Abstract:
An economic exchange system and method where a request is received to make a non-advertising site use of one or more media assets. The system and method comprising a vault and offering, as a basis for a grant of receiving a request, to allow the non-advertising site use in exchange for a receiving of at least one advertising opportunity on the site, and exchanging, in accordance with an agreement to an offering, of the non-advertising site use for the at least one advertising opportunity on the site.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/144,194, entitled “System and Method for Brand Affinity Content Distribution and Optimization”, filed Jun. 23, 2008, which is: a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/981,646, entitled “Engine, System and Method for Generation of Brand Affinity Content”, filed Oct. 31, 2007, which is: related to co-filed U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/981,837, entitled “An Advertising Request And Rules-Based Content Provision Engine, System and Method”, filed Oct. 31, 2007, and which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/993,096, entitled “System and Method for Rule Based Generation of Brand Affinity Content,” filed Sep. 7, 2007; and is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/072,692, entitled “Engine, System and Method For Generation of Brand Affinity Content, filed Feb. 27, 2008; and a continuation in part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/079,769, entitled “Engine, System and Method for Generation of Brand Affinity Content,” filed Mar. 27, 2008, also related to the aforementioned co-filed U.S. Ser. No. 12/072,692, and which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/042,913, entitled “Engine, System and Method for Generation of Brand Affinity Content,” filed Mar. 5, 2008; and claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/065,297, entitled “System and method of Assessing Quantitative and Qualitative Use of a Brand,” filed Feb. 7, 2008; and claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/131,386, entitled “Apparatus, System and Method for a Brand Affinity Engine Using Positive and Negative Mentions”, filed Jul. 29, 2008; each of which applications are hereby incorporated by reference herein as if set forth in the entirety. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention is directed to an advertising engine and, more particularly, to an engine for generation of brand affinity content, and a method of making and using same. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    High impact advertising is that advertising that best grabs the attention of a target consumer. A target consumer is the ideal customer for the particular goods being advertised, from a socio-economic perspective, from a morals and values perspective, from an age or interest level perspective, or based on other similar factors. The impact on an ideal customer of any particular advertisement may be improved if an advertisement includes endorsements, sponsorships, or affiliations from those persons, entities, or the like from whom the ideal target consumer is most likely, or highly likely, to seek guidance. Factors that will increase the impact of an endorser include the endorser&#39;s perceived knowledge of particular goods or in a particular industry, the fame or popularity of the endorser, the respect typically accorded a particular endorser or sponsor, and other similar factors. 
         [0004]    Consequently, the highest impact advertising time or block available for sale will generally be time that is associated, such as both within the advertisement and within the program with which the advertisement is associated, with an endorser most likely to have high impact on the ideal target customer. However, the existing art makes little use of this advertising reality. 
         [0005]    Thus, there exists a need for an engine, system and method that allows for the obtaining of an endorsement or sponsorship, in the aforementioned high-impact circumstances, either from a specific individual, a specific entity, an affinity brand, a marketing partner, or a sponsor. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    The present invention includes at least an endorsed advertising engine, system and method, which includes at least one vault having media assets, a recommendation engine that matches the media assets from the vault with at least one requested creative, and a delivery engine that integrates the requested creative with the matched media assets from the vault. 
         [0007]    Thus, the present invention provides an engine, system and method that allows for the obtaining of an endorsement or sponsorship, in the aforementioned high-impact circumstances, either from a specific individual, a specific entity, an affinity brand, a marketing partner, or a sponsor. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
         [0008]    The present invention will be described hereinbelow in conjunction with the following figures, in which like numerals represent like items, and wherein: 
           [0009]      FIG. 1  illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0014]    It is to be understood that the figures and descriptions of the present invention have been simplified to illustrate elements that are relevant for a clear understanding of the present invention, while eliminating, for the purposes of clarity, many other elements found in typical advertising engines, systems and methods. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that other elements are desirable and/or required in order to implement the present invention. However, because such elements are well known in the art, and because they do not facilitate a better understanding of the present invention, a discussion of such elements is not provided herein. 
         [0015]    It is generally accepted that advertising (hereinafter also referred to as “ad” or “creative”) having the highest impact on the desired consumer base includes endorsements, sponsorships, or affiliations from those persons, entities, or the like from whom the targeted consumers seek guidance, such as based on the endorser&#39;s knowledge of particular goods or in a particular industry, the fame of the endorser, the respect typically accorded a particular endorser or sponsor, and other similar factors. Additionally, the easiest manner in which to sell advertising time or blocks of advertising time is to relay to a particular advertiser that the advertising time purchased by that advertiser will be used in connection with an audio visual work that has an endorsement therein for that particular advertiser&#39;s brand of goods or services. As used herein, such an endorsement may include an assertion of use of a particular good or service by an actor, actress, or subject in the audio visual work, reference to a need for a particular types of goods or services in the audio visual work, or an actual endorsement of the use of a product within the audio visual work. 
