US20060172797A1

US20060172797A1 - Method and system for determining prizewinning status and awarding a prize

Info

Publication number: US20060172797A1
Application number: US10/944,068
Authority: US
Inventors: Augustine Fou
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2003-09-19
Filing date: 2004-09-18
Publication date: 2006-08-03

Abstract

Method for determining prizewinning status and awarding a prize. Most consumer marketing programs which employ a sweepstakes mechanism with prizes depend on game pieces preprinted with codes or words to signify prizewinning status. Furthermore, if such status is determined to be “winning” the holder of the game piece must still physically mail the game piece in for verification before the corresponding prize is awarded. The game pieces themselves are subject to duplication, forgery, manipulation, and other forms of fraud. The number of winners in such programs depends on the number of prizes, the number of game pieces, the flow of the game pieces into distribution, and the number of participants. The method provided herein eliminates the opportunity for fraud associated with game pieces, simplifies the calculation of the number of winnres, and increases the efficiency of determining prizewinning status and awarding prizes.

Description

RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. .sctn. 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/504,323, entitled METHODS FOR DETERMINING PRIZE WINING STATUS AND AWARDING A PRIZE filed Sep. 19, 2003, and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to sweepstakes, and more specifically to a method for determining prizewinning status and awarding prizes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is a common practice in advertising and marketing to run sweepstakes marketing programs with prizes in order to help increase sales of consumer products, food and beverage products, or consumer packaged goods. This is typically done by adding game pieces, codes, and/or sweepstakes details to the packaging of such products. Each game piece is typically preprinted with codes or words which tell the customer whether they are a winner or not. The problems associated with these types of marketing programs are widely known in the industry. These include duplication, forgery, manipulation, and other forms of fraud related to the game pieces themselves. Other problems include the challenge of calculating and reporting accurate odds of winning and the number of winners because it depends on the number of prizes, the number of game pieces, the flow of product into distribution during the promotional period, and the number of total participants in the program. For example, in a widely publicized scandal that cost McDonald's Corporation nearly $20 million, an employee of the company that administered McDonald's Monopoly Game and Sweepstakes in 2001 was caught stealing winning game pieces and having family members claim the prizes, including the grand prize. This was possible because all of the prize winning statuses—e.g. “you have won a prize” were printed on the game pieces. Although standard security precautions are taken, such fraud is still eminently possible when the prize winning message is printed on the game piece and the game piece itself is to be mailed in as the proof of such winning.
In another example, McDonald's 2003 Best Chance Game was so popular that McDonald's ran out of the 250 million game pieces printed for the program well before the end of the promotional period, as stated in the rules. Again, because prizewinning statuses and prizes were printed on the game pieces themselves, McDonald's could not print and make available any additional game pieces because that would change the odds of the entire game, as stated in the rules.
In yet another example, Pepsi's iTunes promotion with Apple Computer in 2004 proved to be a major disaster when it was discovered that customers could easily tell if the bottle was not a winner, simply by tilting the 20 oz. bottle to a 20 degree angle to reveal part of the phrase “please try again” underneath the bottle cap. The winning bottle caps were printed with a claim code which could be used to claim a free iTunes download. Again, because prizewinning statuses and prizes (the claim codes) were printed on the bottle caps, the program was easily compromised and thus rendered completed useless with respect to the objective of the program, which is typically to incentivize customers to make more purchases.
Further, the process of determining and proving prizewinning status is often laborious and inefficient, involving steps such as mailing-in game pieces for validation, looking up winning game piece codes against a database of winning codes, and others. Even the awarding of the prize is inefficient, often requiring the administrator of the program to send the prize to the winner by postal mail or otherwise deliver by hand.
Finally, the problem of irretrievability is inherent to any sweepstakes program where prizewinning statuses and prizes are printed onto game pieces or items of product. Specifically, this means, once the game pieces or products are distributed into circulation they cannot be retrieved easily. Thus the liability for all of the prizes associated with all of the winning game pieces and products remains with the administrator of the marketing program because the administrator will have 1) no way of knowing whether a winning game piece was discarded, destroyed, or still “in play” and 2) no way of marking the game pieces as no longer valid. The program administrator must wait until the end of the promotional period and the end of the game, which could be many months later, depending on how many months are allocated for prizewinners to claim their prizes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention is to provide a method and system for determining prizewinning status and awarding a prize.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of the method 10 for determining prizewinning status using a code obtained from an item, such as a consumer product.
FIG. 2 is a flow chart of the method 20 for determining prizewinning status using a code not obtained from an item.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A method 10 for determining prizewinning status begins when a code, typically a number or alphanumeric string, is obtained from an item such as a consumer product. The code is entered online by the individual consumer at a website specified in the sweepstakes instructions. Once the code is received it is validated to be a genuine code that was initially applied by the manufacturer of the product to the game piece, product packaging, or the product itself If the code is valid, a request is sent to a third party through a network. The third party which receives such requests replies with a random number or an equivalent representation of said random number, such as an alphanumeric string. If this random number sent in reply matches one or more digits of the code entered by the consumer in accordance with the parameters of the marketing program, a determination is instantly made of prizewinning status. This determination can follow any logic—such as if the reply matches the code, then the status is “winner” or if specific digits of the reply matches the code, then the status is “winner.” The prizewinning status is never known prior to that moment in time when the valid code from the item is matched against the random number generated and returned by the third party. Then, if necessary, additional information may be collected from the consumer. This information may be used in selecting the prize that corresponds to the winning status. Finally, the prize is awarded. In a preferred embodiment, the prize is awarded instantly by displaying it or information related to it immediately to the consumer. If the prize is a cash prize, a credit card or debit card number is displayed on-screen along with information such as expiration date so that the customer has the instant gratification of receiving their prize and being able to spend it rather than having to mail in a game piece and wait for a paper check to be mailed to them.
A method 20 for determining prizewinning status begins when a customer is notified of a sweepstakes program by standard advertising and marketing methods. The customer goes online to the specified website or sends an email to the specified email address to request a unique code for the game, typically a number or alphanumeric string. The code and other information, such as information about the customer, is entered online by the individual consumer at a website specified in the sweepstakes instructions. At that time, a request is sent to a third party through a network. The third party which receives such requests replies with a random number or an equivalent representation of said random number, such as an alphanumeric string. If this random number sent in reply matches one or more digits of the code entered by the consumer in accordance with the parameters of the marketing program, a determination is instantly made of prizewinning status. This determination can follow any logic—such as if the reply matches the code, then the status is “winner” or if specific digits of the reply matches the code, then the status is “winner.” The prizewinning status is never known prior to that moment in time when the code is matched against the random number generated and returned by the third party. Then, if necessary, additional information may be collected from the consumer. This information may be used in selecting the prize that corresponds to the winning status. Finally, the prize is awarded. In a preferred embodiment, the prize is awarded instantly by displaying it or information related to it immediately to the consumer. If the prize is a cash prize, a credit card or debit card number is displayed on-screen along with information such as expiration date so that the customer has the instant gratification of receiving their prize and being able to spend it rather than having to mail in a game piece and wait for a paper check to be mailed to them.
In this way, the invention eliminates fraud related to game pieces because duplicated, forged, or otherwise manipulated game pieces can never be fraudulently used to prove prizewinning status. The odds of prizewinning and the number of winners will no longer be dependent on the following variables: 1) number of prizes, 2) the number of game pieces, and 3) the number of participants in the marketing program. Further, customers will instantly and absolutely know their prizewinning status without having to mail in any game piece as proof. And finally, prizes are awarded instantly to the prizewinner without requiring the customer to mail in a game piece and wait to receive the prize in the mail.
Although the invention has been described in detail in the foregoing embodiments, it is to be understood that the descriptions have been provided for purposes of illustration only and that other variations both in form and detail can be made thereupon by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, which is defined solely by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for determining a prizewinning status and awarding a prize, comprising: receiving a code and validating the code.

