Abstract:
A computer implemented business method for the purchase of a message endorsement and transmission between two associated individuals wherein a marketer establishes an endorsement agreement and a transaction with an individual subscriber in which the subscriber agrees to transmit the marketer&#39;s message to the subscriber&#39;s own peers and associates, and such transmissions are executed so that they are consistent with the marketer&#39;s intent, and verifiable to a degree that compensation can be made to the individual, as a micro-endorser of the content, for each transmission. Once the agreement has been made, the endorser assigns the marketer&#39;s message to be transmitted as content to other individuals who attempt to contact the endorser through a communication network. The transmission is verified and the endorsing individual is compensated.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     Related to Provisional Patent Application U.S. 60/696,447 Dated Jul. 1, 2005, Titled Computer implemented method for the purchase of a message transmission between associated individuals  
       STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
       [0002]     Not Applicable  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     The present invention relates to a computer implemented business method for the purchase of an endorsed message transmission between associated individuals.  
         [0004]     Marketing methods are used for a variety of purposes, such as commercial advertising, political advertising, cause and appeal marketing, or simply for the purpose of spreading non-commercial content. Traditionally, marketing campaigns are implemented by placing the marketing content adjacent to non-marketing content, such as the placement of a television advertisement or a magazine advertisement. For a campaign to be effective marketers rely on the popularity of the complimentary non-marketing content; therefore, the cost of different placements varies depending on the size of the audience for the non-marketing content. For instance, the cost of advertising during popular television programs is often higher than the cost of advertising on unpopular programs. In addition, qualities of the audience are also taken into consideration. For instance, the cost of placing an advertisement during a popular television program is likely to be further inflated if the audience can be shown to have a high level of expendable income. Marketing methods such as these have some inherent disadvantages. First, the cost of such marketing methods are high, since the revenue generated by the advertisements is relied upon for the development of the complimentary non-marketing content. In addition, the public has been shown to perceive these methods as intrusive to the non-marketing content, and so means have been devised to help consumers exclude marketers&#39; content from broadcast media such as Television and Radio, such as commercial-free “Premium” Television Stations, Digital Video Recorders (“Tivo”), and Satellite Radio.  
         [0005]     Another method of marketing, direct marketing relies on smaller, more deliberately targeted messages, using either direct mail, the telephone (telemarketing), direct email, or the variety of direct marketing methods on the internet (e.g., banner advertising, pop-up advertising, search engine advertising). These methods were devised to allow a broader range of marketers to reach specific individuals who could be identified through publicly or privately disclosed demographic or psychographic data generally known about the individuals (e.g. mailing address, telephone number, age, shopping habits, web browsing habits, etc.). These methods also have several disadvantages: First, the sheer volume of competing marketing messages that exist in these mediums make it difficult for a single marketer&#39;s message to be acknowledged; Second, these mediums are also usually perceived as intrusive to the person receiving the advertisement; Third, because of this perception, direct marketing methods such as telemarketing and direct email are being deliberately blocked by state and federal legislation.  
         [0006]     Considering these issues, marketers have focused on finding methods and mediums to make their messages more trusted, more likely to be heard, and more relevant to the receiver (the person who ultimately receives the marketer&#39;s message). One such way is to have their offering endorsed by trustworthy or influential individuals, and to encourage these individuals to communicate with others about the benefits of the marketer&#39;s products and services. A common and long-standing manifestation of this concept is celebrity endorsement, where a marketer will pay a well-known individual to endorse a specific product, and to either record the endorsement explicitly or to embed the endorsement in media other ways (e.g., product placement in a movie or logo placement on sporting uniforms). Marketers may then use mass media to broadcast or distribute the endorsement to the public. Advertising in this manner is commonplace, but is impractical for marketers with limited resources, who are unable to pay the normal fees associated with both the celebrity endorser and the mass media. Furthermore, it is commonly recognized that a significant portion of the expense of celebrity endorsement and the associated distribution method is wasted, due to the fact that not all such endorsements are acknowledged by the audience or subscriber base of the medium (for the reasons listed above), and normally only a portion of the audience that acknowledges the endorsement considers the endorser to be a reliable and trusted endorser.  
