text:
|Publication number
|Publication type
|Application number
|Publication date
|Nov 15, 2005
|Filing date
|Oct 18, 1999
|Priority date
|Oct 18, 1999
|Fee status
|Also published as
|Publication number
|Doron Friedman, Ajay Singhvi, Brian J. Huse
|Original Assignee
|Export Citation
|BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan
|Patent Citations (20), Non-Patent Citations (1), Referenced by (37), Classifications (22), Legal Events (8)
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet
This invention relates to an electronic commerce, in general, and, more specifically, a system for selecting, customizing and coordinating delivery of greeting cards with gifts purchased over computer networks.
The World Wide Web and Internet, in general, have created a completely new venue in which to obtain information, purchase goods and services, and interact with other network users. Accordingly, many sources of products and services have established web sites containing information about products, services and available information. A number of commercially available software applications, e.g. web browsers, executable on a conventional computer architecture enable users to connect to the Internet and provide a graphic user interface and appropriate functionality for locating and exploring "websites". Examples of such commercially available browsers include Netscape Navigator, commercially available from America On Line, Inc., or Internet Explorer, commercially available from Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Wash. Websites typically comprise a server operatively coupled to the Internet, the server having one or more "pages" which may be explored by a user using the web browser application.
Using a web browser, computer shoppers have the ability to access and purchase products and services from far reaching locations, including international locations. In order to purchase a product, the shopper accesses the web site server of a vendor, selects a product, provides payment, typically in the form of credit card information, and provides delivery instructions to the vendor.
The purchase of goods and services over the Internet, referred to hereafter as, "eCommerce", has become very popular recently. In many instances, eCommerce vendors try to emulate normal retail commerce with varying degrees of success. For example, gift-buying via eCommerce has failed to emulate normal retail commerce as a result of its inherent lack of personalization. In the real world, when giving a gift, a person typically purchases a product as a gift. In addition, the person may purchase a card to help express his or her thoughts about the gift or the occasion. Such cards usually contain personal, handwritten messages and are packaged along with the gift for simultaneous presentation to the recipient.
It is possible to purchase products or services as gifts from the websites of eCommerce vendors and have them sent to a recipient's address. It is also possible to purchase electronic cards over the Internet to be delivered either to the recipient's e-mail address or printed in hard copy form and delivered to the recipient's postal address. However, no known service or facility exists which enables an eCommerce shopper to purchase a gift over the Internet and concurrently select and personalize a greeting card to be packaged or shipped along with the gift. Some companies do provide a limited selection hard copy cards that maybe shipped with a gift, similar to the note cards which accompany floral deliveries.
In addition, current on-line electronic greeting card services, such as those offered by Hallmark, Inc., City, State, or American Greetings Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, enable users to select a card and customize the card by entering text into a dialog box via the webserver graphic user interface. Such services do not enable the user to add handwritten notes, graphics, photographs, or other customizations to the card. These services do not allow the user to decide where the text should go, what font, color, size, etc. should be used for the text.
Further, many greeting cards are sent for specific occasions, birthdays, anniversaries, etc. Accordingly, the purchase and sending of the card is time sensitive in order for the card to have the most effect. If the recipient of the card is in another country, cost and lead time to send the card may increase substantially.
Accordingly, a need exists for a system which enables an eCommerce shopper to select, customize and transmit greeting cards contemporaneously with the selection of a gift from an eCommerce vendor, and to enable simultaneous shipment of the customized greeting card with the gift.
A further need exists for a system by which eCommerce shoppers may select a card and customize the card meaningfully by selecting the style, size, color and type of font to sign the card and are restricted only by the space on the card and not by a random word count designated by the card vendor.
A further need exists for a system and method in which eCommerce shoppers may create a card meaningfully by adding graphic data, including possibly handwritten notes, photographs and scanned data to the card.
A further need exists for a system and method in which the card and the user's customizations to the card may be viewed by the purchaser in a What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) format while on-line.
A further need exists for a system and method in which greeting cards customized over the Internet may be viewed in a WYSIWYG format and either printed and mailed from a central distribution center or transmitted over a computer network to the distribution center of an eCommerce vendor for printing and shipment with a gift.
A further need exists for a system and method in which customized greeting cards could be shipped across the Internet and printed in other countries or in other regions of the same country thereby decreasing delivery time and reducing postage and handling costs.
The present invention discloses a method, system and apparatus for enabling on-line selection, customization and transmission of greeting cards over a computer network. In one embodiment of the invention, an eCommerce shopper/network user connects to the inventive system. The network user may select from any of a number of card templates stored in a database. The cards are presented to the network user in a WYSIWYG format. The user is able to customize the card by adding text, handwritten notes, graphics, photographs and scanned data to the card and view the customized card in a WYSIWYG format. After purchase, the customized card is printed by the inventive system and mailed to the address of a recipient, as specified by the network user.
In a second implementation of the invention, following purchase of the card, the card is transmitted to the distribution center of an eCommerce vendor from whom a gift has been purchased. There the card is printed, matched and shipped along with the gift to the recipient, as specified by the network user. In this implementation, a network user connects with the website of an eCommerce vendor. After selecting a gift from the eCommerce vendor, the network user is able to optionally connect to the inventive system for selection of a greeting card. The network user is able to select and customize a card, as described previously in the first implementation. After purchasing the card, the data and data structures representing the customized card, as well as data defining the purchaser, recipient(s), and identifying the gift or transaction to the eCommerce vendor product are transmitted over a computer network to the distribution center of the eCommerce vendor. The customized card is printed at the eCommerce vendor's distribution center, preferably on a high resolution graphics printer, matched with the gift and shipped with the gift to the recipient. In this manner, the recipient simultaneously receives a gift and card, both of which have been purchased over the Internet, as if the sender had purchased the gift and card at traditional retail establishments.
In addition, in the contemplated system, the purchaser/sender of a card is offered the opportunity to direct a portion of the proceeds from the card sale to one or more user-selectable charities, at the time the card is purchased.
The inventive system may be implemented over a public global computer network utilizing a master server system and one or more client systems located remotely from the master server but capable of operatively coupling thereto. The master server system may comprise one or more separate computer systems which collectively enable network users currently shopping at an eCommerce vendor's website to be redirected to a web server within the master server system to select and customize a card. Information identifying the network user, the eCommerce vendor, the eCommerce transaction, the selected card and any customizations or modifications thereto are stored in a database within the master server system and selectively transmitted over a computer network to one of the client systems located at the eCommerce vendor's facilities, typically a distribution center. The transmitted data is utilized by the client system to retrieve the card and print the card in conjunction with the network user defined customizations at the vendor's facilities. The printed card may be then matched by the vendor with a gift or corresponding transaction and shipped to a recipient designated by the network user. In the inventive system, a database of cards may be located at both the master server system as well as any of the client systems.
The inventive system enables the network user to view customizations to the selected card in WYSIWYG format and further allows network users to connect directly to the master system for creation and purchase of cards separate and apart from any vendor transaction.
According to one embodiment of the present invention a method in a computer system connectable to a computer network, comprising the steps of: (a) maintaining a network accessible compilation of cards; (b) receiving data identifying one of the cards; (c) receiving data defining modifications to the cards; (d) presenting an image of the card in combination with the received modifications in What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) format; and (e) receiving data identifying a destination address of the card. In alternative implementations of this method the destination address may comprise a postal address or a computer network address. In other alternative implementations of this method the data defining modifications to the card comprises a graphical image data and may further comprise any of scanned data, photographic images, scanned handwritten data or objects, font type data, font style data, font size data or font color data. In yet other alternative implementation of this method, the method may further comprise the step of transmitting data representing modifications to the card to a peripheral apparatus for rendering thereof.
According to a second embodiment of the present invention a computer program product for use with a computer system operatively coupled to a computer network comprises a computer usable medium having program code embodied thereon, the program code comprising: (a) program code for maintaining a network accessible compilation of cards; (b) program code for receiving data identifying one of the cards; (c) program code for receiving data defining modifications to the cards; (d) program code for presenting an image of the card in combination with the received modifications in WYSIWYG format; and (e) program code for receiving data identifying a destination address of the card.
According to a third embodiment of the present invention a data structure representing a card in a computer usable memory comprises: (a) data identifying one of a plurality of card templates; (b) data identifying modifications to the identified card template; and (c) data defining an address to which the card will be sent; and (d) data associating the card with another transaction. In alternative implementations of this data structure in memory the data associating the card with another transaction may comprise any of data defining a vendor identifier, vendor transaction identifier, vendor package identifier or vendor network address. In another alternative implementation of the inventive data structure in memory the data defining modifications to the card template comprises graphical information and data defining the relationship of the graphical information to the card template.
