WO2001027775A1

WO2001027775A1 - Interactive electronic commercials

Info

Publication number: WO2001027775A1
Application number: PCT/US2000/041133
Authority: WO
Inventors: Rick Mcewan; Sergio Herring
Original assignee: Mindarrow Systems, Inc.
Priority date: 1999-10-12
Filing date: 2000-10-11
Publication date: 2001-04-19
Also published as: AU1963801A

Abstract

An interactive commercial includes an offering routine (832) that provides a recipient (820) with both an enticement and an offer, an information gathering routine (834) that obtains information from the recipient (820) for completing a transaction relating to the offer, and a transmission routine (836) that transmits the information to a distant server (810), wherein at least two of the offering, information gathering and transmission routines are forwarded to the recipient (820) as part of an e-mail message, and resides locally to the recipient terminal (830). The commercial is preferably downloaded to the recipient terminal (830) as an executable file, generally as part of an e-mail message. The transaction most likely includes sale/purchase of goods or services, but can alternatively include other operations. The enticement is preferably embodied as an audio-video clip that can be displayed at will by the recipient (820). In other aspects of the invention, the commercial may include branding graphics for multiple products.

Description

INTERACTIVE ELECTRONIC COMMERCIALS Field of The Invention

The field of the invention is electronic direct marketing.

Background of The Invention Electronic commercials are now widely employed in direct marketing, and offer very favorable returns on investment for many products and services. But motivating the prospect to act on a message can still be a difficult task, even where the prospect has "asked" for the message being sent. A major problem is information overload. In a recent survey e-mail recipients reported receiving an average of more than 50 e-mails per day. It is also reported that only about 0.1% of electronic banner ads are even read, let alone acted upon.

A tradeoff is therefore recognized between sending out a large message that may be more likely to motivate the prospect, but may never be read, and sending out a smaller message that may be less likely to motivate, but is cheaper to transmit. Presently, that tradeoff is being addressed by sending out a "tickler" comprising a relatively small amount of information, and including a hyperlink to a web site having a great deal more information. Thus, it is presently common to send out a content-lean banner or advertisement containing only text or a picture of a product, but then including a hyperlink to a content-rich web site that has full audio and video presentations of the boat.

For the same reasons electronic commercials direct recipients to web sites to close any orders for products or services, or to close any other transactions. Among other things the use of a web site in this manner permits the cost-effective transmission of huge numbers of relatively small, and therefore relatively inexpensive ecommercials to secure the attention of the prospect, while providing a more sophisticated web site for actually closing the sale or accomplishing some other purpose. At many web sites the customers self-select the merchandise, record or correct their own shipping and billing information, and even authenticate confidential information using an authenticated transaction server. There are, however, drawbacks to limiting transaction closure to that accomplished on web sites. One problem is that the web sites involved must be accessed either directly by a recipient visiting the specific site, or indirectly via a hyperlink "click- through" from another web site or an ecommercial. If the potential customer is not on-line, he may never get to the web page and the order may never be closed. In addition, if a mass mailing of an ecommercial generates a substantial response, the server servicing the web site may not have the resources to handle the influx of potential customers. Or, the potential customer may have a particularly slow communication line. Since web site transaction closure is synchronous, the transaction may be significantly impeded by slow communications lines. Those customers experiencing slow response time from the server or because of a slow communication line may choose to purchase their goods elsewhere. Still further, there is always the possibility that the web site may actually discourage the potential customer from closing a transaction. Just because an ecommercial motivates a potential customer, doesn't mean that the web site will motive him even more.

Thus, there is a need to provide methods and systems by which a recipient of an electronic commercial can place his order, or otherwise close a sale directly from the commercial.

Summary of the Invention

The present invention provides methods and systems in which an interactive electronic commercial includes an offering routine that provides a recipient with both an enticement and an offer, an information gathering routine that obtains information from the recipient for completing a transaction relating to the offer, and a transmission routine that transmits the information to a distant server, wherein at least two of the offering, information gathering, and transmission routines are forwarded to the recipient as part of an e-mail message, and reside locally to the recipient.

