Patent Application
20170132664
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to providing advertisements. More specifically, the present invention relates to providing advertisements based on one or more different types of tickets.
Description of the Related Art
Advertisers currently have a variety of options for upselling event tickets. An advertiser may provide options such as better views, more comfortable seats, and food-related add-ons. A ticket purchaser may choose a more expensive ticket based on privileges included with the more expensive ticket.
It is difficult, however, to associate ticket types with coupons, upsell tickets using the associated coupons, and automatically apply the associated coupons when a ticketholder makes a corresponding purchase. It is difficult to apply different coupons to different ticketholders at a concession and change the availability of coupons during the course of an event.
There is a need in the art for improved systems and methods for enhancing audience sensory experience.
One exemplary method for upselling tickets describes receiving one or more advertisements at an advertisement database. The method also describes associating each of the one or more advertisements with one or more ticket types. The method also describes providing one or more associated advertisements to a user when the user selects a corresponding ticket type for purchase. The method also describes providing one or more discounts associated with the one or more advertisements at an event when a user provides ticket type information upon making a purchase at the event.
One exemplary system for upselling tickets provides an advertising database and a processor. Execution of instructions stored in the memory by the processor performs a set of operations. The operations include receiving one or more advertisements at the advertisement database. The operations also include associating each of the one or more advertisements with one or more ticket types. The operations also include providing one or more associated advertisements to a user when the user selects a corresponding ticket type for purchase. The operations also include providing one or more discounts associated with the one or more advertisements at an event when a user provides ticket type information upon making a purchase at the event.
One exemplary non-transitory computer-readable storage medium is also described, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having embodied thereon a program executable by a processor for upselling tickets. The exemplary program method describes receiving one or more advertisements at an advertisement database. The program method also describes associating each of the one or more advertisements with one or more ticket types. The program method also describes providing one or more associated advertisements to a user when the user selects a corresponding ticket type for purchase. The program method also describes providing one or more discounts associated with the one or more advertisements at an event when a user provides ticket type information upon making a purchase at the event.
The present invention includes systems and methods for upselling tickets. One or more advertisements may be provided to an advertiser database and associated with one or more ticket types. A user may see at least one of the one or more advertisements when the user selects an event ticket for purchase. The user may receive a discount associated with at least one of the one or more advertisements when the user arrives at the event and makes a purchase at the event. The one or more advertisements may be displayed at the event. One or more additional advertisements may be created for display, wherein the one or more additional advertisements are created in real-time for one or more concessions having a low rate of sale relative to one or more other concessions.
Ticket upselling may be done for entertainment or cultural events that are presented at a theatre, gymnasium, stadium, or other facility to a group of people. Such events include a wide variety of sporting events such as football (American and Global), baseball, basketball, soccer, ice hockey, lacrosse, rugby, cricket, tennis, track and field, golf, cycling, motor sports such as automobile or motorcycle racing, horse racing, Olympic games, and the like; cultural events such as concerts, music festivals, plays, the opera, and the like; religious events; and more permanent exhibitions such as museum, historic home, and the like. Names used for people and organizations are exemplary.
The third-party advertising network 102 may be a network of one or more third-party advertisers which provide advertisements to one or more ticket-holders. A user may buy or sell tickets online via the ticket network 104. The advertiser API 106 may be connected to the advertiser database 110. The reader API 108 may be connected to the ticket database 112. The advertiser database 110 may include one or more advertisements. The ticket database 112 may include ticket sale information for one or more tickets. For each of the one or more tickets, the ticket database 112 may also include associated transaction information, associated event information, associated purchase date information, associated purchase time information, associated ticket identification information, associated ticket type information, associated purchase amount information, associated coupon usage information, associated discount information, associated advertiser information, and associated ticket upsell app use information.
A stadium owner may operate the stadium upsell software 114. The stadium upsell software may allow an advertiser to provide one or more advertiser coupons to the advertiser database 110 using the advertiser API 106 and associate each of the one or more advertiser coupons to one or more tickets. The stadium upsell software may allow an operator to provide ticket type information to the advertiser database 110 using the advertiser API 106. The advertiser may also associate a coupon to one or more tickets based on ticket type.
