Advertisement image management device, advertisement image management method and program

Abstract

To provide an advertisement image management device, advertisement image management method and program for suppressing a difference in advertisement effects caused by cross-publishing of advertisement images.SOLUTION: An advertisement image management device (an advertisement agency terminal 100) includes: an advertisement information acquisition unit (111, step S1) that acquires advertisement information of a first advertisement image (Pa1) of a first advertiser (an EC server 200) and a second advertisement image (Pa2) of a second advertiser (an EC server 300); and a publication ratio determination unit (112, step S3) that determines, on the basis of the advertisement information, an advertisement publication ratio representing a ratio of the number of times when the second advertisement image (Pa2) should be published in a first packaging material (P1) containing a sales product of the first advertiser (the EC server 200) to the number of times when the first advertisement image (Pa1) should be published in a second packaging material (P2) containing a sales product of the second advertiser (the EC server 300).SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an advertising image management device, an advertising image management method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, in collaborative advertising using flyers, a flyer advertisement has been proposed that makes editing easier by making the advertising display area the same area, and gives cohesion to both the appearance of the page and the content of the advertisement (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0003] Furthermore, a packaging advertising buying and selling intermediary service providing server has been proposed that provides an information display space in a part of the packaging material, prints advertising product information in this information display space, and charges a fee (see, for example, Patent Document 2). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-278488 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-108862 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In recent years, small-scale e-commerce (EC) sites have become increasingly popular for selling products in specific genres (niche products), but compared to large-scale e-commerce sites, small-scale e-commerce sites handle fewer products, are unable to place large amounts of web advertising, and lack brand power.As a result, small-scale e-commerce sites have little ability to attract customers, and increasing sales has been left to the individual efforts of each site owner.

[0006] When advertising products sold on such small e-commerce sites using the above-mentioned joint advertising or advertising printed on packaging, the large-scale e-commerce sites with strong brands and the small e-commerce sites are treated equally, which makes it difficult to increase sales for the small e-commerce sites.In addition, small e-commerce sites face a lot of competition in large e-commerce malls (large-scale e-commerce sites that sell products from multiple businesses), and unless they pay advertising fees to the e-commerce mall, they will be buried and unable to build their brand.

[0007] Here, one possible method of displaying advertising images is to carry out reciprocal display, in which an advertising image of one advertiser is displayed on packaging containing the products sold by the other advertiser, and an advertising image of the one advertiser is displayed on packaging containing the products sold by the other advertiser.

[0008] However, in the case of the above-mentioned mutual posting, for example, between large-scale e-commerce sites and small-scale e-commerce sites, due to differences in brand power between advertisers, large-scale e-commerce sites are less likely to achieve advertising effectiveness by posting advertising images on packaging than small-scale e-commerce sites.In addition, the advertising effectiveness of advertising images posted on packaging varies depending on the advertising area, number of colors, color and material of the packaging, etc.

[0009] In this way, if a difference arises between the advertising effectiveness obtained by one advertiser and the other when advertising images are mutually posted on packaging, mutual posting of advertising images will only be carried out between advertisers who can obtain the same advertising effectiveness, making mutual posting difficult, for example, between small-scale e-commerce sites and large-scale e-commerce sites.

[0010] An object of the present invention is to provide an advertising image management device, an advertising image management method, and a program that can suppress differences in advertising effectiveness that arise due to mutual posting of advertising images. [Means for solving the problem]

[0011] In one aspect, the advertising image management device includes an advertising information acquisition unit that acquires advertising information of a first advertising image of a first advertiser and a second advertising image of a second advertiser, and an advertisement placement ratio determination unit that determines, based on the advertising information, an advertisement placement ratio that represents the ratio between the number of times the second advertising image should be placed on a first packaging material that contains the product sold by the first advertiser and the number of times the first advertising image should be placed on a second packaging material that contains the product sold by the second advertiser. [Effects of the Invention]

[0012] According to this aspect, it is possible to suppress the difference in advertising effectiveness that occurs due to the mutual posting of advertising images. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an advertising agency terminal or the like that functions as an advertising image management device in one embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating printing of an advertising image on packaging material according to an embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a matching table according to an embodiment. [Figure 4] This is an explanatory diagram for explaining the second advertising image of a small-scale EC site B posted on the first packaging material of a large-scale EC site A, and the first advertising image of a large-scale EC site A posted on the second packaging material of a small-scale EC site B in one embodiment. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an outline of the functions of each device in one embodiment. [Figure 6] 1 is a flowchart illustrating an advertising image management method according to an embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an EC server or the like that functions as an advertising image management device in a first modified example of an embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a print control device and the like that functions as an advertising image management device in a second modified example of an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] Hereinafter, an advertising image management device, an advertising image management method, and a program according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0015] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an advertisement image management device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0016] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining printing of an advertising image Pa on a packaging material P. As shown in FIG.

[0017] The advertising agency terminal 100 shown in Fig. 1 includes a control unit 110, a storage unit 120, an input unit 130, a display unit 140, and an interface unit 150. The advertising agency terminal 100 is a terminal of an advertising agency that solicits advertising requests for advertising images Pa (see Fig. 2) from advertisers for mutual publication of the advertising images Pa, for example. This advertising agency can also be called a matching association.