Many different combinations of embodiments are contemplated. The commercial is preferably downloaded to the recipient as an executable file, generally as part of an e- mail message. The transaction most likely includes a sale/purchase of goods or services, but can alternatively include ordering of literature, placement on a mailing list, and so forth. The enticement is preferably displayed as an audio-video clip that can be displayed at will by the recipient. In other aspects of the inventive subject matter the commercial may advantageously include branding graphics for multiple products. In such instances the information gathering routine may take order information for multiple products from unrelated vendors.

Various objects, features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention, along with the accompanying drawings in which like numerals represent like components.

Brief Description of the Drawing Fig. 1 is a schematic of a first navigable page of an ecommercial according to the inventive subject matter.

Fig. 2 is a schematic of a second navigable page of the ecommercial of Fig. 1, including an interface for ordering a product or service.

Fig. 3 is a schematic of a third navigable page of the ecommercial of Fig. 1, including an interface for an opt-in mailing list.

Fig. 4 is a schematic of a fourth navigable page of the ecommercial of Fig. 1, including an interface for registering to vote.

Fig. 5 is a schematic of a fifth navigable page of the ecommercial of Fig. 1, including an interface for voting.

Fig. 6 is a schematic of a sixth navigable page of the ecommercial of Fig. 1, including an advertisement for a vacation destination.

Fig. 7 is a schematic of a seventh navigable page of the ecommercial of Fig. 1, including a select button for selecting items in a list.

Fig. 8 is a schematic of the distribution and operation of the ecommercial of Fig. 1.

Detailed Description

In Figure 1 the first page 101 of an electronic commercial (ecommercial) 100 generally includes a video window 110 and video control 112, a branding graphic 120, an image 130 of a product being marketed, hyperlink 140 click-throughs to websites of the advertisers, and various support bars 150, 160. The images used to trigger the hyperlinks 140 are recognizable by the public as representing different advertisers. At least some of the commercials may advantageously contain a button 170 and underlying software code (not shown) to close a sale or other transaction between a recipient and at least one of the advertisers. Tabs 180 may be used to navigate among the various pages.

The term "advertisers" is used herein in the broadest possible sense, including any entity trying to impact the thinking or behavior of others. In many instances the desired impact will include motivating the recipient to purchase goods or services. In other instances the desired impact may be to cause the recipient to vote in a given manner in an election, or a poll. In still other instances the desired impact may be of a very general nature, perhaps increasing societal awareness of alcoholism.

The term "commercial" is used herein in a very broad sense to mean any message intending to motivate a recipient to take an action favorable to an advertiser. Commercials may be simple textual banner ads, but more preferably include rich-media graphics such as animation, a photograph or other image, or an audio tract. Still more preferred commercials include video and branding graphics. Especially preferred commercials will be those that communicate a value proposition communicated in 30 seconds or less. Currently the most preferred commercials include an audio tract, a video tract, branding graphics, and hyperlinks, all delivered in a single executable file. These and other embodiments are as described in concurrently filed application serial no. PCT US99/23824, corresponding to attorney docket 604.07 which is incorporated herein by reference. Still other preferred embodiments include "slide-show" commercials as described in concurrently filed application serial no. PCT/US99/23822 corresponding to attorney docket 604.09, which is incorporated herein by reference.

Commercial 100 is preferably an executable file, which is defined herein to mean a file that is directly interpreted or executed by the operating system of a computer as opposed to being "played" by player software. Commercial 100 is also preferably transmitted, along with all software needed to track or play the commercial, as a single file. Other options are also contemplated. For example, it is contemplated that commercials, and perhaps the tracking or playing software, can be transmitted as multiple files. Or the commercial can be transmitted as a single file, and contain software instructions that cause the host computer to produce a plurality of files that interact to display the commercial. It is also contemplated that some or all of the commercial or supporting software can be downloaded separately from the transmission that includes the commercial. For example, it is contemplated that a fully functioning, multi-page commercial can be transmitted in an e-mail message. When the recipient opens the commercial, or perhaps reaches a given point in the presentation, his system contacts a distant server to download additional pages. Multi-page commercials of this type are disclosed in concurrently filed application titled "Multi-Page Executable Commercials" corresponding to attorney docket 604.09, which is incorporated herein by reference.