The stadium upsell software may also allow a register to identify a ticket type by accessing information in the ticket network 104 when a ticketholder provides ticket information at the register, identify one or more coupons associated with the ticket by accessing the advertiser database 110, allow the ticketholder to use the one or more coupons, and notify a ticketholder regarding the use of one or more coupons, and update the ticket database 112 through the reader API 108 with information associated with the purchase.
The physical ticket 144 may be a ticket used for entrance to an event. The physical ticket 144 may include a date of the event and an identification of the seat purchased with the ticket. The physical ticket 144 may also include a barcode 156 and RFID 154.
When a ticketholder makes a purchase at one of the one or more registers 122, the ticketholder may provide ticket information using the physical ticket 144 or the ticket upsell app 164. The ticket information may include ticket type information, wherein a ticket type may be a bleacher seat ticket, a box seat ticket, or a standing room only ticket. The ticket information may be inputted to the register using a reader to read a barcode associated with the ticket. The ticket information may also be provided to the register using NFC or RFID. The ticket information may be inputted with the purchase information into the ticket database 112.
The one or more concessions 120 and the one or more point-of-sales 233 may provide to the rate software 245 data relating to the number of transactions occurring within a predetermined period of time. The one or more cameras 240 may provide to the rate software 245 data relating to the number of ticketholders in line for a given concession within a predetermined period of time. The rate software 245 may use data provided by the one or more concessions 120, the one or more point-of-sales 233, the one or more cameras 240, or combinations thereof to generate rate information for each of the one or more concessions 120 and each of the one or more point-of-sales 233. The rate software 245 may increase a rate associated with a concession when there is an increase in the number of sales within a given period of time. The rate software 245 may also increase a rate associated with a concession when there is an increase in the number of people in line for the concession within a given period of time.
The rate software 245 may provide rate information associated with each of the one or more concessions 120 and each of the one or more point-of-sales 233 to the stadium owners in-stadium software 250.
The stadium owners in-stadium advertisement software 250 may include a graphical user interface (GUI) 255. The GUI 255 may include an advertisement viewer 260, a display selection section 265, a concession location display 280, and a traffic rate display 285. The concession location display 280 may identify a concession with an identifier such as “L4.” The traffic rate display 285 may indicate a level of traffic for the corresponding concession. A GUI user may use the display selection section 265 to control where an advertisement displayed in the advertisement viewer 260 is displayed. The stadium owners in-stadium software 250 may deliver one or more advertisements to one or more billboards, one or more mobile devices, one or more point-of-sale billboards, or combinations thereof. The GUI user may see a low rate for concession L4, for example, and encourage ticket holders to go to L4 by creating an ad for L4.
The stadium owners in-stadium advertisement software 250 may include the GUI 255. The GUI 255 may include an advertisement viewer 260 and a display selection section 265. A GUI user may use the display selection section 265 to control where an advertisement displayed in the advertisement viewer 260 is displayed. The stadium owners in-stadium software 250 may deliver one or more advertisements to one or more billboards, one or more mobile devices, one or more point-of-sale billboards, or combinations thereof.
A first record in the ticket database table 402 may show, for example, a ticketholder with a ticket for a “box” seat identified as “12A” arrived at the venue at a time of 12:10 on a date of May 20, 2014. The first record may also show that there is no coupon and no advertiser associated with this record by not providing an entry for the deal column 420 and the advertiser column 422.
A second record may show, for example, a purchase of a flag for an amount of $11.00 at a time of 1:00 on a date of May 20, 2014, wherein a ticketholder with a ticket for a “box” seat identified as “12A” provided ticket information at a time associated with a “halftime” event. The second record may also show that a coupon was not used for the purchase with an entry of “no” in the use coupon column 418 for the associated record. The record may also show that the ticket holder used the app 164 for the purchase with an entry of “yes” in the use app column 424.