According to a fourth embodiment of the present invention a method for sending greeting cards over a computer network comprising the steps of: (a) selecting a card from one of a plurality of card templates; (b) modifying the card; (c) viewing the modifications to the card in WYSIWYG format; (d) designating a destination address; (e) transmitting any of the card identifier, data modifying the card and destination address to a remote location over a computer network; (f) authorizing printing of the card in combination with the modifications; and (g) authorizing delivery of the card to the destination address in conjunction with delivery of a gift with which the card is associated.
According to a fifth embodiment of the present invention a computer system connectable to a computer network comprises (a) a processor; (b) a memory coupled to the processor for storing a plurality of cards; (c) a network interface coupled to the processor in a memory; (d) program logic configured to receive data identifying one of the plurality of cards and further defining modifications to the card; (e) program logic configured to present an image of the card in combination with the received modifications to the card; (f) program logic configured to receive data identifying a destination address of the card; (g) program logic configured to receive data identifying a vendor transaction associated with the card; and (h) program logic configured to transmit any of the card identifier, data modifying the card, destination address and vendor transaction identifier to a remote location over a computer network. In alternative implementations of this computer system the data associating the card with another transaction may comprise any of data defining a vendor identifier, vendor transaction identifier, vendor package identifier or vendor network address.
The above and other features, objects and advantages of the invention will be better understood by referring to the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:
Computer system 100 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 105, which may be implemented with a conventional microprocessor, a random access memory (RAM) 110 for temporary storage of information, and a read only memory (ROM) 115 for permanent storage of information. A memory controller 120 is provided for controlling RAM 110.
A bus 130 interconnects the components of computer system 100. A bus controller 125 is provided for controlling bus 130. An interrupt controller 135 is used for receiving and processing various interrupt signals from the system components.
Mass storage may be provided by diskette 142, CD ROM 147, or hard drive 152. Data and software may be exchanged with computer system 100 via removable media such as diskette 142 and CD ROM 147. Diskette 142 is insertable into diskette drive 141 which is, in turn, connected to bus 30 by a controller 140. Similarly, CD ROM 147 is insertable into CD ROM drive 146 which is, in turn, connected to bus 130 by controller 145. Hard disk 152 is part of a fixed disk drive 151 which is connected to bus 130 by controller 150.
User input to computer system 100 may be provided by a number of devices. For example, a keyboard 156 and mouse 157 are connected to bus 130 by controller 155. An audio transducer 196, which may act as both a microphone and a speaker, is connected to bus 130 by audio controller 197, as illustrated. It will be obvious to those reasonably skilled in the art that other input devices, such as a pen and/or tabloid may be connected to bus 130 and an appropriate controller and software, as required. DMA controller 160 is provided for performing direct memory access to RAM 110. A visual display is generated by video controller 165 which controls video display 170. Computer system 100 also includes a communications adapter 190 which allows the system to be interconnected to a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), schematically illustrated by bus 191 and network 195.
Operation of computer system 100 is generally controlled and coordinated by operating system software, such as Windows 95 or Windows NT�, commercially available from Microsoft Corp., Redmond, Wash. The operating system controls allocation of system resources and performs tasks such as processing scheduling, memory management, networking, and I/O services, among things. In particular, an operating system resident in system memory and running on CPU 105 coordinates the operation of the other elements of computer system 100. The present invention may be implemented with any number of commercially available operating systems including OS/2�, UNIX�, Linux and Solaris�, among others.
One or more applications such as a web browser, for example, Netscape Navigator, version 2.0 and thereafter commercially available from Netscape Communications Corporation. and Internet Explorer, version 1.0 and thereafter, commercially available from Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Wash., may execute under the control of the operating system.
Communication Environment
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
Card Vendor System
Referring to
In the illustrative embodiment of the present invention, email server 288 may be implemented as a server executing an application program in accordance with the Post Office Protocol version 3.0 (POP3), such server capable of receiving and sending electronic mail in a manner understood by those skilled in the arts.
In a similar manner, firewall application 265 may be implemented as a server or network appliance executing any of a number of commercially available network security applications which prevent unauthorized access to private networks in a manner understood by those skilled in the arts.
In the illustrative embodiment, web server 260 performs the functions of a traditional web server enabling access to one or more web pages by other processes connected to Internet 205. In addition, webserver 260 contains display control module 266 which utilizes data representing a card, as retrieved from database 280, and data representing modifications to the selected card, as received from a network user, to render the selected card and its modifications in a WYSIWYG format for viewing by the network user.
Server 260 may be implemented using a hardware platform similar to that illustrated with reference to FIG. 1. Executing under the control of an operating system are one or more applications necessary for web server 260 to perform its appropriate functions. Specifically, web server 260 presents web pages to the network user and controls the flow of information to/from database server 270. In the illustrative embodiment, the functions performed by web server 260 may be implemented either with object-oriented programming techniques using the appropriate class definitions and objects for values within the database, or, alternatively, using a non-object oriented language such as the C++ programming language.
Web server 260 retains in memory one or more "pages" which collectively may comprise a web site used to visually present the information on the pages. One or more of the pages accessible on web server 260 may contain address information in the form of a Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) tag which may be downloaded over the Internet 205 to a browser process executing on any of the other computer systems connected to the network. Such HTML tag may include the IP address or E-mail address associated with the web site.
Web server 260 functions to render pages to a network user connected to the web server 260 and to pass data received from a network user to database through the appropriate Application Program Interfaces (APIs). In the illustrative embodiment, the web server 260 may utilize a plurality of Visual Basic, Java script files and/or Java applets to create active web pages. Web server 260 may include a database interface (not shown) which functions as the interface between web server 260 and database server 270. Such database interface may be implemented via ODBC, Remote Procedure Call libraries or other similar technologies which enables the interface to make remotely access the database server 270 and to service calls received from database server 270.
The distribution computer system 240 and its accompanying database 239 may be connected to system 250 via direct network connection or other connections such dialup modem, DSL or frame relay. Computer system 240 may be coupled to one or more network printers 285 and 286 via a private network such as a LAN.
In an alternative embodiment to that illustrated in
Data Base Architecture
In the illustrative embodiment, database server 270 and database 280 may comprise a hardware platform and an operating system capable of executing one of a number of commercially available database products. In the illustrative embodiment, hardware platform may be implemented with a computer system similar to that described with reference to FIG. 1. The operating system may be implemented with the Windows NT 4.0 product from Microsoft. The database product may be implemented with Microsoft SQL Server Version 7.0, also commercially available from Microsoft Corporation. The structure of information, including the data fields, records, tables which comprise database 280 are described hereinafter and may also be designed using Microsoft SQL Server Version 7.0.
Query engine (not shown) receives information from web server 260 in the form of a query and supplies the query to database 280. The structure and organization of records within database 280 is set forth in greater detail with reference to
User Table 402 is used to maintain information about a network user who has visited system 250 via a connection to webserver 260. Each record of User Table 402 includes fields for a user identifier, postal address, network address, age, marital status, telephone number, etc. The corresponding field descriptions, e.g. integer, variable character, number, etc., are illustrated in FIG. 4.
Card Table 404 is used to maintain information about a specific card of the master card list. Each record of Card Table 404 includes fields for a card identifier, price, card catalog identifier, text description, width and height of the card, a charity identifier, etc. The corresponding field descriptions are illustrated in FIG. 4A. In the illustrative embodiment, the actual cards may be stored in any graphical format, for example, jpg, gif, tif or bmp. The cards may be stored as part of or separate from database 280, as well as in the database 242 of distribution system 240 and database 218 of distribution system 210, both connectable to system 250. In the illustrative embodiment, the term "card" or "greeting card" is not limited to traditional hard copy cards but also includes images of one or more sides or panels of a card as may be stored in various graphical data formats and resolutions, in addition to those described herein. Further, the term "card" or "greeting card" is not limited to traditional hard copy cards but also includes other related forms of correspondence including announcements, invitations, business cards, notices, and other business and personal forms of communication.
Card Detail Table 406 (CardDet) is used to maintain information about a specific card which has been ordered by a network user. Each record of Card Detail Table 406 includes fields for the ship date, ship month, status, etc. The corresponding field descriptions are illustrated in FIG. 4.