The video window 110 preferably comprises between about 10% and about 80% of the visible face of the commercial 100, and may advantageously be framed, such as by an image of a television, or a picture frame 111. Most likely a highly compressed streaming video or audio-video clip (not shown) is used to drive the video window 110, and most likely only a single video clip is included in any given ecommercial. Using presently known compression technology a 30 second clip can be stored in about 500 kB of memory. Other video clip lengths are also contemplated, from only a few seconds to a minute or more. Multiple video clips may also be included within a single commercial.

Nearby the video window 110 are one or more video controls 112. Where streaming video is used, the controls may advantageously be limited with present technology to only play and stop. Moreover, the play and stop controls may, as in Fig. 1, be positioned on top of one another. Where other video formats may also be utilized for which reset, fast forward, reverse, and so forth may be appropriate.

An audio clip typically plays concurrently with a corresponding video clip, for all pages having a video display. All manner of audio clips are contemplated, including voice, music, nature sounds, and so forth. Almost all ecommercials are expected to include one or more audio clips, even if they are merely used as background.

The branding graphic 120 is defined as a logo, trademark, trade name, slogan, or other indicia of origin of a product or service that is presented graphically, i.e. as something other than pure text. The familiar Mercedes™ symbol, for example, is a branding graphic, as are the e-bay™ logo and General Electric's GE™ logo.

It is contemplated that many commercials will be directed to a single advertiser, and therefore may have only a single branding graphic. The term "advertisers" is used herein in the broadest possible sense, including any entity trying to impact the behavior of people. In many instances the desired impact will include motivating the recipient to purchase goods or services. In other instances the desired impact may be to cause the recipient to vote in a given manner in an election, or a poll. In still other instances the desired impact may be of a very general nature, perhaps increasing societal awareness of alcoholism.

It is also contemplated that many ecommercials will be co-sponsored by more than one advertiser. The term "co-sponsor" is used herein to mean that at least two different advertisers have included information identifying themselves or one or more of their brands in a given commercial. The identifying information may be a name such as Coca- Cola™ or Home Depot™, a design such as the Nike™ swoosh, or any other trademark or trade name. Particularly contemplated identifying information includes graphical images relating to the advertiser's name, products, or services, known in the field as branding graphics. Details of methods and systems involving co-sponsored ecommercials are described in concurrently filed application titled "Custodial Database for On-Line

Marketing", corresponding to attorney docket 604.16, which is incorporated herein by reference. Whether from the same advertiser or different advertisers, a given commercial may advantageously have anywhere between one and five branding graphics on a single page, and even higher numbers of branding graphics are also contemplated.

The branding graphics may or may not have navigational importance in the commercial 100. One possibility is that they can be hyperlinks to websites. Another possibility is that they can navigate among multiple pages of a multi-paged commercial. Hyperlinks 140 may comprise additional branding graphics, or they may simply have hyperlink functionalities. It is particularly contemplated that the commercial may include one, two, three, or more hyperlinks, which may be separate from the branding graphic.

The branding graphic 120 may advantageously be supplemented with an image 130 or description of product(s) or services(s) being marketed.

Support bars 150, 160 can perform all sorts of useful functions. One possibility is to display characteristics about the video or audio, including the position or loudness. Another possibility is to provide links to the developer or distributor of the commercial. Still other possibilities are to navigate among multiple pages of a multi-page commercial. In particular embodiments a commercial may have a first page that includes the video clip, the audio clip, and the branding graphic, and a second page navigable with respect to the first page, that includes another video clip, another audio clip, and another branding graphic. Box 151 can be used to enter URL addresses to websites.

Ordering button 170 links to an order entry interface, which can be carried on a web site or within the commercial 100 itself. In either case the interface would typically obtain or verify the recipient's name, address, phone number, and other relevant information as well obtain payment information. The payment information is preferably transmitted over a secure socket layer for verification and processing. Thus, in a particularly desirable embodiment, the commercial contains an order taking component that interacts with a recipient to record an order for an item advertised by the commercial, and then uploads the order to a distant server.

