System and method for creating customized catalogues

• US 20040133542A1
• Filed: 07/24/2003
• Published: 07/08/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 10/04/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: VPI Color LLC
• Original Assignee: VPI Color LLC
• Inventors: Doerksen, Lee, Bursten, Sidney L.
• Granted Patent: US 7,249,067 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/174 Form filling; Merging
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0204 Market segmentation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0621 Item configuration or customization
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0635 Processing of requisition or of purchase orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0643 Graphical representation of items or shoppers
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing

Abstract

A system and method for creating customized publications. Publication content is selected based on rules that associate particular content with customer profiles of individual recipients. In an exemplary embodiment, the customized publication is a product catalogue, the particular content is product information, and the recipients are customers. A rules engine associates the customer profile with a set of products comprising an offering. The rules engine determines which customers are to receive a custom customized catalogue, the size of the customized catalogue a customer is to receive, and the content of the customized catalogue for each recipient.

Claims

1. A method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system, wherein the system comprises a customer record, an offerings database comprising one or more candidate offerings, a set of product assets associated with each candidate offering, and a set of offering rules, and wherein the method comprises:

creating a customer profile from the customer record of the targeted recipient;

applying the set of offering rules to the customer profile to select one or more selected offerings from the one or more candidate offerings in the offerings database;

acquiring the set of product assets associated with each of the one or more selected offerings; and

generating a customized catalogue specification file for the targeted recipient using the set of product assets associated with each of the one or more selected offerings.

2. The method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system of claim 1, the method further comprising printing the customized catalogue using the customized catalogue specification file.

3. The method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system of claim 1, wherein the set of product assets comprises one or more elements selected from the group consisting of text, graphics, and photographs.

4. The method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system of claim 1, wherein the system further comprises a set of ranking rules and a set of page allocation rules, and wherein generating a customized catalogue specification file for the targeted recipient using the set of product assets associated with each of the one or more selected offerings comprises:

applying the set of ranking rules to each of the one or more selected offerings to determine its relevancy ranking; and

applying the set of page allocation rules to allocate space within the customized catalogue for each of the one or more selected offerings based on its relevancy ranking.

5. The method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system of claim 4, wherein the system fuirther comprises a set of layout rules and wherein the method further comprises applying the set of layout rules to the set of product assets associated with each of the one or more selected offerings to acquire one or more layout attributes for each of the one or more selected offerings consistent with the space allocated for that selected offering.

6. The method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system of claim 5, wherein the layout attributes are selected from the group consisting of text font, text size, graphic dimensions, photograph dimension, and photograph resolution.

7. The method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system of claim 5, wherein the customized catalogue comprises a plurality of pages, and wherein applying the set of page allocation rules to allocate space within the customized catalogue for each of the one or more selected offerings based on its relevancy ranking comprises:

allocating one or more pages of the plurality of pages to a product section, the non-product section, and the pre-printed section;

establishing in the product section the number of offerings per page; and

assigning the product assets of each of the one or more selected offerings to one of the one or more product section pages in accordance with the number of offerings per page.

8. The method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system of claim 7, the method further comprising printing the customized catalogue using the customized catalogue specification.

9. The method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system of claim 7, wherein the system further comprising a set of signature rules and the method further comprises:

determining an actual page count of the customized catalogue;

determining if the actual page count comprises a whole signature; and

in the event the actual page count does not comprise a whole signature, applying the set of signature rules to force the actual page count to comprise a whole signature.

10. The method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system of claim 9, wherein applying the set of signature rules to force the actual page count to an even signature comprises deleting pages.

11. The method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system of claim 9, wherein applying the set of signature rules to force the actual page count to an even signature comprises adding pages.

12. The method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system of claim 11, wherein the system further comprises filler pages and wherein adding pages comprises adding filler pages.

13. The method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises applying a boost factor to at least one of the one or more candidate offerings prior to applying the set of offering rules to the customer profile.

