Data processing: financial – business practice – management – or co – Automated electrical financial or business practice or... – Electronic shopping
Reexamination Certificate
1998-03-05
2002-11-05
Trammell, James P. (Department: 2761)
Data processing: financial, business practice, management, or co
Automated electrical financial or business practice or...
Electronic shopping
C725S110000, C725S141000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06477508
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a broadcast marketing system, and the elements thereof. More particularly, the invention relates to a system and apparatus for broadcasting, capturing, storing, selecting and then forwarding product data and viewer choices to vendor host computers for order fulfillment and viewer choice data collection. Additionally, the present invention relates to a system and apparatus for favorably influencing TV viewer and radio listener channel and station selections.
There are numerous marketing systems and tools known in the art for use with television (TV) or radio broadcasts. The most common and straightforward marketing technique is the ubiquitous TV or radio commercial, sometimes referred to as simply the TV/radio “ad” (short for advertisement). The TV/radio ad is carefully crafted by those skilled in the marketing arts to convey carefully selected information and/or to promote a particular vendor's product(s) and/or service(s). The desired end-result, of course, is that the viewer/listener will be sufficiently informed or entertained by the commercial to the point where he or she will attentatively watch or listen to the entire commercial, and as a result thereof, have his or her interest peaked sufficiently to either want to purchase or use the product or service described therein, seek out further information regarding such product and/or service, or at least remember the described product and/or service so that the vendor's products will be favorably considered for purchase or use at a later date.
Many vendors sell and promote their products directly, without a distribution chain. The commercials for such vendors may be specifically designed to elicit a “direct-response” from the viewer and/or listener by having the viewer/listener immediately telephone an indicated number, or write to an indicated address, in order to place an order for a product or service being described. Some TV networks, e.g., The Home Shopping Network, available on many cable TV systems, does nothing but continuously broadcast such direct-response advertisements.
Broadcast commercials are usually very effective at achieving their objectives. For that reason, broadcast providers, i.e., TV and radio networks and broadcast stations, are able to demand large sums of money for broadcast “time” during which a vendor's commercial will be broadcast. Such broadcast time may be, e.g., a relatively short 30 or 60 seconds, as is common with the ever-present TV/radio commercial, or may be much longer, e.g., 30 minutes, as is the case with the “infomercial.”
Heretofore, when a television viewer wished to respond to a direct response ad and purchase the item shown or described, the viewer needed a pen and paper, a lighted room and a telephone. If the viewer happened to be watching or listening to the ad in the dark and did not have a pen and paper handy, it was unlikely that the viewer would or could respond to the ad.
To address this need, some cable companies provide set-top boxes, with direct telephone hook-ups, that allow for immediate ordering over a connected telephone line. Typically, such set-top boxes are used to order pay-per-view (PPV) events such as sports events or recent or classic movies.
Disadvantageously, when using a set-top box, a viewer must order during the commercial and cannot participate in a personal or business telephone conversation during the commercial (because the telephone line is busy making the order). Moreover, the set-top box must be permanently connected to the telephone system, which may require some technical skill, a special wall jack and a potential loss of privacy. Furthermore, typically only one set-top box exists per household, thus the set-top box may not be located, e.g., in the bedroom, where late night TV viewing is common. Additionally, the set-top box can only dial one telephone number, which limits the types of products and services that can be ordered through the box. Also, the set-top box is not able to interact with radio ads. Hence, it is evident that significant improvements are still needed in the way in which a viewer/listener can order products or services from a direct-response broadcast commercial.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,262,860 (Fitzpatrick, et al.), there is described a home shopping device that involves connecting a set-top box to a personal computer with a connected modem to capture orders. As soon as the user presses a button or other device to evidence his or her interest in purchasing a product being shown or described (which by necessity occurs during the commercial or ad) the computer captures the order and then immediately dials a vendor's host computer so that the captured order may be transferred to the vendor. Disadvantageously, such system requires an expensive computer to perform this function, and the majority of households with televisions still do not have such a computer, many of those that do have a computer, do not have a modem, and those with a modem may be busy with the Internet or other on-line activities. Thus, many TV viewers, even if they have a telephone, are precluded from using such a system. Moreover, once the user has placed his or her order, there is no convenient way for the user to change his or her mind.
No current receiving device known to the applicants will allow a radio listener, driving in a car, to capture the product code, station call letters, and advertiser's phone number and then subsequently, after a listener-selected waiting period, safely order the desired product. The alternative is the pad of paper stuck to the windshield and a pen, if available. Because it is not safe for a driver to write while driving, and because there are always a large number of drivers who make up a significant portion of the radio listening audience, there is a need to provide drivers with a tool or device that allows them to safely capture marketing information broadcast over the air waves, and eventually use this information to place orders.
Thus, from the above, it is seen that there is a need in the art for a broadcast marketing system that allows a viewer/listener (“user”), wherever he or she may be, to conveniently and safely place an order for a product or service described in a broadcast commercial. Such a system should be available for use, at all hours of the day, by all users having a television or radio (or other broadcast receiver) in combination with a telephone, without requiring such user to have an expensive computer with a modem. Moreover, such a system should provide the user a waiting period during which he or she can rethink the order that has been captured and change his or her mind, if necessary.
An important element of any broadcast marketing system is the ability to control, at least to a limited extent, the stations or channels to which the viewer or listener is watching or listening. To that end, broadcast providers are continuously seeking programming material that appeals to a wider and ever-growing segment of the viewing/listening audience so that the product/service provider's commercials may be heard or seen by such ever-growing groups. Significantly, to the extent that the broadcast provider can assure the product/service provider a larger share of the viewing/listening audience, e.g., as occurs each year during broadcast of the “Super Bowl”, the more the broadcast provider can charge for air time used to broadcast the product/service provider's commercial.
It is generally accepted that the viewer/listener should have final control over the stations or channels that are watched or heard. To this end, it is known in the art to provide, e.g., a television remote control unit that selects a preferred channel or station, activated by a designated single button on the unit. Moreover, many radios, including car radios, can be programmed to preferred stations which can be tuned in by pressing a single button. However, to the applicants' knowledge, there are no known remote control units, or programmable radios, tha
Lazar Clifford W.
Meadows Paul M.
Elisca Pierre E.
Fitch Even Tabin & Flannery
Trammell James P.
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