Commercial 100 may advantageously include an identification code. Such codes serve to individually link preferences, interests or other data obtained from previous advertising campaigns with particular records in a prospects database (not shown). If, for example, a recipient indicated in response to a previous campaign that he has no interest in certain types of clothing, that information could advantageously be stored in the prospects database, and employed in subsequent campaigns to avoid sending that person advertisements relating to such clothing.

Inclusion of identification codes can be accomplished in many different ways. One of the simplest methods is to insert identification codes as literals within the commercials. When a commercial is viewed, the accompanying software can record the recipient's activities as tracking data, and then send the tracking data back to the tracking system (not shown) along with the identification code. More preferably, the identification code can be stored locally to the recipient, and the occurrence of that storage can be recorded in the corresponding prospects database record. When preparing subsequent commercials such records can be reviewed to discover that an identification number was already stored for a particular prospect, thus obviating the need to modify the new commercial to include a new identification code. Thus, where an advertiser requires individual recipient tracking, the commercials would need to be modified only for those prospects for which an identification code was not already stored at the recipient's end.

Another method of providing identification codes takes advantage of the fact that not all advertisers are interested in tracking individual responses. In such cases commercials can be sent out in groups, of perhaps a thousand at a time. Each commercial in a group would contain a group identification code, and that code would also be recorded in the individual records of the prospects database for all prospects targeted in the group. Upon receipt and opening of the commercial, the group number would also be recorded locally to the recipients. The first time that tracking data is uploaded, from those recipients, the tracking system (not shown) would not be able to correlate individual tracking information with individual prospects. The next time a commercial is sent, however, the groups are chosen such that they include different sets of prospects from the first time around. Once again a group identification is included in the commercial, transmitted to the prospects in the group, and recorded locally to the recipients. But this time when the tracking information is sent back to the tracking system, the recipient transmits two group identification numbers, which can likely be used to identify the specific corresponding record in the prospects database. If a specific match cannot be made for a given prospect after the second commercial, possibly because multiple prospects were included in the same groups, a third or subsequent group commercial will provide sufficient information to identify the specific prospect. Alternatively, other information besides a second group identification code (such as the initials of a recipient's name that might be provided by the recipient) could be used in conjunction with the first group identification code to match up a particular recipient with a particular prospect.

Ideally, the software would have also created a unique identification code that was stored along with the group numbers. Once a positive match between recipient and prospect is made, the group numbers can be deleted from the recipient's system, and the unique identification code can be used from then on.

Other possibilities are also contemplated. One possibility is that software downloaded with the commercial could ping a web site, and obtain the recipient's e-mail address by observing the return information from the ping. Another possibility is that recipients of future systems will include a public area on their computers that provides information about the recipient for use by the outside world. That information can be used to correlate a recipient with a given record in the prospects database (not shown).

Commercial 100 may also be authenticated, transmitted, as for example with a Verisign™ digital signature. This is important because many firewalls are configured to filter out messages that are not authenticated. Not all commercials need to be authenticated, however, and a majority of such commercials may not be authenticated due to the substantial overhead costs required. The authentication decision can be made on a campaign basis, but is preferably made on an individual basis, possibly relying on data stored in the prospects database or the tracking subsystem.

Decisions with respect to modification of a commercial to include an identification number, and authentication of the commercial in a transmission may be overlapping. Once the tracking system has established that a recipient has stored the identification code, it is unnecessary to keep adding an identification code to the commercial, and re-authenticating the commercial. Transmissions to that recipient can be identical to those sent to other recipients because the previously stored identification code can still be used to link the tracking data with the particular recipient.

Commercial 100 preferably includes tracking software that facilitates tracking of a recipient's responses to the commercial. The tracking software preferably interacts with the recipient's computer to upload data relating to the recipient's responses to (i.e., the tracking information) from the recipient's computer to a distant server, i.e., a computer that is not local to the recipient, and that receives the tracking information.

The tracking information can be as simplistic as whether or not the e-mail containing the commercial was ever received by the recipient, and if so when it was opened. More sophisticated tracking data may include file opening time, video start and stop times, cursor positioning, and forwarding of the commercial to others. Such information may advantageously be stored in the "cookies" section, or preferably in the registry of the recipient's computer. The recipient may also use the commercial to click- through to one or more web sites using link icons 140, and such click-throughs are also preferably tracked. It is especially contemplated that at least one of the web sites accessed by click-through tracks at least some recipient activities, and even more preferably also contains a video component and an audio component that may or may not be the same as that included in the commercial.