14. A method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system, wherein the system comprises a customer record, an offerings database comprising one or more candidate offerings, a set of product assets associated with each candidate offering, and a set of offering rules, and wherein the method comprises:

creating a customer profile from the customer record of the targeted recipient;

establishing a set of catalogue rules;

applying the set of catalogue rules to the customer profile to make a first determination whether to produce the customized catalogue for the targeted recipient; and

in the event the customized catalogue is produced for the targeted recipient, applying the set of catalogue rules to the customer profile to make a second determination of the number of pages in the targeted recipient'"'"'s customized catalogue.

applying the set of offering rules to the customer profile to select one or more selected offerings from the one or more candidate offerings in the offerings database;

acquiring the set of product assets associated with each of the one or more selected offerings; and

generating a customized catalogue specification file for the targeted recipient using the set of product assets associated with each of the one or more selected offerings.

15. The method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system of claim 14, the method further comprising printing the customized catalogue using the customized catalogue specification.

16. The method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system of claim 14, wherein the set of product assets comprises one or more elements selected from the group consisting of text, graphics, and photographs

17. The method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system of claim 14,. wherein the system further comprises a set of ranking rules and a set of page allocation rules, and wherein generating a customized catalogue specification file for the targeted recipient using the set of product assets associated with each of the one or more selected offerings comprises:

applying the set of ranking rules to each of the one or more selected offerings to determine its relevancy ranking; and

applying the set of page allocation rules to allocate space within the customized catalogue for each of the one or more selected offerings based on its relevancy ranking.

18. The method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system of claim 17, wherein the system further comprises a set of layout rules and wherein the method further comprises applying the set of layout rules to the set of product assets associated with each of the one or more selected offerings to acquire one or more layout attributes for each of the one or more selected offerings consistent with the space allocated for that selected offering.

19. The method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system of claim 18, wherein the layout attributes are selected from the group consisting of text font, text size, graphic dimensions, photograph dimension, and photograph resolution.

20. The method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system of claim 18, wherein the customized catalogue comprises a plurality of pages, and wherein applying the set of page allocation rules to allocate space within the customized catalogue for each of the one or more selected offerings based on its relevancy ranking comprises:

allocating one or more of the plurality of pages to a product section, the non-product section, and the pre-printed section;

establishing in the product section the number of offerings per page; and

assigning the product assets of each of the one or more selected offerings to one of the one or more product section pages in accordance with the number of offerings per page.

21. The method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system of claim 20, the method further comprising printing the customized catalogue using the customized catalogue specification.

22. The method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system of claim 20, wherein the system further comprising a set of signature rules and the method further comprises:

determining an actual page count of the customized catalogue;

determining if the actual page count comprises a whole signature; and

in the event the actual page count does not comprise a whole signature, applying the set of signature rules to force the actual page count to comprise a whole signature.

23. The method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system of claim 22, wherein applying the set of signature rules to force the actual page count to an even signature comprises deleting pages.

24. The method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system of claim 22, wherein applying the set of signature rules to force the actual page count to an even signature comprises adding pages.

25. The method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system of claim 24, wherein the system further comprises filler pages and wherein adding pages comprises adding filler pages.

26. The method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system of claim 14, wherein the method further comprises applying a boost factor to at least one of the one or more candidate offerings prior to applying the set of offering rules to the customer profile.

27. A customized catalogue publication system for producing a customized catalogue, the system comprising:

a customer record;

an offerings database comprising one or more candidate offerings;

a set of product assets associated with each candidate offering;

a set of offering rules;

a profiler adapted to create a customer profile from the customer record of a targeted recipient; and

a rules engine adapted to;

apply the set of offering rules to the customer profile to select one or more selected offerings from the one or more candidate offerings;

acquire the set of product assets associated with each of the one or more selected offerings; and

generate a customized catalogue specification file for the targeted recipient using the set of product assets associated with each of the one or more selected offerings.

28. The customized catalogue publication system of claim 27, wherein the system further comprises a printing system and wherein the printing system is adapted to:

receive the customized catalogue specification file; and

print the customized catalogue according to the customized catalogue specification file.

29. The customized catalogue publication system of claim 28, wherein the printing system further comprises:

a printer; and

a file translation system adapted to convert the specification file to a format compatible with the printer.

30. The customized catalogue publication system of claim 29, wherein the printer is a web-fed printer.

31. The customized catalogue publication system of claim 29, wherein the printer is a sheet-fed printer.

32. The customized catalogue publication system of claim 29, wherein the printer is selected from the group consisting of a toner based printer, liquid ink based printer, and an ink-jet based printer.

33. The customized catalogue publication system for producing a customized catalogue of claim 27, wherein the set of product assets comprises one or more elements selected from the group consisting of text, graphics, and photographs.

