Patent Publication Number: US-2013238417-A1

Title: System for Advertising Revenue Generation

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention pertains to a system for generating advertising revenue, and more specifically as this relates to in flight entertainment systems (IFE systems). More particularly, the invention preferably includes an IFE system that generates additional revenue from advertisers whose advertisements appear on the IFE system when passengers view the advertisements, redeem discounts, or otherwise provide information or perform acts requested by advertisements on the IFE system. 
     2. Discussion of the Related Art IFE systems are on many modern aircraft for the entertainment and education of airline passengers. The IFE systems provide diversions for the passengers while on board the aircraft, usually in the form of audio, such as music or spoken word programs. The IFE system also provides video programs, such as movies, television shows, and video games. IFE systems typically comprise a video viewing system such as a movie screen or a personal video monitor in the seatback in front of the passenger. In addition, audio is generally provided with personal headphones. 
     Airlines and others use the IFE systems as revenue generators by providing for paid advertising from other business entities (advertisers). The advertisers pay for the display or playback of their advertisements on the airline&#39;s IFE systems, and passengers view or are otherwise exposed to this advertising content while on board the aircraft. 
     In addition, advertisers may target certain advertisements to a given audience of passengers. For example, passengers travelling to Jamaica may view advertisements for Jamaican coffee or rum that they can buy while in Jamaica. Returning passengers may view advertisements for duty-free goods that may be purchased before they deplane. 
     However, what is needed is a way for the advertiser to track the effectiveness of their paid advertising and get a return on their investment, and a way for airlines to generate additional revenue from the advertisers. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a revenue generation system that is preferably connected to an IFE system. The inventive system preferably a) communicates advertising content along with some requested acts (such as redemption of a coupon during a purchase) to an airline passenger, b) requires that the requested act be performed in a subsequent transaction with the advertiser, and c) rewards the passenger with some type of bonus, discount, or other incentive. The system also preferably simultaneously generates additional revenue for the airline from the advertiser who pays an additional fee for “measured” effectiveness of the advertisement, e.g., one that generates an actual transaction between the passenger and the advertiser. Thus, the incentive system tracks the effectiveness of the advertising in terms of transactions generated, such as when a passenger purchases advertised goods from the advertiser. 
     Specifically, the present invention preferably provides an IFE system for an aircraft having an audio visual system on the aircraft including a video device for presentation of a video program and an audio device for presentation of an audio program. A control is provided for choosing the video and audio programs for presentation to a passenger. An advertisement is presented to the passenger along with the presentation of the chosen audio or video program via a media server having a processor and a storage unit that contains the advertisement along with other audio and video programs. A communication channel on board the aircraft transmits the audio and video programs from the media server to the audio visual system. The advertisement requests that the passenger perform an act presented in the advertisement. A recording system in communication with the IFE system captures a record comprising the passenger identity, the identity of the advertisement presented to the passenger, the requested act information, and the information about the performance of the requested act. A database then stores the record for future use. 
     It is thus a feature of at least one embodiment of the invention to provide improved analysis of the effectiveness of the advertisements in eliciting a requested act from an airline passenger. 
     The IFE system may further include an additional fee that is assessed to an advertiser for the advertisement presented when the passenger performs the requested act. 
     Therefore, it is a feature of at least one embodiment of the invention to provide another revenue stream based on the effectiveness of the advertisements in eliciting a requested act from an airline passenger. 
     The IFE system may also have an incentive given to the passenger who is presented the advertisement and performs the requested act. 
     The IFE system may include the passenger presenting identifying information in the performance of a post-deplaning requested act. The system allows the passenger to perform the requested act after leaving the aircraft, yet still tracks the passenger&#39;s response to the advertisement. 
     It should be noted that although a system for an IFE system is described, the system will essentially be the same whether in an aircraft, airport lounge, train, bus terminal, hotel room, or any other location where the inventive software is accessible. For example, hardware components that would be desirable in order for the system to operate include:
         A wireless local area network (WLAN) composed of wireless access points (typically an IEEE 802.11 g/n system) to provide access to network devices (e.g., laptops, smartphones, tablets, etc).   A wired network switch and router to provide connections from the wireless access points to the media content servers (e.g., to allow customers to view content) or to the internet (e.g., outside of the aircraft).   Media content/web servers, database servers, billing servers to connect via wired Ethernet to the network in order to serve media content (video and or audio), track user data and interactions, and create both billing and advertising reports for the advertisers and the system supplier.       

