CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

None.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

Aspects of the disclosure relate to an apparatus and method for marketing and selling goods. More specifically, aspects of the disclosure relate to a marketing and selling ecosystem tying objects shown in media to a website and/or customers through an interconnected application.

BACKGROUND

As time progresses, entertainment industries break new ground in providing entertainment options to consumers. Aside from traditional print media, today's consumers wish to have instant access to entertainment upon demand. Today's consumers also demand customer buying options that meet their lifestyle and provide convenience.

Conventional entertainment options have grown over the last 70 years. Aside from print media, movie production has been a staple of media consumers for generations. A simple motion picture would show a pre-scripted plot that could be enjoyed by the viewer. In the 1980's advertisers realized that placement of products within a motion picture could significantly increase sales. “Product placement” became a cornerstone for marketing and consumer products battled each other to place products within motion pictures to increase sales. Such placement could be monetized by the motion picture industry by charging the consumer products wishing to be advertised, thereby offsetting some of the costs of motion picture production.

Product placement has undoubtedly worked, for both advertisers and the motion picture industry. Significant drawbacks, however, remain for product placement that remain unsolved.

A first drawback for product placement is experienced by advertisers. Some portions of a motion picture are more captivating or important to the plot than others, therefore these portions will be remembered more vividly by the consumer than other instances. The motion picture industry, therefore, will charge a higher monetary amount for placement in these scenes rather than a more common or mundane scene. In this way, advertisers are at somewhat of a disadvantage as they can be limited as to which scene their product may be placed in. Another disadvantage is that a consumer is required to “remember” the product placed after the motion picture has ended. Only then can a consumer attempt to find the product placed in the motion picture. In the instance of a non-Important scene, the advertiser may pay for a product placement and not increase sales as the scene is not memorable to the viewer. As a result, advertisers must use caution when creating a product placement.

A second drawback is found in the motion picture industry itself. If advertisers are unwilling to pay for product placement, the motion picture industry is required to pay for production costs up front. As time goes on, the costs of producing motion pictures has increased dramatically, thereby putting financial strain upon production companies. There is a need, therefore, to successfully monetize product placement in all aspects of a motion picture, for important and more mundane scenes, to help defer costs of motion picture development.

A third drawback if experienced by the consumer. If a consumer wishes to purchase a product advertised or shown in a motion picture, the consumer must remember the product and then attempt to find the product, see if the product is actually for sale, find an outlet that carries inventory of the potential product, and then purchase the product in an economically safe environment. All of these multiple steps hinder the purchasing process and therefore restrict overall sales.

A fourth drawback experienced by the advertiser, the motion picture industry, and the consumer is the passage of time. It is known in multiple types of industries that trends can occur. Most consumer products have a shelf-life or amount of time that the product is “saleable”. The fashion industry, for example, has trends or “fads” that occur. Purchase of clothes that exhibit the latest fads allows the seller to command a higher price than other older items. It is thus important that a consumer be able to review purchasing items quickly to be able to buy the latest trendy item. It is also important for advertisers to market their products to consumers at the right time. As a non-limiting embodiment, items such as swimwear are more properly placed in a motion picture that is shown in the summer time rather than winter, as consumers will be more willing to buy the product that is needed immediately, rather than at a later time.

There is a need to provide an apparatus and methods that make it easier to purchase products than currently provided by conventional apparatus and methods.

There is a further need to provide apparatus and methods that do not have the drawbacks discussed above.

There is a still further need to reduce economic costs associated with marketing and sales of products to help the motion picture industry, advertisers, and the consuming public compared to conventional methods.

SUMMARY

So that the manner in which the above recited features of the present disclosure can be understood in detail, a more particular description of the disclosure, briefly summarized below, may be had by reference to embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the drawings. It is to be noted that the drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this disclosure and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the disclosure may admit to other equally effective embodiments without specific recitation. Accordingly, the following summary provides just a few aspects of the description and should not be used to limit the described embodiments to a single concept.

In one non-limiting example embodiment, a method of marketing and selling goods is disclosed. In one non-limiting embodiment, the method may comprise broadcasting a stream of data from a data source. The method may also comprise using an electronic device to identify the data source. The method may also comprise connecting the electronic device to a server to retrieve the marketing and goods being sold in connection with the data source. The method may also comprise displaying the marketing and goods that are connected to the data source.

In another example embodiment, a method of performing marketing and selling of goods is disclosed. The method may comprise broadcasting a motion picture to at least one viewer. The method may also comprise identifying the motion picture using an electronic device. The method may also comprise connecting the electronic device to an Internet connected server. The method may also comprise retrieving a list of goods being sold related to the motion picture to the electronic device. The method may also provide for displaying the list of goods that are connected to the data source.