A seventh record may show, for example, a ticketholder applied to a purchase an advertisement provided by the stadium owner. The advertiser column 422 may include an entry of “owner” to show that the discount applied to the purchase was provided by the stadium owner. The event column 416 may show that the purchase coincided with the delivery of an advertisement from the stadium owner.
At block 515, the method may continue to block 520 when the ticketholder is using a ticket upsell app 164. The method 500 may include, at block 520, delivering through the ticket upsell app 164 one or more advertiser coupons associated with the ticketholder's ticket type. The method 500 may also include, at block, 520, delivering through the ticket upsell app 164 one or more advertisements associated with the ticketholder's ticket type. At block 525, the method may continue to block 530 when the ticketholder makes a purchase. The method may include, at block 530, receiving ticket information through the one or more registers 122. A register may obtain information from the mobile device 158. The register may obtain information through wireless means such as using the bar code 170, a radio-frequency identification (RFID) provided by the mobile device 158, or near field communication (NFC) through the mobile device 158. The method 500 may also include accessing the advertisement database 106 from a register to identify one or more advertiser coupons associated with the purchase. The method 500 may also include accessing the advertisement database 106 from a register to identify one or more advertisements associated with the purchase. The method 500 may also include notifying the ticketholder regarding one or more associated advertiser coupons through the ticket upsell app 164. The method 500 may also include notifying the ticketholder through the ticket upsell app 164 regarding one or more associated advertisements. The one or more associated coupons may be associated with the purchase and may be applied to the purchase through the ticket upsell app 164. The one or more associated advertisements may also be associated with the purchase and may be applied to the purchase through the ticket upsell app 164. The ticketholder may also be notified through the ticket upsell app 164 when one or more advertiser coupons are applied to a purchase. The ticketholder may also be notified through the ticket upsell app 164 when one or more advertisements are applied to a purchase. The method 500 may then return to block 525.
The method 500 may include, at block 540, delivering one or more advertiser coupons associated with one or more ticket types to the one or more registers 122. The method 500 may also include delivering one or more advertisements associated with one or more ticket types to the one or more registers 122. The one or more registers may be at one or more concessions. The one or more registers may also be at one or more merchandisers.
The method 500 may include, a block 545, delivering one or more advertiser coupons associated with one or more ticket types to the ticket database 112. The method 500 may also include delivering one or more advertisements associated with one or more ticket types to the ticket database 112.
At block 550, the method may continue to block 555 when the ticketholder makes a purchase. The method may include, at block 555, receiving ticket information through the one or more readers 124. A reader may read information from the physical ticket 144. The reader may read information by scanning the bar code 156 or the radio-frequency identification (RFID) on the physical ticket 144 of the ticketholder. The method 500 may include, at block 560, accessing the advertisement database 106 from a register to identify one or more advertiser coupons associated with the purchase. The method 500 may also include, at block 560, accessing the advertisement database 106 from a register to identify one or more advertisements associated with the purchase. At block 560, the method may continue to block 565 when one or more advertiser coupons are associated with the purchase. The method 500 may also continue to block 565 when one or more advertisements are associated with the purchase.
The method 500 may include, at block 565, providing the register with information regarding the one or more associated advertiser coupons. The method 500 may also include providing the register with information regarding the one or more associated advertisements. The one or more associated coupons may be associated with the purchase and may be applied to the purchase through the register. The one or more associated advertisements may also be associated with the purchase and may be applied to the purchase through the register. The ticketholder may also be notified when one or more coupons are applied to a purchase. The ticketholder may also be notified when one or more advertisements are applied to a purchase. The method 500 may then return to block 550.
The method 600 may optionally include, at block 630, displaying an advertisement for a concession or a point-of-sale on one or more point-of-sales, one or more billboards, one or more mobile devices, or combinations thereof.
