WO2006081601A1

WO2006081601A1 - A distributed adaptive marketing arrangement

Info

Publication number: WO2006081601A1
Application number: PCT/AU2005/000143
Authority: WO
Inventors: William Freedman; Massimo Giovanni Andreaus; Glen Barkhan; Wayne Richards
Original assignee: Bevwizz Group Pty Ltd; Sydney Home Theatre Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2005-02-04
Filing date: 2005-02-04
Publication date: 2006-08-10

Abstract

A system (100) for delivering customised advertising information at each of a plurality of geographically distributed fridges (106) is disclosed. The system (100) comprises the fridges (106) connected to a network (104), each fridge comprising means for receiving customised advertising information over the network (104) means (128) for presenting the customised information, and means for communicating, to a central operation centre (101), information associated with said each fridge, the communications network (104), and the central operation centre (101) comprising means for receiving the information associated with said each fridge, means for generating the advertising information which is customised on a per fridge basis dependent upon the received information, and means for communicating the customised advertising information, on a per fridge basis, to the plurality of distributed fridges over the network (104).

Description

A DISTRIBUTED ADAPTIVE MARKETING ARRANGEMENT

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to advertising arrangements, and in particular, to advertising arrangements which adapt in accordance with feedback of various types.

Background

Product merchandising displays are typically found in convenience stores, milk bars, supermarkets, bottle shops, hotels, restaurants, clubs and other public places. These displays generally have a static advertising message, typically in the form of a decal applied to the surface of a refrigerator (referred to interchangeably as a "fridge"), or applied to an illuminated back-lit display. This advertising approach presents a static message, and in order to update the advertising, it is necessary to manually change the decal. This is clearly a cumbersome and labour-intensive process.

Summary Disclosed are arrangements, referred to as "distributed adaptive marketing" arrangements, which seek to address the above problems, by using a distributed advertising system, in which advertising displays that can be distributed over a wide geographic area are controlled from one or more central operation centres. The distributed advertising displays are integrated with devices such as refrigerators, and telemetry and user information is fed-back from the refrigerators to the central operation centre, which in turn modifies and customises the displayed advertising messages according to the feedback signals among other variables.

The devices which support the disclosed distributed adaptive marketing technique fall across a class of products colloquially known as white goods, and include refrigerators, vending machines, washing machines, food preparation stoves and ovens and the like. The devices in question have at least one physical input and at least one physical output, the physical output being used by the customer. Thus a store proprietor puts goods into a fridge and a customer takes the good out for purchase. Similarly, a customer puts dirty washing into a washing machine and takes dirty goods out. For ease of description only, such a device is generally referred to as a "goods machine". These goods machines often have embedded or associated computing devices, however the computing devices do not figure prominently in the fundamental operation of the goods machines. Thus, the fundamental function of a fridge is to cool food products, while the fundamental function of a washing machine is to wash clothes. Both the fridge and the washing machine may incorporate computing devices to provide enhanced control functions for users thereof, but in neither case is the computing device fundamental to the operation or function of the goods machines. This distinguishes goods machines from higher level computing devices such as personal computers (PCs) or Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) terminals, where the computing function in each instance is the primary role of the device. Although the disclosed distributed adaptive marketing approach can be used with a variety of goods machines, this specification is directed, for ease of explanation, to a particular example in which the goods machine is a glass fronted refrigerator. This is not intended to limit the applicability of the distributed adaptive marketing approach.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for delivering customised advertising information at each of a plurality of geographically distributed goods machines as defined herein, the system comprising: said plurality of goods machines being connected to a communications network, each said goods machine comprising: means for receiving customised advertising information over the network; means for presenting the customised advertising information; and means for communicating, to a central operation centre, information associated with said each device;

the communications network; and

said central operation centre connected to the network, the central operation

centre comprising:

means for receiving the information associated with said each goods

machine;

means for generating the advertising information being customised on a

per goods machine basis dependent upon the received information; and

means for communicating the customised advertising information, on a

per goods machine basis, to the plurality of distributed goods machines over the network.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a goods

machine for use in a system for delivering customised advertising information at a

plurality of geographically distributed goods machines, said goods machine being

connected to a communications network, wherein the system further comprises the

communications network and a central operation centre which is connected to the

network, wherein the central operation centre comprises means for receiving the

information associated with said each goods machine, means for generating, the

advertising information which is customised on a per goods machine basis dependent

upon the received information, and means for communicating the customised advertising

information on a per goods machine basis to the plurality of distributed goods machines

over the network; the goods machine comprising:

means for receiving customised advertising information over the network;

