Patent Document

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    The present patent application claims priority from and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/803,678, filed Jun. 1, 2006, and entitled PERSONALIZED METHOD AND APPARATUS OF ADVERTISING, which prior application is hereby incorporated herein by reference. 
     
     FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE 
       [0002]    The present disclosure relates generally to an improvement to marketing methods and apparatus, and more particularly, to a personalized method and assembly for advertising to an individual based on broadcasting an advertisement alongside a prerecorded sports performance of the person taken during a sports activity. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Improved methods of advertisement are desirable in a market-based economy. Advertisers benefit from targeted or personalized media and communications that reach specific segments of the population. Since the needs and consuming habits of specific segments of the population are easy to ascertain and target, methods of advertising to a specific segment are more likely to increase efficiency of marketing and lead to enhanced sales. 
         [0004]    Advertising in the modem world has reached a plateau where customers are often blase about passive advertisements. Once media saturation occurs, the placement of ads before a customer often has the opposite effect from that intended: a negative impression is made on potential customers instead of positive reinforcement. High-end segments of the marketplace are especially prone to saturation. In addition, this very difficult segment of the population shies away from advertisement and seeks activities away from the media, protected from the onslaught of advertising. Golfers are perhaps the acme of this situation, though the same might be said of any market segment to some extent. 
         [0005]    Golfers frequently seek courses secluded from distraction, where the presence of advertising is minimized for the comfort of club members. In an effort by club owners to provide golfers with a marketing-free environment, carts are not cluttered with ads and goods sold in the clubhouse are modestly displayed on normal shelves. The same can also be said of a plurality of activities, sports, resorts, or hideaways where organizers or owners try to convey a sense of purity, remoteness, and harmony with nature. 
         [0006]    Effective methods of advertisement that provide advantages to golfers, for which owners and organizers are willing to make exceptions to exclusive policies, are very valuable. When the advertisement is associated with a service, golfers may tolerate the advertisement to obtain the free service. Currently, only limited advertisements are shown to golfers on television screens in clubhouses. In exchange for a television broadcast of a sports event, golfers tolerate television ads. Clubhouse owners must then manage broadcast schedules, sound levels, and luminosity in an effort to accommodate the most hostile segment of the customers while providing an added external stimulus. For example, in a golf clubhouse, broadcasts of golf, fishing, or other events where outdoor scenes are shown might be preferable. One way to alleviate the problem of display broadcast management is to ask staff members to turn off the television between desired broadcasts. However, such monitoring can place an undesired burden on busy staff. Another way to solve this problem is to equip the clubhouse with a recording system where golfing events are stored, managed, and displayed to patrons in a closed-loop repetition. Once again, this method requires manpower and can be extremely vexing to habitual patrons who are exposed to the same broadcast repeatedly. The problem of sound associated with advertisement in this environment is also troublesome, as regular ads with sound tracks are often muted and they lose much of their efficacy. The advertising problem associated with this environment is unique and requires complex, inventive, and nonobvious solutions. 
         [0007]    There exist many types of display-based advertisement, which include but are not limited to the display of a full-length ad within a regular broadcast, infomercials, tickers or crawls at the bottom, top, or side of a screen, print ads associated with the display, partial-frame or picture-in-picture ads placed alongside with broadcasts, etc. The goal of display-based ads is to capture the interest of a viewer using an appealing stimulus and gently transition the viewer&#39;s attention to an advertisement. For example, the use of a known golfing celebrity is known to promote sales in an ad. The prior art teaches improved methods of watching a tournament by placing a camera at the bottom of the cup of each hole in a certain manner. Other prior art teaches the use of different complicated monitoring technology designed to record rare and phenomenal acts such as holes-in-one on the golf course. The prior art does not address marketing concerns associated with the golfing environment. This art also fails to teach how to change or improve the secluded environment of a clubhouse. 
         [0008]    What is desired is new method of advertising used in tandem with an assembly capable of enhancing the marketability of display ads within the clubhouse that integrates the harsh marketing realities of this sport. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0009]    What is desired is a new method of advertising and an associated assembly capable of being placed in the clubhouse, using the environment surrounding the clubhouse to provide a captive viewer with a stimulus sufficiently strong to create a very important and lasting interest in the advertisement. Players at the clubhouse share an interest in the game of golf. Patrons often make a brief stay at the clubhouse before playing, and upon completion of play, patrons may make a longer stay for drinks and/or food. Patrons often discuss their games and explain their best shots to other patrons, but they cannot show these shots to their friends. The display of a prerecorded golfing performance to the patron sitting at the clubhouse is a highly desirable service, one which creates a strong stimulus in the player to watch. This stimulus remains even if the desired performance is shown in loop. In addition, golf, like most sporting events with a moving element or ball, if filmed from specific locations, creates the movement of the elements on the display screen, which can be used to move the attention of patrons from the center of the screen onto advertisement placed at precise positions. 
