Abstract:
A device and method for advertising a product or service are described herein. The device may take a photograph of a participant holding the product or a thing representing the service. The participant identifies a product identifier of the product or service or the device. The product identifier and the photograph are uploaded to a third-party server that subsequently uploads basic product information and the photograph to the participant&#39;s online social network for viewing by the participant&#39;s contacts. The participant has a self-interested goal of presenting only relevant products and services to his or her contacts to maintain credibility.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    Not Applicable 
       STATEMENT RE: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT 
       [0002]    Not Applicable 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    The present invention relates to a social network advertising system. 
         [0004]    The fashion industry changes frequently. Oftentimes, there are several new clotheslines each year that contain hundreds of items. Each brand may also have a large variety of different types of products (e.g., cologne, perfume, etc.). To expose potential consumers to the new clotheslines and products, the brand must advertise these new clotheslines and products through TV commercials, billboards, Internet ads, store catalogs, etc. Moreover, the brands may display the new clotheslines and different types of products on their website. Unfortunately, each advertising channel provides limited exposure to potential customers of each of the clotheslines and products that they advertise. Typically, it is a few limited models, wearing a few new products. Another issue with the traditional advertising model is that the advertisements force the product on the consumer (i.e., interruption marketing). Another problem with the traditional advertising model is that consumers are unaware of the numerous types of products of a particular brand unless they actively seek out a product on the brand&#39;s website or store catalog. 
         [0005]    Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved advertising method and system. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY 
       [0006]    The various aspects discussed herein address the needs discussed above, discussed below and those that are known in the art. 
         [0007]    The device and method discussed herein allows a brand to utilize a participant&#39;s social network to advertise the brand&#39;s products. In particular, the participant takes a photograph with a product. The participant additionally identifies the product on the device. The device associates the photograph and a product identifier together and uploads this information to a third-party server. The third-party server uploads the photograph and basic product information to the participant&#39;s online social network. When the contacts of the participant&#39;s online social network view the photograph and the basic product information, the photograph of the participant attracts the contact&#39;s attention and if the contact is interested in the product or service, the contact may click on the photograph or the basic product information which contains an embedded link. Upon clicking the embedded link, the contact&#39;s web browser may be redirected to a website of the third-party server having detailed product information including but not limited to purchasing directions. In this manner, a brand may have broader dissemination of its products, endorsement from the participant to his or her contacts with whom the participant has credibility and exposure of its products to the right audience since the participant has a self interest in presenting only relevant products to his or her contacts. 
         [0008]    More particularly, a method of advertising is disclosed which may comprise the steps of receiving a photo of a participant and a product; receiving a product identifier of the product; uploading the photo and basic product information of the product to one or more online social networking websites of the participant; and presenting detailed product information or product to one or more contacts within one or more online social network websites of the participant. 
         [0009]    The method may further comprise the step of compensating the participant based on a number of presentations to contacts of the participants within the one or more social network websites of the participant. 
         [0010]    In the method, the uploading step may further comprise the step of embedding a link in the photo or the basic product information to a third party server having detailed product information (e.g., purchasing directions and/or detailed product specification). 
         [0011]    Additionally, the presenting step may comprise the step of serving detailed product information to one or more contacts of the person when the person clicks on the link displayed on the online social network website. 
         [0012]    The link may be a text link or a visual depiction link. The product may be a good or service. 
         [0013]    In another aspect, a device for facilitating advertisement of it product is disclosed. The device may comprise a camera and a processor. The processor may have software loaded on the processor for performing the steps of taking a photograph of a participant and a product with the camera; identifying a product identifier; and transmitting the photograph and the product identifier over an internet. 
         [0014]    The software loaded on the processor may further perform the steps of scanning a barcode of the product with a scanner to identify the product identifier. Additionally or alternatively, the software loaded on the processor may perform the steps of drilling down through a series of menus with a touch screen, mouse and/or keyboard to the product or any similar system that allows the user to identify product and product identifier. 