means for presenting the customised advertising information; and

means for communicating, to a central operation centre, information associated

with said goods machine. - A -

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a central operation centre for use in a system for delivering customised advertising information at each of a plurality of geographically distributed goods machines, the central operation centre and the plurality of goods machines being connected over a communication network, wherein each said goods machine comprises means for receiving customised advertising information over the network, means for presenting the customised advertising information, and means for communicating, to the central operation centre, information associated with said each goods machine; the central operation system comprising: means for receiving the information associated with said each goods machine; means for generating the advertising information being customised on a per goods machine basis dependent upon the received information; and means for communicating the customised advertising information, on a per goods machine basis, to the plurality of distributed goods machines over the network. According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of delivering customised advertising information at a plurality of geographically distributed goods machines connected to a central operation centre over a network, the goods machines comprising means for receiving customised advertising information over the network, means for presenting the customised advertising information, and means for communicating, to a central operation centre, information associated with said each goods machine; the method comprising the steps of: receiving the information associated with said each goods machine; generating the advertising information being customised dependent upon the received information; and communicating the customised advertising information on a per goods machine basis to the plurality of distributed goods machines over the network, to thereby deliver the advertising information.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for presenting customised advertising information at a geographically remote goods machine in a system for delivering, by a central operation centre, customised advertising information at each of a plurality of said geographically distributed goods machines, the central operation centre and the plurality of goods machines being connected over a communication network, the central operation centre comprising means for receiving information associated with said each goods machine, means for generating the advertising information which is customised on a per goods machine basis dependent upon the received information, and means for communicating the customised advertising information, on a per goods machine basis, to the plurality of said distributed goods machines over the network, the method comprising the steps of: receiving the customised advertising information over the network; presenting the customised advertising information; and communicating, to the central operation centre, information associated with said device.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer program product including a computer readable medium having recorded thereon a computer program for directing a processor to execute a method of delivering customised advertising information at a plurality of geographically distributed goods machines connected to a central operation centre over a network, the goods machines comprising means for receiving customised advertising information over the network, means for presenting the customised advertising information, and means for communicating, to a central operation centre, information associated with said each goods machine; the program comprising: code for receiving the information associated with said each goods machine; code for generating the advertising information being customised dependent upon the received information; and code for communicating the customised advertising information on a per goods machine basis to the plurality of distributed goods machines over the network, to thereby deliver the advertising information.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer program product including a computer readable medium having recorded thereon a computer program for directing a processor to execute a method for presenting customised advertising information at a geographically remote goods machine in a system for delivering, by a central operation centre, customised advertising information at each of a plurality of said geographically distributed goods machines, the central operation centre and the plurality of goods machines being connected over a communication network, the central operation centre comprising means for receiving information associated with said each goods machine, means for generating the advertising information which is customised on a per goods machine basis dependent upon the received information, and means for communicating the customised advertising information, on a per goods machine basis, to the plurality of said distributed goods machines over the network, the program comprising: code for receiving the customised advertising information over the network; code for presenting the customised advertising information; and code for communicating, to the central operation centre, information associated with said goods machine.

Other aspects of the invention are also disclosed. Brief Description of the Drawings

One or more embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings and appendices, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a functional block diagram of one example of a system using the distributed adaptive marking approach;

Fig. 2 is a schematic block diagram of an interconnected computer system upon which described methods for distributed adaptive marketing can be practiced Fig. 3 shows a plan view of the fridge in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a functional block diagram of the fridge of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 shows a state transition diagram for the distributed adaptive marketing system of Fig. 1 ;

Fig. 6 shows how the system of Fig. 1 adapts the advertising displayed by the refrigerators based upon various criteria;

Fig. 7 is an example of time-based advertising data, associated with a specific fridge, used in the system of Fig. 1;

Fig. 8 is an example of a state vector sent by the fridge to the central operations centre in Fig. 1;

Fig. 9 shows how advertising displayed on the fridge in Fig. 1 is adapted according to time and user behaviour feedback; and

Fig. 10 shows how the advertising information displayed by the distributed adaptive marketing system is updated.

Detailed Description including Best Mode

It is to be noted that the discussions contained in the "Background" section and that above relating to prior art arrangements relate to discussions of devices which may form public knowledge through their use. Such discussions should not be interpreted as a representation by the present inventor(s) or patent applicant(s) that such devices in any way form part of the common general knowledge in the art.

Where reference is made in any one or more of the accompanying drawings to steps and/or features, which have the same reference numerals, those steps and/or features have for the purposes of this description the same function(s) or operation(s), unless the contrary intention appears.

According to one business model, Company A owns and maintains the fridges (which support the distributed adaptive marketing capability) and rents the fridges at a monthly charge rate to food and beverage manufacturers. The technology for distributed adaptive marketing can also be retrofitted into fridges that are currently owned by such manufacturers at a one off charge per retrofit. The monthly rental cost for the fridge and technology is paid to Company A by the aforementioned food and beverage manufacturers.

Company A also owns, operates and maintains a central operation centre which acts as a control node for controlling the distributed fridges, and also as a communications node for communicating with the food and beverage manufacturers. The charges relating to the central operation centre are included in the monthly rental charges for the fridges.

Company A can also own, operate and maintain the communications infrastructure between the fridges and the central control centre, in which case the charges relating to the communications infrastructure are included in the monthly rental charges for the fridges. Alternately, Company B can own, operate and maintain the communications infrastructure between the fridges and the central control centre, in which case the charges from Company B to Company A relating to the communications infrastructure are either included in the monthly rental charges for the fridges or charged directly by Company B to the food and beverage manufacturers. Company A provides onsite service preventative maintenance of the Bridges, on a pay-per-service basis, and logistical operations relating to the movements of these fridges amongst retail outlets.