The Card Detail Detail Table 408 (CardDetDet) is used to maintain information about changes or customizations made to the card by the network user. Each record of the Card Detail Detail Table 408 includes fields defining fields the font, size, color, text, X-position, Y-position, style, file name for an attached file containing graphics, digital photos, scanned data, etc. The corresponding field descriptions are illustrated in FIG. 4.
Charity Table 410 is used to maintain information relating to a specific charity from which proceeds of the card sale may be donated, as explained in greater detail hereinafter. Each record of Charity Table 410 includes fields for a charity identifier, charity description, organizational name, mailing address, etc. The corresponding field descriptions are illustrated in FIG. 5.
The remaining tables of
REFERENCES [Tablename.Fieldname]
REFERENCES [Category.CatId]
REFERENCES [ClientCat.CCatId]
REFERENCES [Aspmas.AspId]
REFERENCES [Category.CatId]
REFERENCES [Country.CountryId]
REFERENCES [ClientCat.CCatId]
REFERENCES [ClientCat.CCatId]
REFERENCES [Country.CountryId]
REFERENCES [Country.CountryId]
REFERENCES [ShipType.STId]
REFERENCES [Country.CountryId]
REFERENCES [CCType.CCType]
REFERENCES [Category.CatId]
REFERENCES [Charity.CharityId]
REFERENCES [Client.CltId]
REFERENCES [Country.CountryId]
[CltProfile.CPAOAspId & CPAOId]
REFERENCES [Aspobj.AOAspId.AOId]
REFERENCES [Client.CltId]
REFERENCES [Users.UserId]
REFERENCES [Country.CountryId]
REFERENCES [Country.CountryId]
REFERENCES [OccCategory.OccCatId]
REFERENCES [Users.UserId]
REFERENCES [Users.UserId]
[CardDet.CDUserId & CDTransId]
REFERENCES [UserTrans.UTUserID &
REFERENCES [Card.CardId]
[CLocStats.CLSCltId & CLSLocId]
REFERENCES [ClientLoc.CLocCltId & CLocld]
REFERENCES [Statistic.StatsId]
[UserGift.UGCLocCltId & UGOLocId]
REFERENCES [ClientLoc.CLocCltId & CLocId]
[UserGift.UGUserId & UGTransId]
REFERENCES [UserTrans.UTUserID &
REFERENCES [CarDet.CDSrno]
REFERENCES [Users.UserId]
REFERENCES [CardDet.CDSrno]
REFERENCES [UserGift.UGSrno]
REFERENCES [CardDet.CDSrno]
REFERENCES [Country.CountryId]
REFERENCES [ShipType.STId]
REFERENCES [CardDet.CDSrno]
REFERENCES [Invoice.Invno]
WebServer Interface
Upon connection to webserver 260, either directly or through a hyperlink from the website of a vendor client, a network user is presented with a graphic user interface. The graphic user interface includes a number of web pages which are resident on web server 260 and through which the network user may navigate. The web pages include a number of menus and dialog boxes which allow the network user to interact with the web server 260, particularly with the selection of a card and entering of the necessary information for customization of the card and specifying a recipient address. Sample web pages are illustrated in
In the illustrative embodiment, card 600 along with the other selectable cards are stored in a number of different formats and sizes. For example, to facilitate selection and customization, cards may be stored in database 280 as files in a thumbnail, intermediate and editable size.
A fourth version of each card, from which the card is actually printed, is stored in any of databases 241, 239 and 218 of
Control module 266 of web server 260 receives the coordinate information and other information describing the user's customizations, as recorded in customization table 408 and renders the card and the customizations in a What You See is What You Get (WYSIWYG) manner for viewing by the network user, as illustrated in FIG. 6D. In this manner, rather than just entering text into a dialog box for placement in a predetermined location, the user is free to place a customized message in any of text, cursive hand writing, graphics or photographs any where on panels 600A-C and view the card and customizations together in a manner which approximates signing a hard copy card. The WYSIWYG module which enables recording of a card with customizations from a network user is described in further detail herein. Control module 266 includes algorithms which detect the nature of the data transmitted by the network user and formats the data appropriately for presentation to the use. In the case of scanned data, control module 266 utilizes optical character recognition algorithms to separate and eliminate any background information from meaningful characters in the scanned data. In the case of photographic or graphic data files, control module 266 attempts to recognize the data format and render the data within the parameters of the designated panel including any required sizing or clipping of images to for the panel.
The construction of web pages containing the appropriate dialog boxes and pull down menus is within the scope of those reasonably skilled in the arts and will not be described in further detail hereinafter for the sake of brevity.
Method of Operation
FIG. 7. is a flow diagram illustrating the process steps of the inventive method to enable a network user to select, customize/create and purchase a card from an eCommerce vendor for shipment with a gift or service purchased from the eCommerce network by the network user. Generally, a network user will be connected to system 250 either from a hyperlink from a vendor site or by directly connecting to server 260. When the network user is shopping on-line at an eCommerce vendor's site, and after the user has paid for his/her purchases, the network user is offered the option to order and create a custom card using the system previously described herein. If selected, the customer or network user is redirected, via a hyperlink from the client's website to the website of the inventive system, as illustrated by step 710. When the network user is redirected to web server 260, the vendor will provide web server 260 with a data structure 900, as illustracted in FIG. 9. In the illustrative embodiment data structure 900 comprises a plurality of data fields including Invoice Number field 902, User Email field 904, Credit Card fields 906-914, Credit Card address fields 916-924, Client Identification Number field 926, and Gift List field 930, as explained in greater detail hereinafter. Invoice Number field 902 represents the verdor's invoice number for a transaction. User Email field 904 represents the email address of the user who has bought items at the vendor's web site. Credit Card Name 906 represents the name on the user's credit card. Credit Card Number field 908 represents the user's credit card number. Credit Card Exp. Year filed 910 represents the user's credit card expiration year. Credit Card Exp. Month field 912 represents the the credit card's expiration month. Credit Card Type field 914 represents the user's credit card type, e.g. American Express, Visa, Master, Card, etc. Credit Card Street1field 916 and Credit Card Street2field 918 represents the user's street address on the credit card. Credit Card City filed 920, Credit Card State field 922, and Credit Card Zip field 924 represents the user's city, state and postal zip code, respectively, on the credit card. Client Identification Number field 926 is used to identify the verdor from which the network user is being linked.
Gift List 930 represents a list of items purchased by the network user at the vendor's web site. Each item in Gift List 930, in turn, comprises an Invoice Line Item Number field 930A, SKU field 930B, Gift Description field 930C, Distribution Location Number field 930D, Date of Shipment field 930E, Ship To Person field 930F, Ship To City field 930G, and Ship To State field 930H, as explained in greater detail hereinafter. Invoice Line Item Number field 930A represents the line item number of the subject item on the vendor invoice. SKU field 930B represents the vendor product identification number. Gift Description field 930C represents a short description of the gift purchased. Distribution Location Number field 930D represents the vendor warehouse identifier from where the vendor will ship the subject specific gift, and, consequently, from which vendor system the card will be printed. Date of Shipment field 930E represents the date the vendor will ship the subject gift. Ship To Person field 930F represents the person to whom the subject gift will be shipped. Ship To City field 930G represents the city to which the subject gift will be shipped. Ship To State field 930H represents the state to which the gift will be shipped. Any number of additional items 932 may have a similar format to Gift Item 930.
In the illustrative embodiment of the invention, the data contained within data structure 900, particularly the credit card number and related information, may be encrypted using any number of commercially available software encryption products, such as those available from RSA Data Security Systems, Inc. The data structure would be encrypted at the vendor site and decrypted, as necessary by the inventive system 250.
Next, the various fields of data structure 900 are stored in database 280, and, where applicable, decrypted, as illustrated by step 712. The information about a user, the email address field, credit card information, etc. is stored in a User record 402 of the User table. The information about the gift purchased at the vendor web site is stored in User Gift Table 414.
Web server 260 then presents to the network user one or more web pages that make up a inventive graphic user interface that appears similar to that of the vendor from which the user was hyperlinked, as illustrated by step 714. The value of Client Identification Number field 924 identifies the vendor from which the network user is linking and is used as an index into tables ASPOBJ table 436 and ASPMAS table 434 to select the default colors, logos and graphics for that vendor, thereby creating the illusion that the network user is still shopping at the vendor's website. The information defining the graphics images required for each page for a specific vendor/client is stored in the Client Profile (CltProfile) table of database 280 and is rendered by web server 260.