[0018] The control unit 110 has, for example, one or more processors (e.g., CPU: Central Processing Unit) that function as an arithmetic processing device that controls the operation of each unit of the advertising agency terminal 100. This processor functions as an advertising information acquisition unit 111, a publication ratio determination unit 112, and a mutual publication possibility determination unit 113 by, for example, reading and executing a predetermined program from the storage unit 120 or from a storage medium (non-transitory computer-readable recording medium) that is detachable from the advertising agency terminal 100. In this way, the control unit 110 (or the advertising agency terminal 100) functions as an example of a computer that executes a program.

[0019] The advertising information acquisition unit 111, the publication ratio determination unit 112, and the mutual publication permission determination unit 113 will be described in detail later, but the advertising information acquisition unit 111 acquires advertising information of advertising images Pa (see FIG. 2) of multiple advertisers from at least one of the EC servers 200, 300, the storage unit 120, and other storage devices such as an external database. Below, the multiple advertisers will be described as examples, taking a large-scale EC site A (an example of a first advertiser) operated by the EC server 200 managing product information and sales information, and a small-scale EC site B (an example of a second advertiser) operated by the EC server 300 managing product information and sales information.

[0020] 4(a), the packaging material P containing the products sold at the large-scale EC site A will be referred to as the first packaging material P1, and as shown in FIG. 4(b), the packaging material P containing the products sold at the small-scale EC site B will be referred to as the second packaging material P2. The packaging material P is, for example, cardboard, but may also be a plastic case, a bag-like material, or the like, and is not particularly limited.

[0021] In addition, as shown in Figure 4(b), the advertising image Pa of the large-scale EC site A posted on the second packaging material P2 of the small-scale EC site B will be described as the first advertising image Pa1 (an image consisting of the text "Comic c now on sale at EC site A" and the code C), and as shown in Figure 4(a), the advertising image Pa of the small-scale EC site B posted on the first packaging material P1 of the large-scale EC site A will be described as the second advertising image Pa2 (an image consisting of the text "Figure from Comic c now on sale at EC site B" and the code C).

[0022] For example, the advertising information acquired by the advertising information acquisition unit 111 may include at least one of advertiser information of the large-scale EC site A and the small-scale EC site B (e.g., business scale (for an EC site, the number of products handled and the number of hits), sales, business field, brand power determined by an advertising agency, etc.); the item, area, number of colors (monochrome, two-color, four-color, etc.) or desired printing surface (top or side) of the advertising image Pa (first advertising image Pa1 and second advertising image Pa2); the color (white or brown) or material (virgin pulp content, cardboard or paper bag, etc.) of the packaging material P (first packaging material P1 and second packaging material P2); and an advertising access rate indicating the rate at which a specified site is accessed from a code C (see FIG. 4 ) attached to the first advertising image Pa1 and the second advertising image Pa2. The code C is, for example, a two-dimensional code corresponding to a URL for accessing a site on the Internet that displays advertising images. To calculate the advertising access rate, which is the ratio of the number of site accesses to the number of advertisement images Pa displayed, the number of accesses can be counted by having a statistical database accessed once to convert accesses to the site from code C, and then having a specific site accessed after the access log is acquired. Note that the above site may distribute discount electronic coupons or EC site-specific points, encouraging purchasers who have acquired the discount electronic coupons or EC site-specific points to purchase the product (item) corresponding to advertisement image Pa.

[0023] The advertising information acquisition unit 111 may acquire, for example, classification information corresponding to a predetermined advertiser, advertising image Pa, or packaging material P (for example, whether the advertiser is "large scale" or "small scale," and the advertising effectiveness of the packaging material P and advertising image Pa as "high," "medium," or "low" based on the area of ​​the advertising image Pa or the color of the packaging material P) from the memory unit 120 or an external database.

[0024] The advertisement placement ratio determination unit 112 determines an advertisement placement ratio, which represents the ratio between the number of times the second advertisement image Pa2 of the small-scale EC site B should be placed on the first packaging material P1 containing products sold by the large-scale EC site A and the number of times the first advertisement image Pa1 of the large-scale EC site A should be placed on the second packaging material P2 containing products sold by the small-scale EC site B, based on the advertisement information. This advertisement placement ratio may be determined in advance by the advertisement placement ratio determination unit 112 based on the relationship between the advertisement information of the first advertisement image Pa1 and the advertisement information of the second advertisement image Pa2, and may be stored in the matching table shown in FIG. 3. The advertisement placement ratio can also be interpreted as representing the ratio between the frequency with which the second advertisement image Pa2 of the small-scale EC site B should be placed on the first packaging material P1 of the large-scale EC site A (for example, the number of times in a specific period, such as 10 times per week) and the frequency with which the first advertisement image Pa1 of the large-scale EC site A should be placed on the second packaging material P2 containing products sold by the small-scale EC site B.

[0025] The mutual listing permission determination unit 113 determines whether or not mutual listing is permitted between listing the second advertising image Pa2 on the first packaging material P1 of the large-scale EC site A and listing the first advertising image Pa1 on the second packaging material P2 of the small-scale EC site B. Whether or not mutual listing is permitted will be described later, but it may be determined that mutual listing is not permitted when, for example, the product corresponding to the first advertising image Pa1 and the product corresponding to the second advertising image Pa2 compete with each other (are related). Whether or not mutual listing is permitted may also be determined in advance by the mutual listing permission determination unit 113 and stored in the matching table shown in FIG.

[0026] The storage unit 120 includes, for example, a memory such as a ROM (Read Only Memory), which is a read-only semiconductor memory in which a predetermined control program is pre-recorded, a RAM (Random Access Memory), which is a semiconductor memory that can be written and read at any time and is used as a working storage area as needed when the processor executes various control programs, a hard disk drive, etc. Note that the storage unit 120 may include an external storage device (database) when pre-storing a large number of advertisement images Pa, etc.