Company A can sell complementary brand advertising space on the LCD panel to the aforementioned food and beverage manufacturers, and/or can sell brand advertising space to third parties.

Fig. 1 shows a functional block diagram of one example 100 of the disclosed distributed adaptive marking arrangement. A central operation centre 101, which includes a database stored in a memory 102, is connected, as depicted by 103, to a communication network 104. The database 127 stores information relating to advertising, fridges (eg 106) and their attributes (eg identification number, location etc.), and other system information. A remotely located refrigerator 106 is connected, as depicted by 105, to the network 104, and accordingly, the central operation centre 101 can both control the fridge 106 and receive feedback signals from the fridge 106. Selected customers can be provided with limited monitoring and control functionality over the fridges such as 106 via client management consoles 123.

The fridge 106 is typically leased to customers, and fridges which are controlled by the central operation centre 101 can be distributed over a wide, even national geographic area. The fridge 106 has glass doors 109 through which merchandise positioned on adjustable display shelves 110 can clearly been seen. The fridge 106 has an internal processor (see 1005 in Fig. 3) and associated electronic sub-systems enabling the various components in the fridge 106 to be operated.

The refrigerator 106 has a header panel 116 which incorporates a display 107 that is typically implemented using liquid crystal display (LCD) technology. Other display technologies can, however, also be used. A door switch 108 provides an indication of when the glass doors 109 are opened or closed, and an electrically operated door lock arrangement 111 can lock one or both of the glass doors 109.

A card swipe reader 126 is used by service technicians who swipe an identification card through the reader 126 in order to obtain access to serviceable components and subsystems in the refrigerator 106. Alternately, the swipe reader 126 can be replaced with a biometric finger print scanner, and the technician can press his or her finger on the scanner to gain access to serviceable components and subsystems in the refrigerator 106. The technician can use a touch sensitive panel 128 or a wireless remote control module 124 to report equipment failures to, and to order spare parts from, the central operation centre 101. A remote camera 118 is positioned in a nearby location, the camera 118 having a field of view (FOV) encompassing the refrigerator 106 and the merchandise that is visible through the glass doors 109. The camera 118 typically communicates with the processor 1109 in the fridge 106 using wireless communication depicted by a dashed line 117 to a sensor 125. An audio speaker 121 is located in the header panel 116, and can be used to provide music and/or advertising or other messages to people in the vicinity of the refrigerator 106. The wireless remote control and monitoring module 124 can be used to monitor fridge attributes and access control function of the refrigerator 106. The sensor 125 for the wireless remote control 124 is located in the header panel 116. The sensor 125 also receives wireless communications from the camera 118. The remote control 124 can, in an alternate arrangement, communicate using a wired connection to a suitable port (not shown) on the fridge 106.

The remote camera 118 can capture a view 120 of the merchandise displayed in the fridge 106. The view 120 can also extend to the entire refrigerator, if this is desirable for security purposes. The central operations centre 101 can control a large number of refrigerators, these being depicted by 106, 114 and 115. The identification cards used by the technician when accessing serviceable items in the fridge 106 using the service card swipe reader 126 can be of various types, including magnetic strip, smartcards or other such devices. Alternately, the card swipe reader 126 can be replaced by a wireless receiver, with which a secure remote key fob transmitter can be used in order to provide access to the technician.

The advertising display 107 can be integrated with the touch panel overlay 128, and users of the fridge 106 and/or the owner or proprietor of the store in which the fridge 106 is located, can use this touch panel 128 to provide feedback to the central operation centre 101. This capability can be used by the store proprietor, to perform order entry, on-line banking transactions, or to enter fault information relating to the refrigerator 106, or to other unrelated store issues such as air-conditioning and plumbing.

As noted, a special purpose computer module including a processor, interface modules, and memory is incorporated into the refrigerator 106 in order to control and/or receive input signals from at least the audio speaker 121, the advertising display 107, the door switch 108, the door lock 111, the card swipe reader 126, and the sensor 125 for the wireless remote control 124.

The central operation centre 101 accumulates data in the database 127 relating to advertising information, system component performance and so on. The central operation centre 101 thus can develop and generate reports based upon this data either for operational or business reasons.

Fig. 2 is a schematic block diagram of an interconnected computer system 900 upon which described methods for distributed adaptive marketing can be practiced. The central operation centre 101 is shown in detail. The fridge 106 is depicted as having an associated processor 1005, and a memory 924 in which runs a fridge-specific distributed adaptive marketing software application 923. The client management console 123 is depicted as having an associated processor 925, and a memory 927 in which runs a console-specific distributed adaptive marketing software application 926.

The method of distributed adaptive marketing lends itself to implementation on the system 900 of interconnected computers, wherein the processes of Figs. 5-6 and 7-11 may be implemented as software, such as the application programs 922, 923 and 926 executing within the corresponding devices 101, 106 and 123. In particular, the steps of method of distributed adaptive marketing are effected by instructions in the software that are carried out by the computers in the devices 101, 106 and 123. The instructions may be formed as one or more code modules (such as 922, 923, 926), each for performing one or more particular tasks. Each such software module (such as 922, 923, 926) may also be divided into two separate parts, in which a first part performs the distributed adaptive marketing methods and a second part manages a user interface between the first part and the user. The software may be stored in computer readable media, including the storage devices described below, for example. The software is loaded into the computers from the computer readable media, and then executed by the computers. A computer readable medium having such software or computer program recorded on it is a computer program product. The use of the computer program product in the computer preferably effects an advantageous apparatus for distributed adaptive marketing.