In the illustrative embodiment of the invention, a portion of the proceeds of the sale of the card may be donated to charity. As illustrated in
Next, web server 260 renders one or more web pages containing thumbnail images of cards. These web pages enable the network user to navigate through and select a card from database 280, as illustrated by procedural step 720. The network user can then choose a card by selecting the appropriate category and card, as illustrated by decisional step 722. Once the network user chooses a card, a web page illustrating three different panels (sides) of the card—the outside, the inner left, and the inner right—is rendered, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
Module 266 may be implemented as a WYSIWYG application executing under the control of operating system on web server 260. Specifically, module 266 may be implemented as a JAVA application using object-oriented technology. Upon start-up, module 266 is provided with a list of parameters by web server 260. These parameters include the name of an image (card), the location of the image within the memory of web server 260, the dimensions of the image, and a list of instructions defining the position, color, size, font, style and text for each customization to be displayed on the card image. For a new card, which has not been customized by a network user, the list of instructions supplied to module 266 is empty, since there have been no customizations at that point. For a card that has been previously created or which is in the process of being edited, the parameter string supplied to module 266 may contain any of the information identified above. Module 266 creates a list of customization objects, each object storing information about a piece of text, such information including the actual text character string, the font, size, color, style, etc. and position data.
To avoid clutter in displaying the background image of the card as well as the customizations in WYSIWYG manner, module 266 displays one or more labels over the background of the card image. While editing the card, when a network user selects e.g., clicks with a mouse, a specific location on the card, module 266 reviews an internal list of customization objects maintained for that card to determine if the selected coordinates match the coordinates of any previously defined text object. If so, the text is displayed in an edit box with the font, style, size, etc., rendered according to the specification stored in the customization object. If the coordinates to do not match, a new empty box is displayed over the background of the card image using the customization characteristics selected by the network user from one or more menus. Once the network user saves a particular portion of text, the customization characteristics are stored in a customization object and the edit area is replaced with a corresponding label. The network user has the ability to select any text with a pointing device and drag the text around the background image of the card, thereby enabling the network user to position the text wherever desired. The background image of the card, along with the text, including the selected characteristics and position, are then rendered in a WYSIWYG manner enabling the network user to view the card as the card will look when printed.
If the network user desires to further modify any text customization to the card, they may simply do so by selecting the text object and then changing any of its characteristics, such as the color, size, style, etc, by simply clicking on the appropriate menus and choosing the desired option.
Once the network user has accepted all the customizations to the card, module 266 creates a string of customizations and forwards the attached string to a redirection URL that redirects the network user to a new page where the customization string data may be parsed and saved into the appropriate tables of database 280.
It will be obvious to others skilled in the art that the functionality of module 266, as described herein, may be implemented using different programming techniques other than object oriented technology and the JAVA programming environment.
In an alternative embodiment, as illustrated by the procedural steps 759-762, and to provide flexibility in personalization of cards, the network user may upload images that can be used to create custom cards. The network user can also upload scanned images of hand written messages and apply them to the card to create personalized graphics, photos or cursive fonts for the card. As shown in
The network user is then given the option to accept all of the change(s) to the card, as illustracted by decisional step 732. The data representing the customizations to a card are stored in database 280, as illustracted by procedural step 734. For example, Card Detail Detail (CardDetDet) Table 408 stores the specific pieces of text, the position, the color, font, etc., as well as informtion for any image data, photographic or scanned, as in step 760, that has been uploaded to web server 260.
Next a web page, as illustracted in
Next, the network user will be provided with a summary web page, as illustrated in
If finished, the network user will be prompted to visit the reminder service implemented in the inventive system, as illustrated in
After exiting the reminder service or, if in decision step 742, the network user opted not to enter the reminder service, the network user proceeds to checkout and payment, as illustrated by steps 746, 748 and 750. The network user is be provided with all the information that was received from the vendor regarding the user's credit card information, as illustrated in FIG. 6I and procedural step 746. If the information is acceptable, the network user selects the process option and the designated credit card will be charged the amount of the purchase. The information about the transaction is stored in database 280 and maintained to keep a historic record of the activity. The Invoice table 444 stores the credit card information which was used to pay for the transaction, the authorization code, etc. The Invoice Detail (InvDetl) Table 446 stores information at the line item level of the invoice in terms of which cards were charged on which invoice. The credit card information is transmitted from system 250 to a credit processing service, such as system 230 of FIG. 2 and as illustrated by procedural step 750. Once the transaction is processed a "Thank You" screen may appear, and the network user is returned to the vendor's web site. If at any time during the above described process a disconnect of the communication link between the network user and web server 260 occurs, an e-mail message is sent to the network user with a link back to web server 260.
Once the credit card transaction has been approved, web server 260 checks the Ship Date field of UserGift Table 414 to determine if the card is to be printed today, i.e. ship date equals current date, as illustrated by procedural step 752 and decisional step 754. If so, an email message will be sent to the vendor's distribution location to print the card, along with a file containing all of the information about the card, as explained hereinafter and as illustrated by procedural step 756. In case the card is to be sent at a later date, an email will be sent later. When the appropriate time comes to print the card, email server 288, will send a message to the appropriate the vendor location through, for example, email, Remote Procedure Call commands or MSMQ (Microsoft Message Queue). Once a day, at about midnight, or at another interval, a process on email server 288 sends emails to all the vendor locations regarding the cards to be printed during the day. There may be multiple emails sent to each vendor location. Each email will contain information for all the cards created by a single user during a single visit. The print process executing at the vendor system will send a message back to email server 288 indicating the card has been printed, as illustrated by decisional step 758, after which the process as for that card is concluded.
To print a card, web server 260 provides the vendor's distribution center, whether through an email or a batch process, the information from a user session, i.e., from the time the network user first connected to web server 260 until the user disconnects from web server 260. Since a network user may perform multiple transactions in a single session, the session information may include information for multiple transactions. In the illustrative embodiment, the session information may be transferred in a file 1000 having a format in accordance with the XML protocol. It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that other file formats or equivalent data structures may be used in place of file 1000. File 1000 is parsed and used to update database in the vendor system, as explained hereinafter.
File 1000 includes information from the UserGift table 414, i.e. records added to table 414 from a session, including data fields for the Invoice Number, Invoice Line Item Number, Gift Serial Number, Gift ID (SKU) Ship To Person Name, Ship To City, Ship To State, and Ship Date. The Invoice Number field represents the invoice number created by the vendor for the goods purchased by the network user at the vendor web site. The Invoice Line Item Number field represents the invoice line item number created by the Vendor. The Gift Serial Number field represents a unique identification number given by the inventive system to the gift item. The Gift ID field is the vendor identifier for the product, e.g., the SKU. The Ship To Person Name field represents the name of the person to whom the gift will be shipped. The Ship To City field represents the city to which the gift will be shipped. The Ship To State field represents the state to which the gift will be shipped. The Ship Date field represents the date required by the Vendor to print the card for the gift, e.g. the day it will leave the vendor's distribution location.
File 1000 includes information from the CardDet Table, i.e. information which regarding cards created and base card information, including data fields for the Card Serial Number, Card Id, and Card Status. The Card Serial Number field represents a unique identifier, e.g. a number, assigned to any card created at web server 260. The Card Id field represents card number, e.g. SKU, assigned to the card by the inventive system. The Card Status field represents the current status of the card, e.g. printed, to be printed, etc.
File 1000 further includes information from the CardGift table 426, i.e. information which associates a card with a gift and a network user, including data fields for the Card Serial Number, Gift Serial Number, User Id and Transaction Id. The Card Serial Number and Gift Serial Number fields have been previously defined. The User Id field represents a unique identifier assigned to a particular network user by the inventive system. The Transaction Id field represents a unique identifier assigned to by the inventive system to uniquely identify every session of a network user on the inventive system.
File 1000 further includes information from the CardDetDet table, e.g. information regarding the text to be superimposed on the card or graphical information which will be superimposed. Such graphical information may include picture, photo or a scanned hand written message. The information from the CardDetDet table includes data fields for the Card Serial Number, Line Item Number, Card Page, X Position, and Y Position. The Card Serial Number field has been previously defined. The Line Item Number field represents a unique counter for every piece of customization in a given card. The Card Page filed identifies on which face or panel of the card the text will be printed. The X Position and Y Position fields identify the location of the text on the face of the card.
If part of the customizations to the card include text, then data fields for the Text Color, Text Font, Text Size, Text, and Text Style will be incorporated into file 1000. The Text Color field identifies the color in which the text will be rendered. The Text Font field identifies the font in which the text will be rendered. The Text Size field identifies the size of the font in which the text will be rendered. The Text field identifies the subject matter which will be rendered. The Text Style field identifies the style of the font in which the text needs to be rendered.
