AU2010200999A1 - A method and system for conducting an online tender for planning, buying and placement of advertising - Google Patents

Description

P/00/011 Regulation 3.2 AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1990 ORIGINAL COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Invention Title: A METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONDUCTING AN ONLINE TENDER FOR PLANNING, BUYING & PLACEMENT OF ADVERTISING Applicant: Adboss Limited The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: 1 2 A METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONDUCTING AN ONLINE TENDER FOR PLANNING, BUYING & PLACEMENT OF ADVERTISING Field of the Invention 5 The present invention relates generally to methods and systems for conducting online auctions and more specifically reverse-type or procurement auctions or tenders. More particularly, the method and system of the present invention are adapted to facilitate conducting online tenders for the placement of advertising. 10 Background Advertising space in media such as printed publications, billboards, radio, websites and television, is typically marketed by media outlets to prospective advertisers. Prospective advertisers must identify and contact individual media outlets in order to determine what advertising might be available and at what cost. 15 The advertising space is usually offered at a fixed price, although discounts may be offered to regular or large advertisers. However, the cost of the advertising space is not usually negotiable. It would therefore be desirable to provide means by which prospective advertisers have greater control over the cost of advertising and to stimulate 20 competition amongst media outlets for the prospective advertiser's business. Moreover, it would be desirable to provide means by which advertisers can identify, readily measure and compare media outlets competing for their business. Summary of the Invention 25 In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method of conducting an online tender for placement of advertising on behalf of an advertiser in media offered by one or more media outlets, the method including the following steps: (a) preparing an advertising brief including at least one media type in which an 30 advertisement is to be placed, a budget and a tender end time as determined by the advertiser; (b) selecting a tender type from a plurality of tender types including at least one public tender type and at least one private tender type; 3 (c) submitting a response offered by or on behalf of at least one participating media outlet for placement of advertising in accordance with the advertising brief or a response that does not conform to the advertising brief that proposes an alternative offer; and 5 (d) concluding the online tender upon the advertiser accepting at least one response or at the tender end time, whichever occurs earlier. The media type or medium may be printed publications such as metropolitan, local, community and regional newspapers, magazines and brochures; radio advertisements to be broadcast by radio stations; television advertisements to be 10 broadcast by television stations; outdoor advertisements including billboards; cinema advertisements to be broadcast by film exhibitors; direct mail such as flyers and catalogues; online display advertising on websites broadcast by website publishers or by other online intermediaries; online search advertising; mobile phone display advertising or any other form of advertising. 15 Preferably, the budget is expressed as a range defined by a lower limit and an upper limit. In one particular form of invention, the budget is divided into more than one portion such that each portion is subject to separate responses by a participating media outlet. 20 The step which involves the tender type may include presenting to the advertiser one or more questions, such that an answer to each question is used to refine the available tender types offered for selection. This avoids confronting prospective advertisers with concepts and choices with which they may be unfamiliar. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the tender types include: 25 (a) a public competitive tender wherein any media outlet is eligible to participate in the tender and selected details regarding the responses lodged by other participating media outlets are made available to all other participating media outlets if any; (b) a private competitive tender wherein media outlets are eligible to participate in the tender by invitation only and selected details regarding the responses lodged by 30 other participating media outlets are made available to all other participating media outlets if any; (c) a blind total tender wherein each participating media outlet lodges a response for the advertiser's total budget and is not provided with any detail regarding responses lodged by other participating media outlets if any; and 4 (d) a blind apportioned tender wherein each participating media outlet lodges a response for a portion of the advertiser's total budget and is not provided with any detail regarding responses lodged by other participating media outlets if any. Preferably, private and public competitive tenders allow participating media 5 outlets to refine their responses at any time from placement of their initial response to the tender end time. Alternatively, the media outlet may revise their response at the request of the advertiser. More preferably, in a blind tender participating media outlets are entitled to lodge no more than one response before the tender end. Alternatively, the media 10 outlet can submit more than one response before the tender end at the request of the advertiser. In another form of the invention, each response lodged by a participating media outlet is ranked against any competing response lodged by other participating media outlets in relation to one or more criteria. 