34. The customized catalogue publication system of claim 27, wherein the system further comprises a set of ranking rules and a set of page allocation rules, and wherein the rules engine is further adapted to:

apply the set of ranking rules to each of the one or more selected offerings to determine its relevancy ranking; and

apply the set of page allocation rules to allocate space within the customized catalogue for each of the one or more selected offerings based on its relevancy ranking.

35. The customized catalogue publication system of claim 34, wherein the rules engine is further adapted to acquire one or more layout attributes for each of the one or more selected offerings.

36. The customized catalogue publication system of claim 35, wherein the one or more layout attributes are selected from the group consisting of text font, text size, graphic dimensions, photograph dimension, and photograph resolution.

37. The customized catalogue publication system of claim 27, wherein the customized catalogue comprises a plurality of pages, and wherein the rules engine is further adapted to:

allocate one or more of the plurality of pages to a product section, the non-product section, and the pre-printed section; and

assign the product assets for each of the one or more selected offerings to one of the one or more product section pages in accordance with a number of offerings per page.

38. The customized catalogue publication system of claim 37, wherein the system further comprising a set of signature rules, and wherein the rules engine is further adapted to:

determine an actual page count of the customized catalogue;

determine if the actual page count comprises a whole signature; and

in the event the actual page count does not comprise a whole signature, apply the set of signature rules to force the actual page count to comprise a whole signature.

39. The customized catalogue publication system of claim 37, wherein the set of signature rules comprises deleting pages.

40. The customized catalogue publication system of claim 37, wherein the set of signature rules comprises adding pages.

41. The customized catalogue publication system of claim 37, wherein the system further comprises filler pages and wherein the set of signature rules comprises adding filler pages.

42. The customized catalogue publication system of claim 27, wherein the rules engine is further adapted to apply a boost factor to at least one of the one or more candidate offerings prior to applying the set of offering rules.

43. The customized catalogue publication system of claim 27, wherein the system further comprises:

a set of catalogue rules;

a profiler, wherein the profiler is further adapted to;

apply the set of catalogue rules to the customer profile to make a first determination whether to produce a customized catalogue for the targeted recipient; and

in the event a customized catalogue is produced for the targeted recipient, apply the set of catalogue rules to the customer profile to make a second determination of the number of pages in the targeted recipient'"'"'s customized catalogue.

44. The customized catalogue publication system of claim 43, wherein the system further comprises a printing system and wherein the printing system is adapted to:

receive the customized catalogue specification file; and

print the customized catalogue according to the customized catalogue specification file.

45. The customized catalogue publication system of claim 44, wherein the printing system further comprises:

a printer; and

a file translation system adapted to convert the specification file to a format compatible with the printer.

46. The customized catalogue publication system of claim 45, wherein the printer is a web-fed printer.

47. The customized catalogue publication system of claim 45, wherein the printer is a sheet-fed printer.

48. The customized catalogue publication system of claim 45, wherein the printer is selected from the group consisting of a toner based printer, liquid ink based printer, and an ink-jet based printer.

49. The customized catalogue publication system for producing a customized catalogue of claim 43, wherein the set product assets comprises one or more elements selected from the group consisting of text, graphics, and photographs.

50. The customized catalogue publication system of claim 43, wherein the system further comprises a set of ranking rules and a set of page allocation rules wherein the rules engine is further adapted to:

apply the set of ranking rules to each of the one or more selected offerings to determine its relevancy ranking; and

apply the set of page allocation rules to allocate space within the customized catalogue for each of the one or more selected offerings based on its relevancy ranking.

51. The customized catalogue publication system of claim 50, wherein the rules engine is further adapted to acquire one or more layout attributes for each of the one or more selected offerings.

52. The customized catalogue publication system of claim 51, wherein the one or more layout attributes are selected from the group consisting of text font, text size, graphic dimensions, photograph dimension, and photograph resolution.

53. The customized catalogue publication system of claim 43, wherein the customized catalogue comprises a plurality of pages, and wherein the rules engine is further adapted to:

allocate one or more of the plurality of pages to a product section; and

assign the product assets for each of the one or more selected offerings to one of the one or more product section pages in accordance with the number of offerings per page.