         [0010]    The following disclosure relates to a remote recording network using outdoor cameras having capacity for delayed broadcast used in tandem with pinpointed advertisement to enhance advertisement efficacy. The disclosures also teaches other useful improvements to enhance this overall method of advertising and associated assembly for personalized advertising such as the placement several cameras at key locations, such as a golf tee box or golf green, the use of storage memory for the captured personalized sports camera by these cameras, the use of a plurality of different advertisements placed in relation to a displayed performance, the use of a handheld phone equipped with a camera to record performances, the input of golf players to select the sports segments to be displayed, and the use of a wireless or remote data communication system over a golf course. 
     
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]      FIG. 1  is an aerial schematic view of the assembly for personalized advertising as implemented on a golf hole according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  is a schematic display of the main constituents of the assembly for personalized advertising of  FIG. 1  according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  is a perspective schematic view of a recording post used within the assembly for personalized advertising according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
           [0014]      FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram of a display used in the assembly for personalized advertising placed in the clubhouse illustrating a possible configuration of the different display elements shown in the display according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
           [0015]      FIG. 5  is a functional cabling diagram of the recording and display elements of the assembly for personalized advertising of  FIG. 1  having a plurality of cameras according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
           [0016]      FIG. 6  is a schematic illustration of possible successive steps within the method and assembly for personalized advertising in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
           [0017]      FIG. 7  is a schematic illustration of possible successive steps within the method and assembly for advertising advertising in according with another embodiment of the present disclosure where a handheld wireless phone is used as a camera. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0018]    For the purposes of promoting and understanding the principles disclosed herein, reference will now be made to the preferred embodiments illustrated in the drawings, and specific language will be used to describe the same. It is nevertheless understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is intended. Such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated device and such further applications of the principles disclosed as illustrated herein are contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which this disclosure relates. 
         [0019]      FIG. 1  is an aerial schematic view of the assembly for personalized advertising  100  as implemented on a golf hole  62  according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. A preferred embodiment relates to the method and associated assembly when applied to the practice of the sport of golf, a sport generally performed outdoors where video and photographic images can preferably be taken by placing a first camera  20  to capture the actions occurring on a golf tee box  1  and a second camera  21  to capture the actions occurring at the cup  5  on the golf green  4 . It is understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that while the sport of golf is given as a preferred embodiment, this disclosure relates to any possible sports or leisure activity performed by a person that may be recorded for later broadcast and shown in a delayed playback to the same person while associated with advertising material. It is understood that the specific location, resolution, and number of cameras used to capture the sports performance is based on the dynamics and specifics of the sports activities as known in the art of broadcasting. 
         [0020]    For the purpose of this disclosure, the term “sports” includes, in addition to traditional sporting activities, all physical activities that may be performed by a single individual or a team in the context of any leisure activity, in any type of environment, for the purpose of recreation or education. “Sports” includes, by way of nonlimiting examples, skiing, underwater hockey, polo, bowling, billiards, spelling bees, and chess tournaments. 
         [0021]    The assembly  100  shown in  FIG. 1  as a first embodiment includes a first camera  20  and a second camera  21  placed on different posts  9 ,  10 ,  11  as shown in  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 3  illustrates another embodiment where two cameras  20 ,  21  are placed in a vertical configuration on a single post  50 . The configuration shown in  FIG. 3  can be, for example, placed at the position shown as post  10  in the middle of the golf hole  62  capable of rotational movement as illustrated by a bidirectional arrow.  FIG. 5  illustrates a possible configuration of the assembly  100  having a plurality of cameras ranging from A  20  to B  21  up to N  42 , which can be placed as needed at a location where a sports activity may be recorded. The use of a series A, B, . . . N to number the cameras  20 ,  21 ,  42  is a mathematical tool to illustrate schematically a series of cameras that can range from the use of a single camera to a very large number of cameras. Returning to  FIG. 1 , the assembly  100  includes three cameras are placed along the golf hole  62 , the first camera  20  is positioned  61  to capture the golf tee box  1 , the second camera  21  is positioned  60  to capture the cup  5 , and the third camera  82  is positioned to capture an intermediate position of the golf hole  62 . 1   
         [0022]      FIG. 1  also shows other recognizable features associated with a golf hole  62 , such as a sand trap  2 , a green  4 , a waterway  3 , and a ball-cleaning station  8 . A dashed line  14  illustrates a possible underground data communications connection between a remote performance signal processing unit  22  and post  11  where camera  21  is mounted. A continuous line is shown between post  10  and the performance signal processing unit  22  illustrating a possible above-ground connection  89 , and no line is shown between post  9  and the performance signal processing unit  22  illustrating a possible wireless communication. One of ordinary skill in the art recognizes that what is shown and contemplated is the use of any known technology, associated with a single camera or a plurality of cameras, positioned either at a single location or a plurality locations operating in tandem with a performance signal processing unit  22  placed either in an enclosed structure  7  such as a pump house in one contemplated embodiment. 