     These and other aspects and objects of the present invention will be better appreciated and understood when considered in conjunction with the following description and the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the following description, while indicating preferred embodiments of the present invention, is given by way of illustration and not of limitation. Many changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the present invention without departing from the spirit thereof, and the invention includes all such modifications. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       A clear conception of the advantages and features constituting the present invention, and of the construction and operation of typical mechanisms provided with the present invention, will become more readily apparent by referring to the exemplary, and therefore non-limiting, embodiments illustrated in the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specification, wherein like reference numerals designate the same elements in the several views, and in which: 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a perspective view of an IFE system of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic of the IFE system of the present invention showing external computer network connections; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic of another embodiment of the present invention showing external computer network connections; and 
         FIG. 4  is a flow chart of a method of revenue generation of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     In describing the preferred embodiments of the invention which are illustrated in the drawings, specific terminology will be resorted to for the sake of clarity. However, it is not intended that the invention be limited to the specific terms so selected and it is to be understood that each specific term includes all technical equivalents which operate in a similar manner to accomplish a similar purpose. For example, the word “communicates”, or terms similar thereto are often used. They are not limited to direct communication but include communication through other elements where such communication is recognized as being equivalent by those skilled in the art. 
     Further, before any embodiments of the invention are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of “including,” “comprising”, “at least one of”, or “having” and variations thereof herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items. 
     DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The present invention and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the non-limiting embodiments described in detail in the following description. 
     Note that the detailed description that follows the drawings, which are used, do not show all the details of every system described, but only certain features of the invention that aid in describing the invention. One skilled in the art will see the benefits of this new invention and know of all the other methods of construction and design. 
     1. System Overview 
     The present invention relates to a system for generating advertising revenue, preferably an IFE system for an aircraft that generates additional advertising revenue based on the responses of the viewing airline passengers. Briefly, this is accomplished by providing a closed-loop system wherein an advertisement, having some identifier, is presented to the passenger (usually in video, but also in audible form). The passenger then performs a transaction with the advertiser wherein the identifier is used. This allows the advertiser to track the effectiveness of the advertisement. For this information, an additional charge is levied to the advertiser by the airline. 
     2. Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments 
     Various embodiments of the present invention are shown in  FIGS. 1-4 , which are described in additional detail below. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 1 , a preferred embodiment of the system  10  of the present invention is shown having visible and audible audio visual systems  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18 . The system  10 , preferably IFE system, may have an audio-visual system that is a projector  12 , a television, a personal video screen  14 , or any number of systems that connect via a wireless LAN /WLAN or cellular connection such as a personal computer, a laptop, a smart phone, (e.g., I-Phone®, Droid®), tablet computer, or other portable computing device. 
     Still referring to  FIG. 1 , passengers on board an aircraft  20 ,  22 ,  24  are presented with an advertisement having audio on a projection screen  28 , while passenger  26  is viewing a video program with audio on personal video screen  30 . The multiple audio visual systems are thus capable of displaying different programs and advertising, such as program  30  that is selected by the passenger  26 . The passengers  20 ,  26  are also being presented audio on headphones  32 ,  34 . 
     As mentioned, one embodiment of the IFE system provides for various portable computing devices to serve the programs to the passenger realizing a more flexible and easy-to-use system. 
     The IFE system  10  may present a requested act which is to be performed by the passenger pre-deplaning such as buying an item on the aircraft. Alternatively, the passenger may be asked to perform the requested act post-deplaning. For example, the advertisement  28  on system  12  is displaying the requested act: “Come to Reluxotica” and “Use Discount Code: A46.” A passenger would perform the requested act by deplaning, travelling to Reluxotica, and redeeming discount code A46. 
     In one preferred embodiment, the discount code or offer could be emailed to the passenger where he would present it to the advertiser for redemption. Upon redemption, the advertiser would notify the IFE systems that the coupon has been redeemed. These redemptions could trigger additional mileage or points being added to the customer&#39;s frequent flyer account, additional advertising revenue for the airline, and additional bonuses for the passenger, etc. 
     In one embodiment, the IFE system  10  allows for the passenger to perform the requested act while still on board the aircraft. Additionally, the passenger may perform the requested act after leaving the aircraft. Thus, the IFE system  10  may track the effectiveness of the advertisements  28 ,  30  while the passenger is on board and after they leave the aircraft. 
     Now referring to  FIG. 2 , the IFE system  10  includes an aircraft  36  having a passenger  38  viewing audio visual system  40  having a video device  42  and an audio device  44 . The passenger may also have a control unit  46  for selecting the programs and controlling other audio visual system parameters such as volume and brightness. 