[0027] The input unit 130 has, for example, a touch panel, operation keys, a keyboard, a mouse, etc., and accepts input of various information.

[0028] The display unit 140 is a display that displays various types of information.

[0029] The interface unit 150 exchanges various information with external devices such as the EC servers 200 and 300. For example, the interface unit 150 receives an advertising request from the EC servers 200 and 300 requesting that the advertiser's own advertising image Pa be printed on packaging material P containing merchandise sold by other advertisers, and transmits an advertising printing request for the advertising image Pa to the print control device 400 to the EC servers 200 and 300.

[0030] The EC server 200 is, for example, a server device that manages product information and sales information to operate a large-scale EC site A on a website. Similarly, the EC server 300 is, for example, a server device that manages product information and sales information to operate a small-scale EC site B on a website. The EC servers 200 and 300 may be advertiser terminals of the large-scale EC site A or the small-scale EC site B (advertiser). Furthermore, the EC sites operated by these EC servers 200 and 300 are not limited to a single EC site, such as the large-scale EC site A or the small-scale EC site B, but may also be multiple EC sites. Furthermore, the EC sites operated by the EC servers 200 and 300 are not limited to a company-owned EC site that sells products from a single business, but may also be mall-type EC sites that sell products from multiple business operators. In this case, the large-scale EC site A may be a mall-type EC site and the small-scale EC site B may be a company-owned EC site, or both the large-scale EC site A and the small-scale EC site B may be EC sites included in the mall-type EC site.

[0031] The EC servers 200, 300 are computers including control units 210, 310, storage units 220, 320, and interface units 230, 330. The EC servers 200, 300 may further include an input unit and a display unit, similar to the advertising agency terminal 100.

[0032] The control units 210 and 310 each include a processor (e.g., a CPU) that functions as an arithmetic processing unit. The processor reads and executes a predetermined program from, for example, the storage unit 220 and 320 or from a storage medium (non-transitory computer-readable recording medium) detachable from the EC server 200 and 300. The storage units 220 and 320 each include, for example, a ROM (read-only semiconductor memory) in which the predetermined control program is pre-stored, and a RAM (random access memory) that is a semiconductor memory that can be written and read as needed and is used as a working memory area when the processor executes various control programs. The interface units 230 and 330 exchange various information with external devices such as the advertising agency terminal 100 and the print control device 400. For example, the interface units 230 and 330 transmit advertising requests to the advertising agency terminal 100, requesting that the advertising agency print its own advertising image Pa on packaging P containing products sold by other advertisers, and transmit advertising printing requests for the advertising image Pa of other advertisers received from the advertising agency terminal 100 to the print control device 400 together with a delivery request.

[0033] The print control device 400 and the print device 500 are located, for example, in a distribution center. This distribution center is, for example, a 3PL (Third Party Logistics) that packs products purchased on the EC sites of the EC servers 200 and 300 into packaging materials P, prints advertising images Pa on the packaging materials P, and so on.

[0034] The print control device 400 includes a control unit 410, a storage unit 420, an input unit 430, a display unit 440, and an interface unit 450. The print control device 400 is a device that controls the printing device 500. The print control device 400 may be a dedicated terminal for controlling printing by the printing device 500, but it may also function as a delivery management device that manages delivery (shipping, etc.) of products. Alternatively, the printing device 500 may also function as the print control device 400.

[0035] The control unit 410 has a processor (e.g., a CPU) that functions as an arithmetic processing unit. This processor reads and executes a predetermined program, for example, from the storage unit 420 or from a storage medium (non-transitory computer-readable recording medium) that is detachable from the print control device 400. The print control device 400 (control unit 410) may transmit information to the advertising agency terminal 100, such as the size of the printing area of ​​the advertising image Pa, printable positions such as printable surfaces, printable colors of the printing unit 510, and the color and material of the packaging material P, as information for the advertising agency terminal 100 to determine the advertising placement ratio and determine mutual placement of advertising images Pa.

[0036] The storage unit 420 includes, for example, a ROM, which is a read-only semiconductor memory in which predetermined control programs are pre-recorded, and a RAM, which is a semiconductor memory that can be written and read at any time and is used as a working memory area as needed when the processor executes various control programs.

[0037] The input unit 430 includes, for example, a keyboard and a mouse, and receives input of various information from the user.

[0038] The display unit 440 is a display that displays various information.

[0039] The interface unit 450 exchanges various types of information with external devices such as the EC servers 200 and 300 and the printing device 500 .

[0040] The printing device 500 includes a printing unit 510, a control unit 520, a storage unit 530, and an interface unit 540. A system including the printing device 500 and an advertising image management device (for example, the advertising agency terminal 100) can be called a printing system.

[0041] As shown in FIG. 2, the printing unit 510 has six print heads 511 for each color, for example, black, cyan, magenta, and yellow. As an example, the printing unit 510 prints an advertising image Pa on the packaging material P (in the example of FIG. 2, a second advertising image Pa2 on the first packaging material P1). The printing unit 510 may also print characters representing the name of the seller along with the advertising image Pa. Note that the print heads 511 are shown with hidden dashed lines because they are located behind the printing unit 510 and do not appear in FIG. 2. For example, the six print heads 511 for each color are arranged in a vertical direction at different positions in the transport direction of the packaging material P transported on the conveyor 600. Each of the multiple print heads 511 ejects ink in a horizontal direction to perform printing. This horizontal direction is a direction intersecting the vertical direction and the transport direction of the packaging material P (to the right in FIG. 2), and is, for example, a horizontal direction. However, the print head 511 may eject ink in other directions, such as vertically downward, when printing on the top surface of the packaging material P. The printing unit 510 may also be a printing unit 510 of a type other than an inkjet type, such as a thermal type.

