Systems and methods for providing a direct marketing campaign planning environment

• US 9,508,092 B1
• Filed: 11/26/2013
• Issued: 11/29/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Experian Information Solutions Incorporated (Experian plc)
• Original Assignee: Experian Information Solutions Incorporated (Experian plc)
• Inventors: Pearson, Michele M., Achanta, Venkat R., DeSoto, Laura J., Adkinson, Kristi Ann, Peng, Felicia
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, TIEN C
• Application Number:
  US14/090,834
• Time in Patent Office: 1,099 Days
• Field of Search: 705/14.26, 705/14.64, 705/26.2, 705/300, 705/7.29, 705/34, 705/30, 705/15, 705/44, 705/7.23, 705/7.37, 341/106, 382/139, 707/765, 707/737, 707/3, 707/6, 715/205, 709/225, 709/204, 709/229, 709/227, 709/218, 702/101, 706/50
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0243 Comparative campaigns
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0245 Surveys
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0264 based upon schedule
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute

Abstract

Embodiments of system are disclosed in which selection strategies for a direct marketing campaign that identify consumers from a credit bureau or other consumer database can be planned, tested, and/or refined on a stable subset of the credit database. In some embodiments, once refined, consumer selection criteria may be used to execute the direct marketing campaign on the full consumer/credit database, which is preferably updated approximately twice weekly. In one preferred embodiment, the data for the test database represents a random sampling of approximately 10% of the full database and the sampling is regenerated approximately weekly in order to provide a stable set of data on which campaign developers may test their campaign. For each consumer in the sampling, the environment may allow a client to access and use both attributes calculated by the credit bureau and proprietary attributes and data owned by the client. The system allows for a plurality of clients to use the system substantially simultaneously while protecting the privacy and integrity of the client'"'"'s proprietary data and results.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method of generating and maintaining a test environment architecture for a direct marketing campaign, the method comprising:

providing a computer system for a test environment, the computer system comprising;

a consumer data warehouse comprising credit data from a plurality of third party sources and relating to millions of consumers, the credit data being federally regulated and having privacy restrictions preventing its access by unauthorized entities;

a database server comprising a core consumer sample database configured to store a sampling of the credit data in the consumer data warehouse;

a campaign server for managing a direct marketing campaign by a plurality of independent users and in electronic communication with the database server to query, test, and generate reports for the direct marketing campaign;

a web application server for delivering a web interface via the internet to user devices of the test environment, the user devices including a first client device used b a first client of the test environment for receiving web pages from the web application server and a second client device used by a second client of the test environment for receiving web pages from the web application server, the second client being different from and independent from the first client and not authorized to access data or attributes of the first client;

a firewall separating the first client device and the second client device from the web application server;

authorization requirements separating the web application server from the campaign server and from the database server, the authorization requirements comprising an access control list; and

one or more processors which when programmed execute instructions, comprising;

accessing the consumer data warehouse;

randomly or semi-randomly selecting a sampling of records in the consumer data warehouse, the sampling comprising less than 40% of the credit data of the consumer data warehouse;

cleansing the selected sampling of records of consumer identification information or consumer contact information in compliance with one or more federally regulated privacy requirements;

storing the cleansed sampling of records in the core consumer sample database on the database server;

generating pre-calculated attributes associated with a generic attribute view using a subset of the cleansed sampling of records;

storing the pre-calculated attributes in the core consumer sample database;

via the web application server, providing web pages to the first client device, the web pa e s comprising features configured to allowing via the first client to generate a first schema accessible only by the first client, the generating of the first schema comprising;

storing first client data on the database server;

generating a first set of first client custom attributes using a subset of the first client data;

storing the first set of first client custom attributes on the database server;

via the web application server, providing web pages to the second client device, the web pages comprising features configured to allow the second client to generate a second schema accessible only by the second client, the generating of the second schema comprising;

storing second client data in a second client database;

generating a second set of second client custom attributes using a subset of the second client data;