         [0007]     Another method is sometimes known as peer-to-peer marketing (or experience marketing or viral marketing), where the marketer sponsors and/or creates a novel experience for a targeted first-tier audience, and relies on the novelty of the experience to trigger a chain reaction in which the first-tier audience is compelled to tell their friends and other associates about the experience, and to encourage those friends and associates to continue to tell others. Experience marketing is more broadly affordable than celebrity endorsement, since the scale of the experience may range from a very small experience (e.g., a street performance, poster, graffiti, or the speaking of a brand name in an exclusive venue), to a larger experience (e.g. experiences within retail stores, sporting event sponsorship, films, entertainment events). Peer-to-peer marketing is also considered to have some advantages over conventional advertising methods, because the marketer is establishing a relationship with an individual, who, in reaction to a positive experience provided by the marketer, is compelled to work on behalf of the marketer to endorse the marketer&#39;s offering directly to a “second tier”: the individual&#39;s friends and associates. When successful, this method is recognized to have two advantages over conventional advertising: First, each one of the first-tier audience may be compelled to tell several other people (a second tier audience), who in turn may tell others (a third tier, and so on), and so the marketer can reach an extended audience with a single initiative or campaign; Second, the pre-existing relationship that the first-tier individuals have with the second tier individuals give the individuals a degree of credibility and trust, which benefits the marketer. However, in common practice, peer-to-peer marketing has a major disadvantage: the marketer has no agreement with the individual endorser, and therefore has very little control over what actual message is transmitted by the individual, or means by which to verify if any positive message was transmitted about the experience.  
         [0008]     Another method, called Attention Brokerage, is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,794,210 (Goldhaber, et al.). The Goldhaber invention describes a marketing method of “Attention Brokerage” and “Orthogonal Sponsorship”, in which the receiver of the advertisement is compensated for their attention to, and interaction with, advertising content broadcast on the internet, and in which the compensation may include coupons or other ‘negatively priced content’ that the receiver of the advertisement can spend on purchases online. This attempts to make the marketing content directly relevant to the receiver of the marketing content by compensating the receiver for their attention. While novel in comparison to other forms of marketing discussed above, this invention has a major disadvantage in that it requires interaction between the receiver of the marketing content and the content itself, for each placement, such as actions taken (“clicks”) on behalf of the receiver with the use of a personal computer, in order to prove that the attention of the receiver was given, so that compensation can be made accordingly. The value of the receiver&#39;s time and attention is underestimated in the invention; in practice, it is difficult to compensate receivers fairly for such use of their time. Furthermore, because the non-marketing content for the Goldhaber invention is envisioned as content that the receiver has specifically requested through the internet or other means, the marketing content adjacent to this non-marketing content is more likely to be ignored or regarded as intrusive regardless of the compensation. Furthermore, there is no explicit mechanism to compel the receiver to pass on the marketer&#39;s message to a second tier audience, and no compensation to the receiver for any further endorsement, as in celebrity endorsement arrangements.  
         [0009]     Another method is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,438,356, (Ushiki, et al.). Ushiki describes an accounting system for multimedia communication systems, in which third-party content, such as advertising, may be embedded in transmissions between two terminals within a multimedia communications system such as a broadband telephone system. The marketer, in the Ushiki invention, sponsors individual communication links between users, thereby reducing the cost of the service to the end user, in return for marketing content to be transmitted with the same communication link. Like other methods described above, the marketing content in the Ushiki invention is transmitted during non-marketing content, namely the time that the two communication terminals are communicating. This is a major disadvantage to marketers, because once again, like the Goldhaber invention, the marketing content is competing with more relevant non-marketing content, namely the communication itself. In addition, the Ushiki invention fails to integrate a mechanism wherein the supplier of the content (the marketer) can make advance arrangement with the user of either terminal for the endorsement of the content. Therefore, the embedded content is less likely to be perceived by the receiver as trustworthy, authentic, and/or relevant to the receiver(s).  
