Patent Publication Number: US-2015088601-A1

Title: System for capturing and engaging prospects

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a marketing and advertising system. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Advertisers spend billions of dollars in conventional advertising each year with poor results. Advertising messages do not reach most consumers and do not create the impact required by advertisers regardless of the media used. There is a need to improve the effectiveness of advertising and presentation. The two options to improve the odds for conveying the advertising message to the consumer are increasing advertising expenditures and/or getting smarter (more effective advertising). 
     The present business method follows the latter providing a more efficient means to convey the message to consumers thereby achieving the advertising goals. Additionally, the present method measures the impact and effectiveness of the advertising. This guarantees a fair return on the advertiser&#39;s investment. 
     The present invention is a business method that includes an attention grabber or promotion program, such as a lighted car-stopper advertising, and this is coupled with a rewards program and an engagement program. The customer or potential customer (hereinafter the prospect) is initially exposed to Applicant&#39;s advertising method through an attention grabber program that may include displays of different types including those in the lighted car-stopper advertising assemblies, or signs, printed, media, etc that attracts the prospect with graphics and messages as the they come within visual reach of the displays, ie. park their vehicles (paying close attention to the bunker/display they are approaching), or other displays that initially catch the prospect&#39;s attention. The displays include a predetermined identifier. It is inevitable for a prospect to direct his/her attention to where he/she is parking and thus the car stopper advertising is particularly well suited for this method. The prospects are then asked to provide their electronic addresses (email, SMS or other) and the display identifier. Then, the prospect is directed to our rewards program where incentives and rewards are given as different cyberspace areas are visited and actions taken. 
     Subsequently, a server with a rewards program (for example, in the form of trivia questions for which answers will be accepted) is used. The sponsors of the advertisements are given an opportunity to ask questions relevant to their marketing objectives. Additional rewards may be issued by the server when correct answers are entered by the prospect or prospects. These rewards can take the form of points (to be accumulated for a future prize claim) or lottery prizes or actual rewards (i.e. free parking time, etc.). None of the advertisement systems used or known to this date include the features of the system claimed in the present application. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is one of the main objects of the present invention to provide a system that effectively engages a prospect and provides accurate information to the advertiser regarding the effectiveness of the advertising activities. 
     It is another object of this invention to provide a system that engages a prospect through the use of rewards calibrated for the provocation of the prospect&#39;s actions. 
     It is still another object of the present invention to provide a system that measures the effectiveness of the advertising campaign undertaken. 
     It is yet another object of this invention to provide such a system that is inexpensive to maintain while retaining its effectiveness. 
     Further objects of the invention will be brought out in the following part of the specification, wherein detailed description is for the purpose of fully disclosing the invention without placing limitations thereon. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       With the above and other related objects in view, the invention consists in the details of construction and combination of parts as will be more fully understood from the following description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a flowchart summarizing the different steps initial part of the system. 
         FIG. 2  represents the steps for the engagement program. 
         FIG. 3  represents a global compute network  15  connecting prospects and participants through computerized addressable stations  22  to a server  32 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is generally referred to with numeral  10 , it can be observed that it basically includes several steps intended to attract initially the attention of the prospect (with graphic, aural or other means) promising rewards and keeping him/her engaged. This first step is represented in  FIG. 1 , block  20 . During the process valuable information is extracted from the prospect that will be used by sponsoring entities of the system to ascertain patterns useful for their marketing objectives. For the purposes of this application, prospects will be members of the public at large targeted by the sponsoring entities. Sponsoring entities are those seeking the marketing information the system will provide from prospects as potential customers of the sponsors. Once a prospect submits (preferably via electronic means, i.e. Facebook, or similar portals) his/her particulars they are referred to as participants. 
     A system or method for true one to one advertising, comprises several steps, 
     A. The first step in practicing the method is typically providing a display that attracts a prospect&#39;s attention with a message, such as, a text with or without graphics. It is also possible to attract a prospect&#39;s attention with a combination of a text, graphics and sound. 
