Systems and methods for providing a direct marketing campaign planning environment

• US 9,916,596 B1
• Filed: 11/18/2016
• Issued: 03/13/2018
• 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: DeSoto, Laura J., Pearson, Michele M., Adkinson, Kristi Ann, Achanta, Venkat R., Peng, Felicia
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Tien C
• Application Number:
  US15/356,415
• Time in Patent Office: 480 Days
• Field of Search: 705 30, 705 36, 705 37, 705 39, 705 40, 705 41, 705 26, 705 737, 370259, 382139, 4554352, 707758, 715255, 726 11, 709218, 709225, 709203, 709224
• 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 system for generating and maintaining a test environment architecture for developing custom attributes, comprising:

a data warehouse comprising data records corresponding to millions of consumers, each data record associated with one or more consumer data values;

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

accessing the data warehouse;

partitioning the campaign server into at least a first virtual electronic partition allowing access to a first user, and a second virtual electronic partition allowing access to a second user;

receiving, from a first user device associated with the first user, a first indication specifying first definitions for a first set of custom attributes and a first request to access the campaign server;

receiving, from a second user device associated with the second user, a second indication specifying second definitions for a second set of custom attributes and a second request to access the campaign server;

authenticating the first and second user devices requesting access to the campaign server;

generating a first sample data set comprising a first random or semi-random sampling of the data records of the data warehouse based on the first definitions;

generating a second sample data set comprising a second random or semi-random sampling of the data records of the data warehouse based on the second definitions;

accessing a first custom data set associated with the first user and the first virtual electronic partition;

accessing a second custom data set associated with the second user and the second virtual electronic partition;

via the first virtual electronic partition, allowing the first user to query and test for a first marketing campaign test using the first sample data set and the first custom data set, while restricting access by the first user to the second virtual electronic partition and the second custom data set, wherein querying and testing for the first marketing campaign test comprises generating values for at least a portion of the first set of custom attributes using the first sample data set and the first custom data set; and

via the second virtual electronic partition, allowing the second user to query and test for a second marketing campaign test using the second sample data set and the second custom data set, while restricting access by the second user to first virtual electronic partition and the first custom data set, wherein querying and testing for the second marketing campaign test comprises generating values for at least a portion of the second set of custom attributes using the second sample data set and the second custom data set.

2. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

determine whether a preset lifespan associated with the first sample data set is completed; and

in response to a determination that the preset lifespan has completed, regenerate the first sample data set based upon the data records of the data warehouse.

3. The computer system of claim 2, wherein the lifespan associated with the first sample data set is longer than a period of time between updates performed on the data warehouse.

4. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the first sample data set is the same as the second sample data set.

5. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the first sample data set corresponds to a data set size of between 5% and 25% of the data records of the data warehouse.

6. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the data warehouse further comprises first proprietary data and second proprietary data corresponding to the plurality of customers, and wherein the first user may, via the first virtual electronic partition, access the first proprietary data but not the second proprietary data, and the second user may, via the second virtual electronic partition, access the second proprietary data but not the first proprietary data.

7. The computer system of claim 1, wherein generating the first data sets comprises cleansing the sampled data records of the data warehouse.

8. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further programmed to:

receive a first campaign strategy from the first user;

receive a second campaign strategy from the second user;

provide a first user interface configured to allow the first user query and test for the first marketing campaign test via the first virtual electronic partition using the first campaign strategy; and

provide a second user interface configured to allow the second user to query and test for the second marketing campaign test via the second virtual electronic partition using the second campaign strategy.

9. A computer-implemented method for generating and maintaining a test environment architecture for developing custom attributes, comprising:

accessing, via a campaign server, a data warehouse comprising data records corresponding to millions of consumers, each data record associated with one or more consumer data values;

partitioning a campaign server into at least a first virtual electronic partition allowing access to a first user, and a second virtual electronic partition allowing access to a second user;

receiving, from a first user device associated with the first user, a first indication specifying first definitions for a first set of custom attributes and a first request to access the campaign server;

receiving, from a second user device associated with the second user, a second indication specifying second definitions for a second set of custom attributes and a second request to access the campaign server;

authenticating the first and second user devices requesting access to the campaign server;

generating a first sample data set comprising a first random or semi-random sampling of the data records of the data warehouse based on the first definitions;

generating a second sample data set comprising a second random or semi-random sampling of the data records of the data warehouse based on the second definitions;

accessing a first custom data set associated with the first user and the first virtual electronic partition;