The tracking information may or may not be sufficient to match up responses with individual recipients. Suitable methods and systems directed to tracking are described in concurrently filed application titled "Methods and Systems for Tracking Electronic Commercials", corresponding to attorney docket 604.07, which is incorporated herein by reference.

Commercial 100 is preferably distributed by a high volume electronic mailing company, (distributor 710 in Figure 7) which sends out perhaps hundreds of thousands or even millions of messages per month. An exemplary such company is ecommercial.com, Inc. based in Southern California, USA. The distributor may or may not host its own servers. Commercial 100 is preferably transmitted over the Internet, but can be transmitted over any suitable network, including local area networks, wide area networks, public networks, private networks, and so on. Because of the high traffic involved, the distributor may advantageously employ outbound trafficking technologies such as those described in concurrently filed applications titled "Load Balancing Via Message Source Selection", "Message Content Based Routing", "Dynamic Routing via Shortest Delivery Time", and "Historical Delivery Time Based Routing Tables", corresponding to attorney dockets 604.12, 604.18, 604.19, and 604.20, respectively, each of which is incorporated herein by reference.

Generally, commercials such as commercial 100 will be transmitted to potential customers of a product or service. However, the terms "potential customer" and "prospect" are used interchangeably herein in their broadest possible sense to include any target of an advertiser. Thus, if the advertiser is a politician, his potential customers include any person residing in his district. In the preferred example of Fig. 1 , the message being presented is that of a congressman to his constituency. Obviously other political, commercial, general interest, or other messages could be substituted. Continuing on with the example, however, it may be advantageous for the congressman to include additional navigable pages relating to the topic of page 1, as well as one or more messages that do not necessarily relate to that topic. Sample pages 102 - 106 discussed below provide examples of such additional pages, which samples, however, are not in the least bit exhaustive.

In Figure 2 a second navigable page 102 generally contains an interface 210 for receiving and processing an order from a recipient, an optional branding section 220, and an optional video section 230. The order processing interface 210 contains a plurality of fields 212 for recording or verifying the information typically needed to process an order, typically including name, address, phone number, product or service being ordered, quantity, delivery, and credit card or other payment information. The number, size, and sequence of these fields 212 are not particularly significant, and are left to advertiser discretion. It is contemplated, however, that the information entered may be kept local to the recipient, such that in completing future orders the recipient need not enter some or all of the information requested. The types of products or services ordered preferably relates to the message provided on page 101. In our political commercial, for example, the recipient may order books or other literature on a topic of interest

being discussed by the congressman in the video on page 101. The recipient may also want to order tickets to a benefit meeting or concert.

The branding section 220 may advantageously include a plurality of branding graphics 222 and/or hyperlinks 224. These items may be similar or different from branding graphics and hyperlinks displayed elsewhere in the commercial 100. Some or all of the branding graphics 222 and/or hyperlinks 224 may relate to an incentive provided by an entity other than the advertiser. For example, where commercial 100 is sent out on behalf of a politician, a leather company may donate to the politician's campaign by providing free notebooks, calculators, purses, or other incentives to individuals opting into the mailing list. The video section 230 includes a video window 232, a frame 234, and video control buttons 236, 238. Here again these items may be similar or different from other video related items displayed elsewhere in the commercial 100. In particular, the video being played is likely to be different from that being played on other pages in the commercial 100, and preferably provides motivation or instructions for use in completing the order processing. Alternatively, the video section 230 may be replaced by a slide show section (not shown), since completing the order processing step is likely to take much longer than a typical 30 second video.