         [0010]     Based on the examples above, there remains a strong need among marketers for more effective methods to make their messages more trusted, authentic, more likely to be acknowledged, and more relevant to the receiver.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0011]     The present invention greatly improves the ability of marketers to accomplish peer-to-peer marketing campaigns by enabling a marketer to establish a micro-endorsement agreement and transaction with an individual in which the individual agrees to transmit the marketer&#39;s message to the subscriber&#39;s own peers and associates, and such transmissions are executed so that they are consistent with the marketer&#39;s intent, and verifiable to a degree that compensation can be made to the individual, as an endorser of the content, for each transmission. Once the agreement has been made, the endorser assigns the marketer&#39;s message to be played audibly (or visibly) to incoming callers who attempt to contact the endorser through a communication network (e.g., a wireless, land-line, or internet telephone network). By the nature of the transmission method, the message is more likely to be heard by the incoming caller just prior to a conversation with the endorser, creating an increased likelihood of further conversation about the marketer&#39;s offering between the endorser and the incoming caller.  
         [0012]     The present method offers marketers several advantages over the other existing marketing methods as listed above. First, like other methods of marketing, the present invention positions the marketing message adjacent to non-marketing content; however, the relevance to the receiver of the non-marketing content in the present invention (a telephone call to a friend or an associated individual) is likely to be much higher than the mass media. Second, the message can be transmitted during latent time prior to the telephone conversation, namely during the time while the receiver of the message (the incoming caller) is waiting for the call to be connected to the endorser and for the endorser to “pick up” the phone; therefore this method requires no additional time or effort on the part of the endorser or receiver of the message in order for the message to be heard, and positions the marketer&#39;s message in latent time when the receiver is likely to be listening or otherwise paying attention, and does not interrupt or interfere with the non-marketing content. Third, like other endorsement marketing, the present invention attaches an implicit endorsement to the marketer&#39;s content; however, this method improves the value of the endorsement because the endorser is someone personally known by the receiver of the marketing message. This endorser is therefore likely to be a trusted source of non-marketing content to the receiver, and so the embedding of the marketer&#39;s message with this non-marketing content adds specific and unique value to the marketer&#39;s message. Fourth, the message itself is created by the marketer, whereby the marketer can have control over the content of the message being exchanged between the endorser and the receiver, unlike other forms of peer-to-peer marketing. Another advantage is that the transmission of the message through a communication network provides a verifiable record of each transmission, so that the compensation can be made only for complete transmissions of the message, to minimize waste associated with other marketing methods. Yet another advantage is that the transmission of the message through a communication network enables the messages to be targeted to specific geographic locations and to specific timeframes that are most directly relevant to the message content. Still another advantage of the present invention is that the endorser can individually select the messages that are transmitted, which reduces the risk to the marketer that their message will be transmitted to a disinterested receiver. Yet a further advantage is that, with the present invention, marketers have a method which grants them access to otherwise inaccessible and undefined social networks, and to individuals who are trusted endorsers of the marketer&#39;s message within these networks. Another advantage of this invention is that the cost of individual message transmissions can be very low and still provide a cumulative benefit to the endorser who is able to place multiple transmissions per day; furthermore, the transmissions being purchased individually rather than en masse, the invention provides a medium that is accessible to marketers with very limited resources. These advantages effectively qualify the present invention as a new marketing medium with a combination of characteristics that are unavailable in other mediums.  