         [0015]    The transmitting step may include the step of transmitting the photograph and the product identifier to a third party server over the internet which subsequently transmits the photograph and basic product information to an online social network website. Alternatively, the transmitting step may include transmitting the photograph and the basic product information or a link thereof to an online social network website of the participant over the internet. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0016]    These and other features and advantages of the various embodiments disclosed herein will be better understood with respect to the following description and drawings, in which like numbers refer to like parts throughout, and in which: 
           [0017]      FIG. 1  is as schematic diagram of a device in a store for taking a photograph of a participant and product and associating the photograph with a product identifier that can be uploaded to a third-party server; 
           [0018]      FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of the device and its relationship to the third-party server and one or more social network websites; 
           [0019]      FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of the relationship between the participant, third-party server, social network websites and contacts; 
           [0020]      FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram of a status update page of a social network website; and 
           [0021]      FIG. 5  is a flowchart of steps of the third-party server for implementing the advertising method described herein. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0022]    Referring now to the drawings a unique advertising system and method is disclosed in which a participant&#39;s online social network  34  is utilized to advertise a product  18 . By way of example and not limitation, a retail store  10  may have a device  12  capable of taking a photograph  20  of the participant  14  and the product  18 . Moreover, the device  12  may be capable of associating product information with the photograph  20  taken by the device  12 . The photograph  20  and basic product information  22  may be uploaded to one or more of the participants online social network  34  for viewing by the participant&#39;s contacts  42  or friends. The photograph  20  and/or the basic product information  22  may be embedded with a link to a third party website (e.g. store website selling the product  18  or third-party server website  24 ) which presents detailed product information  22  to the participant&#39;s contacts  42  or friends when the embedded link is clicked. Detailed product information  22  may include but is not limited to purchasing instructions, product specifications, etc. In this manner, the participant  14  endorses the product  18  for purchase by personally associating his or her image with the product  18  thereby urging his or her contacts to find out more information about the product  18 . The participant  14  may be compensated by the retail store  10 , product manufacturer or third-party  24  for participating in the dissemination of product information  22  to the participant&#39;s contacts  42  or friends on the participant&#39;s online social network. 
         [0023]    More particularly, referring now to  FIG. 1 , a store  10  may have the device  12  for taking photographs  20  of a participant  14 , receiving a product identifier  16  and associating the product identifier  16  and the photograph  20 . The store  10  may be a retail store or warehouse or some other type of physical location that displays products  18  for sale. The store  10  may sell or display products such as clothing, electronic devices, household items, groceries, software, insurance services, real estate services and any other type of goods and services. The term product  18  may include but is not limited to both goods and services. When the product  18  is a service, the participant  14  may take a photograph  20  of the participant  14  along with a brochure describing the service or a store front or a logo of the brand since a service cannot be seen. An insurance service may be represented by a sales person or a logo of the insurance company. The participant may take a photograph  20  of the logo of the insurance company or the logo of the insurance company may be electronically added to the photograph of the participant  14 . 
         [0024]    The device  12  for taking photographs  20  of participants  14  and receiving product identifiers  16  may be a standalone device  12  having a camera  26  for taking the photograph  20  of the participant  14  and an input accessory. The standalone device  12  may be located throughout the store  10  or at strategic locations such as next to a dressing room so that shoppers may take a photograph  20  of themselves with clothing to be advertised. The input accessory may be a barcode scanner  28  or other type of scanner for scanning and retrieving a product identifier  16  of the product  18 . The input accessory may also be a keyboard  30  and/or mouse  32  that guides the participant  14  or store clerk in identifying the product  18  in the memory of the device  12  or network. Although the device  12  may be a standalone device  12  located in the store  10 , it is also contemplated that the device  12  may be a desktop computer, tablet computer (e.g., iPad) with a program for taking the photograph  20  of the participant  14  and product  18 . The device  12  may also be the participant&#39;s smart phone (e.g., iphone) with an application for implementing one or more steps of the method disclosed herein. 
         [0025]    The participant  14  may enter a store  10 . When the participant  14  sees a product  18  that he or she likes, the participant  14  may take a photograph  20  of him or herself  14  and the product  18  with the camera  26  of the device  12 . After taking the photograph  20 , the device  12  prompts the participant  14  or the store clerk to identify the photographed product  18 . The participant  14  or the store clerk may scan a barcode on the product  18 . Other methods of identifying the product  18  are also contemplated. By way of example and not limitation, the device  12  may provide the participant  14  or store clerk with a series of menus or options that the participant  14  or store clerk may choose with the keyboard  30  or mouse  32  to drill down and identify the specific product  18 . By identifying the specific product  18 , the product identifier  16  is retrieved. The barcode number may be the product identifier  16  or a different product identifier  16  may be retrieved from the store&#39;s  10  computer system based on the barcode information. The product identifier  16  may be associated with the photograph  20 . The participant  14  provides permission to the retail store  10  or a third-party administering the advertising method and system to upload the photograph  20  and basic product information  22  of the product  18  on one or more social networking websites  34  to which the participant  14  belongs and has friends or contacts  42 . 
