. Plankey, Thomas G. Galaher
• Original Assignee: James E. Plankey, Thomas G. Galaher
• Inventors: Plankey, James E., Galaher, Thomas G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ruiz, Angelica
• Application Number:
  US14/313,171
• Publication Number:
  US 20150371286A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,295 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0276 Advertisement creation
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/60 Editing figures and text; Combining figures or text
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/031 Electronic editing of digitised analogue information signals, e.g. audio or video signals

Abstract

A system for managing multimedia sales promotions includes an inventory database containing photos and videos of items in a sales inventory. A distribution server that distributes the photos and videos. The system further includes a computer having an input device that receives input from a user. The computer further includes an item selector that selects an item in the inventory based on a user input. The computer further includes a photo editor that edits photos based on a user input. The computer further includes a video editor that adds a soundtrack to the videos based on a user input. The computer further includes a display that displays the photos and videos and interfaces for the photo editor and video editor to the user.

Claims

1. A system for managing multimedia sales promotions by members of a sales staff, comprising:

an inventory database including a first set of photos and videos of items in a sales inventory;

a distribution server in communication with the inventory database that distributes the first set of photos and videos;

a first computer in communication with the inventory database and the distribution server, the first computer including;

an input device that receives a set of inputs from a first user, wherein the first user is a first member of the sales staff;

an item selector that selects an item in the sales inventory from the inventory database based on a first input by the first user, wherein the first input is in the set of user inputs;

a photo editor that edits photos for the item based on a second input by the first user, wherein the second input is in the set of user inputs;

a video editor that adds a first custom soundtrack to a first video for the item based on a third input by the first user to produce a first custom video, wherein the third input is in the set of user inputs;

wherein the item selector, the photo editor, and the video editor are all within a single multimedia dashboard, and wherein the first user enters a fourth input to the single multimedia dashboard and the first computer uploads the first custom video to the distribution server; and

a display that displays the first set of photos and videos and interfaces for the photo editor and video editor to the first user with the item selector in the single multimedia dashboard; and

a second computer operated by a second user and in communication with the inventory database and the distribution server, wherein the second user is a second member of the sales staff, wherein the first custom video is accessed by the first user with the first computer and by the second user with the second computer, and wherein the first user and the second user independently of each other operate the single multimedia dashboard on the respective first computer and second computer to communicate with the distribution server and produce a first distribution of the first custom video to a first set of potential buyers and a second distribution of the first custom video to a second set of potential buyers, respectively.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the second computer further comprises the single multimedia dashboard with the item selector, the photo editor, and the video editor, wherein at least one of the first computer and the second computer is a mobile computer comprising a video shooting module, a photo shooting module, and a sound recording module, and wherein the single multimedia dashboard is in operative communication with the video shooting module, the photo shooting module, and the sound recording module.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the single multimedia dashboard on the first computer and on the second computer further comprises:

a photo sorter that sorts a collection of photos of the item in the inventory database based on a fifth input by at least one of the first user and the second user;

a photo adder that adds photos to the collection of photos of the item in the inventory based on a sixth input by at least one of the first user and the second user; and

a photo deleter that deletes a set of photos from the collection of photos based on a seventh input by at least one of the first user and the second user; and

wherein a second set of photos and videos in the sales inventory are created with the item selector, the video shooting module, and the photo shooting module operated by the second user, wherein a second custom video is created with the item selector, the photo editor, and the video editor by the first user, and wherein the second custom video can be accessed by the first user and the second user through the first computer and the second computer, respectively.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the single multimedia dashboard on the first computer and on the second computer further comprises:

a brochure generator that generates a brochure for the item with the photos and videos based on another user input;

wherein the brochure is accessed by the first user with the first computer and by the second user with the second computer, wherein the first user uses the first custom soundtrack for the brochure for the first set of potential buyers, wherein the second user creates a second custom soundtrack tailored for an individual client in the second set of potential buyers.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the distribution server distributes the photos and videos to at least one of a retailer'"'"'s website, third-party marketing services, individuals in at least one of the first set of potential buyers and the second set of potential buyers, and social media portals.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the inventory is a vehicle inventory, the item is a vehicle, the first custom video includes a guided video tour of the vehicle, and the first custom video is tailored for an individual client in at least one of the first set of potential buyers and the second set of potential buyers.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the first computer and the second computer are a mobile computer selected from the group of computers consisting of a smartphone and a tablet, wherein the single multimedia dashboard is presented on the display of the mobile computer as a central user interface, wherein the mobile computer comprises a video shooting module, a photo shooting module, and a sound recording module, wherein the single multimedia dashboard is in operative communication with the video shooting module, the photo shooting module, and the sound recording module.