[0042] The control unit 520 includes, for example, a processor (e.g., a CPU) that functions as an arithmetic processing unit that controls the operation of each unit of the printing device 500. This processor reads and executes a predetermined program from, for example, the storage unit 530 or from a storage medium (non-transitory computer-readable storage medium) that is detachable from the printing device 500. The storage unit 530 includes, for example, a ROM, which is a read-only semiconductor memory in which a predetermined control program is pre-recorded, and a RAM, which is a semiconductor memory that can be written and read at any time and is used as a working storage area as needed when the processor executes various control programs. The interface unit 540 exchanges various information with external devices such as the print control device 400.

[0043] FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an outline of the functions of each device such as the advertising agency terminal 100, the EC servers 200 and 300, the print control device 400, and the printing device 500. As shown in FIG.

[0044] 5, the EC server 200 (large-scale EC site A) and the EC server 300 (small-scale EC site B) make advertising requests to the advertising agency terminal 100, requesting that their own advertising image Pa be placed on packaging P containing products sold by other advertisers. The advertising agency terminal 100 may create an advertising design for the advertising image Pa based on the advertising requests from the EC servers 200 and 300.

[0045] Although the details will be described later, the advertising agency terminal 100 determines whether mutual publication is possible using the mutual publication determination unit 113, and determines the advertisement publication ratio using the publication ratio determination unit 112. Then, the advertising agency terminal 100 requests the EC servers 200, 300 to print advertisements of the advertisement images Pa of other advertisers.

[0046] When the EC servers 200, 300 sell a product to a purchaser, they issue a delivery request to a distribution center along with an advertisement printing request for the advertising image Pa of another advertiser received from the advertising agency terminal 100. In the example of FIG. 1, this distribution center is common to the EC servers 200 and 300, but the EC servers 200 and 300 may issue advertisement printing and delivery requests to different distribution centers (print control device 400 and printing device 500). In particular, when the advertising image Pa is determined in relation to the purchased product, there is a risk that personal information such as information related to personal preferences may be printed on the packaging P if the advertising image Pa is printed. Therefore, it is preferable that the purchaser be able to select whether or not to print the advertising image Pa when purchasing the product.

[0047] The delivery center (print control device 400 and printing device 500) packs the product into packaging material P and prints the advertising image Pa on the packaging material P based on the delivery request and advertisement printing request from the EC servers 200, 300. The product packed in the packaging material P is then delivered to the recipient (for example, the same as the purchaser). Note that the delivery center can earn advertising printing fees by printing the advertising image Pa on the packaging material P in addition to packing the product into the packaging material P.

[0048] Next, the advertising image determination method will be described in more detail with reference to the matching table in Fig. 3 and the flowchart in Fig. 6. Note that the description of matters that overlap with the above description will be omitted as appropriate.

[0049] The processing shown in Figure 6 is performed by the control unit 110 of the advertising agency terminal 100, for example, based on the advertising agency terminal 100 receiving an advertising request from the EC server 200, 300 requesting that the advertising agency post its own advertising image Pa on packaging material P containing products sold by another advertiser.

[0050] First, the advertising information acquisition unit 111 of the control unit 110 acquires advertising information of the advertising image Pa of the advertiser (for example, the EC server 200 or the EC server 300) that has sent an advertising request. In addition, the advertising information acquisition unit 111 acquires advertising information of the advertising image Pa of other advertisers that have already sent advertising requests, for example, by referring to the matching table shown in FIG. 3 stored in the storage unit 120 or an external database. In this way, the advertising information acquisition unit 111 acquires advertising information of the first advertising image Pa1 of the large-scale EC site A and the second advertising image Pa2 of the small-scale EC site B (step S1).

[0051] The matching table represents, for example, advertising information for multiple advertising images Pa, or information on the advertising placement ratio and whether or not advertising can be printed for two advertising images Pa with different advertisers. In the example shown in Figure 3, the first advertising image Pa1 of large-scale EC site A printed by small-scale EC site B is an example of three types: item "Comic book c by author x", advertising area "10cm x 10cm", and advertising color "color" corresponding to "No. 1", "No. 4", and "No. 5", item "Comic book c by author x", advertising area "20cm x 20cm", and advertising color "color" corresponding to "No. 2", and item "Comic book c by author x", advertising area "10cm x 10cm", and advertising color "solid color" corresponding to "No. 3". In addition, an example will be described in which the second advertising image Pa2 for small-scale e-commerce site B printed by large-scale e-commerce site A is a total of three types: an item "handmade figurine of a character from comic book c" corresponding to "No. 1," "No. 2," and "No. 3," an advertising area of ​​"10cm x 10cm," and an advertising color of "color"; an item "comic book c by author x" corresponding to "No. 4," an advertising area of ​​"10cm x 10cm," and an advertising color of "color"; and an item "comic book d by author y" corresponding to "No. 5," an advertising area of ​​"10cm x 10cm," and an advertising color of "color." Note that "item" is the product name corresponding to advertising image Pa, "advertising area" is the size of advertising image Pa on packaging material P, and "printing color" corresponds to the number of colors, and "color" may be divided into two colors (two-color), four colors (four-color), etc.