         [0016]    Endorsements may be limited in certain ways, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such limitations may include geographic limitations on the use of particular products (endorsers are more likely to endorse locally in various locales rather than nationally endorse, in part because national endorsements bring a single endorsement fee and generally preclude the repetitious collection of many smaller fees for many local endorsements), or limitations on the use of endorsements in particular industries, wherein a different product or a different industry may be endorsed (such as in a different geographical area) by the same endorser, or limitations on endorsements solely to a particular field(s) or type(s) of product, rather than to a specific brand of product. Further, endorsements by particular endorsers may be limited to products, brands or products or services, types of products or services, or the like which are approved by one or more entities external from, but affiliated with, the specific endorser. For example, the National Football League may allow for its players only to endorse certain products, brands of products, types of products, or the like, that are also endorsed by the NFL. 
         [0017]    More specifically, as used herein endorsements may include: endorsements or sponsorships, in which an individual or a brand may be used to market another product or service to improve the marketability of that other product or service; marketing partnerships, in which short term relationships between different products or services are employed to improve the marketing of each respective product or service; brand affinity, which is built around a long term relationship between different products or services such that, over time, consumers come to accept an affinity of one brand based on its typical placement with another brand in another industry; and endorsed entertainment. 
         [0018]    At present, there is a need for a platform or engine to allow for the obtaining of an endorsement, or endorsed ad, in any of the above circumstances, either from a specific individual, a specific entity, an affinity brand, a marketing partner, or a sponsor. In the present invention, an endorsed advertising engine  10 , such as that illustrated in  FIG. 1 , may include a vault  12  that provides media assets  14  and integration of media assets without need of involving the media assets for permission, a brand association or recommendation engine  20  that may, by creative, by market, by brand affinity, by user request, or otherwise match media assets from the vault with an creative/ad  22 , and a delivery engine  26  capable of integrating a requested ad  22  with the media asset  14  from the vault  12 , late stage binding of the ad  22  and media asset  16  upon delivery to strongest target consumers, and delivery of the ad  22  and the dynamic media asset  16  from the vault to an advertiser or advertising server, which then places the mash up of the ad and media asset. Ad requests  22  may be made via an “ad wizard” using ad templates, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. 
         [0019]    The vault captures certain brands and information related thereto in a common database, such as all major league baseball past and present players, including statistics, video, and pictures of those players affiliated with the names of those players, in addition to any endorsement limitations on those players. The vault may include media assets that may be associated with audio-visual works. The vault may include symbols, emblems, taglines, pictures, video, press releases, publications, web links, web links to external content, and media capable of re-purposing (such as an athlete running in front of a blue screen, wherein the athlete may be re-purposed by the placement of a background over the blue screen), including pictures, voice, and video. The vault may also include, associated with the brand, exclusion, inclusions, or preferences  50  for the use of the brand or particular items of information associated with the brand in the vault. Such inclusions, exclusions, or preferences may include geographic limitations on certain information items or endorsements, product limitations, preferred partners or products or product types for endorsement, etc. Exclusions may, of course, be necessary if the requested endorsement conflicts with a pre-existing endorsement agreement for the requested brand with a competitor, or the like. 
         [0020]    Further, media assets in the vault may be marked with different payment schema  52  based on the requester of the media asset. For example, in the event the ad requester is a school, and the requested creative is not an ad to sell anything, media assets may be available for use for free. Such exceptions may be made, with regard to payment, with regard to any level of payment variation as between any number of different user types, such as non-profit, for-profit, individual, corporate, in-home, in-business, and the like. Additionally, for example, icons of a favorite football player may be requested by a non-profit individual for at-home use, to be overlayed over a live football program then on that individual&#39;s television, at no charge to that individual. 
         [0021]    The brand association and recommendation engine  20  assesses, based on numerous factors including external factors, the endorsements that are most sensible for particular advertising. For example, such a brand association engine gauges proper matches by assessing inclusions and exclusions based on the aforementioned factors in the vault, such as geography, but additionally can use stored or external information and/or variable factoring to do brand associations for any two brands (such as wherein brand associations already exhibiting brand affinity would have the highest percentage association, and brands which would make the most sensible association would also exhibit higher percentage matching for brand association), or to do matching with an endorsement brand based on the target consumers of the requesting brand. 