storing the second set of second client custom attributes on the database server;

controlling the campaign server using the access control list, the access control list configured to authenticate the user devices requesting access to the campaign server;

creating a first virtual electronic partition and a second virtual electronic partition of the campaign server and the database server, both the first virtual electronic partition and the second virtual electronic partition allowing access to the cleansed sampling of records and the pre-calculated attributes in the core consumer sample database, and wherein the first virtual electronic partition allows access to the first schema on the database server and restricts access to the second schema on the database server, and the second virtual electronic partition allows access to the second schema on the database server and restricts access to the first schema on the database server;

receiving a first request from a first client to access the campaign server to conduct a first direct marketing campaign test;

authenticating the first client using the access control list of the campaign server;

via the first virtual electronic partition, allowing the first client to utilize the campaign server to query, test, and generate reports for the first direct marketing campaign test utilizing the core consumer sample database, the pre-calculated attributes, the first client data, and the first set of first client custom attributes, and restricting the first client from accessing the second client data and the second set of second client custom attributes;

receiving a second request from a second client to access the campaign server to conduct a second direct marketing campaign test;

authenticating the second client using the access control list of the campaign server; and

via the second virtual electronic partition, allowing the second client to utilize the campaign server to query, test, and generate reports for the second direct marketing campaign test utilizing the core consumer sample database, the pre-calculated attributes, the second client data, and the second set of second client custom attributes, and restricting the second client from accessing the first client data and the first set of first client custom attributes;

wherein the first client utilizes the campaign server to conduct the first direct marketing campaign test at the same time as when the second client utilizes the campaign server to conduct the second marketing campaign test.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1, the one or more processors further programmed to execute instructions further comprising:

determining whether a lifespan associated with a test environment architecture is completed; and

after the lifespan associated with the test environment architecture is completed, rebuilding the test environment architecture, based at least in part on updated records from the consumer data warehouse.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 2, wherein the lifespan of the test environment architecture is longer than a period of time between updates performed on the consumer data warehouse.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 2, wherein the lifespan of the test environment architecture is twice as long as a period of time between updates performed on the consumer data warehouse.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein randomly or semi-randomly selecting a sampling comprises identifying a portion of records that is between 5% and 25% of records in the consumer data warehouse.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein randomly or semi-randomly selecting a sampling comprises identifying a portion of records that is substantially 10% of records in the consumer data warehouse.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein cleansing the selected sampling of records of consumer identification information or consumer contact information comprises deleting identifying information from the records, the identifying information comprising a name and an address of a consumer.

8. A system for generating and maintaining a test environment architecture for a direct marketing campaign, the system comprising:

a consumer data warehouse comprising credit data from a plurality of third party sources and relating to millions of consumers the credit data being federally regulated and having privacy restrictions preventing its access by unauthorized entities;

a database server comprising core consumer data configured to store a sampling of the credit data in the consumer data warehouse;

a campaign server marketing campaign by a plurality of independent users in a test environment, the campaign server in electronic communication with the database server to query, test, and generate reports for the direct marketing campaign;

a web application server for delivering a web interface via the internet to user devices of the test environment, the web application server in communication with a first client device used by a first client of the test environment for receiving web pages from the web application server and a second client device used by a second client of the test environment for receiving web pages from the web application server, the second client being different from and independent from the first client and not authorized to access data or attributes of the first client;

a firewall separating the first client device and the second client device from the web application server;

authorization requirements separating the web application server from the campaign server and from the database server, the authorization requirements comprising an access control list;

one or more processors; and

non-transitory computer storage comprising code executable by the one or more processors, the executable code causing the one or more processors to;

access the consumer data warehouse;

randomly or semi-randomly select a sampling of records in the consumer data warehouse, the sampling comprising less than 40% of data of the credit data of the consumer data warehouse;

cleanse the selected sampling of records of consumer identification information or consumer contact information in compliance with one or more federally regulated privacy requirements;

store the cleansed sampling of records in the core consumer sample database on the database server;