54. The customized catalogue publication system of claim 53, wherein the system further comprising a set of signature rules, and wherein the rules engine is further adapted to:

determine an actual page count of the customized catalogue;

determine if the actual page count comprises a whole signature; and

in the event the actual page count does not comprise a whole signature, apply the set of signature rules to force the actual page count to comprise a whole signature.

55. The customized catalogue publication system of claim 54, wherein the set of signature rules comprises deleting pages.

56. The customized catalogue publication system of claim 54, wherein the set of signature rules comprises adding pages.

57. The customized catalogue publication system of claim 54, wherein the system further comprises filler pages and wherein the set of signature rules comprises adding filler pages.

58. The customized catalogue publication system of claim 54, wherein the system further comprises a printing system and wherein the printing system is adapted to:

receive the customized catalogue specification file; and

print the customized catalogue according to the customized catalogue specification file.

59. The customized catalogue publication system of claim 58, wherein the printing system further comprises:

a printer; and

a file translation system adapted to convert the specification file to a format compatible with the printer.

60. The customized catalogue publication system of claim 59, wherein the printer is a web-fed printer.

61. The customized catalogue publication system of claim 59, wherein the printer is a sheet-fed printer.

62. The customized catalogue publication system of claim 59, wherein the printer is selected from the group consisting of a toner based printer, liquid ink based printer, and an ink-jet based printer.

63. A method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system, wherein the system comprises a customer record, an offerings database comprising one or more candidate offerings, a set of product assets associated with each candidate offering, and a set of offering rules, and wherein the method comprises:

creating a customer profile from the customer record of the targeted recipient;

assigning the targeted recipient to a customer group based on the customer profile of the targeted recipient and a profile of each member of the customer group;

imputing attributes of the customer group to the customer profile of the targeted recipient to create a revised customer profile for the targeted recipient;

applying the set of offering rules to the revised customer profile to select one or more selected offerings from the one or more candidate offerings in the offerings database;

acquiring the set of product assets associated with each of the one or more selected offerings; and

generating a customized catalogue specification file for the targeted recipient using the set of product assets associated with each of the one or more selected offerings.

64. The method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system of claim 63, the method further comprising printing the customized catalogue using the customized catalogue specification file.

65. The method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system of claim 63, wherein the set of product assets comprises one or more elements selected from the group consisting of text, graphics, and photographs.

66. The method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system of claim 63, wherein the system further comprises a set of ranking rules and a set of page allocation rules, and wherein generating a customized catalogue specification file for the targeted recipient using the set of product assets associated with each of the one or more selected offerings comprises:

applying the set of ranking rules to each of the one or more selected offerings to determine its relevancy ranking; and

applying the set of page allocation rules to allocate space within the customized catalogue for each of the one or more selected offerings based on its relevancy ranking.

67. The method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system of claim 66, wherein the system further comprises a set of layout rules and wherein the method further comprises applying the set of layout rules to the set of product assets associated with each of the one or more selected offerings to acquire one or more layout attributes for each of the one or more selected offerings consistent with the space allocated for that selected offering.

68. The method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system of claim 67, wherein the layout attributes are selected from the group consisting of text font, text size, graphic dimensions, photograph dimension, and photograph resolution.

69. The method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system of claim 67, wherein the customized catalogue comprises a plurality of pages, and wherein applying the set of page allocation rules to allocate space within the customized catalogue for each of the one or more selected offerings based on its relevancy ranking comprises:

allocating one or more pages of the plurality of pages to a product section, the non-product section, and the pre-printed section;

establishing in the product section the number of offerings per page; and

assigning the product assets of each of the one or more selected offerings to one of the one or more product section pages in accordance with the number of offerings per page.

70. The method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system of claim 69, the method further comprising printing the customized catalogue using the customized catalogue specification.

71. The method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system of claim 69, wherein the system further comprising a set of signature rules and the method further comprises:

determining an actual page count of the customized catalogue;

determining if the actual page count comprises a whole signature; and

in the event the actual page count does not comprise a whole signature, applying the set of signature rules to force the actual page count to comprise a whole signature.

72. The method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system of claim 71, wherein applying the set of signature rules to force the actual page count to an even signature comprises deleting pages.

73. The method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system of claim 71, wherein applying the set of signature rules to force the actual page count to an even signature comprises adding pages.

74. The method for producing a customized catalogue for a targeted recipient using a customized catalogue publication system of claim 73, wherein the system further comprises filler pages and wherein adding pages comprises adding filler pages.