         [0023]    In a preferred embodiment of  FIG. 3 , the first and second cameras  20 ,  21  are external cameras equipped with a weather control dome attached in a pendant orientation. The first and second cameras  20 ,  21  are shown to be Panasonic HSNG PTZ CAMERA models, but any other suitable model is contemplated.  FIG. 3  shows a configuration where the first and second cameras  20 ,  21  may be positioned under weather protection ledges  22 ,  23 . In other embodiments shown in  FIG. 2 , the Panasonic HSNG PTZ cameras are already equipped with a weather protection shell. While external cameras with pendant-type fixations are shown, it is understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that any type of camera and fixation device may be used in association with this disclosure to record the sports performances either indoors or outdoors. 
         [0024]    The signals from the first and second cameras  20 ,  21  are sent to the performance signal processing unit  22  where the signals are stored before preprocessing and sent to the performance signal delay unit  15 . Delayed broadcasting may be obtained by a variety of means, including but not limited to the storage of the images in a memory such as a single memory, a plurality of memories, shared memory, a compact disc (CD), a digital video disc (DVD), a read-only memory, a random access memory, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, optical storage memory, and other nonvolatile storage media capable of storing digital data for use by a processor, a buffer, or a portable memory unit. What is also contemplated is the use of an external device such as TIVO™ or DirectTV™, the internal storage of new generation of display devices equipped with inner storage devices, or delayed data transfer in association with either network or streaming technology. 
         [0025]      FIG. 1  illustrates a system control and monitoring device  51  connected for data communication  17  to the display management device  16 . In one embodiment, both the system control and monitoring device  51  and the performance signal delay unit  15  are personal computers equipped with a keyboard, a mouse, a computer processing unit (CPU), and a monitor as shown in  FIG. 2 . What is shown is a first-generation device where known interfaces may be redundant, but what is also contemplated is the use of optimized devices, where user interfaces have been merged and simplified into a single piece of equipment with a single user interface and a memory. 
         [0026]    The recording device as shown in  FIG. 5  shows a schematic layout of the varied electronic elements of the assembly for broadcasting a sports performance according to  FIG. 2  with two cameras  20 ,  21  according to a first embodiment.  FIG. 1  shows a different camera configuration where three cameras  20 ,  21 ,  82  are shown. It is understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the selection of a specific golf hole, which in a preferred embodiment is hole  62 , is only indicative of a proper location from among numerous possible locations where the cameras  20 ,  21 ,  82  and the mounting posts  9 ,  10 ,  11  can be located. In the specific embodiment of golf, players generally reach the clubhouse  6  after completing either  9  or  18  holes of golf. The choice of the hole may be based on considerations such as, but not limited to, the determination of when the delayed sports performance is of interest to persons located in the clubhouse  6 . In yet another embodiment, the selection of the personalized sports performance is made by activating a selector (not shown) or by an automatic selection by the advertising target at a clubhouse. The selector in an embodiment is a cell phone pad, and in another embodiment the selector is an operator located at the club house  6  entering manually the choice using the system control and monitoring device. 
         [0027]    One possible embodiment as shown as  FIG. 5  is a functional diagram of the recording and display elements of the assembly  100  for personalized advertisement of  FIG. 1  with a plurality of cameras  21 ,  21 ,  42 . In the diagram, four functional zones are shown, namely, the enclosed structure  7 , the club house  6 , the first remote location  40 , and the second remote location  41 . It is understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the functional cabling diagram shown in  FIG. 5  can be configured for cabling as shown in  FIG. 1  with three cameras, where an antenna out  105  as shown in  FIG. 3  is located above the cameras  20 ,  21  and is functionally connected with an antenna located at the club house  6 . While each zone is functionally connected in  FIG. 5  by either direct connections or wireless connections via an antenna, one of ordinary skill in the art recognizes once again that different configurations of the proposed network are contemplated. Each element as shown is connected to other elements by a line and small boxes. In the selected diagram, the lines correspond to any method of data communication including cables, lines, wireless communications, and manual data transfer, and the small boxes illustrate connectors for attaching the different cables, lines, and wireless communication devices. One of ordinary skill in the art recognizes that these boxes are provided for convenience and illustrative purposes and do not correspond to mandatory elements that cannot be removed by directly merging multiple elements into single elements. What is also contemplated is the design and installation of functional boxes containing and regrouping a plurality of these elements for convenience purposes. In the simplest configuration, the monitor  16  includes an internal structure sufficient to allow for direct communication with the different cameras. 