         [0026]    Referring now to  FIG. 2 , the device  12  uploads the photograph  20  and the product identifier  16  to the third-party server  24 . The third-party server  24  uploads  38  the photograph  20  and basic product information  22  of the product  18  to the status update page  40  (see  FIG. 4 ) on the one or more social network websites  34   a, b  of the participant  14 . By uploading the photograph  20  and the basic product information  22  of the product  18  to the social network websites  34   a,    34   b  to which the participant  14  belongs, the product is exposed to the contacts  42  of the participant  14 , as shown in  FIG. 3 . The participant&#39;s  14  face initially attracts the contact&#39;s  42  attention and guides the contact&#39;s attention subsequently to the product  18  being advertised. The first social network website  34   a  may be Facebook through which the participant  14  establishes online contact with his or her personal friends. In contrast, the second social network website  34   b  may be LinkedIn through which the participant  14  establishes online contact with his or her work relationships. The product  18  being endorsed by the participant  14  may be related to a personal hobby of the participant  14 . In this instance, the participant  14  can authorize uploads of the photograph  20  and the basic product information  22  of the product  18  to the first social network website  34   a.  (e.g., Facebook or even to a group on Facebook). On the other hand, if the product  18  being endorsed is work related (e.g., seminar), then the participant  14  may authorize upload of the photograph  20  and the basic product information  22  of the product  18  to the second social network website  34   b  (e.g. LinkedIn or a subgroup on LinkedIn). In this manner, the product  18  is being exposed to the right type of contacts  42  and endorsed by the participant  14  who has credibility with the contacts  42 . 
         [0027]    Referring now to  FIG. 3 , the participant  14  allows the third-party server  24  to establish contact with online social network websites  34   a, b  and more particularly allows the third-party server  24  to post the photograph  20  and basic product information  22  as a status update to the participants account on selective social network websites  34   a, b  or group so that the right type of products  18  are being shown to the right type of contacts  42  with which the participant  14  has earned credibility. Moreover, instead of being capable of providing authorization to post status updates on one but not another social network website  34 , the system and method described herein also contemplates being capable of providing authorization to post status updates to one or more subgroups or focus groups or private groups on the social network website  34 . 
         [0028]    Referring now to  FIG. 4 , a status update page  40  of a contact  42  of the participant  14  is shown. The status update page  40  may have an entry  44  including the photograph  20  and the basic product information  22 . The photograph  20  and/or the basic product information  22  may be embedded with a link which when clicked redirects the contacts  42  web browser to the third-party server website  24  through which detailed product information  22  is presented to the contact  42 . The detailed product information  22  may include purchasing directions (i.e., a means by which the contact  42  can purchase the product  18 ) or other call to action (e.g., subscribe to newsletter, like on Facebook, tweet on twitter). Moreover, the detailed product information  22  may also include other relevant data and information to assist the contact  42  in making a purchasing decision regarding the product  18 . 
         [0029]    The link which when clicked redirects the contact&#39;s  42  web browser to the third-party server website  24  may also be a separate standalone link  43  and not embedded in the photograph  20  or the basic product information  22 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , the standalone link may be in the Sponsored Ads Section of the status update page. 
         [0030]    The participant  14  may be compensated by way of a discount on the product  18  should the participant  14  purchase the product  18  being advertised. Compensation to the participant  14  may be based on the number of photos  20  shared on the participants social network, the number of contacts  42  of the participant  14 , number of impressions of the basic product information  22  to the participant&#39;s contacts  42 , number of impressions of the detailed product information  22  to the participant&#39;s contacts  42  (i.e., click through by contacts), the number of ‘likes’ of a photo  20  on the social network, or a combination thereof. The compensation may be on a different product unrelated to the product in the photograph  20 . These metrics can be monitored in real time by the retail store in order to calculate the discount or compensation to be extended to the participant  14 . 
         [0031]    Referring now to  FIG. 5 , a flowchart of the various steps performed by the third-party server  24  is shown. After the participant  14  takes the photograph  20  and the device  12  associates the photograph  20  with the product identifier  16 , the photograph  20  and the product identifier  16  are electronically delivered to the third-party server  24 . The third-party server  24  receives  100  the photograph  20  and the product identifier  16 . The product identifier  16  may be a barcode number. The product identifier  16  may be an alphanumeric string common between the store  10  and the third-party server  24 . Regardless of the form of the product identifier  16 , the product identifier  16  identifies the particular product  18  to be advertised within the database of the third-party server  24 . Along with the product identifier  16  and the photograph  20 , the participant&#39;s data may also be transformed to the third-party server  24 . The participant&#39;s data provides the third-party server  24  with permission to update the status feed of the participant  14  on the online social network websites  34   a, b  to which the participant  14  belongs. Also, the third party server  24  may open an account on a third party server for the participant  14  for the purpose of compensating the participant  14 . The photograph  20  and product identifier  16  may be stored in a database on the third-party server  24 . The photograph  20  and product identifier  23  may also be stored with information related to purchasing directions and product specifications. 