2. The method of claim 1, the prizewinning status including at least one of: winning, non-winning, winning a predetermined prize, winning a non-predetermined prize, winning a prize dependent on other information, and winning a prize not dependent on other information.

3. The method of claim 1, the receiving including at least one of: receiving through a network, receiving through a device, receiving on an item, receiving in an item, receiving on a container of an item, receiving with an item, receiving in accordance with an act, receiving wirelessly, and receiving through a medium.

4. The method of claim 1, the code including at least one of: a number, an alphanumeric string, a code, a symbol, a barcode, a picture, a sequence, and an indication.

5. The method of claim 1, the validating including at least one of: validating by comparing, validating by calculating, validating by matching, and validating by lookup

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: sending a request to a third-party.

7. The method of claim 6, the request including at least one of: a request for a number, an alphanumeric string, a code, a symbol, a barcode, a picture, a sequence, and an indication.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a reply to the request from the third-party.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining the prizewinning status using the reply to the request and the code in accordance with a commercial program.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising: collecting information.

11. The method of claim 10, the information including at least one of: demographic information, personal information, confidential information, purchase information, product information, transaction information, retailer information, date and time information, and survey information.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising: selecting a prize.

13. The method of claim 12, the prize including at least one of: cash, product, service, discount, rebate, information, and entertainment.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising: awarding the prize.

15. The method of claim 14, the awarding including at least one of: displaying the prize, displaying information corresponding to the prize, displaying information corresponding to a credit or debit account corresponding to the prize, displaying information corresponding to a discount, displaying information corresponding to a rebate, creating and delivering the prize, requesting and delivering the prize, delivering the prize through a network, delivering the entertainment, and delivering the prize to an address provided by the prizewinner.

16. A method for determining a prizewinning status and awarding a prize, comprising: obtaining a code and submitting the code to a third party.

17. The method of claim 16, the obtaining including at least one of: obtaining on an item, obtaining in an item, obtaining on a container of an item, obtaining with an item, obtaining in accordance with an act, obtaining through a network, obtaining through a device, obtaining wirelessly, and obtaining through a medium.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising: receiving from the third party a prizewinning status.

19. The method of claim 18, the receiving including at least one of: receiving through a network, receiving through a device, receiving contemporaneous to the submitting, receiving at another time after the submitting, receiving on an item, receiving in an item, receiving on a container of an item, receiving with an item, receiving in accordance with an act, receiving wirelessly, and receiving through a medium.

20. The method of claim 16, further comprising: receiving from the third party a prize.