Otherwise, if part of the customizations to the card include an image, an Image Name field, identifying the name of the attached file which will be superimposed onto the card, will be included with file 1000. A sample file 1000 in XML format is set forth below.
<?XML VERSION=″1.0″?> <Print> <VERSION>Print Info 1.0</VERSION> <Transactions> <Transaction> <UserGifts> <UserGift> <UGInvNo>123123</UGInvNo> <UGInvLINo>1</UGInvLINo> <UGSrno>332</UGSrno> <UGGiftId>1</UGGiftId> <UGShipPerson>Sandy</UGShipPerson> <UGShipCity>Mumbai</UGShipCity> <UGShipState>MH</UGShipState> <UGShipDate>1/12/1999</UGShipDate> </UserGift> <UserGift> <UGInvNo>123123</UGInvNo> <UGInvLINo>2</UGInvLINo> <UGSrno>333</UGSrno> <UGGiftId>2</UGGiftId> <UGShipPerson>Smith</UGShipPerson> <UGShipCity>Banglore</UGShipCity> <UGShipState>KR</UGShipState> <UGShipDate>4/11/1999</UGShipDate> </UserGift> </UserGifts> <CardDets> <CardDet> <CDSrno>1251</CDSrno> <CDCardId>4</CDCardId> <CDStatus>S</CDStatus> </CardDet> </CardDets> <CardGifts> <CardGift> <CGCDSrno>1251</CGCDSrno> <CGUGSrno>333</CGUGSrno> <CGUserId>930</CGUserId> <CGTransId>1</CGTransId> </CardGift> <CardGift> <CGCDSrno>1251</CGCDSrno> <CGUGSrno>332</CGLTGSrno> <CGUserId>930</CGUserId> <CGTransId>1</CGTransId> </CardGift> </CardGifts> <CardDetDets> <CardDetDet> <CDDSrno>1251</CDDSrno> <CDDSrnol>1</CDDSrnol> <CDDColor>-16777216</CDDColor> <CDDPage>FI</CDDPage> <CDDFont>Dialog</CDDFont> <CDDSize>6</CDDSize> <CDDText>HI PAL!</CDDText> <CDDXPos>210</CDDXPos> <CDDYPos>212</CDDYPos> <CDDStyle>0</CDDStyle> </CardDetDet> <CardDetDet> <CDDSrno>1251</CDDSrno> <CDDSrnol>2</CDDSrnol> <CDDColor>-16777216</CDDColor> <CDDPage>F</CDDPage> <CDDFont>Dialog</CDDFont> <CDDSize>6</CDDSize> <CDDText>HAPPY BIRTHDAY</CDDText> <CDDXPos>235</CDDXPos> <CDDYPos>200</CDDYPos> <CDDStyle>0</CDDStyTe> </CardDetDet> </CardDetDets> </Transaction> </Transactions> </Print>
Client System
Referring to
Email processing service 212 is responsible for periodically polling email server 288 of system 250 to see if any messages have been posted. If there are messages, email processing service 212 will down load and process the messages. Processing of the messages includes parsing the XML file 1000 contained within the email message and using the data values defined therein to update database 218 of vendor system 210. The XML file 1000, in the illustrative embodiment, may contain SQL database queries which are used to update database 218 of client system 210.
Card Table 804 is used to maintain information about a specific card of the master card list. Each record of Card Table 804 includes fields for a card identifier, price, card catalog identifier, text description, width and height of the card, a charity identifier, etc. The corresponding field descriptions, e.g. integer, variable character, number, etc., are illustrated in FIG. 10. In the illustrative embodiment, the actual cards may be stored in any graphical format, for example, jpg, gif, tif or bmp. The cards may be stored as part of or separate from database 218, as well as locally in the memories of vendor systems 210 and distribution system 240 connectable to system 250.
Card Detail Table 806 (CardDet) is used to maintain information about a specific card which has been ordered by a network user. Each record of Card Detail Table 406 includes fields for the ship date, ship month, status, etc. The corresponding field descriptions are illustrated in FIG. 10.
The Card Detail Detail Table 808 (CardDetDet) is used to maintain information about changes or customizations made to the card by the network user. Each record of the Card Detail Detail Table 808 includes fields defining fields the font, size, color, text, X-position, Y-position, style, file name for an attached file containing graphics, digital photos, scanned data, etc. The corresponding field descriptions are illustrated in FIG. 10.
Charity Table 810 is used to maintain information relating to a specific charity from which proceeds of the card sale may be donated, as explained in greater detail hereinafter. Each record of Charity Table 810 includes fields for a charity identifier, and organizational name. The corresponding field descriptions are illustrated in FIG. 10.
The remaining tables of
REFERENCES [Tablename.Fieldname]
REFERENCES [Charity.CharityId]
[CLocStats.CLSCltId &
REFERENCES [ClientLoc.CLocCltId &
REFERENCES [Statistic.StatsId]
REFERENCES [Card.CardId]
REFERENCES [CardDet.CDSrno]
REFERENCES [CardDet.CDSrno]
REFERENCES [UserGift.UGSrno]
When a print message arrives, service 212 will update database 218 and set an event to notify the print service 214 that a print request has been received. Email processing service 212 is also responsible for sending any messages that are generated the other applications executing on vendor system 210. When not busy, email service 212 waits on a send event. Such event is set either by the vendor control center 216 or print service 214. If either application 214 or 216 has created an email for system 250, the application will set an event which service 212. Email processing service 212 will establish a connection with system 250 and transmit the email to system 250.
Print service 214 remains idle until an event notification of a pending print instruction. When email processing service 212 receives the print command it sets the notification event for print service 214. Print service 214 then queries database 218, and, using the data values previously stored in database 218 by email processing service 212, prints the card on printer 215 or another available printer. Print service 214 may also monitor printer problems such as paper jams, low toner, no paper, etc. Print service 214 will notify system 250 of any problem encountered during the printing process by creating an email, placing it in a queue and generating a notification event for email processing service 212 that an email needs to be sent to system 250.
A high resolution color printer 215 capable of printing photographic quality images may be coupled to vendor system 210 to facilitate printing of the cards. Such a printer suitable for use with the present invention is the HP 8500DN, commercially available from Hewlett Packard Corporation, Palo Alto, Calif. In the illustrative embodiment, cards are printed in a full bleed format, i.e. up to the edge of the paper and on high quality stock paper, giving the card the appearance of a traditional greeting card. Alternatively, the cards may have a border around the edge of the stock on which the card is printed. Thereafter, at the client/vendor's facilities, typically a distribution center, the card may be inventoried and matched with the designated gift for shipment.
At the vendor's facilities, the card is printed with and invoice number, invoice line item number and a card number thereon. In the illustractive embodiment, the invoice number, the invoice line item number, and card number may be printed on the back panel of the tangible card using, for example, an optical bar code or other format to identify both the card and the invoice number, client transaction code or other information useful by the vendor to match the card with a particular gift or transaction.
Vendor control center service 216 allows a user at the vendor's distribution location to request a reprint of a card, in case it has been damaged or for any reason. Service 216 also provides the users with the ability to quickly send an email to and interact with system 250 directly. Accordingly, service 216 allows the vendor location to request the re-transmission of data and files relating to certain cards in the event of data loss or corruption.
Although the above-described illustrative embodiment has been implemented using email addresses as a communication mechanism between system 250 and vendor system 210, it will be obvious to those reasonably skilled in the arts that other messaging techniques may be used, such as any number of commercially-available Remote Procedure Call library utilities, as well as the Microsoft Message Queue, (MSMQ) commercially available from Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Wash.
Referring to
Referring to
The above example describes a scenario in which a network user has hyperlinked to system 250 from the web site of an eCommerce vendor. Alternatively, if a network user connects directly to web server 260, to select and customize a card, the process occurs substantially as described above except that any necessary information contained in data 900 will be entered directly by the network user through the user interface web pages supplied by web server 260. In such a scenario, the billing, printing, inventorying and shipping of the card may be done directly by the inventive system 250 or using a system 240 which may be constructed and function similar to any other vendor system 210. Additionally, multiple systems similar to 240 may be located in disparate geographical regions and operatively coupled to system 250 over either public or private computer networks to enable accelerated delivery of the card without the cost of international postage.