[0052] The publication ratio determination unit 112 determines whether or not the publication of the second advertising image Pa2 on the first packaging material P1 of the large-scale EC site A and the publication of the first advertising image Pa1 on the second packaging material P2 of the small-scale EC site B are mutually permitted (step S2).

[0053] For example, when the advertising agency terminal 100 receives an advertising request for the above-mentioned three types of first advertising images Pa1 in the matching table, the mutual placement possibility determination unit 113 determines the degree of matching and the competition determination based on the relationship between each item of the three types of first advertising images Pa1 received by the advertising information acquisition unit 111 and the items of advertising images Pa of other advertisers in the matching table, and determines that the advertisement can be printed if, for example, the degree of matching is "strong" and the competition determination is "unrelated" (or if the competition determination is "unrelated" regardless of the degree of matching). Furthermore, the mutual placement possibility determination unit 113 determines that the advertisement cannot be printed in cases other than when the degree of matching is "strong" and the competition determination is "unrelated". The determination result (whether the advertisement can be printed or not) of the mutual placement possibility determination unit 113 may be stored in the matching table.

[0054] The degree of matching may be determined to be "strong" when the items of the first advertising image Pa1 and the second advertising image Pa2 have a common keyword, such as "comic book c," and may be determined to be "weak" when they do not have a common keyword. The relationship between author x and author y may also be used to determine the reader demographic, and the degree of matching may be determined to be "weak" when the relevance of the reader demographic is low. Alternatively, the degree of matching may be determined based on the commonality of the target age or target gender of the first advertising image Pa1 and the second advertising image Pa2, or the relationship between the desired printing position, such as the desired printing surface (top or side) of the advertiser who will have the advertising image Pa placed, and the printable position, such as the printable surface of the advertiser who will place the advertising image Pa.

[0055] The competition determination may be such that if the items of the first advertising image Pa1 and the second advertising image Pa2 are in the same genre (for example, comic books, figurines, etc.), they are determined to be "related," and if they are in different genres, they are determined to be "unrelated." In this way, if the sales of a product corresponding to one of the two mutually-posted advertising images Pa make it difficult to sell a product corresponding to the other (for example, if the products are in the same genre or function), the competition determination may be "related."

[0056] 3, since it is determined that advertisements can be printed in No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3, one of these three mutual placements (for example, the one with the smallest advertisement placement ratio) is automatically determined and notified to the advertiser who made the advertisement request, or multiple mutual placement candidates may be presented to at least one of the advertisers (or the advertiser who made the advertisement request) and the selection of any one of the mutual placements may be accepted. Alternatively, if the strength of the degree of matching is determined numerically, the mutual placement of the combination with the higher numerical value may be determined.

[0057] Furthermore, the relationship between the sales products contained in the packaging P of the large-scale EC site A and the small-scale EC site B and the displayed advertising image Pa is not particularly limited, but for example, it is desirable that the second advertising image Pa2 displayed on the first packaging P1 containing the sales products of the large-scale EC site A is a second advertising image Pa2 that has been determined to be compatible with the first advertising image Pa1 corresponding to the type of sales product of the large-scale EC site A. In this way, the type of sales product contained in the packaging P may be taken into consideration in determining whether or not mutual display is possible.

[0058] Next, the placement ratio determination unit 112 determines the advertisement placement ratio of the first advertisement image Pa1 and the second advertisement image Pa2 (e.g., No. 1, No. 2, or No. 3) that have been determined to be mutually eligible for placement, based on the advertisement information of the first advertisement image Pa1 and the second advertisement image Pa2 (step S3), and the processing shown in Fig. 6 ends. The advertisement placement ratio determined by the placement ratio determination unit 112 may also be stored in the matching table.

[0059] For example, based on the fact that the advertiser information (large-scale EC site A) of the first advertising image Pa1 is "large-scale" and the advertiser information (small-scale EC site B) of the second advertising image Pa2 is "small-scale," the mutual posting possibility determination unit 113 determines the advertising posting ratio, which represents the ratio of the number of times the first advertising image Pa1 should be posted on the second packaging material P2 of the small-scale EC site B to the number of times the second advertising image Pa2 should be posted on the first packaging material P1 of the large-scale EC site A, to be 10:1. This advertising posting ratio indicates that by printing (posting) the first advertising image Pa1 10 times on the second packaging material P2 of the small-scale EC site B, the second advertising image Pa2 can be printed once on the first packaging material P1 of the large-scale EC site A.

[0060] Furthermore, the mutual placement determination unit 113 may determine the advertisement placement ratio to be 5:1 based on the fact that the advertisement area of ​​the first advertisement image Pa1 is larger (20 cm x 20 cm) than that of No. 1, as in No. 2, or may determine the advertisement placement ratio to be 20:1 based on the fact that the advertisement color of the first advertisement image Pa1 is less (monochrome) than that of No. 1, as in No. 3. In this way, the mutual placement determination unit 113 may determine the advertisement placement ratio based on advertisement information such as the advertisement area and advertisement color. The advertisement placement ratio may be adjusted, for example, when the advertiser's business scale or advertisement access rate changes.

[0061] The advertising agency terminal 100 makes a number of advertisement printing requests to the large-scale EC site A (e.g., 10 times) and the small-scale EC site B (e.g., 100 times) corresponding to the advertisement publication ratio determined by the publication ratio determination unit 112 as described above. Alternatively, each time the large-scale EC site A or the small-scale EC site B sells a product, it may notify the advertising agency terminal 100, and the advertising agency terminal 100 may notify the large-scale EC site A or the small-scale EC site B of an advertisement printing request regarding which advertisement image Pa to print based on the advertisement publication ratio. In this case, the advertising agency terminal 100 can manage the number of times the large-scale EC site A and the small-scale EC site B have advertised in accordance with the advertisement publication ratio.