         [0022]    For example, a “profile”  60  may be developed in the vault for a particular brand. Such a profile may include any of a myriad of information, both stored in the vault and having external references outside the vault from within the vault, including but not limited to psychological profiles of typical users of that brand (which may include values, motivations, wants, and needs of such users, and which may be assessed based on inferences from on-line, credit card, or television use by those users, for example), brand profiles including target customers, target affiliate profiles (which may include reasons for desired affiliation, such as sharing marketing costs, increasing brand recognition in certain geographies or fields of use, distribution channel access, expedited market entry, or improved brand perception, for example), and the like, and such profiles may be used as media assets by the recognition engine in order to develop a best match. As an additional example, polling may provide for local or national focus and maintained in the vault as an associated media asset with a particular brand, and best matches for certain brands may be selected according to such polling results. For example, a “flashy” sports personality may be a best match for a brand offering in Los Angeles, but a different athlete&#39;s endorsement might be preferably to sell that brand in the mid-west. Such information, including “who&#39;s hot”, or where a brand is “hot”, may be associated with the media assets regarding that brand in the vault, and may be thus used by the recommendation engine to do matching. 
         [0023]    Thus, the recommendation engine may passively or actively inform of the best endorsement matches for a particular user&#39;s ads, based on any number of factors. Upon assessment of good matches for the requesting brand, a user of the present invention may have the matching options presented to that user for selection by the recommendation engine, or the user may simply have a best-match selection made for the user. Needless to say, bids for advertising may vary based on the matches obtained by the recommendation engine, and/or the asserted likelihood of success that the ad placed will be successful. Success, of course, may be different in different circumstances, and may include a consumer making an on-line or in-store purchase, a user filling out an on-line or off-line form, a consumer accessing and downloading information or a coupon, or the like. 
         [0024]    The delivery engine  26  may integrate a requested ad with the media asset from the vault pursuant to the actions by the recommendation engine, and can place a particular ad in the environment it deems best suited for that ad (such as in the event of a re-direct, wherein a web site gives some information about an ad request, and the best ad can be placed responsive to the ad request), late stage bind the ad and media asset for delivery to strongest target consumers (such as with the improvement in later stage tracking for improved ad targeting, such as if the consumer&#39;s requesting IP address and/or the referring site information is available just prior to ad delivery), or deliver the static ad and the dynamic media asset from the vault to an advertiser or advertising server, which then independently places the mash up of the ad and media asset. Needless to say, bids for advertising time may vary depending upon the delivery mechanism used. 
         [0025]    Improvement in later stage tracking for improved ad targeting may be enabled through the delivery engine  26  and will allow for greater efficiency the trafficking of ads during or after or with or without interface with the delivery engine  26 . Efficiency may be obtained by tracking, for example, the data intelligence for use with the delivery of the creative. By way of non-limiting example, data intelligence may include click-thru rate, post-click conversion rate, post-impression activities, as well as geography, demographic and daypart information. Gathered data intelligence may be used as individual properties in conjunction with each other to form or produce the level of intelligence needed to achieve the desired efficiencies. By way of further example, data intelligence may also include information regarding the number of impressions an ad has received, the elapsed time between an impression or a click. 
         [0026]    Utilizing the data intelligence will allow the delivery engine  26  to optimize targeting to new and past targets. Optimization may include efficiencies of time and control over redundancies and ad targeting. Optimization will allow for the prediction of probable impressions or clicks that a certain ad or creative may receive when, for example, pointed towards certain factors, such as demographic and geography, for example. A prediction may also be made regarding the efficiency of paid searches and may be further contrasted with, for example, display ads. Such information as drawn from the data intelligence may also allow for the higher success rates related to redundant ad placement based on the prior behavior of a particular audience. The same can be true for the avoidance of redundancy when, for example, data intelligence may be used to keep certain ads or creatives from repeatedly reaching an audience with, for example, low click-through rates. Redundancy avoidance may also include the avoidance of competing ads or creatives, whether or not placed for the same entity. 