         [0013]     The present method also offers all participating endorsers several benefits over other marketing methods listed above. First, with the present invention, all participating endorsers have an opportunity to be compensated for their status within their own social networks. Second, the endorser has control over the choices of marketers and message content they wish to endorse, and which they choose to transmit. Third, the endorser will have an opportunity to communicate their values, tastes and preferences through the endorsement of specific content, in much the same way that a public celebrity is able to support causes, products, and other offerings through endorsement arrangements. There is no existing marketing medium that empowers and compensates individual non-celebrity endorsement in this way and on this scale, and so these advantages effectively qualify the present invention as the first such medium. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0014]     The advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood through study of the present preferred embodiment of the invention as shown on the accompanying drawings and further described below, in which:  
         [0015]      FIG. 1  shows the general environment of the invention;  
         [0016]      FIG. 2  shows an overview flow chart of the invention;  
         [0017]      FIG. 3  shows an example of an arrangement of user interfaces, data storage, and logic modules which might be used for the implementation of the business method;  
         [0018]      FIG. 4  shows an example of a MARKETER INTERFACE;  
         [0019]      FIG. 5  shows an example of a database record for a MESSAGE DATABASE;  
         [0020]      FIG. 6  shows an example of a NEW ENDORSER INTERFACE;  
         [0021]      FIG. 7  shows an example of an ENDORSER MANAGEMENT INTERFACE;  
         [0022]      FIG. 8  shows an example of a database record for an ENDORSER DATABASE  
         [0023]      FIG. 9  shows an example of a process on an ENDORSEMENT ROUTING INTERFACE and a TRANSMISSION MONITORING INTERFACE  
         [0024]      FIG. 10  shows an example of a process on a TRANSMISSION MONITORING INTERFACE  
         [0025]      FIG. 11  shows an example of a database record for a TRANSACTION DATABASE; 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0026]     For the purposes of presenting a clear understanding of the invention, details are described below to describe a preferred embodiment. However, the invention may be practiced without these specific details, and may also be practiced with variations in the sequence and arrangement of the elements described herein. The preferred embodiment is comprised as follows:  
         [0027]      FIG. 1 , is a diagram representing the general environment of the invention  0100  wherein a Marketer  0101  is interested in transmitting a message. The Marketer  0101  presents a Message Object  0104  to an Endorser  0102 . Endorser  0102  receives Message Object  0104  from the marketer and agrees to transmit Message Object  0104  to one or more Receiver(s)  0103 . In the general environment of the invention, Message  0104  can be content of any kind. For the preferred embodiment of the invention, Message Object has at least one characteristic that is audible, and is a digital file in a common format (e.g., .mp3, .wav, etc.)  
         [0028]      FIG. 2  is a diagram  0200  that describes an arrangement of interface means and data storage means that accommodate the invention. The method is initiated by the marketer  0101  through the Marketer Interface  0201 , which supplies and modifies information on Message Database  0204 ; a New Endorser Interface  0202  connected to an Endorser Management Interface  0203 , which supplies and modifies information on the Endorser Database  0205 ; A Message Database  0204  which receives and stores information from the Marketer Interface  0201 , and provides information to the Endorser Management Interface  0203  and the Endorsement Routing Interface  0207 ; an Endorser Database  0205  which receives, stores, and updates information as directed by the Endorser Management Interface; an Endorsement Routing interface which receives Content Requests  0206  from Communication Service Provider Call Routing  0212 , evaluates Content Requests  0206 , extracts information from Message Database  0204 , modifies information on Message Database  0204 , and provides Transmission Commands  0208  to Communication Service Provider Call Routing  0212 ; A Transmission Monitoring Interface  0210  which receives Transmission Attempt Records  0209 , evaluates these records, and supplies and modifies information on the Transaction Database  0211  and the Message Database  0204 ; and a Transaction Database  0211  which stores transmission records and supplies information to a conventional Billing and Receiving Module  0213 .  
         [0029]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram  0300  that describes a process for the matching of a message supplied by Marketer  0101  with Endorser  0102 . In this embodiment, Marketer  0101  creates a message in step  0302 ; Marketer  0101  sets criteria for the transmission of the message in step  0303 ; Marketer  0101  sets criteria for eligible endorsers in step  0304 ; and Marketer  0101  establishes an offer to be made to eligible endorsers, for each instance of a transmission of the message, in step  0305 . Steps  0302 ,  0303 ,  0304 , and  0305  can be taken in any order;  
         [0030]     Once marketer has completed Steps  0302 ,  0303 ,  0304 , and  0305 , the offer established by Marketer  0101  is presented to Endorser  0102  in step  0306 . In step  0307 , the Endorser  0102  is given the choice whether to accept the offer and endorse the message, or to reject the offer. If the offer is rejected, the marketer may start again with new criteria. If the offer is accepted, the message is associated with Endorser  0102  in step  0308 . This association is stored in a database record associated with Endorser  0101  within the Endorser Database  0205 .  