[0062] The advertising ratio may be converted into points and managed by the advertising agency terminal 100. In the case of the above-mentioned advertising ratio of 10:1, the small-scale EC site B can have the second advertising image Pa2 printed once on the first packaging material P1 of the large-scale EC site A by printing the first advertising image Pa1 ten times on the second packaging material P2. Therefore, for example, points may be managed so that the small-scale EC site B gains one point for printing the first advertising image Pa1 once and loses 10 points for printing the second advertising image Pa2 once. If the negative value (absolute value) of these points exceeds a specified value, other advertisers may be prevented from publishing their advertising images Pa.

[0063] Furthermore, when points are used for mutual listing, the number of mutual advertisement listings can be managed by increasing or decreasing points not only between large-scale EC site A and small-scale EC site B, but also between three or more parties including EC site C, based on the advertising placement ratio between large-scale EC site A and EC site C (an example of another advertiser), and the advertising placement ratio between small-scale EC site B and EC site C. Note that points may also be bought and sold between large-scale EC site A and small-scale EC site B, for example, and an advertising agency (advertising agency terminal 100).

[0064] In the above description, the advertising agency terminal 100 is provided with the mutual publication possibility determination unit 113, but for example, if a bidding for mutual publication is made for one advertiser's advertising image Pa, or if mutual publication has been decided in advance through consultation between the two advertisers, the advertising agency terminal 100 does not need to determine whether mutual publication is possible. In other words, the mutual publication possibility determination unit 113 can be omitted from the advertising agency terminal 100.

[0065] Furthermore, in the above description, the advertising image Pa to be placed on the packaging material P is printed directly on the packaging material P, but the advertising image Pa may also be placed on the packaging material P by, for example, attaching a sticker on which the advertising image Pa is printed.

[0066] In the above explanation, an example of a first advertiser is a large-scale EC site A, an example of a second advertiser is a small-scale EC site B, and an example where the advertising ratio is 1:10 based solely on the business scale of these advertisers has been described, but the ratio based on advertiser information (business scale, etc.) is merely an example, and an equal advertising ratio such as 1:1 may be determined regardless of advertiser information (business scale). Also, the advertising ratio may be determined between large-scale EC sites or between small-scale EC sites, etc.

[0067] In the present embodiment described above, the advertising agency terminal 100, which is an example of an advertising image management device, includes an advertising information acquisition unit 111 and an advertisement ratio determination unit 112. The advertising information acquisition unit 111 acquires advertising information of a first advertising image Pa1 of a large-scale EC site A (an example of a first advertiser) and a second advertising image Pa2 of a small-scale EC site B (an example of a second advertiser). The advertisement ratio determination unit 112 determines an advertisement advertisement ratio, which indicates the ratio between the number of times that the second advertising image Pa2 should be advertised on a first packaging material P1 that contains products for sale on the large-scale EC site A and the number of times that the first advertising image Pa1 should be advertised on a second packaging material P2 that contains products for sale on the small-scale EC site B, based on the advertising information.

[0068] In addition, the advertising image management method is an advertising image management method performed by a computer (for example, the control unit 110 or the advertising agency terminal 100), and includes acquiring advertising information for a first advertising image Pa1 of a large-scale EC site A (an example of a first advertiser) and a second advertising image Pa2 of a small-scale EC site B (an example of a second advertiser) (step S1 in Figure 6), and determining an advertising placement ratio representing the ratio between the number of times the second advertising image Pa2 should be placed on a first packaging material P1 containing products for sale at the large-scale EC site A and the number of times the first advertising image Pa1 should be placed on a second packaging material P2 containing products for sale at the small-scale EC site B, based on the advertising information (step S3).

[0069] The program also causes a computer (e.g., the control unit 110 or the advertising agency terminal 100) to realize the following functions: a function of acquiring advertising information for a first advertising image Pa1 of a large-scale EC site A (an example of a first advertiser) and a second advertising image Pa2 of a small-scale EC site B (an example of a second advertiser) (step S1 in FIG. 6); and a function of determining, based on the advertising information, an advertising placement ratio that represents the ratio between the number of times the second advertising image Pa2 should be placed on a first packaging material P1 containing products for sale at the large-scale EC site A and the number of times the first advertising image Pa1 should be placed on a second packaging material P2 containing products for sale at the small-scale EC site B (step S3).

[0070] These advertising agency terminals 100 (advertising image management devices), advertising image management methods, and programs determine the advertising placement ratio based on advertising information of advertising images Pa (for example, advertiser information such as business scale, area and number of colors of advertising images Pa, etc.), and therefore can adjust for differences in advertising effectiveness, such as differences in brand power between advertisers, differences in area and number of colors of advertising images Pa, by adjusting the number of advertisements placed. Thus, according to this embodiment, differences in advertising effectiveness caused by mutual placement of advertising images Pa can be suppressed. Therefore, even if there are differences in brand power between advertisers, or differences in area and number of colors of advertising images Pa, mutual placement can be more easily established, and mutual placement of advertising images Pa can also be more easily carried out between various advertising images Pa.

