Method of monetizing online personal beauty product selections

Abstract

One or more embodiments of the program are directed to a plurality of methods for monetizing online personalized beauty product selections utilizing a technology for content-targeted Internet advertising on a virtual makeover website. Methods comprise: (1) categorizing facial features to select product advertisements for co-branding in a product palette; (2) an auction for webpage advertisement placements related to a user's facial features; (3) transforming a makeover “look” to advertise alternative products to produce the new look under different lighting conditions; (4) a gifting system to allow sale and gifting of products used to produce a makeover, where the makeover image may be packaged with the selected products in a gift package; and (5) recapturing users who would cancel a sale with an offer of less expensive comparable products.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims priority to three U.S. Provisional Patent Applications, all filed on Mar. 17, 2008, and all co-owned by the same assignee. These applications are entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CREATING AND SHARING PERSONALIZED VIRTUAL MAKEOVERS,” Ser. No. 61 / 037,323, “GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE FOR SELECTION OF OPTIONS FROM OPTION GROUPS AND METHODS RELATING TO SAME,” Ser. No. 61 / 037,319, and “METHOD OF MONETIZING ONLINE PERSONALIZED BEAUTY PRODUCT SELECTIONS,” Ser. No. 61 / 037,314, filed 17 Mar. 2008. These provisional patent applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety into this specification.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]The invention relates to the field of computer programming and is more particularly, but not by way of limitation, directed toward a method of monetizing online personalized beauty product selections by a computer user.[0004]2. Description of the Related Ar...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0016]The combination of cyber stickiness and the opportunity for co-branding makes virtual makeover websites desirable platforms for advertisement of personal products such as cosmetics, accessories, clothing, and other personal care products and services. In one or more embodiments of the program, image processing technology makes it possible to computationally analyze a portrait for facial features and personal characteristics in order to categorize a user of a virtual makeover editor for various marketing criteria such as a personal color profile type from which recommended products will be selected for presentation to the user as a color / product palette for the virtual makeover, based on the user's personal features.

[0018]One or more embodiments may enhance monetizing of an online virtual makeover website by providing an advertising auction system related to particular facial features of a portrait. Using this method, the program provides a method of selecting preferred on-page advertising placements for auction for specialty targeted leaderboard, sky scraper and other on-page advertisements to be selected by bidder rank depending in part on various bid categories, such as for example the profile group and / or personal color profile type of the portrait. This is a hybrid advertising model that uses sophisticated image analysis software to separate consumers into more refined groups for traditional advertisement placement bidding. For example, hair color manufacturers may wish to advertise a particular hair-coloring product only to users with gray hair. Or a particular color of eye shadow may be perfect for consumers with blue eyes. Alternatively, a dermatologist may wish to advertise services to consumers with drooping eyelids, weak chins or sagging jowls. All these advertisers can achieve their target audience by using facial feature auction ad placement. Any facial feature that can be identified by the software algorithms may be employed to provide a sophisticated content-targeting basis for bidding for advertisement placement.

[0019]In one or more embodiments of the program, the advertising model may be an improvement over the prior art because it both allows a finer granularity to bidding based on facial features in a portrait discerned from image interpretation instead of keyword bidding, and also because it may generate more revenue for the website sponsor (in this case, the virtual makeover website operator) by charging more for advertising placement when the desired user's personal features are present in the current portrait, even if the user does not click on the sponsored link.

[0020]One or more embodiments the program may offer the user the opportunity to translate the “look” they have created in the makeover editor into different lighting conditions, and automatically select alternative products that will produce the same look, for example, under the alternate lighting conditions. The additional products may then be added to the user's shopping cart with a single click of the mouse, for example, enhancing the monetization of the makeover program. The terms “look” and “makeover” are used together herein as nouns, in a colloquial sense to describe a person's overall style, appearance and conformance to societal norms. As such, giving a subject's image a “makeover” may also include providing a digital image editor for directly editing the portrait to give the subject a new look. This feature would correspond to a real world effort to, for example, pluck eyebrows, change hair color, or don a wig. Creating a new look may also include changes beyond makeup and hairstyles, such as adding or removing accessories such as color contact lens, eyeglasses, or hats. In some instances changing accessories alone may create a new look.

[0023]Finally, a “virtual makeover terminal” in Second Life and other virtual reality programs may be provided using all or any of the marketing techniques disclosed herein to allow users to makeover a Second Life avatar. Similarly, a virtual makeover website in the real world Internet may also be used to makeover the appearance of a portable avatar, artistic rendering, or other image of a face that meets the spirit of a portrait as defined herein. Further, makeovers created in a “virtual world” may be gifted to other denizens of the virtual world as a “virtual gift,” or in world makeovers may be gifted or purchased in the same way as makeovers in the real world, as discussed herein. Marketing the real world advertiser's products and systems “in world” through virtual billboards, a virtual salon, virtual department stores and through links to real world information can bring additional customers to the real world virtual makeover website, further increasing monetization thereof.

Problems solved by technology

However, these websites fail to monetize fully the potential of advertising and marketing to online virtual makeover users.

While some ads on the sites are at least somewhat context sensitive, such as ads targeted at women or ads for make-up, none of these prior art websites provide the technology to create a platform for a finely targeted advertising campaign using information that can be derived from the users of virtual makeover websites.

If the ad succeeds, it may be improved by the addition of sound, flash animation and other newer techniques, and eventually moved to placements that are more expensive.

However, no technology presently exists to offer vendors of cosmetic and personal care products and services, for example, the ability to tailor advertising placements for particular color or variety of a product or service directly to a consumer, with for example, a given facial type, coloring, or facial feature.

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