     The audio and video programs for the audio visual systems  42 ,  48  are preferably provided by a media server  50  and an advertisement server  52 . 
     The media server  50  has a communication channel  54  connected to the audio visual system  40  (e.g., via WLAN to a portable computing device). Again, the system may be wired or wireless. The media server  50  also includes a storage device such as hard drive  56  for storing the audio and video programs. The media server also has a processor  58  and a memory  60 . The memory  60  may have a stored executable program or other data. For example, the media server  50  responds to signals from controller  46  manipulated by passenger  38 . The passenger  38  may select a particular program  49  which causes the media server  50  to stream the content over communication channel  54  to audio visual system  40 . 
     Similarly, the IFE system  10  has an advertisement server  52  which streams advertising to an audio visual system  40 ,  48 . The advertisement server  52  has a processor  64 , storage unit  62 , and a communication channel  68  for transmitting the advertisement from the advertisement server  52  to the audio visual system  40 ,  48 . The communication channel  68  may be wired or wireless. The advertisement server may also have a device  57  for insertion of the advertising during, substantially around, or within the presentation of the selected audio or video program. The advertising server may include a control  59  for the presentation video and audio programs of the media server. The control may allow the suspension of a program while playing the advertising or it may allow the advertising to be overlaid on top of the video program. This allows minimal storage for advertisements and the advertisement server to interwork with other media server. In the case where the customer is in an airport lounge, hotel room, etc., he can access the inventive advertising and reward media system) via the interne. 
     It is thus a feature of at least one embodiment of the IFE system  10  to provide for easily and automatically displaying the advertisements on the aircraft&#39;s audio visual systems  40 ,  48 . 
     Still referring to  FIG. 2 , the IFE system also has a recording system  70  having a storage device such as hard drive  72 . The hard drive  72  may be used for storing the recorded information about the passengers, the advertisements presented, and other information. It also has a processor  74  and a memory  76 , which may have a stored executable program or other data. The IFE system recording system  70  has one or more devices which receive information comprising the passenger identity, the identity of the advertisement presented to the passenger, the requested act information and the information about the performance of the requested act, and a device  72  for storing said information. 
     Thus it is also a feature of at least one embodiment of IFE system  10  to provide for recording system  70  that gathers the information about the passengers and their interactions with the advertisements presented by the audio visual system. The information may be stored in hard drive  72  having database  73 . 
     The media server  50 , advertisement server  52 , and recording system  70  have communication channel  78  that may allow for external computers, such as billing server  80 , to communicate as well. The communication channels may be separate channels or may be combined as shown. These communication channels may be wired or wireless, and they may be Ethernet connections or some other computer communications channel such as a parallel data transmission bus. 
     Furthermore, the system  10  may have a media server and an advertisement server that are integrated thereby minimizing the space and cost of serving audio visual programs and advertising. Alternatively, the servers (e.g., media, advertisement, and recording servers) can be logical servers or programs all residing on a single physical server. 
     Continuing with  FIG. 2 , the IFE system also has a billing server  80  which may not be on board the aircraft. The billing server may connect or be connected to multiple aircraft (not shown). The billing server  80  may include a storage device such as hard drive  82 . 
     The billing server hard drive may be used for storing various data in one or more databases  84 , including but not limited to: audio programs, video programs, advertisements (either audio or video), information recorded by the recording system, passenger records, and advertisement billing records. The billing server  80  has a processor  86  and a memory  88  which may have an executable program or other data stored within. The billing server  80  has a communication channel  90  for communicating with aircraft  36 . This may be wired or wireless. 
     In one embodiment, the system will also include a data warehouse containing information about the passenger that will be used in directed advertising such as income level, frequency of flying, home address, destinations, previous advertisement selections, etc. Any actions taken on the plane or other locations will be aggregated in the data warehouse for each customer and advertiser. 
     Additionally, the system will a have a web-based server that can be accessed from any location via the interne. 
     The IFE system may include determining the passenger identity while still on board the aircraft by at least one of: a passenger&#39;s seat number, a passenger&#39;s frequent flyer number, a passenger&#39;s credit card, a passenger&#39;s social security number, a passenger&#39;s passport number, a passenger&#39;s debit card, a passenger&#39;s name, a passenger&#39;s flight confirmation number, etc. 