         [0027]    The delivery engine  26  may also choose to deactivate and/or modify certain creatives based on data intelligence and/or user direction. By way of non-limiting example, the data intelligence may be collected from several ad or creative types over any number of varying media formats, allowing for even more sophisticated optimization based on the allocation of impressions and clicks in the various media formats. Media formats may include, but are not limited to, internet, t.v., radio, mobile devices, kiosks, billboards, product placements, and print. By further way of non-limiting example, data intelligence gathered during a run of a creative on the radio may effect the play of an ad on the internet. The delivery engine  26  may additionally allow for the interplay between data intelligence and real time metrics or community-based information. This real time intelligence gathering may also be used to calibrate a campaign(s) of multiple ads or creatives. By way of non-limiting example only, a campaign of with several creative versions may be measured based on gathered data intelligence and optimized to improve, for example, click-through. Such optimization may be done in real time and over multiple media types. The optimization may, by way of further non-limiting example, call for the addition of ads or creatives not currently apart of the campaign(s). Thus suggesting what type of ads or creatives are required for maximum optimization regardless of whether or not the ads or creatives reside in inventory. 
         [0028]    Optimization of ads and creatives increases the value of ad and creative inventory and may, for example, provide for greater value pre and post delivery. The data intelligence may also allow for real-time valuations based on pre-existing and predicted variables, thus maximizing the value of the placed ad or ad/creative inventory. Value can be also maximized for premium and non-premium content. Functionality within the delivery engine  26  may also allow for variable rate sampling and frequency cap forecasting. 
         [0029]    Because the bids for advertising time in the present invention may vary as discussed above, the present invention lends itself to auction-style placement of advertising, in which bids are solicited for particular locations, times, or blocks of advertising. Auctions may be held, for example, on line, and may be broken down by media outlet type of ad (i.e. television, internet, etc.), product type of ad, or in any similar manner. 
         [0030]    Further, it is known in the existing art to engage in a myriad of different types of advertisement online. Two such advertisement types are: a search advertising model, in which a user undertakes to search for a good or service of interest and receives, as part of or as indicated with a search result(s), advertisements relevant to purchasing the good or service for which the search was made and/or to purchasing goods or services related to the good or service for which the search was made; and a display advertising model, in which a user is actively viewing a web site and receives, as part of the web site under review, advertisements for the purchase of goods or services relevant to the content of the web site under review. Needless to say, the former operates on the principal that, if a user searches for a good or service, he/she would like to buy that good or service, and the latter operates on the principal that if a user is interested enough in the content of a web site to view that web site, he/she is also likely interested in buying goods or services related to the content of that web site. 
         [0031]    The display advertising model mentioned hereinabove is typically embodied as banner on a web site. For example, such banners may appear above, below, to the left, or to the right of the content being viewed, but typically do not impinge upon the content being viewed. The search advertising model mentioned hereinabove is typically embodied as advertisements/banners placed proximate to search results on the search results page responsive to the user search. For example, such advertisements may appear along a right hand side of a search results page, while the search results are displayed along the left hand side of the same search results page. 
         [0032]    As discussed immediately above, it is necessarily the case that the correlations performed between the user&#39;s searched or viewed content and the advertisements provided will increase the relevance of, and thus the response to, the advertisements. However, such responses in the form of either clicks on the advertisements or purchases made through the advertisement link, once obtained at a particular rate, cannot be further improved by the relevance of the advertisements produced. Rather, the only manner to improve the response rate once relevant advertisements are produced is to improve the advertisements themselves based on the users viewing the advertisements. 
         [0033]    The present invention provides such improved response advertisement through the provision of brand affiliations with the goods and services being advertised, as discussed herein throughout. As discussed, the present invention allows for the production of advertisements having brand sponsorship that is optimized to the market sought. That is, the brand sponsor selected for an advertised good or service is, though the use of the present invention, selected to best correspond to the characteristics of the purchaser sought by the advertisement. 
         [0034]    This effect is illustrated with respect to  FIGS. 3 and 4 .  FIG. 3  illustrates the effect of the present invention with regard to a search advertising model, and  FIG. 4  illustrates the effect of the present invention with respect to a display advertising model. In each Figure, a brand sponsor has been selected who will indicate, to the user for whom the advertisement is deemed most relevant, trust, quality, value, a relationship to the user, and/or an overall positive feeling. The sponsor is either selected by the advertiser in the present invention for inclusion with the subject advertisement, based on the profile of a desired purchaser and the characteristics of that sponsor as they relate to that profile, which relation is set forth or suggested by the present invention, or the sponsor is selected by the present invention for inclusion in or with the subject advertiser&#39;s advertisement based on a desired responder profile for the advertisement entered by the advertiser to the engine of the present invention. 