generate pre-calculated attributes associated with a generic attribute view using a subset of the cleansed sampling of records;

store the pre-calculated attributes in the core consumer sample database;

via the web application server, provide web pages to the first client device, the web pa e s comprising features configured to allow the first client to generate a first schema accessible only by the first client, the generation of the first schema comprising;

storing first client data on the database server;

generating a first set of first client custom attributes using a subset of the first client data;

storing the first set of first client custom attributes on the database server;

via the web application server, provide web pages to the second client device the web pages comprising features configured to allow the second client to generate a second schema accessible only by the second client the second schema comprising;

storing second client data in a second client database;

generating a second set of second client custom attributes using a subset of the second client data;

storing the second set of second client custom attributes on the database server;

control the campaign server using the access control list configured to authenticate the user devices requesting access to the campaign server;

create a first virtual electronic partition and a second virtual electronic partition of the campaign server and the database server, both the first virtual electronic partition and the second virtual electronic partition allowing access to the cleansed sampling of records and the pre-calculated attributes in the core consumer sample database, and wherein the first virtual electronic partition allows access to the first schema on the database server and restricts access to the second schema on the database server, and the second virtual electronic partition allows access to the second schema on the database server and restricts access to the first schema on the database server;

receive a first request from a first client to access the campaign server to conduct a first direct marketing campaign test;

authenticate the first client using the access control list of the campaign server;

via the first virtual electronic partition, allow the first client to utilize the campaign server to query, test, and generate reports for the first direct marketing campaign test utilizing the core consumer sample database, the pre-calculated attributes, the first client data, and the first set of first client custom attributes, and restricting the first client from accessing the second client data and the second set of second client custom attributes;

receive a second request from a second client to access the campaign server to conduct a second direct marketing campaign test;

authenticate the second client using the access control list of the campaign server; and

via the second virtual electronic partition, allow the second client to utilize the campaign server to query, test, and generate reports for the second direct marketing campaign test utilizing the core consumer sample database, the pre-calculated attributes, the second client data, and the second set of second client custom attributes, and restricting the second client from accessing the first client data and the first set of first client custom attributes;

wherein the first client utilizes the campaign server to conduct the first direct marketing campaign test at the same time as when the second client utilizes the campaign server to conduct the second marketing campaign test.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the executable code further causes the one or more processors to:

determine whether a lifespan associated with a test environment architecture is completed; and

after the lifespan associated with the test environment architecture is completed, rebuild the test environment architecture, based at least in part on updated records from the consumer data warehouse.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the lifespan of the test environment architecture is longer than a period of time between updates performed on the consumer data warehouse.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the lifespan of the test environment architecture is twice as long as a period of time between updates performed on the consumer data warehouse.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the executable code causing the one or more processors to randomly or semi-randomly select a sampling of records comprises code to identify a portion of records that is between 5% and 25% of records in the consumer data warehouse.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein the executable code causing the one or more processors to randomly or semi-randomly select a sampling of records comprises code to identify a portion of records that is substantially 10% of records in the consumer data warehouse.

14. The system of claim 8, wherein the executable code causing the one or more processors to cleanse the selected sampling of records of consumer identification information or consumer contact information comprises code to delete identifying information from the records, the identifying information comprising a name and an address of a consumer.

15. A non-transitory computer storage medium which stores executable code, the executable code causing a computing device to perform:

accessing a computer system for a test environment, the computer system comprising;

a consumer data warehouse comprising credit data from a plurality of third party sources and relating to millions of consumers the credit data being federally regulated and having privacy restrictions preventing its access by unauthorized entities;

database server comprising a core consumer sample database configured to store a sampling of the credit data in the consumer data warehouse;

a campaign server for managing a direct marketing campaign by a plurality of independent users and in electronic communication with the database server to query, test, and generate reports for the direct marketing campaign;