The above-described invention may be implemented in either all software, all hardware, or a combination of hardware and software, including program code stored in firmware format to support dedicated hardware. A software implementation of the above described embodiment(s) may comprise a series of computer instructions either fixed on a tangible medium, such as a computer readable media, e.g. diskette 142, CD-ROM 147, ROM 115, or fixed disk 152 of
Although various exemplary embodiments of the invention have been disclosed, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made which will achieve some of the advantages of the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It will be obvious to those reasonably skilled in the art that other components performing the same functions may be suitably substituted. Further, the methods of the invention may be achieved in either all software implementations, using the appropriate processor instructions, or in hybrid implementations which utilize a combination of hardware logic and software logic to achieve the same results.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications to the specific embodiments described herein may be made while still being within the spirit and scope of the present invention. For example, the method of providing the cost of shipping may be used for any delivery destination or origin location in the world including the case where both origin and delivery are located within the United States. Also the system of the present invention may provide the shopper with additional information that pertains to the shipment of a selected product. This information may include for instance, laws that prohibit the shipment of certain products into a particular country.
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|Oct 18, 1999
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text:
How to get publicity for your winery. Or not.
Old friend Alan Goldfarb asks some pertinent questions in this piece that was published the other day in an online trade publication.
The quandary he poses for wineries: "With wine writers dropping off the face of the earth…to whom does a winery publicist turn to get PR/accolades/reviews when the writer pool is evaporating?"
As evidence of that evaporation, Alan cites several longtime wine columnists whose publishers have taken their columns away or drastically reduced their word count. He might have added the San Francisco Chronicle, from which wine writer Jon Bonné recently departed (he's supposed to retain some connection to the paper and/or its website, but I haven't seen anything yet).
Alan makes another compelling point: With the passing of print writers, the number of "new media" writers, such as bloggers, online radio hosts and videographers, has swelled. But—and here's the rub—of the hundreds and hundreds of online sources, "there are [only] about 20 (20!) who are worth yours and your client's time…".
That's really sad, and frightening, too. Wineries need writers to tell their stories, and remind the world that they exist. But with fewer and fewer reputable channels all the time, as Alan asks, "To whom does a winery publicist turn?"
Indeed. Even if you take Alan's "20" online writers who are "worth yours and your client's time," I doubt if any of them has the reach and clout that, say, Bill St. John did—he's the wine columnist for the Chicago Tribune who, according to Alan, had his column "cut" last week. The Chicago Tribune's average weekday circulation is 453,500, making it one of the biggest newspapers in the Midwest, and central to one of the nation's most important wine markets. Do you think any of Alan's 20 bloggers has that kind of readership?
Near the end of his article, Alan does cite a couple bloggers and other online sources whom he recommends. But it's a pretty short list; his conclusion, as far as sending samples out, is for wineries to "proceed at your own peril."
That would be my advice, too. The Internet has shaken everything up, and none more so than to hasten the end of traditional print reporting and replace it with "citizen journalism." I liked traditional print journalism: I still read newspapers, and I trust them, believe it or not (I mean the news part, not the editorial pages of propagandists like the Wall Street Journal). In my current job, and even beyond it, I'm routinely reminded of the scurry to get publicity for your brand—any publicity, anywhere, so long as it's generally positive. Winery executives have given up on trying to determine, with any precision, the return-on-investment of publicity. They wish they could, of course, but in the meantime, they're happy with anything they can get. And yet, they no longer know how to get exposure, or even whom to approach for it.
You'd think that this "revoltin' development" (T.V. fans from the 1950s, do you know who said that?) would mean the end of traditional P.R., which seems stymied at every turn. But P.R. is even more important than ever. Publicists are in demand, especially if they can demonstrate a grasp of new media. Like soothsayers of old, or necromancers who could divine messages from the gods through the intestines of a sheep, publicists today appeal to the utter confusion of winery proprietors, who have neither the time nor the personal inclination to master these arcane fields. In that sense, if you asked me how a winery should find and hire a reputable public relations expert to turn to for advice, my answer would be the same as Alan Goldfarb's concerning bloggers: "Proceed at your own peril."
Sunset Magazine moving to Oakland!
We welcome this great magazine! Thank you Sunset for believing in Oakland!
Monday Mayhem: Drinking too much, and memories of a P.R. guy
It's important for us to have a conversation about drinking too much—about alcoholism—for two reasons. One is because there's always been, and still is, a neo-prohibitionist mindset in this country that frowns on any use of alcoholic beverages at all; and so, as if in advance of an impending flood, we have to pile the sandbags around the door and be ready for anything. The second is because we Americans are rightfully concerned about our health, and while the debate rages on concerning whether a glass or two or three of wine a day is good for you or not, even people who drink moderately have to wonder, in the back of their minds, if somehow or other they're actually bringing on diabetes, or cancer, or stroke, or heart disease, or something else we don't want. The situation isn't clarified—in fact is exacerbated—by conflicting studies that come out seemingly weekly, contradicting each other and leaving us more bewildered than ever.
No wonder more and more people are taking "Are you an alcoholic?" tests. The key phrase in this latest "self-questionnaire", from England, is, "If you find that you 'need' to share a bottle of wine with your partner most nights of the week, or always go for a few pints after work, just to unwind, you're likely to be drinking at a level that could affect your long-term health. You could also be becoming dependent on alcohol." By this metric, I suppose you could say I'm "dependent on alcohol." But what does "dependent" mean? I'm also "dependent" on breathing and eating. I'm dependent on Gus to bring joy into my life. I'm dependent on warmth in winter and dryness in the rain, on a certain amount of social intercourse, on being creative. I'm certainly dependent on going to the gym. Heck, I'm dependent on PG&E for almost everything! So this notion of "dependency" is a "slippery" one, as even the English questionnaire concedes.
I don't doubt that some people have a drinking problem. But what gets me is this incessant stream of "self-questionnaires" published in magazines, newspapers and online, in which we're asked to constantly question ourselves about our habits. The suggestion is that everything we do is potentially some kind of problem. Armchair psychologists make a living at this sort of thing, and they find publishers who are happy to give them exposure.
Another one bites the dust
Many of you knew Harvey Posert, who died last week at the age of 84. I met Harvey many years ago, when he was running Robert Mondavi's P.R. shop. Then he went over to Fred Franzia's outfit, Bronco. We had fewer contacts after that, but one was memorable. I'd long wanted an interview with Fred, who was notoriously shy of publicity. I called Harvey for years, but the answer was always "No." One day, I was in San Francisco, and picked up the free weekly paper. Guess who was on the front page? Freddie, and they had a very long, interesting interview with him. In the free paper? So I called Harvey back and asked, what's up? How come a throwaway free paper that has nothing to do with wine scores an interview and I don't? Harvey arranged for a get-together with Fred, at his gigantic bottling facility in Napa. Well, to make a long story short, it didn't work out. I never got that interview and I never saw Fred again (although I did get to spend a fascinating day with his son, Joey, a few years later), but I did hear from Harvey. He was apologetic, but after all, it wasn't his fault: Fred Franzia can be a very stubborn individual. Anyhow, Harvey put in his time, the good, the bad and the ugly. He did a fine job the old-fashioned way, pre-Internet, pre-social media, in an era of press kits and controlling the message, and he always sat in on interviews with whoever was his boss (which I always hated). Harvey was one of the last of his breed. To paraphrase an old saying, winery P.R. people never die, they just go to some heavenly lounge and hang out. There are worse ways to spend eternity. R.I.P. Harvey!
A new winery P.R. website is born
This is pretty cool—a new blog that addresses "the practice of wine public relations, wine media trends, marketing ethics and news commentary."
Lots of blogs, including mine, have written stuff over the years on these topics, but I don't know of any blog that is solely dedicated to them. The creators, Tom Wark and Julie Ann Kodmur, call their site SWIG.
I'm sure it will be a success, especially if Tom and Julie Ann—both old friends of mine—keep it free. It's not clear to me how often they'll post, or if they view SWIG as a vehicle to drive paying customers to their own, separate public relations firms. Nonetheless, P.R. is a subject of importance and ongoing interest to winery principals—as well it should be—and so SWIG will probably be eagerly read. (Besides, as we all know, Tom is an entrepreneur who knows how to successfully start things up!)
I do want to comment on something Tom wrote on their website. "There is a body of knowledge which guides all publicists, regardless of industry, as well as there being a body of knowledge that guides wine publicists specifically. The intersection of these two bodies is what Julie Ann and I had in mind to explore here at SWIG."
This is true, as far as it goes; but what interests me is where winery communications is going, as opposed to where it's been—and believe me, it's going someplace it hasn't been before. For that matter, so is the entire wine industry; the two are interrelated. For it seems to me that we are leaving, if we haven't already left, the "classical" era of winery P.R. and are chugging along into one that—as with all futures—we see only "through a glass, darkly."