         [0031]     This process  0300  may continue, with multitude of marketers making offers to multiple endorsers; Endorser  0102  may endorse multiple endorsement offers by choice, or may limit their endorsement to a single offer. For the purpose of this example it is assumed that Endorser  0102  has accepted an offer from Marketer  0101 .  
         [0032]      FIG. 4  illustrates an example of one version of a Marketer Interface  0201 . This interface may be implemented through any means, including an internet interface, a voice interface, an interface within a communication device such as a telephone equipped with an internet browser, or any other means which can accommodate the display and input of this criteria. Step  0401  confirms that the Marketer  0101  has prepared a message, receives the message, and requests a name for the message. Step  0402  asks Marketer  0101  to select criteria for the geographic placement of the message. Marketer  0101  may select multiple locations. Step  0403  asks Marketer  0101  to select time criteria for the placement of the message. Marketer  0101  may make multiple time selections. Step  0404  asks Marketer  0101  to select one or more profiles for eligible endorsers. Marketer  0101  may make multiple selections. Step  0405  asks Marketer  0101  to make an offer of compensation, per transmission of the message, to eligible endorsers. Step  0406  asks Marketer  0101  to establish a limit of the total amount of money to be spent, including additional charges, and subsequently displays the maximum number of messages that will be placed in accordance with this limit. Step  0407  asks Marketer  0101  to select a date after which any remaining messages will expire and become ineligible for transmission. Step  0408  asks the Marketer to establish the frequency with which the message will be played. Step  0409  completes the Marketer Interface and takes the marketer to a conventional interface for a guarantee of payment.  
         [0033]      FIG. 5  is an example of a database record generated by the Marketer Interface  0201  associated with an instance of Message  0104 . Field  0501  is the unique message identifier. This is automatically generated and assigned to each message. Field  0502  is the owner identifier, this identifies the owner of the Message for payment processing. For the purpose of this example, Marketer  0101  is the owner identified in field  0502 . Field  0503  is the geographic transmission criteria, which identifies geographic locations to which the message may be transmitted. Field  0504  is the time transmission criteria, which defines the timeframe within which the message is eligible to be transmitted. Field  0505  is the endorser access, which specifies the profiles under which Endorsers are eligible to receive and accept the offer associated with the message. Field  0506  is the offer associated with the message. Field  0507  is the maximum inventory of the message set by the total budget, the offer, and a formula that defines additional charges applied to the cost of each transmission. Field  0508  is the remaining inventory of the message, based on the max inventory  0507  minus the total sum of all messages that have been successfully transmitted. This field is updated by the Endorsement Routing Interface  0207  and the Transmission Monitoring Interface  0210 . Field  0509  is the expiration date of the message, after which the remaining message will be made ineligible for transmission. Field  0510  is the frequency of the message, which sets criteria for the number of times a message can be transmitted on a specific day relative to the Expiration Date  0509 . Field  0511  is the message title associated with the message, to be displayed to Endorser  0102  in the Endorser Management Interface  0203 .  
         [0034]      FIG. 6  illustrates an example of one version of a New Endorser Interface  0202 . This interface may be implemented through any means, including an internet interface, a voice interface, an interface within a communication device such as a telephone equipped with a web browser, or any other means which can accommodate the display and input of this criteria. Step  0601  asks Endorser  0102  if their age is greater than 18 years old. Step  0602  asks Endorser  0102  to provide the country and the phone number with which their telephone account is associated. Step  0603  asks Endorser  0102  to select the communication service provider which manages the call routing for the telephone number given in step  0602 . Step  0604  asks Endorser  0102  to select one or more profiles. Step  0605  asks Endorser  0102  to select a method by which endorsements will be managed: managed exclusively by Endorser  0102 , managed automatically according to the profile selection, or managed automatically according to the amount of the available offers. Step  0606  confirms the choices, validates the sign-up process and moves the Endorser  0102  to the Endorsement Management Interface  0203 .  