a web application server for delivering a web interface via the internet to user devices of the test environment, the user devices including a first client device used by a first client of the test environment for receiving web pages from the web application server and a second client device used by a second client of the test environment for receiving web pages from the web application server, the second client being different from and independent from the first client and not authorized to access data or attributes of the first client;

a firewall separating the first client device and the second client device from the web application server;

authorization requirements separating the web application server from the campaign server and from the database server, the authorization requirements comprising an access control list; and

accessing the consumer data warehouse;

randomly or semi-randomly selecting a sampling of records in the consumer data warehouse, the sampling comprising less than 40% of the credit data of the consumer data warehouse;

cleansing the selected sampling of records of consumer identification information or consumer contact information, in compliance with one or more federally regulated privacy requirements;

storing the cleansed sampling of records in the core consumer sample database on the database server;

generating pre-calculated attributes associated with a generic attribute view using a subset of the cleansed sampling of records;

storing the pre-calculated attributes in the core consumer sample database;

via the web application server, providing web pages to the first client device, the web pages comprising features configured to allow the first client to generate a first schema accessible only by the first client, the generating of the first schema comprising;

storing first client data on the database server;

generating a first set of first client custom attributes using a subset of the first client data;

storing the first set of first client custom attributes on the database server;

via the web application server, providing web pages to the second client device, the web pages comprising features configured to allow the second client to generate a second schema accessible the client, the generating of the second schema comprising;

storing second client data in a second client database;

generating a second set of second client custom attributes using a subset of the second client data;

storing the second set of second client custom attributes on the database server;

controlling the campaign server using the access control list configured to authenticate user devices requesting access to the campaign server;

creating a first virtual electronic partition and a second virtual electronic partition of the campaign server and the database server, both the first virtual electronic partition and the second virtual electronic partition allowing access to the cleansed sampling of records and the pre-calculated attributes in the core consumer sample database, and wherein the first virtual electronic partition allows access to the first schema on the database server and restricts access to the second schema on the database server, and the second virtual electronic partition allows access to the second schema on the database server and restricts access to the first schema on the database server;

receiving a first request from a first client to access the campaign server to conduct a first direct marketing campaign test;

authenticating the first client using the access control list of the campaign server;

via the first virtual electronic partition, allowing the first client to utilize the campaign server to query, test, and generate reports for the first direct marketing campaign test utilizing the core consumer sample database, the pre-calculated attributes, the first client data, and the first set of first client custom attributes and restricting the first client from accessing the second client data and the second set of second client custom attributes;

receiving a second request from a second client to access the campaign server to conduct a second direct marketing campaign test;

authenticating the second client using the access control list of the campaign server; and

via the second virtual electronic partition, allowing the second client to utilize the campaign server to query, test, and generate reports for the second direct marketing campaign test utilizing the core consumer sample database, the pre-calculated attributes, the second client data, and the second set of second client custom attributes and restricting the second client from accessing the first client data and the first set of first client custom attributes;

wherein the first client utilizes the campaign server to conduct the first direct marketing campaign test at the same time as when the second client utilizes the campaign server to conduct the second marketing campaign test.

16. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 15, wherein the executable code further causes a computing device to perform:

determining whether a lifespan associated with a test environment architecture is completed; and

after the lifespan associated with the test environment architecture is completed, rebuilding the test environment architecture, based at least in part on updated records from the consumer data warehouse.

17. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 16, wherein the lifespan of the test environment architecture is longer than a period of time between updates performed on the consumer data warehouse.

18. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 16, wherein the lifespan of the test environment architecture is twice as long as a period of time between updates performed on the consumer data warehouse.

19. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 15, wherein randomly or semi-randomly selecting a sampling of records comprises identifying a portion of records that is between 5% and 25% of records in the consumer data warehouse.

20. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 15, wherein randomly or semi-randomly selecting a sampling of records comprises identifying a portion of records that is substantially 10% of records in the consumer data warehouse.

21. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 15, wherein cleansing the selected sampling of records of consumer identification information or consumer contact information comprises deleting identifying information from the records, the identifying information comprising a name and an address of a consumer.