In Figure 3 a third navigable page 103 contains an optional prompt 305, an interface 310 for opting into a mailing list, an optional branding section 320, and an optional video section 330. The prompt 305 preferably contains a few words or a short slogan encouraging the recipient to join the mailing list. As in page 102, the mailing list interface 310 includes whatever fields are appropriate for securing the relevant recipient information. Also as in page 102, this information can advantageously be stored locally to the recipient. Interface 310 may, however, include an interest area interface that includes "voting" buttons and topics or other listing of interest areas from which the recipient can make selections. The branding section 320 contains branding graphics 322 and/or hyperlinks 324. The video section 330 contains a video image 332, a frame 334, and control buttons 336 and 338 although the video clip played in the video section 330 is preferably different from that played elsewhere in the commercial 100.

In Figure 4 a fourth navigable page 104 contains an interface 410 for registering to vote, an optional instructions section 420, and an optional video section 430. As in page 102 the registering to vote interface 410 includes name, address, telephone numbers, and whatever fields 412 are appropriate for securing the relevant recipient information. This information can advantageously be stored locally to the recipient. The video section 430 contains a video image 432, a frame 434, and control buttons 436 and 438 although the video clip played in the video section 430 is preferably different from that played elsewhere in the commercial 100.

In Figure 5 a fifth navigable page 105 contains a voting information section 510, a voting section 520, and an optional video section 530. The voting information section preferably contains text, graphics, or other information that explains the background of the issue being voted upon. Voting section 520 preferably lists the various voting choices 521 in conjunction with corresponding voting buttons 522. The term "voting" is used herein in its broadest possible sense to include casting of official votes for electing public officials (when such is permitted), as well as unofficial votes. Examples of unofficial voting include popularity contests and opinion polls dealing with political, religious, entertainment, and other issues. The video section 430 is preferably similar to that shown on page 102, except that the video clip played in the video section 530 is preferably different from that played elsewhere in the commercial 100.

In Figure 6 a sixth navigable page 106 contains an advertisement 610 for a vacation destination, which may or may not have anything to do with the topic or topics addressed in any of the other pages 101 - 105. Advertisement 610 includes an optional video section 630 that is preferably similar to that shown on page 102, except that once again the video clip played on this page is preferably different from that played elsewhere in the commercial 100. The display 631 is also relatively larger than that shown on pages 101 - 105. Advertisement 610 includes an optional branding section 620 that may advantageously include a plurality of branding graphics 622 and/or hyperlinks 624. These items may be similar or different from branding graphics and hyperlinks displayed elsewhere in the commercial 100. Some or all of the branding graphics 622 and/or hyperlinks 624 may relate to an incentive provided by an entity other than the advertiser. In this particular example, the branding graphics 622 and hyperlinks 624 may advantageously

relate to accommodations and restaurants local to the vacation spot featured on the video section 630.

In Figure 7 a seventh navigable page 107 contains an item selector section 770 having a plurality of item selector check boxes and corresponding text. The types of items contemplated included substantially anything than can be listed, for example: titles of books, authors, artists, actors, music CDs, cars, boats, planes, etc. It is specifically contemplated that the items listed could be single products/services, plural products/services, and combinations of single or plural products and/or services. It is also contemplated that any other methods for selecting listed items may be used in place of check boxes. The lists contemplated may or may not be listed vertically and may be in any other form of presentation. The item selector section 770 also includes a send button 775 which transmits selections to a server (not shown) which may then advantageously prepare another net deck or other communication to be sent to the recipient based on the selections. It is especially contemplated that the new net deck or communication can be sent within 1 hours, or more preferably with 5 minutes, or even more preferably within 1 minute.