         [0035]      FIG. 7  illustrates an example of one version of an Endorser Management Interface  0203 . This interface may be implemented through any means, including an internet interface, a voice interface, an interface within a communication device such as a telephone equipped with a web browser, or any other means which can accommodate the display and input of this criteria. Step  0701  displays the phone number and service provider associated with Endorser  0102 . Step  0702  displays the accepted endorsements and the related offers associated with Endorser  0102 . In step  0702 , Endorser  0102  may listen to the accepted endorsements or delete the accepted endorsements. Step  0703  displays a selection of additional endorsements and the related offers available to Endorser  0102 . In Step  0703 , Endorser  0102  may listen to the accepted endorsements or accept these endorsements. In this example, additional steps supplemental to the invention are illustrated as follows: Step  0704  allows Endorser  0102  to search for other available offers; Step  0705  allows Endorser  0102  to view offers accepted by other endorsers who have permitted Endorser  0102  access to view such information. Step  0706  allows Endorser  0102  to recommend an endorsement to another endorser who has permitted Endorser  0102  to make such recommendations. Step  0707  allows Endorser  0102  to assign specific endorsements to specific Receivers  0103 . Step  0708  allows Endorser  0102  to exclude offers made by certain instances of Marketer  0101 . Step  0709  allows endorser  0102  to modify their selection made in step  0605 .  
         [0036]      FIG. 8  illustrates a Database Record  0800  for an Endorser Database  0205 . Field  0801  is a unique ID assigned to each endorser. Field  0802  is the service provider identifier, which identifies the service provider or network associated with the endorser&#39;s account. Field  0803  is the device identifier field which identifies the specific device associated with the endorser this may be represented by a telephone number, ESN, IMEI, or any other type of device identifier. Field  0804  describes the profiles selected by the endorser. Field  0805  describes the management method selected by the endorser. Field  0806  identifies a first endorsement identifier corresponding with a Message Database Record  0500  Message Identifier  0501  for a message that has been endorsed by Endorser  0102 . Field  0807  identifies a second endorsement identifier for a second message endorsed by Endorser  0102 . Object  0808  represents a plurality of additional fields carrying additional instances of endorsement identifiers corresponding with additional instances of message database records which have been endorsed by Endorser  0102 . Field  0809  represents the endorsement identifier for the final such endorsement identifier in the database record, the value for ‘x’ in the field title could be any such number as reflects a practical and manageable number of total endorsements for a single Endorser.  
         [0037]      FIG. 9  represents the process flow  0900  on the Endorsement Routing Interface  0207 . In step  0902  a Receiver  0103  places a telephone call to Endorser  0102 . In step  0903  the call is routed to the Communication Service Provider Call Routing  0212  associated with Endorser  0102 . In step  0904 , Communication Service Provider Call Routing  0212  identifies the call destination as a specific device associated with an Endorser  0102 . In step  0905  Communication Service Provider Call Routing  0212  initiates a process on the Endorsement Routing Interface  0207 , and in  FIG. 2  step  0206  provides a data packet to the Endorsement Routing Interface  0207  which includes the general location of Receiver  0103 , the local time at the location of Receiver  0103 , and the device identifier associated with the call destination. In step  0906 , the Endorsement Routing Interface  0207  performs an operation on the Endorser database to examine the Endorsement Identifiers  0807 - 0809  associated with Endorser  0102 , and selects a message identifier from one of the fields  0807 - 0809  of the Endorser Database Record  0800 . For the purpose of this example, the Endorsement Router selects the Endorsement Identifier in field  0807 . In step  0907  the Endorsement Routing Interface  0207  performs a lookup operation on the Message Database  0204  to examine the remaining inventory of messages in field  0508  associated with the Message Identifier  0501  corresponding to the selected Endorsement Identifier  0807 . If the value of field  0508  is greater than the value of the offer in field  0506 , the message is considered available for transmission and the process moves to step  0908 . If the value of field  0508  is less than the value of the offer in field  0506 , the message is considered unavailable for transmission and the process returns to step  0906 . In step  0908 , the Endorsement Routing interface performs a lookup operation on the Message Database  0204  to evaluate the Geographic Transmission Criteria field  0503  and the Time Criteria Field  0504 . The value of field  0503  