8. A method of generating and distributing a digital brochure, comprising:

retrieving a collection of photos and videos relating to an item in an inventory database via a multimedia dashboard software executing on a computer, wherein the computer is operatively communicating with a distribution server in communication with the inventory database;

editing at least one of the photos in the collection via the multimedia dashboard software executing on the computer to produce at least one edited photo;

recording a custom voiceover track for a video in the collection using the multimedia dashboard software executing on the computer;

adding the custom voiceover track to the video via the multimedia dashboard software executing on the computer to produce a custom video;

generating, via the multimedia dashboard software executing on the computer, the digital brochure, the digital brochure including the at least one edited photo and the custom video;

uploading the digital brochure from the computer to the distribution server in communication with the inventory database; and

managing a distribution of the digital brochure to a set of potential buyers by the distribution server with the multimedia dashboard software executing on the computer.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the computer is a first mobile computer comprising a video shooting module, a photo shooting module, and a sound recording module, wherein the single multimedia dashboard is in operative communication with the video shooting module, the photo shooting module, and the sound recording module, and wherein the single multimedia dashboard controls the sound recording module of the mobile computer during the recording step.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising the steps of adding a new photo to the collection from a second mobile computer and adding a new video to the collection from the second mobile computer.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of adding the new photo further comprises the steps of shooting the new photo of a new item in the inventory database via the single multimedia dashboard in communication with the photo shooting module and uploading the new photo from the mobile computer to the inventory database, and wherein the step of adding the new video further comprises the steps of shooting the new video of the new item in the inventory database via the single multimedia dashboard in communication with the video shooting module and uploading the new video from the mobile computer to the inventory database.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising the step of retrieving the new photo and the new video from the inventory database via the multimedia dashboard software executing on the first mobile computer.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising the step of managing the distribution of the digital brochure to a new set of potential buyers by the distribution server with the multimedia dashboard software executing on the second mobile computer.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein the inventory is a vehicle inventory, the item is a vehicle, the custom video includes a guided video tour of the vehicle, and the custom video is intended for an individual client.

15. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of executing the multimedia dashboard software on a first mobile computer and a second mobile computer, wherein a first custom voiceover track is added to the video through the first mobile computer to produce a first digital brochure, wherein a second custom voiceover track is added to the video through the second mobile computer to produce a second digital brochure, and wherein the managing step is further comprised of managing a first distribution of the first digital brochure to a first set of potential buyers with the first mobile computer and managing a second distribution of the second digital brochure to a second set of potential buyers with the second mobile computer.

16. A system for managing multimedia sales promotions by members of a sales staff, comprising:

an inventory database of items being sold that includes a first set of photos and videos of the items in a sales inventory;

a distribution server in communication with the inventory database that distributes the first set of photos and videos;

a first computer in communication with the inventory database and the distribution server, the first computer including;

an input device that receives a set of inputs from a first user, wherein the first user is a first member of the sales staff;

an item selector that selects a first item from the items in the inventory database for the sales inventory based on a first input by the first user, wherein the first user input is in the set of user inputs;

a photo editor that adds photos and edits at least one of the photos for the first item based on a second input by the first user to create a first updated photo, wherein the second input is in the set of user inputs;

a video editor that adds a first soundtrack to at least one of the videos for the first item based on a third input by the first user to create a first custom video; and

a display that displays the first set of photos and videos and interfaces for the photo editor and video editor to the first user with the item selector, wherein the item selector, the photo editor, and the video editor are all incorporated into a single multimedia dashboard running on the first computer as a software application, and wherein the first user enters a fourth input to the single multimedia dashboard and the first computer uploads the first custom video to the distribution server; and

a second computer in communication with the inventory database and the distribution server through the single multimedia dashboard running as the software application on the second computer and operated by a second user, wherein the second user is a second member of the sales staff and the second computer is a mobile computer, wherein the second computer records a second set of photos and videos for a second item and communicates the second set of photos and videos to the inventory database, wherein the first computer retrieves a second photo from the second set of photos to create a second updated photo and retrieves at least one of the videos from the second set of videos to combine with a second custom soundtrack to create a second custom video.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the first custom video is accessed by the first user with the first computer and by the second user with the second computer, and wherein the first user and the second user independently of each other produce through the distribution server a first distribution of the first custom video to a first set of potential buyers and a second distribution of the second custom video to a second set of potential buyers, respectively.

18. The system of claim 17, further comprising a third custom soundtrack produced on the second computer and added to a selected one of the first videos for the first item through the single multimedia dashboard to form a third custom video tailored for an individual client in the second set of buyers, and a third distribution of the third custom video to the individual client.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the first computer and the second computer each presents the item selector, the photo editor, and the video editor on the display in the multimedia dashboard as a central user interface to the inventory database and the distribution server.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein the photo editor further includes at least one of an image cropping function, an image exposure function, an image balance function, and a marque adding function, and wherein the video editor further includes at least one of a video cropping function, a marque adding function, a wipe adding function, a footage add/delete function, and a written caption function.