1. Technical Field of the Invention
The principles of the present invention generally relate to a system and method for performing out-of-home advertising, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, for providing the system and method to subscribers (e.g., retailers and out-of-home advertisement agencies) to operate as private broadcasters to provide advertising or content delivery services for advertisers and subscribers in a targeted manner.
2. Description of Related Art
Traditional out-of-home advertising, including point-of-purchase and promotional retail advertising, has been generally formed of static and expensive signs and promotional materials that typically utilize photographs, graphics, and text for advertising products. Advertising space located in retail outlets is generally rented, leased, or otherwise disposed of by a manufacturer for a certain period of time, such as a month. While the cost of renting the advertising space may be expensive, the cost to produce the content that is placed in the advertising space may be as or more expensive (e.g., $800 per sign) due to production and printing costs. Further, advertisers (e.g., product manufacturers) typically have as much as 70 percent or more of the signs, promotional materials, and display fixtures not used or displayed by the retailer. The cost to produce these items or materials also may carry additional costs if techniques, such as backlighting, are used.
In an effort to reduce production and printing costs and increase revenue from the out-of-home advertising locations, dynamic signage has developed. Dynamic signage includes many techniques for allowing advertisements to be non-static, including rotating mechanical devices having multiple printed advertisements mounted thereto and utilizing electronic displays. In the case of using electronic displays, one technique has included playing video tapes, compact disks (CDs), digital video disks (DVDs), etc., of advertisements and/or content on an electronic display that is proximately located in relation to a product. Content is any and all information of any form, including, without limitation, images (still motion, and/or animated) and audio. Advertising is content related to products and/or services. Additionally, computers have been connected directly to monitors to display digitally stored advertisement data. More recently, larger, flat-panel electronic displays have allowed retailers to display advertisements with increased space savings and with better visual appeal.
However, conventional dynamic signage systems utilizing visual displays for advertising have several drawbacks. First, distributing and maintaining the content (e.g., advertising information on a large scale is difficult. Even in the case of having a single display, installing, updating, and servicing the advertisement data on the associated computer is time consuming and expensive from an equipment and manpower perspective. In the case of utilizing a computer server and local computer network to maintain and distribute the data from the computer server at a central location, distribution costs may be reduced, but higher equipment costs and maintenance fees are needed due to the more sophisticated hardware and software being utilized. These costs are generally beyond what retailers and out-of-home media entities, for example, are willing or able to afford as they are reluctant to purchase the equipment and hire staff to support the technology.
A second drawback includes the capitalization of the computer and electronic display equipment being significant. While the cost of this equipment has been reduced over the past few years, especially for computer equipment and flat panel displays, retailers have not fully embraced the technology due the capitalization costs—particularly from a balance sheet standpoint. In other words, retailers and other business establishments are cautious in purchasing and owning computing and electronic display equipment that will become outdated and negatively affect the balance sheet.
A third drawback is that large content datafiles for advertising or other purposes requires a high bandwidth communication network to communicate the datafiles. Because of the high bandwidth requirement, use of terrestrial broadband for communication of large datafiles to many distribution points presently is not a viable option due to communication fees and bandwidth limitations. Additionally, geographic coverage of the Internet is not sufficient in many rural areas that potential customers or users require. Other forms of terrestrial communication having insufficient bandwidth, such as cellular networks, cable, digital subscriber lines (DSL), and broadcasts are similarly problematic in terms of coverage areas and associated costs across the country and around the world. These communication limitations are magnified when distribution of the content is performed on a large scale basis.
A fourth drawback is that the electronic displays traditionally used by out-of-home establishments have been large (e.g., 36×48 inches) such that the electronic displays generally have been utilized to perform “brand messaging” or “bill boarding” for advertisers and retailers. One reason for the limited usage of the large electronic displays is due to the inability to place the large electronic displays at or near point-of-purchase displays. The placements include mounting the electronic displays to the walls and ceilings or on a pedestal that is free-standing on the floor. Such placements, again, provide for brand messaging, which may help to increase sales volume, but “impulse” purchasing, as understood in the art, may not be fully captured due to the electronic displays only being in the general vicinity of the products being advertised and not close enough to inspire consumers to readily purchase the product being advertised.
Further, the large electronic displays have typically been fixed or mounted to walls or other relatively immovable structures such that it is difficult for the retail establishment to easily relocate the electronic displays. And, because electronic displays are not easily moveable, advertisers are limited in being able to utilize the advertising technology as their products are unable to be relocated in proximity of one of the electronic displays. Also, because the electronic displays are limited in number and placed “where convenient”, specifying the location of the electronic display in relation to a store layout is generally not performed or performed at a very broad level (e.g., checkout counter), thereby being difficult or impossible for retailers to easily manage and sell to advertisers for advertising usage.
A fifth drawback includes the long-time common practice for advertisers to request “tearsheets” as understood in the art of advertisements printed in periodicals or other printed material. However, in the case of using electronic displays, advertisers are unable to receive true verification as to whether the content was actually displayed as requested both in terms of time and quality (e.g., color and intensity). While it may be possible to verify that the content was communicated to an electronic display, simply knowing that the content was communicated does not indicate truly whether the electronic display was properly operating (e.g., proper operation of the picture tube, proper color, proper brightness, existence of power, sound quality, etc.). Because of the lack of a “tearsheet” verification, advertisers are reluctant to engage in the use of electronic display technology for advertising at remote locations.
To address the bandwidth requirements for the large amounts of digital media content for advertisements and the insufficient geographic coverage presently existing with terrestrial networks, satellite networking has been utilized. The satellite network offers sufficient global reach necessary for the advertising industry, which is truly international in scope. One such satellite network is provided by Hughes Network Systems. Other satellite networks are available from Loral Space and Communications and Gilat Satellite Networks, to name a few. However, while communication technology has become available to solve the communication problems, the other drawbacks and issues (e.g., management, cost, verification, etc.) remain open issues that restrict technology usage and industry growth.