and field  0504  is compared to the corresponding data received in step  0206  from the Communication Service Provider Call Routing  0212 . If the General Location and the timeframe of Receiver  0103  are within an acceptable range defined by corresponding fields  0503  and  0504 , the process moves to step  0909 . If the General Location and the timeframe of Receiver  0103  are outside of the range defined by corresponding fields  0503  and  0504 , the process returns to step  9096 . In step  0909 , the Endorsement Routing Interface  0207  validates the message selection, and modifies the database record  0500  Field  0508  by subtracting the value of the Offer field  0506  from the value of the Remaining Inventory field  0508 . In step  0910  the Endorsement Routing Interface provides the Message Identifier  0501  and the associated Message  0104  to the Communication Service Provider Call Routing  0212  with a transmission order  0208 . Communication Service Provider Call Routing  0212  then routes the message to Receiver  0103 . In this embodiment of the invention, Message Object  0104  is routed with the transmission order. In other embodiments of the invention, Message Object  0104  may also reside with the system associated with the Communication Service Provider Call Routing  0212 ; in such cases, the Endorsement Routing Interface would provide the Transmission Order  0208  and the Message Identifier  0501  only; the Message Object  0104  would be routed to Receiver  0103  from within the system associated with the Communication Service Provider Call Routing  0212  based on the directive included with the Transmission Order  0208 .  
         [0038]      FIG. 10  represents the process flow  1000  on the Transmission Monitoring Interface  0210 . In step  1002  the Communication Service Provider Call Routing  0212  fulfills the Transmission Order  0208 . in Step  1003 , the Communication Service Provider Call Routing  0212  provides Transmission Record Data  0209  to the Transmission monitoring interface  0210 , which includes the duration of the message transmission. In step  1004 , the Transmission Monitoring Interface  0210  evaluates the actual duration of the message against predefined criteria for an acceptable duration of the message. If the duration value in the Transmission Record Data  0209  satisfies the predefined criteria, the process moves to step  1007 . If the duration value in the Transmission Record Data  0209  does not satisfy the predefined criteria, the process moves to Step  1005 . In Step  1005 , the Transmission Monitoring Interface modifies the message database record  0500  by adding the value of the offer field  0506  to the value of the Remaining Inventory field  0508 . In Step  1006 , the Transmission Monitoring Interface creates a record in the Transaction Database  0211  for a non-transmitted message instance. In Step  1007 , the Transmission Monitoring Interface creates a record in the Transaction Database  0211  for a transmitted message instance.  
         [0039]      FIG. 11  represents an example of a Transaction Record  1100  in the Transaction Database  0211 . Field  1101  is the message identifier associated with the Message database record  0500 , field  0501 , for the message associated with the transmission attempt. Field  1102  is the Owner identifier associated with the Message Database Record  0500  field  0502  for the message associated with the transmission attempt. Field  1103  is the Endorser identifier associated with the Endorser Database Record  0800  field  0801  for Endorser  0102 . Field  1104  is the Service Provider identifier associated with the Endorser Database Record field  0802  for Endorser  0102 . Field  1105  is the time identifier for the transmission attempt, including the date of the attempt, the start time of the transmission, and the end time of the transmission. Field  1106  is the value of the offer amount corresponding to the Message Database Record  0500  field  0506  for the message associated with the transmission attempt. Field  1107  is a value of 1 or 0 which represents the success or failure of the transmission according to the evaluation of the duration value as determined by the Transmission Monitoring Interface  0210  in step  1004 .  
         [0040]     Transaction Record  1100  is used by Billing and Receiving module  0213  to reconcile accounts billable to Marketer  0101  and to reconcile accounts payable to Endorser  0102 .  
         [0041]     This particular embodiment of the invention is one example of an implementation of the invention. Those skilled in the art will be able to devise other embodiments of the invention with modified or additional features not described in this embodiment, or may establish an alternate sequence of the steps described by this embodiment. One instance may include compensation to the Receiver  0103 ; another may include compensating the Communication Service Provider; another may include compensation to the Receiver  0103  within the content of the message  0104 , in the form of a coupon code or an incentive; All such variations are intended to be within the scope and the spirit of the application.