         [0028]    In  FIG. 5 , each camera A, B, . . . N ( 20 ,  21 , . . .  42 ) is capable of capturing a different personalized sports performance and directing the captured data via a connection to the multiplexer  43  of the enclosed structure  7 , which is able to receive the captured personalized sports performances for the different cameras used in the configuration. A screen splitter  45  is then used to combine the different captured personalized sports performances into a single feed before the combined feed is sent to encoder  46 . While a configuration is shown where the different signals are split by the multiplexer  43  into a split screen by the screen splitter  45  for encoding, what is contemplated is the use of any type of camera feed digitalization that results in the transfer of captured personalized sports performances to the performance signal display unit  15  shown in  FIG. 5  as the PC 1  with keyboard. 
         [0029]    The encoded signal is then injected with power by a power injector  47  before it is sent out to the second remote location  41 , where it is then emitted by an antenna. While an antenna-based system is shown, what is contemplated is the use of any system capable of sending the encoded signal to the club house  6 . On the other end of the antenna out, an antenna in is equipped to receive the signal. The captured personalized sports performances are then modulated in power, either increased in power if the signal received is too weak, or lowered in power if the signal is too powerful, to be injected back into the system via the power injector  47 . What is shown as two different power injectors  47  located at both ends of the antenna is a single system of power regulation designed to operate in tandem with the antenna. A decoder  90  is used to decode the signal previously encoded by the encoder  46  at the enclosed structure  7 . While one protocol of communication associated with a single encoding/decoding step is shown, what is contemplated is the use of any type of signal encoding and decoding, such as but not limited to certificate coding and modulation coding, which allows the system to protect the information from external interferences or tampering. 
         [0030]    The decoder  90  is then connected to the performance signal relay unit  15 , which is also connected to the system control and monitoring device  51 . The performance signal relay unit  15  is also connected, as for the system control and monitoring device  51  to an Internet  48  or other network such as a Local Area Network (LAN) (not shown) or in communication with the display monitor  16 . In one preferred embodiment, the performance signal relay unit  15  and the system control and monitoring device  51  are personal computers. The preferred embodiment contemplates the use of two different portable computers to obtain and manage the image data  15 ,  51  and to manage and produce advertising materials to be placed alongside the sports performance of an advertising target.  FIGS. 1 and 2  show possible embodiments of use of these two personal computers. 
         [0031]      FIG. 5  shows one possible graphical display of the display device  16 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , the display device  16  may be installed at a fixed location where a person previously engaged in a sports performance is likely to be disposed to view advertising when associated with a delayed display of his or her own sports performance. In a preferred embodiment, a wide-screen plasma television is used as a display device  16 . While one possible embodiment is disclosed, it is understood that any type of display technology is contemplated for the display device  16 , including front projectors, rear projectors, computer monitors, televisions, and the like.  FIG. 2  illustrates schematically how the signal of the first camera  20  and the second camera  21  are processed by the performance signal processing unit  22  and delivered to the performance signal delay unit  15  where the performance can be delayed before display on a display  16  placed in a location  6  such as the clubhouse. The system control and monitoring device  51  is used to monitor and control the streaming of information, regulate ad content, and offer programming tools in order to regulate the entire assembly  100 . 
         [0032]    A close-up view of the display device  16  in one possible embodiment is shown in  FIG. 4 . The display device  16  with a display surface can be split by the assembly into several sections of information, including but not limited to advertising and the display of personalized sports performances of an advertisement target, such as a golfer. Once again, these sections are only illustrative on one possible configuration that can be selected by the assembly operator using the system control and monitoring device  51 . These sections include but are not limited to a first camera feed  33  (shown as camera A), a second camera feed  34  (shown as camera B), and a third camera feed  35  (shown as camera N). It is understood that while three different camera feeds are shown, these three personalized sports performances can correspond to different camera angles of the same golf hole  62 , of different sports performances of different advertising targets (e.g., the last three golfers), or even different sports performances of the same advertisement target at three consecutive or selected holes. In a nonlimiting example, the feed camera A consists of the sports performance from a first person on the putting green, the feed camera B is the sports performance from the same person at the tee box of same golf hole, and the feed camera C is a second person at the putting green. The present disclosure contemplates use of either a plurality of cameras in association with delayed sports performances or a single camera. 