The central operation centre 101 comprises input devices such as a keyboard 902 and mouse 903, output devices including a printer 915, a display device 914 and loudspeakers 917. A Modulator-Demodulator (Modem) transceiver device 916 is used by the central operation centre 101 for communicating to and from the fridge 106 and the client console 123 over the communications network 104, for example connectable via a telephone line 921 or other functional medium. The modem 916 can be used to obtain access to the Internet, and other network systems, such as a Local Area Network (LAN) or a Wide Area Network (WAN), and may be incorporated into the central operation centre 101 in some implementations.

The central operation centre 101 typically includes at least one processor unit 905, and a memory unit 906, for example formed from semiconductor random access memory (RAM) and read only memory (ROM). The central operation centre 101 also includes an number of input/output (I/O) interfaces including an audio-video interface 907 that couples to the video display 914 and loudspeakers 917, an I/O interface 913 for the keyboard 902 and mouse 903 and optionally a joystick (not illustrated), and an interface 908 for the modem 916 and printer 915. In some implementations, the modem 916 may be incorporated within the central operation centre 101, for example within the interface 908. A storage device 909 is provided and typically includes a hard disk drive 910 and a floppy disk drive 911. The database 127 of Fig. 1 is located, in the example shown, in the hard disk 102. A magnetic tape drive (not illustrated) may also be used. A CD-ROM drive 912 is typically provided as a non- volatile source of data. The components 905 to 913 of the central operation centre 101, typically communicate via an interconnected bus 904 and in a manner which results in a conventional mode of operation of the computer system 900 known to those in the relevant art. Examples of computers on which the described arrangements can be practised include IBM-PC's and compatibles, Sun Sparcstations or alike computer systems evolved therefrom.

Typically, the distributed adaptive marketing application programs 922, 923, 926 are resident on the respective hard disk drives and read and controlled in their execution by the respective processors 905, 1005 and 925. Having regard to the central operation centre 101, intermediate storage of the program 922 and any data fetched from the network 104 may be accomplished using the semiconductor memory 906, possibly in concert with the hard disk drive 910. In some instances, the application programs such as 922 may be supplied to the user encoded on a CD-ROM or floppy disk and read via the corresponding drive 912 or 911, or alternatively may be read by the user from the network 104 via the modem device 916. Still further, the software can also be loaded into the computer system 900 from other computer readable media. The term "computer readable medium" as used herein refers to any storage or transmission medium that participates in providing instructions and/or data to the computer system 900 for execution and/or processing. Examples of storage media include floppy disks, magnetic tape, CD-ROM, a hard disk drive, a ROM or integrated circuit, a magneto-optical disk, or a computer readable card such as a PCMCIA card and the like, whether or not such devices are internal or external of the central operation centre 101. Examples of transmission media include radio or infra-red transmission channels as well as a network connection to another computer or networked device, and the Internet or Intranets including e-mail transmissions and information recorded on Websites and the like.

Fig. 3 shows a plan view of the fridge in Fig. 1. A thermal barrier 1002 is used to insulate and separate the embedded computer 1005, the advertising display 107, a power supply 1003, and an inverter 1004 that is used to power the advertising display 107, from the refrigeration system 1001 which is, in the present example, "top-mounted" on the refrigerator 106 directly behind the header panel 116.

Fig. 4 is a functional block diagram of the fridge of Fig. 1. The embedded computer 1005 shown in Fig. 3 comprises a processor 1109 that is powered by the power supply 1003, this typically being fed with "mains" power from the local supply. The processor 1109 also has a backup battery 1110 which serves to preserve important information in the computer 1005 during power or software failures. The system 100 (see Fig. 1) can typically auto-restart after a power failure, resetting all necessary system parameters without needing human intervention. The processor 1109 can communicate with the central operation centre 101 via the connection 105. The processor 1109 controls the advertising display 107 and the associated backlight 1111 (in the event that the advertising display 107 uses LCD technology) using an inverter 1112. The remote control 124 and/or the touch sensitive panel overlay 128 can provide user input signals to the processor 1109. A global positioning system (GPS) tracking device 1113 can be integrated into the refrigerator 106 and connected to the processor 1109. This enables the location of the fridge 106 to be tracked by the central operation centre 101.

A number of input devices are depicted on the left hand side of Fig. 4. These include the service card reader 126, the door switch, 108, and temperature sensors for the external environment in which the fridge is situated, and for the internal temperature inside the fridge compartment (1101 and 1102 respectively). The input devices also include the remote camera 118, and a humidity sensor 1103 which can be used to determine if and when a glass demister 1119 should be activated in order to prevent mist condensing on the inside of the glass doors 109. The input devices also include a compressor fault sensor 1104 to monitor operation of the compressor, and a condensation alarm sensor 1105 to monitor condensation level. A faulty light alarm sensor 1106 which activates if lighting on the glass door 109 is inactive, a high pressure alarm sensor 1107 which monitors system pressure and activates if the pressure exceeds safety parameters, and a fan current sensor 1108 which monitors load on the fans and activates an alarm if the levels are above pre-set levels also provide input signals to the processor 1109.