accessing a second custom data set associated with the second user and the second virtual electronic partition;

via the first virtual electronic partition, allowing the first user to query and test for a first marketing campaign test using the first sample data set and the first custom data set, while restricting access by the first user to the second virtual electronic partition and the second custom data set, wherein querying and testing for the first marketing campaign test comprises generating values for at least a portion of the first set of custom attributes using the first sample data set and the first custom data set; and

via the second virtual electronic partition, allowing the second user to query and test for a second marketing campaign test using the second sample data set and the second custom data set, while restricting access by the second user to first virtual electronic partition and the first custom data set, wherein querying and testing for the second marketing campaign test comprises generating values for at least a portion of the second set of custom attributes using the second sample data set and the second custom data set.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, further comprising:

determining whether a preset lifespan associated with the first sample data set is completed; and

in response to a determination that the preset lifespan has completed, regenerating the first sample data set based upon the data records of the data warehouse.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the first sample data set is the same as the second sample data set.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the first sample data set corresponds to a data set size of between 5% and 25% of the data records of the data warehouse.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the data warehouse further comprises first proprietary data and second proprietary data corresponding to the plurality of customers, and wherein the first user may, via the first virtual electronic partition, access the first proprietary data but not the second proprietary data, and the second user may, via the second virtual electronic partition, access the second proprietary data but not the first proprietary data.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving a first campaign strategy from the first user;

receiving a second campaign strategy from the second user;

providing a first user interface configured to allow the first user query and test for the first marketing campaign test via the first virtual electronic partition using the first campaign strategy; and

providing a second user interface configured to allow the second user to query and test for the second marketing campaign test via the second virtual electronic partition using the second campaign strategy.

15. A non-transitory computer storage medium which stores a client application comprising executable code, the executable code, when executed by the computing device, causing the computing device to perform operations for generating and maintaining a test environment architecture for developing custom attributes, comprising:

accessing, via a campaign server, a data warehouse comprising data records corresponding to a plurality of consumers, each data record associated with one or more consumer data values;

partitioning a campaign server into at least a first virtual electronic partition allowing access to a first user, and a second virtual electronic partition allowing access to a second user;

receiving, from a first user device associated with the first user, a first indication specifying first definitions for a first set of custom attributes and a first request to access the campaign server;

receiving, from a second user device associated with the second user, a second indication specifying second definitions for a second set of custom attributes and a second request to access the campaign server;

authenticating the first and second user devices requesting access to the campaign server;

generating a first sample data set comprising a first random or semi-random sampling of the data records of the data warehouse based on the first definitions;

generating a second sample data set comprising a second random or semi-random sampling of the data records of the data warehouse based on the second definitions;

accessing a first custom data set associated with the first user and the first virtual electronic partition;

accessing a second custom data set associated with the second user and the second virtual electronic partition;

via the first virtual electronic partition, allowing the first user to query and test for a first marketing campaign test using the first sample data set and the first custom data set, while restricting access by the first user to the second virtual electronic partition and the second custom data set, wherein querying and testing for the first marketing campaign test comprises generating values for at least a portion of the first set of custom attributes using the first sample data set and the first custom data set; and

via the second virtual electronic partition, allowing the second user to query and test for a second marketing campaign test using the second sample data set and the second custom data set, while restricting access by the second user to first virtual electronic partition and the first custom data set, wherein querying and testing for the second marketing campaign test comprises generating values for at least a portion of the second set of custom attributes using the second sample data set and the second custom data set.

16. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining whether a preset lifespan associated with the first sample data set is completed;

in response to a determination that the preset lifespan has completed, regenerating the first sample data set based upon the data records of the data warehouse.

17. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 15, wherein the first sample data set is the same as the second sample data set.

18. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 15, wherein the first sample data set corresponds to a data set size of between 5% and 25% of the data records of the data warehouse.

19. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 15, wherein the data warehouse further comprises first proprietary data and second proprietary data corresponding to the plurality of customers, and wherein the first user may, via the first virtual electronic partition, access the first proprietary data but not the second proprietary data, and the second user may, via the second virtual electronic partition, access the second proprietary data but not the first proprietary data.

20. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 15, the operations further comprising:

receiving a first campaign strategy from the first user;

receiving a second campaign strategy from the second user; and

providing a first user interface configured to allow the first user query and test for the first marketing campaign test via the first virtual electronic partition using the first campaign strategy; and

providing a second user interface configured to allow the second user to query and test for the second marketing campaign test via the second virtual electronic partition using the second campaign strategy.