[0071] Furthermore, a small-scale EC site B with no strong brand power can support the branding of a large-scale EC site A with strong brand power by having the small-scale EC site A place the second advertising image Pa2 on the first packaging material P1 of the large-scale EC site B. On the other hand, if the advertising placement ratio is 10:1 as mentioned above, for example, by placing the second advertising image Pa2 of the small-scale EC site B once, the small-scale EC site A can have the first advertising image Pa1 placed 10 times on the second packaging material P2 of the small-scale EC site B, thereby enabling the first advertising image Pa1 to be placed inexpensively. Furthermore, a so-called EC site shopping effect can be expected between the large-scale EC site A and the small-scale EC site B, such as customers who purchase products of a specific genre (niche products) on the small-scale EC site B beginning to purchase products of other genres on the large-scale EC site A.

[0072] In addition, in this embodiment, the advertising information includes at least one of advertiser information of the large-scale EC site A and the small-scale EC site B, the area or number of colors of the first advertising image Pa1 and the second advertising image Pa2, the color or material of the first packaging material P1 and the second packaging material P2, and an advertising access rate representing the percentage of accesses to a specified site from the code C attached to the first advertising image Pa1 and the second advertising image Pa2.

[0073] This allows the advertisement placement ratio to be appropriately determined based on the advertisement information, thereby further reducing the difference in advertising effectiveness caused by mutual placement of advertisement images Pa.

[0074] In addition, in this embodiment, the advertising agency terminal 100 (or advertising image management method or program) further includes a mutual posting possibility determination unit 113 (or a determination or determination function) that determines whether or not mutual posting is possible between posting of a second advertising image Pa2 on a first packaging material P1 of a large-scale EC site A and posting of a first advertising image Pa1 on a second packaging material P2 of a small-scale EC site B, and the posting ratio determination unit 112 (a determination or function of an advertising posting ratio) determines the advertising posting ratio of the first advertising image Pa1 and the second advertising image Pa2 that have been determined to be mutually postable.

[0075] This allows the processing of acquiring advertising information and the like to be performed collectively by determining the advertising ratio for two advertising images Pa for which mutual publication has been determined, thereby simplifying the processing of determining the advertising ratio.

[0076] In the above description, the advertising image management device has been described using the advertising agency terminal 100 as an example, but the advertising image management device may be a device separate from the advertising agency terminal 100. In that case, the advertising image management device may receive advertising requests from the EC servers 200, 300 via the advertising agency terminal 100. The advertising image management device may be the EC server 700 as in a first modified example described later, or the print control device 800 as in a second modified example described later. Note that an advertising image management device that acquires advertising information about the advertising image Pa and determines the advertising publication ratio can be said to manage the advertising image Pa.

[0077] <First Modification> FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an EC server 700 and the like that function as an advertising image management device in a first modified example of an embodiment.

[0078] 1, the advertising agency terminal 100 has been described as an example of an advertising image management device, but in this first modified example, the EC server 700 functions as an advertising image determination device. Since other matters can be the same as those described above, the following description will focus on the differences.

[0079] 7 operates, for example, a mall-type EC site that sells products from multiple businesses. This mall-type EC site includes the large-scale EC site A and the small-scale EC site B described above.

[0080] The EC server 700 includes a control unit 710, a storage unit 720, an input unit 730, a display unit 740, and an interface unit 750, similar to the advertising agency terminal 100 shown in FIG.

[0081] 7 functions as an advertisement information acquisition unit 711, a publication ratio determination unit 712, and a mutual publication permission determination unit 713 by reading and executing a predetermined program, for example, from the storage unit 720 or from a storage medium (non-transitory computer-readable recording medium) that is detachable from the EC server 700. In this way, the control unit 710 (or the EC server 700) functions as an example of a computer that executes a program.

[0082] The advertisement information acquisition unit 711, the publication ratio determination unit 712, and the mutual publication permission determination unit 713 may be similar to the advertisement information acquisition unit 111, the publication ratio determination unit 112, and the mutual publication permission determination unit 113 described above.

[0083] The EC server 700 is a server device for operating EC sites, and operates the large-scale EC site A and the small-scale EC site B, which are advertisers. Therefore, the EC server 700 can omit the process of sending advertising requests to other advertising image management devices and receiving advertising print requests from other advertising image management devices.

[0084] <Second Modification> FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a print control device 800 and other components that function as an advertising image management device in a second modified example of an embodiment.

[0085] In the second modified example, the print control device 800 functions as an advertising image determination device. Other matters can be the same as those described above, so the following description will focus on the differences.

[0086] The print control device 800 shown in Figure 8 includes a control unit 810, a memory unit 820, an input unit 830, a display unit 840, and an interface unit 850, similar to the advertising agency terminal 100 and print control device 400 shown in Figure 1.

[0087] 8 functions as an advertisement information acquisition unit 811, a publication ratio determination unit 812, and a mutual publication permission determination unit 813 by reading and executing a predetermined program, for example, from the storage unit 820 or from a storage medium (non-transitory computer-readable recording medium) that is detachable from the print control device 800. In this way, the control unit 810 (or the print control device 800) functions as an example of a computer that executes a program.

[0088] The advertisement information acquisition unit 811, the publication ratio determination unit 812, and the mutual publication permission determination unit 813 may be similar to the advertisement information acquisition unit 111, the publication ratio determination unit 112, and the mutual publication permission determination unit 113 described above.

[0089] As described above, the print control device 800 is placed in a delivery center that packs products into packaging material P and prints advertising images Pa on packaging material P based on delivery requests and advertising printing requests from the EC servers 200, 300. This allows the advertising image printing device (print control device 400) to omit processes such as sending advertising requests to the EC servers 200, 300 and receiving advertising printing requests from the advertising agency terminal 100 via the EC servers 200, 300. In addition, the print control device 800 can easily manage the number of times the advertising image Pa is printed, which corresponds to the advertising publication ratio.