All the aforementioned input devices are shown using a common bus 1121 to connect to the processor 1109. Other methods of connection, including individual connections to each of the aforementioned input devices can also be used.

The processor 1109 controls a number of output devices, these being shown on the right hand side of Fig. 4. These output devices include the door locks 111, one or more internal lights 1114 in the fridge compartment, a fridge compressor 1115, a number of fans used by the refrigerator 1116-1118, the glass demister 1119, and a defrost mechanism 1120 used to periodically defrost the refrigerator 106.

Fig. 5 shows a state transition diagram for the distributed adaptive marketing system of Fig. 1. The central operation centre 101 receives, either periodically, continuously or on an interrupt-basis, fridge state information and information captured by the camera 118, this communication being designated by a reference numeral 201, from the fridge 106. The central operation centre 101 sends advertising information 203 to the fridge 106 and also sends fridge and camera control signals 204 to the fridge 106. The remote camera 118 captures an image 206 of the fridge 106 and/or the fridge display, and sends a captured representation 202 of the image 206 to the fridge 106. The captured representation 202 can be sent by the fridge to the central operation centre 101 via 201. The central operation centre 101 is able to send control signals via 204 and 205 to the remote camera 118 in order, for example, to control pan-tilt-zoom parameters and other camera parameters such as aperture. The fridge 106 projects 207 advertising information into the locale in which the fridge 106 is located, thus displaying the advertising information to customers in the vicinity of the fridge 106.

In operation, the central operation centre 101 periodically downloads the advertising information 203 to the refrigerator 106 for display on the advertising display 107. The advertising information 203 can, if desired, be temporarily stored in a memory in the refrigerator 106, or alternately, can be provided on a continual basis from the central operation centre 101.

The fridge state information 201 sent by the fridge 106 to the central operation centre 101 includes both environmental parameters (such as the temperature in the location in which the refrigerator 106 is located), equipment telemetry signals (such as the current being drawn by the fan 1116, or the state of the door switch 108), and user- generated information provided via the touch sensitive panel 128 and/or the remote control 124.

The central operation centre 101 can amend the advertising information 203 on the basis of the aforementioned fridge state information 201 using, for example, fuzzy or programmed logic, based upon time or frequency of door operation. Thus, for example, if the fridge state information 201 indicates that it is a particularly hot day in the location where the fridge 106 is located, then the central operation centre 101 can, for example, increase the frequency of advertising of a particular soft drink, beverage or beer, and/or can offer special merchandising deals for one or more products. The central operation centre 101 can also, if desired, announce special deals via the advertising display 107 and the audio speaker 121. This can advise customers in the vicinity of the fridge 106 that they can obtain a free cold beer if they are prepared to enter an answer to a simple merchandising question via the touch sensitive panel 128.

This closed-loop information flow between the refrigerator 106 and the central operation centre 101 provides an extremely responsive, and finely targeted, advertising capability. The ability to sense local environmental conditions, and to correlate this information with other local information such as the occurrence of local sports events, enable the disclosed distributed adaptive marketing system to present precisely targeted advertising as appropriate. The central operation centre 101 is also able to exert fine control over the refrigerator 106 via the feedback received via the fridge state signal 201 and via the consequent fridge control signals 204. Thus, for example, during business hours if the humidity sensor 1103 indicates an imminent precipitation condition for the fridge 106, then the central operation centre 101 is able to direct the glass demister 1119 to prevent condensation forming on the glass doors 109, which would otherwise obscure the merchandise in the fridge. If, on the other hand, these condensation conditions are detected on a public holiday when the store in which the fridge 106 is standing is closed, then the central operation centre 101 is able to shut down all non-essential functions in the fridge 106, thereby conserving power.

Another extremely important feedback signal from the refrigerator 106 to the central operation centre 101 is the captured images 202 of the fridge contents, as captured by the remote camera 118 or by another equivalent device (such as on-shelf sensing devices combined with automatic barcode readers etc.).

As previously noted, the refrigerator 106 can, according to certain business arrangements, be leased to a store by Company A, or by one of the food and beverage manufacturers, to a retail store on the condition that the proprietor of the retail store stocks the refrigerator in a certain manner defined by a Plannogram defined by the food and beverage manufacturer. However, the store proprietor may either inadvertently or deliberately deviate from the Plannogram. In addition, through the course of a business day, customers may re-arrange merchandise in the refrigerator 106 by taking out some items, and then replacing them in a different place. From an advertising perspective, rearrangement of the merchandise in the fridge is an extremely important merchandising variable, and deviation from the pre-defined plannogram constitutes a reduction in the effectiveness of the advertising message being paid for. The food and beverage manufacturer uses the plannogram configuration as part of the overall marketing mix, and to maintain consistency of in-store standards