         [0032]    The third-party server  24  accesses the online social network websites  34   a, b  of the participant  14  and updates the participant&#39;s  14  status on those online social network websites  34   a, b . To update the participant&#39;s  14  status, the third-parry server  24  uploads  38  the photograph  20  and basic product information  22  to the online social network websites  34   a, b  of the participant  14 . The contacts  42  of the participant  14  are shown the photograph  20  of the participant  14  and the basic product information  22 . The photograph  20  or the basic product information  22  may be embedded with a link or a separate link may be shown to the contact  42  through the social network website  34 . When the contact  42  clicks the link, the contact&#39;s web browser is redirected to a webpage having detailed product information  22  including but not limited to purchasing directions. The third party server  24  may present  102  detailed product information  22  to the contact  42 . 
         [0033]    The participant  14  may be compensated  104  based on one or more factors as discussed above. 
         [0034]    The product  18  may be a good or service including but not limited to clothing, an electronic device, a person (e.g. person running for elected office), a service such as insurance, real estate services, real estate agents. 
         [0035]    Although the various aspects of the method and device described herein were described in relation to a physical store, it is also contemplated that the various aspects of the method and device may be implemented with a product  18  delivered to the participant  14  at the participant&#39;s home or business. The participant  14  may take a photograph  20  of him or herself with the product  18  and upload the photograph  20  to the third-party server  24 . The participant  14  may also identify the product  12  by the product identifier  16  or through a series of menus designed to facilitate identification of the product  18  on the website of the third-party server  24  or an online store for the product  18 . The device  12  would be the participants computer, laptop computer, tablet computer, smart phone or combination camera and computer. 
         [0036]    The website of the third-party server  24  may present basic product information  22  and/or detailed product information directly to consumers who finds the website of the third party server  24  through an Internet search or by directly typing in the World Wide Web address of the website or the third-party server  24 . The website of the third-party server  24  may present categories of products  18  that the consumer would like to purchase. Moreover, the website of the third-party server  24  may enable consumers to follow a particular participant  14  who they think would provide recommendations on products  18  that the consumer might like. The participant  14  may be compensated by the participant&#39;s  14  number of followers in conjunction with one or more of the other factors discussed above or exclusively based on the participant&#39;s  14  number of followers. 
         [0037]    In the description of the advertising method and system, the basic product information  22  may be presented to the contacts  42  of the participant  14  by placing the basic product information  22  adjacent to the photograph  20 . However, it is also contemplated that the basic product information  22  may be superimposed on the photograph  20 . Moreover, it is also contemplated that the device  12  may also superimpose a logo of the store  10  on the photograph  20  or adjacent thereto. It is further contemplated that the basic product information  22  in the status update page  40  or the superposed basic product information  22  on the photograph  20  may be removed so that it is less obvious that the participant  14  is promoting a product. For example, in the status update page  40 , the photograph  20  may depict the participant  14  and the product with an optional comment by the participant. The basic product information  22  or the product being advertised may be placed in the sponsored ads section  43 . 
         [0038]    The device  12  and the third-party server  24  may provide other options to the participant  14  and store  10 . The participant  14  may be allowed to delete a photo  20  after being uploaded to the third-party server  34 . Moreover, the store  10  or the third-party server  24  may delete the photo  20  uploaded by the participant  14 . 
         [0039]    The various aspects of the method and device described herein transfer information from the device  12  to the third party server  24  then to the participant&#39;s online social network. However, it is also contemplated that the photograph  20  and the basic product information  22  may be uploaded to the participant&#39;s online social network directly from the device  12 . In other words, the third party server  24  may provide the participant with a link that the participant may post to his or her status page on his or her online social network websites. The online social network website accesses photographs associated with the link by accessing the third party server  24  when the participant  14  is posting the link to the online social network website(s). The participant  14  selects the appropriate photograph  20  and posts the link. Upon posting the link, an electronic signal is sent to the third party server  24  from the online social network websites that the link was posted for the purposes of compensation and/or tracking. 
         [0040]    The above description is given by way of example, and not limitation. Given the above disclosure, one skilled in the art could devise variations that are within the scope and spirit of the invention disclosed herein, including various ways of taking the photograph and the product/service. Further, the various features of the embodiments disclosed herein can be used alone, or in varying combinations with each other and are not intended to be limited to the specific combination described herein. Thus, the scope of the claims is not to be limited by the illustrated embodiments.