Tom has it exactly right when he states "The Number One Golden Truth of Wine Public and Media Relations [is] YOU MUST ALWAYS TELL THE TRUTH." In past "classic" times, this wasn't always appreciated by the crafters of publicity messages. Back then, advertisers felt free to lie, knowing that no public agency or consumer outrage would check them. This 1930 ad for Lucky Strike cigarettes actually had the nerve to suggest that smoking was good for your throat and lungs!
Tom's claim notwithstanding, not all wineries always tell the truth. There are lies of commission, and lies of omission; you can't know what you don't know, and wineries sometimes don't want you to know all the stuff they do (like adding mega-purple, or blending in Central Valley grapes, or putting a little Syrah into that nice Pinot Noir, or soaking the Chardonnay in wood chips, or reducing the alcohol by technical gizmos).
But in this day and age, it's awfully hard to keep anything secret, so wineries are better off figuring out how to be completely candid, even when it's uncomfortable for them to do so. You can always turn a lemon into lemonade, as Dear Abby used to say.
However, the bigger questions remain: Why does a winery need a P.R. and communications firm? If they can't do the job themselves, how should they choose an outside firm? How can they measure the return on investment they pay to the outside firm? Answered in reverse order, it can be awfully hard for a winery proprietor to tell if his P.R. firm is worth it. The P.R. people will tell him it takes time for plans to achieve fruition, which is true; they say, also, that some of their results aren't measurable, which also is true. This is why some wineries remain locked into unholy matrimony with P.R. companies for years, yoked to firms that are not helping them. It's also why, on the opposite end of the spectrum, wineries will peremptorily fire a very good P.R. firm that actually is advancing their cause: they get nervous, or their brother-in-law tells them he has a better firm, and so the pink slips go out. (Do firing managers still give out pink slips, or am I dating myself?)
How a winery should go about choosing an outside firm is one of the biggest decisions they'll make, and also one of the most difficult. If I was a winery, I'd ask my successful friends, who represents you and how are they doing? But I'd also apply good, old-fashioned common sense: Do you like the firm's owners? Do they seem honest, up-to-date, familiar with digital communications and social media? Or are they stuck in anachronistic approaches? Finally, why does a winery need a P.R. firm? It's all about communication, stupid! The days are long gone when a winery proprietor could sit alone, in splendid isolation, and think that his wine will go out there and sell itself. That used to be true, in certain circumstances and to a certain extent: for example, wineries that were located on well-traveled tourism routes could depend on an influx of visitors who would buy the wine, even if it was horrible. That's increasingly hard to do, as consumer's palates are educated. And some wineries coast on their reputations for years, depending on their old customers to continue buying them. But guess what? Old customers die.
Finally, I'd say that the relationship between a winery and it's P.R. firm cannot be one based only on occasional exchanges. It's all about intense teamwork these days: neither side—winery or P.R. firm—can generate the best ideas, but only both sides working together, so that brains can rub against each other, causing sparks of imagination and creativity that are geared toward the winery's specific needs and talents. The winery that blithely accepts from its P.R. firm a template with a boilerplate approach is asking for trouble.
Anyhow, like I said, I'm sure Tom's and Julie Ann's new venture will be a success. I wish them good luck, and I'll be reading SWIG (and often commenting on it) whenever they post.
When quality isn't enough: the "lightbulb of recognition"
The standard meme for marketing wine is: Ours is better than theirs. In just about every wine advertisement you read, this quality argument is there, whether implicit or explicit. Producers claim that their wine is rounder, smoother, more mellow, more delicious, better balanced, cleaner, more fulfilling, more [fill in the adjective] than the competition. The hope is that consumers will be swayed, for, after all, when you're spending money on a product, you want the highest quality, right?
As it turns out, the quality factor may not be the best way of promoting wine anymore. From ProWein, the big international wine trade event held last month in Germany, came mixed messages concerning the value of using quality claims to sell wine.
The reporter asked attendees from different countries (Russia, Brazil, South Africa, Italy, China, etc.) what they thought of the pushing-quality approach to selling wine. The answers were remarkably similar: "the excuse that your wine is top quality does not work anymore." "Quality is not a competitive advantage anymore." "Far too many wineries appear to rely on wine quality alone."
Ouch. So if quality isn't the message to be sending consumers, what is?
Well, let's begin to answer this by assuming that the 50 people queried were all on the young side; they are described as "students from the Masters programme at the School of Wine & Spirits in Burgundy," so they're probably Millennials. The question therefore becomes, What are Millennials looking for in wine marketing?
For starters, they're not "looking for" anything, if by the action verb "looking for" you mean a pro-active search. Marketing and its hand-maiden, advertising, are by their nature insidious: they come at you from the sidelines, entering your consciousness by osmosis at a time when your guard is down. That's why marketing works [when it does]: it captures your imagination.
How it does so is complicated. Here are some of the things the students said wineries should be doing to market their products, instead of stressing quality:
"start telling a different story." We know all about "the importance of the story line." It's easy, however, for an outsider to say this to a winery, but much harder for the winery to actually do it. What "story" should the winery tell?
"producers need to ensure that their brand's representative is up to scratch." This comment, by a South African student, referred to the actual employees who represented the various brands at ProWein. It was echoed by an Italian student who asked for representatives "with an easier and friendlier outlook," by a Russian who found many representatives "simply boring," and by a Brit who complained of "too many [representatives] sitting on stools behind their stands using wine bottles as a barrier." An Italian was positively scathing in his critique of reps, particularly from his own country. "Everyone was thinking just for themselves—creating a sense of fragmentation and confusion."
Clearly, what these young students were looking for was engagement. They wanted to feel like they were interacting with representatives who were fully human and alive, not a bunch of bored-stiff zombies giving off the vibe that "If it's March, it must be ProWein."
We all can relate to this. I was chatting with a friend the other day about how, when I take a cab ride, I like to have a little conversation with my driver. (This is why my friend recommended Lyft and Uber.) But I've been on the representative side of the table at wine events and know that it can be hard to always be chipper and put on a good face. You get tired, bored, cranky, especially at multi-day events when you're expected to be "onstage" all day long and into the night.
This sort of bravura performance requires a certain type of personality—outgoing, extroverted, friendly. This may not have much mattered in decades past. But clearly, the rules have changed. Younger consumers understand that 99% of all the world's wines are now faultless and drinkable. They also suspect that too much has been made of the famous "cult" wines their fathers and grandfathers worshipped; they feel no need to genuflect at that altar. But they are, after all, consumers; and nowadays consumers want to feel some sort of personal connection to a company whose brands they buy.
I sometimes think that wineries don't pay enough attention to these rules of the road: When you send someone out to represent you, that person needs to have certain skills of charm and engagement. A winery's representative, after all, is part of its "story." If this hasn't been immediately obvious until now to marketing managers and sales directors, it long has been to those of us on the receiving end of pitches. Just yesterday, Forbes' food & drink columnist, Cathy Huyghe, in a piece called What Makes a Wine Sell, and What Doesn't, wrote that "a producer's story trumps any detail about a wine's technical profile or even their numerical rating," arguing that "tablestakes"—the technical details of the wine—"aren't a point of differentiation" because "Everyone has them." Huyghe described her interviewing approach to winemakers: after "the preliminaries—the…logistical data—are over with," she looks for "the lightbulb of recognition…that illuminates what it is that makes that particular wine and that particular producer unique and different…".
That "lightbulb of recognition" is something wine marketers hope to ignite in the minds of consumers. Wine itself, unidentified and without a human connection, cannot do that; the winery's frontline representative is the spark that lights the bulb.
Winery P.R. and social media: Make the product cool, and make stars of the everyday people who drink it
The great advertising genius David Ogilvy, who founded one of Madison Avenue's most successful firms and served as the inspiration for generations of Mad Men, in his 1963 memoir "Confessions of an Advertising Man" quoted his own father. "[He] used to say of a product that it was 'very well spoken of in the advertisements.'"