The distributed adaptive marketing arrangement provides a continuous real-time view via the captured images 202 to the central operation centre 101 of the correspondence, or lack thereof, between the pre-defined plannogram and the arrangement of the merchandise on the shelves 110 of the fridge 106. Depending on the nature of the deviation from the Plannogram, the central operation centre 101 can send an alert signal to the store proprietor via the fridge control path 204, thereby presenting an alert via the audio speaker 121 and/or the advertising display 107. Alternately, if the deviation is taking place on a more systematic basis, the store proprietor may be warned in writing to cease deviating from the plannogram or face removal of the fridge 106 from his or her premises. Fig. 6 shows how the central operation centre 101 in Fig. 1 (a) adapts the advertising displayed by the refrigerator 106 and/or (b) controls the operation of the refrigerator 106 depending upon various feedback criteria. In the example shown, the process 300 has two concurrent testing steps relating to time-triggered control processes, and control processes triggered by changes in the fridge state 201 (see Fig. 5). A step 301 determines if a time-based trigger point has been reached. Time- based triggered points may include, for example, pre-defined policy decisions to change advertising content once a week. Other time-based trigger events can be related to business hours, public holidays and so on. If the step 301 determines that a time-based trigger event has not occurred, then the process 300 follows a NO arrow, in a looping fashion, back to the step 301. If a time-based trigger event has occurred, then the process 300 follows a YES arrow to a step 303.

A concurrently operating testing step 302 determines if a change in the refrigerator state 201 (see Fig. 5) has been detected. If this is not the case, then the process 300 follows a NO arrow back to the step 302 in a looping fashion. If, on the other hand, a change in the fridge state 201 has been detected, then the process 300 follows a YES arrow to the step 303.

If it is a time-based trigger event detected by the step 301 that has been detected by the process 300, then the step 303 uses a predefined algorithm, or looks up a predefined table or set of rules, in order to determine how to control the refrigerator 106. Thus, for example, if lunch time in the location where the fridge 106 is situated has arrived (this being a time-based trigger event), then the lookup table referred to in the step 303 may indicate that advertising information via 203 (see Fig. 5) should be displayed on the advertising display 107 in order to advertise a particular brand of beverage. Alternately, if it is a fridge-state variable change detected by the step 302 that has been detected by the system 300, then the step 303 may, for example, activate the glass demister 119 due to detection by the humidity sensor 1103 of an imminent condensation condition.

Dependent upon the determination made by the step 303, a following step 304 sends the appropriate advertising information 203 or fridge control signals 204 to the refrigerator 106, after which the process 300 follows an arrow 305 back to the steps 301 and 302.

Fig. 7 is an example of time-based advertising data, associated with the specific fridge 106, used in the system of Fig. 1. The table 600 has three columns, entitled "Location", "Time" and "Product Advertised" (see the reference numeral 601). The "Location" column refers to the geographic location in which the fridge 106 in question is located. Company A together with the relevant food and beverage customers determine demographic protocols that determine what type of outlets should receive the fridges supporting the distributed adaptive marketing technology, and what type of products should be promoted using this technology at those outlets. For example, having regard to the table record depicted by a reference numeral 602, a Location designated "17" may refer to a location in the Perth Central Business District (CBD), and in particular, to a location in the downtown area on the corners of Smith Street and Jones Street. A corresponding entry in the Time column refers to a time period between 10.00am and 10.30am. A corresponding Product to be Advertised is "iced coffee brand 4", this referring to a particular of iced coffee. The record 602 defines a time-based criterion used by the step 301 in Fig. 6, whereby when the time in Perth reaches 10:00AM, the step 301 will detect a time-based trigger event defined by the record 602 in Fig. 7, the step 303 will extract the aforementioned record 602, and the step 304 will send the advertising information in the Product to be Advertised column to the fridge 106 according to 203 in Fig. 5. Other time-driven advertising events are set out at 603, 604 and 605. The table record 604 refers to lunch time, and this record will be referred to in regard to Fig. 9. Fig. 8 is an example of a state vector 700 sent by the fridge 106 to the central operations centre 101 in Fig. 1. The fridge state vector 700 in Fig. 8 has two columns. The first column, whose first entry at 708 is "Fridge ID" contains labels for various attributes and/or parameters associated with fridge number "72" (see reference numeral 709). Considering 701, the "Location" of fridge no. 72 is the city of Perth, and more particularly, at a location defined by "map 48, grid A17" in a pre-defined street directory (not shown). Considering 710, a "time-stamp" for the fridge state vector 700 is 3:05:27 AM. Considering 702, the variable "temp 2", referring to the external environmental

temperature in which the fridge number 72 is located, is 36°C. Turning to 703, the fan