     Displaying (graphics, text, etc.) or broadcasting messages (or sounds including music) to prospects is intended to attract their attention based on rewards to be earned if an electronic address (such as electronic mail address, SMS or other electronic means) is provided by a prospect along a predetermined identifier associated with the advertising message. This is requested from the prospect to ascertain the location or source of the advertising message. This first step is identified as block  20  in  FIG. 1 . 
     A prospect delivers this information to server  32  using a network  15  connected computerized devices  22  used by the prospects, as seen in  FIG. 3 . A global computer network  15  is connected to a server having a database assembly and receives the prospect&#39;s information. This second step is represented by block  30  in  FIG. 1 . 
     The message seen and/or heard by the prospects, in whatever form is implemented, includes an identifier that can be a number, a word or an alphanumeric string. The message will also request the prospect to transmit his/her electronic mail address (email), or other means for contacting the prospect, along with the identifier to a server administrated by the operator of the system. To induce a potential prospect to act (transmit the electronic mail address and the identifier, a reward or incentive is offered). The reward could take any number of forms. The reward could be immediate (i.e. allowing  20  minutes of free parking) or participation in a lottery with attractive prizes, etc. There is complete latitude as to the message contents, graphics, sound and the types of rewards offered. The objective being to cause a potential prospect to provide his/her email (or other means of contacting him electronically) and the unique identifier associated with the location of the display containing the message. 
     B. The next step includes receiving and storing through server  32  the first set of information sent by the prospect. The first set of information includes the prospect&#39;s electronic address and unique identifier for the location or source of the advertising or promotional message. The first set of information is stored with the date and time of receipt of the electronic mail addresses and unique identifier. Optionally, the prospect&#39;s name may be delivered also and stored by server  32 . This step is represented in block  40 . 
     C. In the next step, reward offers are delivered by server  32  including graphics, text, sounds (i.e. music, messages, trivia questions, etc.) to the now participants (from this point on the prospects are considered participants) depending on pre-programed data and instructions (based on the identifier received from the participant and other information such as the day and time it was received) stored in the server to invite replies from participants in consideration for additional rewards. These reward offers are designed having the interest of the sponsoring entities in mind. For example, a sponsoring entity may be interested in determining how effective a new logo is. Then, one of the questions can be designed having multiple choice answers that include the particular features of the logo. The question may include several answers to determine the recollection of the participant after a predetermined time of having received the first set of information. Depending on the number of correct answers, the sponsoring entity obtains information relating to the penetration of the logo in question. Other marketing information can be obtained from answers received from the participants with different degrees of creativity or interest by the sponsoring entities. This step is represented in block  50 . This step requires the use of a server with sufficient hardware and software resources to be connected to a global computer network and being capable of receiving, storing and processing the first amount of information sent the prospect. The first amount of information is stored in a record in a database device of server  32  along with the date and time the first amount of information was received. 
     D. The reply from a participant as a third set of information is compiled with the participant&#39;s already established account in the server&#39;s databases. When a second set of information is received by server  32  from participants, it is stored and correlated with pre-programed queries that will permit server  32  to formulate offers for the sale of goods and/or rendering services. As server  32  gains more information from participants the offers become more relevant. 
     E. The next step involves preparing complete analysis of the data with reports for sponsoring entities including adverting effectiveness information relating to the identifiers being sponsored. This step is identified with numeral  80 . 
     F. From this point on the participants are engaged with the information and rewards sent by server  32 . Selectively, additional amounts of information are delivered to the participants depending on pre-programed data and instructions in the server to invite additional replies in consideration for additional rewards. The additional batches of information may include trivia questions, the number of winners of the rewards promised in periodic draws or similar announcements. This step is identified with numeral  90  in  FIG. 2 . 
     Participants answer trivia questions or otherwise provide additional information included by additional promised incentives. This step is represented with numeral  100  in  FIG. 2 . Finally, in step  110  server  32  continues to execute daily and weekly draws, delivering information to participants including the number of winners. 
     The foregoing description conveys the best understanding of the objectives and advantages of the present invention. Different embodiments may be made of the inventive concept of this invention. It is to be understood that all matter disclosed herein is to be interpreted merely as illustrative, and not in a limiting sense.