[0090] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and the components can be modified and embodied in practice without departing from the spirit of the invention. Furthermore, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining multiple components disclosed in the above-described embodiments. For example, all components shown in the embodiments may be appropriately combined. Naturally, various modifications and applications are possible without departing from the spirit of the invention. Below, a portion of the invention described in the specification and drawings of this application is additionally noted.

[0091] [Appendix 1] an advertisement information acquisition unit that acquires advertisement information of a first advertisement image of a first advertiser and a second advertisement image of a second advertiser; an advertisement placement ratio determination unit that determines, based on the advertisement information, an advertisement placement ratio that represents a ratio between the number of times the second advertisement image should be placed on a first packaging material containing the product sold by the first advertiser and the number of times the first advertisement image should be placed on a second packaging material containing the product sold by the second advertiser; An advertising image management device comprising:

[0092] [Appendix 2] The advertising information includes at least one of advertiser information of the first advertiser and the second advertiser, the area or number of colors of the first advertising image and the second advertising image, the color or material of the first packaging material and the second packaging material, and an advertising access rate that indicates the rate at which a specified site is accessed from a code attached to the first advertising image and the second advertising image. 2. An advertising image management device according to claim 1.

[0093] [Appendix 3] The system further includes a mutual placement possibility determination unit that determines whether or not mutual placement of the second advertising image on the first packaging material of the first advertiser and the first advertising image on the second packaging material of the second advertiser is possible, The placement ratio determination unit determines the placement ratio of the first advertising image and the second advertising image determined to be mutually placed. 3. An advertising image management device according to claim 1 or 2.

[0094] [Appendix 4] An advertising image determination method performed by a computer, comprising: Acquiring advertisement information of a first advertisement image of a first advertiser and a second advertisement image of a second advertiser; determining an advertisement placement ratio representing a relationship between the number of times the second advertisement image should be placed on a first packaging material containing the product sold by the first advertiser and the number of times the first advertisement image should be placed on a second packaging material containing the product sold by the second advertiser, based on the advertisement information; An advertising image management method comprising:

[0095] [Appendix 5] A function of acquiring advertising information of a first advertising image of a first advertiser and a second advertising image of a second advertiser; a function of determining, based on the advertising information, an advertising placement ratio that indicates a relationship between the number of times the second advertising image should be placed on a first packaging material containing the product sold by the first advertiser and the number of times the first advertising image should be placed on a second packaging material containing the product sold by the second advertiser; A program that makes the computer realize the above. [Explanation of symbols]

[0096] 100 Advertising agency terminal (advertising image management device) 110 control section 111 Advertising Information Acquisition Department 112 Publication Ratio Determination Department 113 Mutual Publication Approval Determination Department 200 EC servers (large-scale EC site A) 300 EC server (small-scale EC site B) 400 Printing control device 500 printing equipment 510 Printing Department 511 Print Head 600 Conveyor 700 EC server (advertising image management device) 710 Control Unit 711 Advertising Information Acquisition Department 712 Publication Ratio Determination Department 713 Mutual Publication Approval Determination Department 800 Printing control device (advertising image management device) 810 Control Unit 811 Advertising Information Acquisition Unit 812 Publication Ratio Determination Department 813 Mutual Publication Approval Determination Department C Code P packaging material P1 1st packaging material P2 2nd packaging material Pa advertising image Pa1 1st advertising image Pa2 2nd advertising image

Claims

1. an advertisement information acquisition unit that acquires advertisement information of a first advertisement image of a first advertiser and a second advertisement image of a second advertiser; an advertisement placement ratio determination unit that determines, based on the advertisement information, an advertisement placement ratio that represents a ratio between the number of times the second advertisement image should be placed on a first packaging material containing the merchandise sold by the first advertiser and the number of times the first advertisement image should be placed on a second packaging material containing the merchandise sold by the second advertiser; An advertising image management device comprising:

2. The advertising information includes at least one of advertiser information of the first advertiser and the second advertiser, the area or number of colors of the first advertising image and the second advertising image, the color or material of the first packaging material and the second packaging material, and an advertising access rate that indicates the rate at which a specified site is accessed from a code attached to the first advertising image and the second advertising image.

2. The advertising image management device according to claim 1.

3. a mutual posting possibility determination unit that determines whether or not posting of the second advertising image on the first packaging material of the first advertiser and posting of the first advertising image on the second packaging material of the second advertiser are possible; The placement ratio determination unit determines the placement ratio of the first advertising image and the second advertising image determined to be mutually placed.

3. The advertising image management device according to claim 1 or 2.

4. An advertising image determination method performed by a computer, comprising: acquiring advertisement information of a first advertisement image of a first advertiser and a second advertisement image of a second advertiser; determining an advertisement placement ratio representing a relationship between the number of times the second advertisement image should be placed on a first packaging material containing the merchandise sold by the first advertiser and the number of times the first advertisement image should be placed on a second packaging material containing the merchandise sold by the second advertiser, based on the advertisement information; An advertising image management method comprising:

5. a function of acquiring advertising information of a first advertising image of a first advertiser and a second advertising image of a second advertiser; a function of determining, based on the advertising information, an advertising placement ratio that indicates a relationship between the number of times the second advertising image should be placed on a first packaging material containing the product sold by the first advertiser and the number of times the first advertising image should be placed on a second packaging material containing the product sold by the second advertiser; A program that makes the computer realize the above.

Images