current sensed by the fan current sensor 1108 (see Fig. 4) is 1.2 A. Considering 704, the state of the door switch 108 is "door open". Turning to 705, the "captured image of fridge display view" is depicted as "data" which refers to the fact that the fridge state vector 700 contains, in the noted "data" field at 705, image data, typically coded using a standard digital format. Turning to 706, the "service swipe" state is "inactive", indicating that a service technician has not, at 3:05:27AM, sought access to the fridge 106 by using the card swipe reader 126. Considering 707, the "touch screen" is associated with "data", indicating that the fridge state vector 700 contains data that has been generated via user inputs to the touch sensitive panel 128. State vectors such as 700 for fridge number 72 are sent from the refrigerators in the system 100 of Fig. 1 on a periodic basis, or alternately, can be sent on an interrupt basis when particular events, either time-triggered or parameter-triggered occur. Fig. 9 shows one example of a process 400 showing how advertising displayed on the fridge 106 in Fig. 1 is adapted according to time and user behaviour feedback. The process 400 commences with a testing step 401 in which the central operation centre 101 determines if lunch time has arrived at the location associated with the fridge 106. This would be determined by the central control centre 101 consulting a real time system clock (not shown) to determine the time, and referring to the data table in Fig. 7. If lunch time has not arrived (ie if the time according to the real-time system clock does not match the defined time of 13:00 - 14:00 at 604), then the process 400 follows a NO arrow back to the step 401 in a looping fashion. If, on the other hand, lunch time has arrived, then the process follows a YES arrow to a step 402 that determines, using the fridge state vector information 704 (see Fig. 8) to determine if fridge traffic falls within a predetermined band referred to as "band 1". The term "fridge traffic" refers to the rate at which the glass doors 109 of the fridge 106 are opened and closed, as detected by the door switch 108. The term "band 1" is defined, in a relevant table (not shown), to be a frequency lying between "0 openings per minute" to "5 openings per minute". If the fridge traffic falls within band 1, then the process follows a YES arrow from the step 402 to a step 403. The step 403 sends advertising information beer brand 1 as defined at 604 in Fig. 7 to the fridge 106 for display on the advertising display 107. The process 400 is then directed from the step 403 back to the step 401. Returning to the step 402, if fridge traffic does not fall in the noted band 1, then the process 400 follows a NO arrow to the step 404. The step 404 determines whether the fridge traffic falls within a preset frequency band referred to as "band 2" ("5 openings per minute" to "10 openings per minute"). If this is the case, then the process 400 follows a YES arrow to a step 405 which sends advertising information to the fridge 106, this information being defined as "beer brand 2". The process 400 is then directed back to the step 401. Returning to the step 404, if fridge traffic does not fall in band 2, then the process 400 is directed by a NO arrow back to the step 401 in a loop fashion. The process in 400 thus depicts which advertising information is displayed on the advertising display 104 for the fridge 106 at "lunch time" depending on the frequency of fridge traffic, this indicating how often people access the fridge doors 109. Fig. 10 shows how the advertising information displayed by the distributed adaptive marketing system 100 is updated. The process 500 commences with a step 501 which determines if an advertising updating trigger has been received. This updating trigger may be defined by the central operation centre 101 to occur on a periodic basis (eg., once a week), or alternately, the advertising information for the system 100 may be updated manually by a human operator via the keyboard 902 in Fig. 2. If the updating trigger has not yet been received, then the process 500 follows a NO arrow back to the step 501 in a looping fashion. If, on the other hand, the updating trigger has been received, then the process 500 follows a YES arrow from a step 501 to a step 502. The step 502 updated advertising rules and tables. These rules and tables may be updated using other pre-defined rules and tables, or may be updated according to manual information.

It is noted that the disclosed distributed adaptive marketing system can fulfil other needs. Thus, for example, the disclosed system can also provide security benefits by, for example, determining measuring if and when fridge doors are opened after hours, and correlating this information with camera images of the fridge. The arrangement can also sound an alarm if, for example, a fridge door is opened out of hours. The ongoing monitoring and logging functions of the disclosed distributed adaptive advertising platform also enable comprehensive preventive maintenance to be performed. Occupational health and safety issues can also be prevented or alleviated. Thus, for example, prevention of condensate spillage onto the floor by timely operation of the glass demister 1119 (see Fig. 4) can avoid costly occupational health and safety claims. The aforementioned preferred method(s) comprise a particular control flow. There are many other variants of the preferred method(s) which use different control flows without departing the spirit or scope of the invention. Furthermore one or more of the steps of the preferred method(s) may be performed in parallel rather sequential. Industrial Applicability

It is apparent from the above that the arrangements described are applicable to the marketing and merchandising industries.

The foregoing describes only some embodiments of the present invention, and modifications and/or changes can be made thereto without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention, the embodiments being illustrative and not restrictive.

Thus, for example, the arrangement 100 in Fig. 1 can include an additional camera or other device/s to identify or classify customers (according to weight, height, gender, race, age) using either biometric information (such as can be obtained using a camera and face recognition technology) or any other type of sensor available, for the purposes of providing marketing feedback to brand manufacturers in understanding consumer behaviour. This can be used to refine targeted advertising or product stocking information as it allows smarter decision making in regard to the type of advertising and promotions to be presented.

Furthermore, the information fed back from the fridge to the central operation centre can utilise load sensors on each shelf of the fridge which, when correlated to images received from the remote camera(s) can be used to ascertain roughly how much of which product in which fridge is being sold during which time period. This enables even finer customisation of advertising and re-stocking information to be determined for the fridge.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A system for delivering customised advertising information at each of a plurality of geographically distributed goods machines as defined herein, the system comprising: said plurality of goods machines being connected to a communications network, each said goods machine comprising: means for receiving customised advertising information over the network; means for presenting the customised advertising information; and means for communicating, to a central operation centre, information associated with said each device; the communications network; and said central operation centre connected to the network, the central operation centre comprising: means for receiving the information associated with said each goods machine; means for generating the advertising information being customised on a per goods machine basis dependent upon the received information; and means for communicating the customised advertising information, on a per goods machine basis, to the plurality of distributed goods machines over the network.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the goods machines are refrigerators adapted to display the merchandise contained therein.