Figure 8 generally depicts a system having a distributor 810, a recipient operatively coupled to a local computer 830 that runs an offering routine 832, an information gathering routine 834, and a transmission routine 836, all of which are part of an ecommercial transmitted to the recipient as part of an e-mail. The distributor 810 typically transmits thousands or even hundreds of thousands of ecommercials to prospective customers of an advertiser. At least one of those transmissions is sent to recipient 820, preferably via a public access network such as the Internet over connection 812. The recipient operates a computer 830, which may comprise a stand alone computer, a multi-user computer, a networked computer, or even a thin client having little more than a display screen and communication software operating primarily over a network. At least two of the offering routine 832, information gathering routine 834, and transmission routine 836 are all loaded onto the computer 832, in RAM or other memory, but not necessarily all at the same time. Preferably, however, all three routines 832, 834, and 836 are loaded onto the computer 832, and at the same time. The computer 830 cooperates with the offering routine 832 to present the recipient with an enticement, such as video 110 in Figure 1, and also with the information gathering routine 834 to obtain ordering or other transaction related information from the recipient. Such information can be gathered in information fields 212 as depicted in the order processing interface 210 shown in Figure 2. The transmission routine 836 then transmits the recorded information across line 837 to the distributor 810. In most cases it is contemplated that the information captured and transmitted will be sufficient to complete the desired transaction, but it is also contemplated that the information will not be sufficient, and either the information gathering routine will operate to obtain the missing information, or the recipient will be hyperlinked to a web site for that purpose. The system therefore allows an ecommercial to capture some or all of the information needed to effect a sale/purchase or other transaction without the recipient having to link to a web site. Within this framework there are many possibilities. For example, the enticement can be played, viewed, or otherwise displayed substantially at will by the recipient, and where there are multiple enticements, a recipient can preferably display them in any order he chooses. Also, the entire commercial can be forwarded to another person as an e-mail attachment, who can also display the enticements as desired. Still further, it should be appreciated that the various branding graphics, such as graphics 120 of Figure 1 and graphics 222 of Figure 2, may advertise different products, possibly products or services from unrelated vendors. In such cases the information gathering routine 834 will preferably be capable of securing information for each of such products and services.

Thus, specific embodiments and applications of interactive electronic commercials have been disclosed. It should be apparent, however, to those skilled in the art that many more modifications besides those already described are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein. The inventive subject matter, therefore, is not to be restricted except in the spirit of the appended claims. Moreover, in interpreting both the specification and the claims, all terms should be interpreted in the broadest possible manner consistent with the context. In particular, the terms "comprises" and "comprising" should be interpreted as referring to elements, components, or steps in a non-exclusive manner, indicating that the referenced elements, components, or steps may be present, or utilized, or combined with other elements, components, or steps that are not expressly referenced.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. An interactive electronic commercial, comprising: an offering routine that provides a recipient with an enticement and an offer; an information gathering routine that obtains information from the recipient for completing a transaction relating to the offer; a transmission routine that transmits the information to a distant server; and wherein at least two of the offering, information gathering, and transmission routines are forwarded to the recipient as part of an e-mail message, and reside locally to the recipient.

2. The commercial of claim 1 wherein all three of the offering, information gathering, and transmission routines are forwarded to the recipient as part of an e-mail message, and reside locally to the recipient.

3. The commercial of claim 1 wherein all three of the offering, information gathering, and transmission routines are directly executable on a computer local to the recipient by the computer's operating system.

4. The commercial of claim 1 wherein the enticement includes a video clip and an audio clip.

5. The commercial of claim 1 wherein the enticement can be displayed at will by the recipient.

6. The commercial of claim 1 wherein the offering, information gathering, and transmission routines can all be forwarded by the recipient to a second person as an e-mail attachment, and operated by the second person.

7. The commercial of claim 1 wherein the offering routine displays data about the recipient.

8. The commercial of claim 1 where the commercial optionally includes a recipient operated hyperlink to a website upon which the recipient can complete the transaction.

9. The commercial of claim 1 where the commercial includes branding graphics for multiple products.

10. The commercial of claim 1 where the commercial includes branding graphics for multiple products from unrelated vendors.

11. The commercial of claim 1 where the information gathering routine takes order information for multiple products from unrelated vendors.

AMENDED CLAIMS

[received by the International Bureau 22 March 2001 (22.03.01); original claims 1 and 2 amended; remaining claims unchanged (1 page)]

1. An interactive electronic commercial, comprising: an offering routine that provides a recipient with an enticement and an offer related to the enticement; an information gathering routine that obtains information from the recipient for completing a transaction relating to the offer; a transmission routine that transmits the information to a distant server; and wherein the offering, information gathering, and transmission routines are all forwarded as part of an e-mail message, and all reside locally to the recipient.

2. The commercial of claim 1 wherein at least one of the enticement and the offer are customized to the recipient.

6. The commercial of claim 1 wherein the offering, information gathering, and transmission routines can all be forwarded by the recipient to a second person as an e- mail attachment, and operated by the second person.