         [0033]      FIG. 4  also shows a display  16  where several types of advertisements in different panels  38 ,  37 ,  36 ,  24  or positions can be displayed alongside the different camera feeds  33 ,  34 ,  35 . The advertisement may include in one possible embodiment a sponsor panel A  38  to promote a first sponsor, a panel B  37  to promote a second sponsor, and a local information panel  36 . The display is also equipped with a ticker zone  24 , news crawl, or scrolling marquise arranged at the bottom of the advertisement.  FIG. 1  shows the display  16  according to another embodiment where a first sponsor panel is situated at the right of only one camera feed and a ticker is placed at the bottom of the display device. While two possible embodiments are shown, it is understood by one of ordinary skill that a plurality of camera feeds and sponsor information may be arranged on the display  16  according to any desired configuration. In addition, while only camera feeds  33 ,  34 ,  35  are shown in  FIG. 4 , what is also contemplated is the use of other types of information feeds that may be displayed, including but not limited to the local weather, sports information, tournament scoring, etc. The display  16  is also equipped with a power outlet  25  and a video and audio control  17  shown in  FIG. 4  as cables. 
         [0034]      FIG. 1  shows an assembly for personalized advertising  100  where the assembly includes a stand  50  shown in  FIG. 3  with a first camera  20  to captures a performance signal  33 , a performance signal processing unit  22  in data communication with the first camera  20 , a performance signal delay unit  15  in data communication with the performance signal processing unit  22  for delaying the performance signal  33  as shown in  FIG. 4 , and an advertisement signal processor such as the processor of the system control and monitoring device  51  for producing an advertisement signal such as sponsor panel A  38 , sponsor panel B  37 , local information panel A  36 , or even an information ticker  24 . 
         [0035]    The assembly  100  also includes a display device  16  connected to the performance delay unit  22  having a processor for displaying the delayed performance signal and the advertisement signal generally concurrently. The performance signal processing unit  22 , shown enclosed in the structure  7  in  FIG. 5 , includes the multiplexer  43 , the PTZ controller  44 , the signal splitter  45 , and the encoder  46 . In yet another embodiment, the performance signal delay unit  15  designed to delay the performance signal includes a decoder  90 , a first computing device for management of the display, and a second computing device to control the delay of the performance signal. 
         [0036]      FIG. 6  is a schematic illustration of possible successive steps within the method and assembly for personalized advertising in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method comprises a series of successive steps, in consecutive or nonconsecutive order. The steps include the capture  801  of a personalized sports performance of an advertising target with a camera assembly  100 , the storage  802  of the recorded personalized sports performance of the advertising target in a memory, the calculation  803  of a time delay after recording the personalized sports performance to coordinate with the arrival of the advertising target in front of the display  16  where an advertisement is shown, and the display  804  of the personalized sports performance on the display  16  after the time delay along with the advertisement. What is also contemplated is the use of a personalized sports performance made of a successive association of a first segment and a second segment taken successively. 
         [0037]      FIG. 7  is a schematic illustration of possible successive steps within the method and assembly for personalized advertising in according with another embodiment of the present disclosure where a handheld wireless phone is used as a camera. The method includes the steps of providing  901  a stand for a portable camera, activating  902  the portable camera to capture a personalized sports performance of an advertising target, storing  903  the captured personalized sports performance of the advertising target in a memory, repeating  904  the providing, activating and storing steps a predetermined number of occurrences, each at different locations, calculating  905  a time delay after storing the captured personalized sports performance of a last of the predetermined number of occurrences to coordinate with the arrival of the advertising target in front of a display where an advertisement can be shown, selecting  906  at least one of the captured personalized sports performances, and displaying  907  the selected at least one of the captured personalized sport performances on the display after the calculated time delay with the advertisement. In one contemplated embodiment, the portable camera is selected from the group consisting of a wireless phone, a portable digital assistant, a digital camera, and a handheld video camera. 
         [0038]    Persons of ordinary skill in the art appreciate that although the teachings of the disclosure have been illustrated in connection with certain embodiments, there is no intent to limit the invention to such embodiments. On the contrary, the intention of this disclosure is to cover all modifications and embodiments failing fairly within the scope of the teachings of the disclosure.

Technology Category: g