Ogilvy's father lived in an era when being "well spoken of in the advertisements" was convincing enough for a gentleman to buy the product. Ogilvy understood, partly through his readings in mass psychology, that it was important that the person speaking in the advertisements be credible. He was a stickler for the authoritative figure: in "Confessions" he cites Escoffier as "the definitive authority" in cooking; he recalls his own stint as an assistant chef under Monsieur Pitard, "the arch symbol of authority"; one of Ogilvy's first clients, when he set up his advertising firm, was "an eminent authority on rare books"; in advising how to sell proprietary medicines, he notes that "A good patent-medicine advertisement conveys a feeling of authority"; and, finally summing up what it takes to be a successful ad man, suggests practitioners "become the acknowledged authority" on subjects ranging from ad budgets and media planning to getting scholarly articles published in the Harvard Business Review. An ad man who can do that "will be able to write your own ticket."
David Ogilvy died in 1999, at the age of 88. His career spanned a period when authoritative advertising really could push products because consumers trusted the information in the ads. Ogilvy specialized in inventing "personalities." Oldtimers will remember Colonel Whitehead, the cool white-bearded guy who told us of the benefits of Schwepps tonic water, and "the man in the Hathaway shirt," with his eye patch (who was the spiritual father of "The Most Interesting Man in the World," the Dos Equis guy). Believe it or not, there really was a time when advertising seemed to express the honest, objective truth, and people were credulous enough to believe it.
Today's P.R. and advertising specialists constantly refer to "the story" as the backbone of capturing the consumer's attention. Although the term "the story" wasn't really part of Ogilvy's lexicon, it's clear that his character-driven narratives anticipated it. He refers to another advertising man's use of the term "story appeal" in photographs: "the more of it you inject into your photographs, the more people will look at your advertisements." (One of my favorite Ogilvy images, and one of his most famous, is this ad for Rolls Royce.
It's almost impossible for the eye and the mind not to dwell on it. Who is that woman driver? Are those her kids? Where are they coming from–private school? What are they carrying? This is "story appeal" to the max, amplified by the photo's caption, which captures the imagination.)
Hence, the modern goal of P.R. to "tell the story" is hardly new. Mucha did it in 1897 with this poster advertising Nestle's:
a self-confident, classically beautiful maman mixing up the cocoa for her healthy, happy baby. When P.R. professionals take their first meeting with a new client, they prod for the story–and if they're good at their jobs, they never stop refining and, if necessary, re-defining it.
But today we have the game changer called the Internet, and specifically social media, a paradigm shift if ever there was one. Businesses no longer need P.R. people to take them public; they can go public all by themselves, with more exposure than even David Ogilvy ever dreamed of on his most creative, three-martini day. However, as we know all too well, some companies, and particularly small wineries not well versed in social media, don't know how to take advantage of the opportunities, thus leaving room for P.R. consultants for ply their trade, especially if they're adept at social media. One successful example of a neat fusion of telling a story through the use of social media concerns Vans, the popular shoeware company (I own several pairs and love them). Vans has a new, online documentary series in which four filmmakers were asked to find interesting young people who embody the spirit of the brand and tell their story. For instance, here's a short YouTube of an East L.A. guy named Anthony. He's pretty cool: it's interesting to get into his life, and he just happens to be wearing Vans, which gets a transfusion of Anthony's cool via the miracle of emotional transference. We know for a fact that video is the future of social media. If a picture is worth a thousand words, an interesting video is worth its weight in gold.
The American public today is less susceptible to believing something just because it's "very well spoken of in the advertisements." I mean, we passed that milestone long ago. Nowadays people are more likely to skip through the commercials on T.V, and slip past the ads in newspapers and magazines. They do, however, respond to interesting and clever videos. The Vans YouTubes are wonderful to watch, and even though they don't say a word about Vans, the shoes are part of the show. I'm not saying that traditional P.R. is dead or has no place, but the skill set for successful P.R. has changed. It now involves–not just the ability to make a good video–but proper insight, even more important, into the content of the video. Consumers will not respond if they're hit over the head with product ads–at least, they won't with wine. (I never fail to be amazed by the brutality and noise level of car commercials. I hate them, but maybe they work, or else the industry would have abandoned them long ago. But you can't sell wine that way.)
So how is "Anthony," the East L.A. guy, an "authority"? The fact of the matter is, for a younger generation the definition of "authority" has changed. It's no longer some stentorian font of wisdom who knows more than you do, telling you what's up. It's someone just like you. Anthony is an authority on being a cool young kid who's having fun who just happens to be into Vans. That's way different from some talking head on a T.V. commercial blathering away about the quality of Vans soles or the durability of their laces. People don't need that anymore, at least in everyday footware. Nor do they need it in wine. They want to see and hear from people they can relate to. That's the lesson for wineries, for P.R. pros and for marketing execs in general to take home.
Some good ways for a winery to communicate with the public–and one way not to
As a wine writer, I'm often the recipient of information from wineries, or from the P.R. professionals they hire to represent them. So I've come to have some knowledge and understanding of the various ways that wineries reach out to people like me (and to the general public, as well).
Some of these ways work better than others, it seems to me. The primary method of reaching out is the press release. This traditionally has been in hard copy, sent through the mail, but it can also be in digital form. I find most press releases pretty boring, but I do read them, so in that sense, the press release is an effective vehicle for getting noticed.
What do I look for in a press release? Well, it has to be a lot more than manufactured excitement. I (and all journalists, I would think), want news–real news–something to capture my attention. Just an ordinary "after __ made his millions, he relocated to Napa Valley" doesn't push my buttons.
Another way that wineries reach out to the public is through events. These can be hosted by the winery, or the winery can participate in a larger event put on by some other organization. These can be effective vehicles, too. They're certainly more interesting than reading a press release. You get to taste wine, and sometimes you get to eat some food. The downside, of course, is that you have to travel to wherever the event is, which isn't always feasible. I get a lot of invitations to go to tastings in places like Napa Valley and Sonoma County, but that involves hours of driving through the Bay Area's notorious traffic. Nor am I typically going to accept a dinner invitation in wine country. No drinking and driving for this critic. I'm more likely to go to an event in San Francisco because I can take BART (the local subway system).
A third way that wineries reach out to the public is through their websites. I think every winery should have a good-looking, comprehensive, easy-to-use website. Many do, but my chief criticism is that they're not kept up-to-date. Very often, the winery will send me a bottle of a new release, without any accompanying information regarding where the grapes are from, how the wine was made, and so on. If I want to learn more about the wine, I'll go online, starting with the website–but, more often than not, there's nothing there at all! Which is frustrating. It's to the winery's advantage to give us writers all the information we need, because that might help to "fatten" up the review, in terms of its length. (Of course, the score itself is unaffected.) I could always call someone at the winery and ask my questions, but that's a lot more complicated. You can't always get the person you need; you end up playing phone tag, so there's a limit to the amount of time I can spend in order to find out, say, the precise blend on that Cabernet Sauvignon, or where in St. Helena the vineyard is.
I've been talking about various ways that wineries reach out, but there also are wineries that don't reach out, which I think is a mistake. Just late yesterday, I got a call from a pleasant young person (I won't say who), who was the P.R. representative of a well-known Napa Valley Cabernet house that you could call "cult." (I won't identify it either.) The P.R. rep–I'll give him/her the name "Pat"–wanted to know how the winery could get a major writeup in such publications as the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times. Well, it was a little off-putting to be asked that, but "Pat" sounded like a nice person, and I wanted to help. I told "Pat" she/he should call up Lettie Teague or Eric Asimov and ask them directly, because both are friendly, accessible people. But I also told "Pat" something else.
"Your winery never sends out samples. They don't invite anyone up there. They've never reached out to me. The owner has to realize that a major news organization isn't going to give him free publicity just because he wants it. This industry is about relationships." "Pat" admitted that he/she understood this, but that ownership felt very strongly that they don't want to play the game of communicating with the media. Instead, the owner wants to preserve the appearance of being above it all, in an ivory tower–exclusive, you might say.
I explained that there's nothing exclusive about hiding behind your winery walls. A hundred other Napa "cult" wineries play the same game. They think that, by making themselves impossible to get, it enhances their desirability. Well, that may have been true once upon a time–but those days are ending. These days, the public wants transparency, openness, two-way communication, not a regal winery owner shut up in his castle. "Pat" understood, but said that was ownership's policy. I replied, "It's not working too well, is it?" "Pat" conceded that sales weren't quite as brisk as the owner wants, which is why the winery wants more media coverage. "That's what I mean," I said. "The current policy of splendid isolation isn't working."
I wished "Pat" good luck getting that New York Times and/or Wall Street Journal article, and maybe it will all work out. But I don't think so. This matter of reaching out and communicating–to critics like me, to the general media, to the public–is a sine qua non for success in this new era, and any "cult" winery that thinks it doesn't have to play nice in the sandbox is fooling itself.

subset: commoncrawl