     It is thus a feature of at least one embodiment of the invention to provide for a variety of ways to identify the passenger while on board, including identification that requires no action on the passenger&#39;s part such as the passenger seat assignment. For example, passenger  44  viewing audio visual system  42  is identified by his position in seat  47 . She is viewing an advertisement  49  and, as part of a requested act, she has used the controller  46  to purchase some item and been awarded a discount. Acts other than making a purchase while on board may be performed such as accepting the presentation of an audio or video program (including other advertisements), making a reservation, responding to a question or survey, etc. The airline may also acquire revenue from such acts, which may pass an incentive to the passenger as a result. 
     It is thus a feature of at least one embodiment of the invention to provide for the passenger to perform the requested act while still on board the aircraft, thus tracking the effectiveness of the advertisement while the passenger is on board. 
     Passenger identity (for example, based on seat number), the advertisement viewed, the requested act, and the completion of requested act may be captured by recording system  70 . The recording system  70  may transmit the information to the billing server  80  for assessing a fee to the advertiser. One potential incentive to passenger  38  may be the award of frequent flyer miles. 
     The IFE system  10  thus allows the collection of passenger identification information, advertisement presentation information, and requested and performed act information, which is available to the billing server  80 . This collection of information allows determination of the effectiveness of the advertisements in getting the passengers to perform the requested acts. The system subsequently provides a bill to the advertiser based upon the presentation of the advertisements and the requested acts performed as will be explained below. 
     Turning now to  FIG. 3 , the IFE system embodiment illustrated is substantially the same as the embodiment of  FIG. 2 . However, the recording system  92  has been added at a location that is subsequently visited, for example, a car dealership, by passenger  38 . 
     The IFE system may include identifying the passenger  38  after they exit the aircraft  36 . The identifying means could be a passenger&#39;s frequent flyer number, a passenger&#39;s flight number, a passenger&#39;s credit card, a passenger&#39;s debit card, an email address, a coupon, a discount code, a passenger&#39;s name, a passenger&#39;s flight confirmation number, a number, a word, a phrase, a pictogram, etc. 
     It is thus another feature of at least one embodiment of the invention to provide for a variety of ways to identify the passenger after deplaning. For example, passenger  38  has an identifying means  96  to use to complete the performance of the requested act. The passenger  38  visits a business at location  94  and presents the identifier such as an emailed or text messaged coupon  96  to a merchant  98 . The merchant has a recording system  92  with a receiving device such as keyboard  93  which receives the information on the coupon  96  such as “Discount code: A46.” In this embodiment, the IFE system  10  includes a recording system  92  with device  93  which receives information and is located off the aircraft. This embodiment is in contrast to the example in  FIG. 2  wherein the recording system has devices that receive information about the performance of the requested act, which are located on the aircraft. Thus the embodiment of  FIG. 2  provides for a completely onboard, compact self-contained recording system, while the embodiment of  FIG. 3  provides a distributed recording system that tracks requested events and passengers after they deplane to further determine the effectiveness of the advertisements. 
     The information on the coupon  96  provided by passenger  38  may be used to identify the passenger or to verify the advertisement that the passenger viewed. This information is provided by the passenger  38  while performing the requested act (i.e. a transaction with the merchant  98  using the coupon  96 ) and is transmitted to the billing server  80  over communication channel  100  which may identify the advertisement viewed, such as advertisement  28  in  FIG. 1 . A billing server  80  also may identify the passenger  38 , and store the information about the customer performing the requested act (i.e. submitting the coupon  96  for some incentive such as a discount). The information gathered is used by the billing server  80  to generate an advertising bill  102  to merchant  98  over some communication channel  104  such as the Internet. Note that the incentive may be a price discount on a purchase of advertiser goods, a price discount on a purchase of advertiser services, additional frequent flyer miles, customer reward points with the advertiser, a coupon, a gift, a flight upgrade, a bonus, etc. 
     Moreover, a fee may be assessed by a billing server  80 . The billing server  80  preferably has a processor  86 , a storage unit  82 , and a database  84  therein containing a record  85 . The record may include the passenger identity, the identity of the advertisement presented to the passenger, the information about the performance of the requested act, and the fee that is assessed to an advertiser for the advertisement presented when the passenger performs the requested act. The fee provides another revenue stream based on the effectiveness of the advertisements in eliciting a requested act from an airline passenger. 
     The billing server  80  is in communication with the recording system  70 ,  92  whereby information is transmitted from the recording system to the billing server (over communication channels  78 ,  100 ). The information may include: the passenger identity, the identity of the advertisement presented to the passenger, the requested act information, and the information about the performance of the requested act. Thus, one embodiment of the invention provides a closed loop which provides advertising and generates bills based on advertising effectiveness. This is done so by collecting the information to a centralized billing server  80 . 