         [0035]    As illustrated graphically in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , a positive correlation of a brand sponsor to a brand, which is necessarily also a correlation of a brand sponsor to those purchasers most interested in buying the subject brand, correlates positively to a increased transaction rate. In other words, to the extent the present invention provides brand affiliations, sponsorships, and the like that are well-suited to the sponsored brand, that brand will show an increase in the number of users who are shown that advertisement and that either click that advertisement or purchase that brand through that advertisement. It is estimated that the increase in the desired response rate in accordance with the use of the present invention may typically be a 3 to 5 times increase, based on the increased positive correlation between the sponsored brand and the brand sponsor provided by the present invention, although those skilled in the art will understand that more or less improvement in the transaction rate may occur based on the implementation of the present invention. 
         [0036]    Thus, in accordance with the present invention, and as illustrated in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , an increased correlation of a brand sponsor to a sponsoring brand, and thus an increased correlation of a sponsoring brand to a desired purchaser&#39;s profile, is provided. This increased correlation generates an improved transaction rate in accordance with the present invention, for at least a search advertising model and a display advertising model. 
         [0037]    The present invention thus allows for any exchange of media assets and advertising opportunities, including those without an exchange of currency. In its most basic form, such an exchange may be considered a barter between two asset holders. In one embodiment of the present invention, one asset holder includes a holder of media assets as described above; while a second holder may have a location or like possession over time or space in which an asset may be placed and viewed/heard by third parties. The exchange of media assets for use of third party viewing opportunities may include many variations of asset exchanges, the viewing opportunity being itself an asset. 
         [0038]    By way of non-limiting example only, a blogger with a focus on sports my benefit from the present invention by offering up advertising opportunities on the blog site in exchange for use of media assets suited to the blog topic at hand. For example, the blogger may be blogging about a professional baseball player and a contract dispute with the team for which he plays. To enhance the content of the blog, the blogger may wish to include a picture of the professional baseball player or the team&#39;s logo, for example. However, the blogger may not have the monetary resources necessary to pay for use of such a picture or logo. What the blogger may have is space on the blog for the placement of an advertisement, for example. The blogger may request from the present invention the use of the picture or logo as a media asset in exchange for allowing for the placement of an advertisement on, in or associated with the subject blog page by a third party, such as by the system of the present invention. 
         [0039]    The present invention my optimize many aspects of a barter. In one embodiment, the requestor and offeror my either be registered or may be required to enter information regarding the use of the media asset being requested, including, for example, the immediate purpose for the media asset and/or a general purpose and/or parameters of the space/time being provided as the bartered asset. The recommendation engine  20  and evaluation engine  501  may thus take into account not only the placement of the requested asset, but also the value of the offered asset. In one embodiment, by valuing both the requested and offered asset, the evaluation engine  501  may accept the request and offer, deny the request and offer, or work with the recommendation engine  20  to counter offer the requester. 
         [0040]    In one embodiment of the present invention, the counter offer may consist of offering a different media asset than the one originally requested by the requester. The counter offer may also consist of varying the bartered asset by, for example, altering the size of the space offered, the time the space will be available for use, and/or the number of views provided by the space or spaces offered. In this aspect, the evaluation engine  501  may take into account various types of metrics such as demography, hits, time of day, successful click throughs, etc. Needless to say, counter offers may be similarly employed in the present invention even in payment embodiments. 
         [0041]    If a request is accepted by the present invention, the requested asset is delivered to the requestor for use within the request parameters. Such parameters may include limitation on duration, views, and/or association with other media. By way of further non-limiting example, if a newspaper website containing the requested asset of a professional football player is deep-linked to an offensive website, such as one on which racist comments are directed at the placed asset, the terms of the placement of the request may be violated and the placement of the asset may be terminated. The present invention may also track the placement metrics for use with the evaluation engine  501  for both past and future evaluations, and/or with the recommendation engine  20  when choosing, among other things, media selections. 
         [0042]    The delivery of the requested asset may take place at any bargained-for time or series of times and/or spaces. For example, an offer for a finite period of time for which a certain amount of space is offered to be available may be tacked to existing or future time to the satisfaction of the evaluation system  501  and the recommendation engine  20 . By way of further example, the requestee my not have any placements that meet the offer made by the requestor, but may counter offer for the accrual of the offered time and/or space. In this embodiment, the system creates flexibility in the honoring of requests received and the placement that may be made. 
         [0043]    As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the engines within the endorsed advertising engine of the present invention may draw on any number of communication access points and media sources, including wired and wireless, radio and cable, telephone, television and internet, personal electronic devices, satellite, databases, data files, and the like, in order to increase content in the vault, contribute content for intelligent selection of brand associations, and best allow for recommendations and delivery. 
         [0044]    Although the invention has been described and pictured in an exemplary form with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the exemplary form has been made by way of example, and that numerous changes in the details of construction and combination and arrangement of parts and steps may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims hereinafter.