The method 700 may include, at block 710, using the stadium upsell software 114 to allow a user to see one or more tickets and one or more advertiser coupons associated with each of the one or more tickets. The method may also include using the stadium upsell software 114 to allow a user to see one or more advertisements associated with each of the one or more tickets. The method 700 may also include using the stadium upsell software 114 to allow the user to purchase a ticket through the communication network 128. The method 700 may also include allowing the user to download the ticket upsell app 164 from the ticket upsell app download unit 116. The downloaded ticket upsell app 164 may provide access to the e-ticket 166 and one or more advertiser coupons associated with the ticket. The downloaded ticket upsell app 164 may also provide access to one or more advertisements associated with the ticket.
The method 700 may include, at block 715, allowing the one or more registers 122 to input purchase information to the ticket database 112 through the reader API 108. The method 700 may also include allowing the one or more registers 122 to acquire ticket information from the physical ticket 144 or the ticket upsell app 164. The method 700 may also allowing one or more associated advertiser coupons to apply to a purchase and applying the one or more associated advertiser coupons to the purchase. The method 700 may also allowing one or more associated advertisements to apply to a purchase and applying the one or more associated advertisements to the purchase. The method 700 may also include notifying the ticketholder regarding the applied discount via a receipt or via the mobile device. The method 700 may also include updating the ticket database 112 with purchase information via the stadium upsell software 114.
The method 800 may include, at block 835, inputting ticket information using the register, wherein the ticket information may include ticket type information for the corresponding ticket. The register may acquire ticket information for input by using the reader 124 to read the barcode 170, using NFC provided by the mobile device 158, or using RFID provided by the mobile device 158. The method 800 may include, at block 840, providing the one or more associated advertiser coupons to the ticketholder for use, wherein the ticketholder is notified when the one or more associated coupons are used. The method 800 may also include providing the one or more associated advertisements to the ticketholder for use, wherein the ticketholder is notified when the one or more associated coupons are used. The ticketholder may receive one or more additional advertisements associated with the notification.
The method 800 may include, at block 845, inputting ticket information using the register, wherein the ticket information may include ticket type information for the corresponding ticket. The register may acquire ticket information for input by using the reader 124 to read the barcode 170 or using RFID provided by the mobile device 158. The method 800 may include, at block 850, accessing the advertising database 110 using the stadium upsell software 114 to identify the one or more associated advertiser coupons. The stadium upsell software 114 may also be used to identify one or more associated advertisements. At block 855, the method 800 may continue to block 860 when the identified one or more coupons may be applied to the purchase. The method 800 may continue to block 860 when the identified one or more advertisements may be applied to the purchase. The method 800 may continue to block 865 when the one or more coupons may not be applied to the purchase. The method 800 may also continue to block 865 when the one or more advertisements may not be applied to the purchase. The method 800 may include, at block 860, applying the one or more associated advertiser coupons to the purchase, wherein the ticketholder is notified when the one or more associated coupons are used. The method 800 may also include applying the one or more associated advertisements to the purchase, wherein the ticketholder is notified when the one or more associated coupons are used. The ticketholder may receive one or more additional advertisements associated with the notification.
The method 800 may include, at block 865, updating the ticket database 112 with information associated with the purchase using the stadium upsell software 114. The information may indicate whether one or more coupons were used, a date of use, and a time of use. The information may also indicate whether one or more advertisements were used, a date of use, and a time of use.
The method 800 may optionally include, at block 870, allowing a stadium owner to create one or more advertisements in real-time based on ticket sale information and concession lines information, wherein one or more advertisements may be an advertisement for a particular concession.
The foregoing detailed description of the technology has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the technology to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The described embodiments were chosen in order to best explain the principles of the technology, its practical application, and to enable others skilled in the art to utilize the technology in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the technology be defined by the claim.
The present application is a national stage application and claims the priority benefit of PCT application number PCT/US15/42496 filed Jul. 28, 2015, which claims the priority benefit of U.S. provisional application No. 62/023,619 filed Jul. 11, 2014, U.S. provisional application number 62/029,641 filed Jul. 28, 2014 and U.S. provisional application No. 62/029,645 filed Jul. 28, 2014, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/US15/42496 | 7/28/2015 | WO | 00 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62023619 | Jul 2014 | US | |
| 62029641 | Jul 2014 | US | |
| 62029645 | Jul 2014 | US |