3. The system according to claim 2, wherein the information associated with each refrigerator is dependent upon operation of a sub-system of the refrigerator.

4. The system according to claim 3, wherein the sub-system is selected from the group consisting of: a door switch; a service card reader; an access security sensor; a touch sensitive panel; a temperature sensor; a camera capturing images of the merchandise stored in the refrigerator; a humidity sensor; and a compressor monitor.

5. A system according to claim 4, wherein: said central operation centre further comprises in regard to a said refrigerator: means for generating, dependent upon the received information, control information for the refrigerator; and means for communicating the control information to the refrigerator over the network; and wherein said refrigerator further comprises: means for receiving the control information over the network; and means for using the received control information to control the refrigerator.

6. A goods machine for use in a system for delivering customised advertising information at a plurality of geographically distributed goods machines, said goods machine being connected to a communications network, wherein the system further comprises the communications network and a central operation centre which is connected to the network, wherein the central operation centre comprises means for receiving the information associated with said each goods machine, means for generating, the advertising information which is customised on a per goods machine basis dependent upon the received information, and means for communicating the customised advertising information on a per goods machine basis to the plurality of distributed goods machines over the network; the goods machine comprising: means for receiving customised advertising information over the network; means for presenting the customised advertising information; and means for communicating, to a central operation centre, information associated with said goods machine.

7. A goods machine according to claim 6, the goods machine being a display fridge, wherein the information associated with the fridge is dependent upon operation of a sub-system of the fridge, the sub-system selected from the group consisting of: a door switch; a service card reader; an access security sensor; a touch sensitive panel; a temperature sensor; a camera capturing images of the merchandise stored in the refrigerator; a humidity sensor; and a compressor monitor.

8. A central operation centre for use in a system for delivering customised advertising information at each of a plurality of geographically distributed goods machines, the central operation centre and the plurality of goods machines being connected over a communication network, wherein each said goods machine comprises means for receiving customised advertising information over the network, means for presenting the customised advertising information, and means for communicating, to the central operation centre, information associated with said each goods machine; the central operation system comprising: means for receiving the information associated with said each goods machine; means for generating the advertising information being customised on a per goods machine basis dependent upon the received information; and means for communicating the customised advertising information, on a per goods machine basis, to the plurality of distributed goods machines over the network.

9. A central operation centre according to claim 8, wherein the goods machines are display fridges.

10. A method of delivering customised advertising information at a plurality of geographically distributed goods machines connected to a central operation centre over a network, the goods machines comprising means for receiving customised advertising information over the network, means for presenting the customised advertising information, and means for communicating, to a central operation centre, information associated with said each goods machine; the method comprising the steps of: receiving the information associated with said each goods machine; generating the advertising information being customised dependent upon the received information; and communicating the customised advertising information on a per goods machine basis to the plurality of distributed goods machines over the network, to thereby deliver the advertising information.

11. A method according to claim 10, wherein the goods machines are display fridges.

12. A method for presenting customised advertising information at a geographically remote goods machine in a system for delivering, by a central operation centre, customised advertising information at each of a plurality of said geographically distributed goods machines, the central operation centre and the plurality of goods machines being connected over a communication network, the central operation centre comprising means for receiving information associated with said each goods machine, means for generating the advertising information which is customised on a per goods machine basis dependent upon the received information, and means for communicating the customised advertising information, on a per goods machine basis, to the plurality of said distributed goods machines over the network, the method comprising the steps of: receiving the customised advertising information over the network; presenting the customised advertising information; and communicating, to the central operation centre, information associated with said device.

13. A method according to claim 12, wherein the goods machines are display fridges.

14. A computer program product including a computer readable medium having recorded thereon a computer program for directing a processor to execute a method of delivering customised advertising information at a plurality of geographically distributed goods machines comiected to a central operation centre over a network, the goods machines comprising means for receiving customised advertising information over the network, means for presenting the customised advertising information, and means for communicating, to a central operation centre, information associated with said each goods machine; the program comprising: code for receiving the information associated with said each goods machine; code for generating the advertising information being customised dependent upon the received information; and code for communicating the customised advertising information on a per goods machine basis to the plurality of distributed goods machines over the network, to thereby deliver the advertising information.

15. A computer program product including a computer readable medium having recorded thereon a computer program for directing a processor to execute a method for presenting customised advertising information at a geographically remote goods machine in a system for delivering, by a central operation centre, customised advertising information at each of a plurality of said geographically distributed goods machines, the central operation centre and the plurality of goods machines being connected over a communication network, the central operation centre comprising means for receiving information associated with said each goods machine, means for generating the advertising information which is customised on a per goods machine basis dependent upon the received information, and means for communicating the customised advertising information, on a per goods machine basis, to the plurality of said distributed goods machines over the network, the program comprising: code for receiving the customised advertising information over the network; code for presenting the customised advertising information; and code for communicating, to the central operation centre, information associated with said goods machine.