     The IFE system  10  also includes information that is transmitted from the recording system to the billing server over communication channels  78 ,  100 . The billing server  80  may request that the information be transmitted from the recording system  92 ,  70 . Alternatively, the billing server  80  may accept autonomous transmission of the information from the recording system  92 ,  70 . This provides the billing server  80  with information that is automatically pushed to the billing server  80 , or may be pulled by the billing server  80  either automatically at some preset times or time intervals, or at asynchronous intervals such as when the aircraft  36  is in communication with a computer network. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 4 , a method of generating additional revenue with an IFE system is shown as a flow chart. The method identifies a passenger on an aircraft  110 . The passenger is presented an advertisement which contains a requested act for the passenger to perform  112 . The system ensures identification of the passenger along with the presented advertisement and the requested act  114 . The system  10  records this information along with any performance of the requested act  116  and preferably rewards the passenger with an incentive if she performs the requested act  118 . An additional fee is then assessed to the advertiser for the performance of the requested act  120 , e.g., staying at the advertised hotel, renting the advertised car, or buying the advertised product. 
     Thus, the present invention also provides a method for generating additional revenue with an IFE system. This method includes identifying a passenger on an aircraft and presenting an advertisement to the passenger along with a video or audio program, wherein the advertisement contains a requested act for the passenger to perform. The passenger is identified along with the presented advertisement, the requested act, and performance of the requested act. The passenger is provided an incentive to perform the requested act. Finally, a fee is assessed to the advertiser for the performance of the requested act. Additional fees may be assessed if the passenger engages in subsequent transactions. For example, if the passenger becomes a preferred customer by performing a requested act, then subsequent transactions with the advertiser may generate fees payable to the airline. 
     It is thus a feature of at least one embodiment of the invention to provide a method of generating more revenue and encouraging the passenger to perform the requested act to gain an incentive, thus, improving the effectiveness of the advertising, improving passenger satisfaction, and providing a revenue stream for the airline and/or to offset the cost of the IFE system and the associated content of the audio and visual programs. 
     In one embodiment, it is preferred to provide a mechanism at the point of sale, such a card swipe reader, a bar code reader, a QR code, or similar device to allow users to easily access the system and the system to capture user data, such as name, ID number, etc. This will also allow for a quick and effective way for the system to reward the user and/or redeem rewards. 
     The inventive system  10  can be tied into existing IFE systems that are currently on board aircraft, such those supplied by Panasonic Avionics Corporation, Thales Group, Rockwell Collins, and LiveTV for Airbus and Boeing aircraft. Alternatively, the inventive system may be linked with systems provided by Thompson Aerospace, e.g., 1NET and include those described in U.S. Patent Publication Nos. 20100199196 and 20100195634 which are herein expressly incorporated by reference. 
     Various alternatives and modifications are contemplated as being within the scope of the following claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter regarded as the invention. For example, the inventor envisions a similar system  10  may be used by passengers in a taxi, ship, bus, or a train while viewing audio visual systems or being delivered wirelessly via laptops, smart phones, I-Pads®, etc. . As well, other applications such as audio visual systems in airport lounges, hotels, in a lobby, terminal, casinos, and so forth are envisioned. Again, such a system is viable anywhere access to the following basic hardware components is possible:
         A wireless local area network (WLAN) composed of wireless access points (typically a IEEE 802.11 g/n system) which are used to provide access to network devices (laptops, smartphones, tablets, etc).   A wired network switch and router which provide connections from the wireless access points to the media content servers (allowing the customers to view content) or to the internet (out side of the aircraft).   Media content/web servers, database servers, billing servers which connect via wired Ethernet to the network in order to server media content (video and or audio), track user data and interactions and create both billing and advertising reports for the advertisers and the system supplier.       

     As can be appreciated, the above systems will essentially be the same whether in an aircraft, airport, lounge, hotel room, or any other location where the inventive system&#39;s software is accessible. Not all of the above components need to necessarily be part of a standalone IFE system as they might already exist in the aircraft/lounge/hotel room etc., and the inventive system would merely use them as a way of connecting to its servers. Further, not all of the components need to necessarily be on the aircraft such as the billing server. 
     As can be appreciated, many changes and modifications could be made to the invention without departing from the spirit thereof. The scope of these changes will become apparent from the appended claims.