15 Preferably, the one or more criteria used to rank competing responses include: (a) price; (b) saving off list price; (c) circulation; (d) total readership and target audience readership; 20 (e) total reach and target audience reach; (f) average frequency and effective frequency; (g) cost per thousand; (h) expected clicks; (i) cost per click; 25 (j) cost per click monthly budget; (k) Total TARP (target audience rating point); (1) Cost per TARP (target audience rating point); (m) amount of advertising space offered; and (n) advertising appearance dates 30 According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for conducting an online tender for placement of advertising on behalf of an advertiser in media offered by one or more media outlets, the system including: (a) an advertising brief building component for preparing an advertising brief including a selection component for selecting at least one media type and media 5 outlet and a tender type from a plurality of tender types, and a specification component for specifying a budget and a tender end time as determined by the advertiser; (b) a response generation component for preparing and lodging a response on 5 behalf of at least one participating media outlet for the placement of advertising in accordance with the advertising brief or a response that does not conform to the advertising brief that proposes an alternative offer; (c) a display component for displaying responses lodged by participating media outlets to the advertiser; and 10 (d) a notification component for notifying any participating media outlet that has submitted a response which the advertiser chooses to accept. The system may further include a budget apportioning component for dividing the budget into more than one portion such that each portion is subject to separate responses by a participating media outlet. 15 The selection component for selecting at least one media type and a tender type from a plurality of tender types preferably includes one or more questions to be presented to the advertiser, such that an answer to each question is used to refine the selection of available media and/or tender types. In yet another form of the invention, the tender types include: 20 (a) a public competitive tender wherein any media outlet is eligible to participate in the tender and selected details regarding the responses lodged by other participating media outlets are made available to all other participating media outlets if any; (b) a private competitive tender wherein media outlets are eligible to participate in the tender by invitation only and selected details regarding the responses lodged by 25 other participating media outlets are made available to all other participating media outlets if any; (c) a blind total tender wherein each participating media outlet lodges a response for the advertiser's total budget and is not provided with any detail regarding responses lodged by other participating media outlets if any; and 30 (d) a blind apportioned tender wherein each participating media outlet lodges a response for a portion of the advertiser's total budget and is not provided with any detail regarding responses lodged by other participating media outlets if any. The system may further include a response ranking component for ranking each response lodged by a participating media outlet against any competing 6 response lodged by other participating media outlets in relation to one or more criteria. Preferably, the one or more criteria used to rank competing responses include: (a) price; 5 (b) saving off list price; (c) circulation (d) total readership and target audience readership; (e) total reach and target audience reach; (f) average frequency and effective frequency; 10 (g) cost per thousand; (h) expected clicks; (i) cost per click; () cost per click monthly budget; (k) total TARP (target audience rating point); 15 (1) cost per TARP (target audience rating point); (m) amount of advertising space offered; and (n) advertising appearance dates. Brief Description of the Drawings 20 The invention will now be described in further detail by reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood that the particularity of the drawings does not supersede the generality of the preceding description of the invention. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing a computer-enabled system for conducting an online tender for placement of advertising. 25 Figure 2 is a flow chart demonstrating the steps involved in preparing the advertising brief in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the tender process brief in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 4 is a schematic diagram showing various functional elements of the 30 computer-enabled system of Figure 1 in block form. Detailed Description Referring firstly to Figure 1, there is shown an example system for conducting an online tender for placement of advertising in media offered by one or more media 7 outlets. The system 100 includes client user terminals 110, 120 providing a graphic user interface 130, 140 and a database 150 in communication with the server 160 and the client user terminals 110, 120. The client user terminals 110, 120 and server 160 are interconnected by means of the Internet 170 or any other suitable 5 communications network. The prospective advertiser prepares an advertising brief via graphic user interface 130 provided on client user terminal 110. The brief specifies at least the media type in which the prospective advertiser wishes to place an advertisement, a budget and a tender end time. The prospective advertiser further selects a tender 10 type from a number of available tender types including at least one public tender type and one private tender type. At least one media outlet participates in the tender by submitting a response for placement of advertising in accordance with the advertising brief via graphic user interface 140 provided on client user terminal 120. 15 The prospective advertiser reviews the responses submitted via graphic user interface 130 provided on client user terminal 110. The advertiser may determine during the tender or after the tender end time has elapsed whether any of the responses meet the advertiser's requirements. If so, the advertiser accepts one or more responses and the tender comes to a close. 20 Advertiser and media outlet information together with the advertising brief and submitted responses are stored in at least one database 150 in communication with the server 160. Preferably the method and system are provided via a website which is accessed by prospective advertisers and media outlets over the Internet 170. The term "tender" as used herein is to be understood to refer to a method of 25 selling goods or services through competitive bidding. In particular, the type of tender envisaged herein is a "reverse" or procurement type auction, wherein the role of the buyer and seller are reversed as when compared with an ordinary or "forward" auction. In an ordinary auction, buyers compete to purchase a good or service. In a reverse auction, sellers compete to obtain the buyers business. In some instances 30 the term auction, referring to a reverse auction, is used interchangeably with the term "tender". Advertisers can purchase advertisement placements in various media types including printed publications such as metropolitan, local, community and regional newspapers, magazines and brochures; radio advertisements to be broadcast by 8 radio stations; television advertisements to be broadcast by television stations; outdoor advertisements including billboards; cinema advertisements to be broadcast by film exhibitors; direct mail such as flyers and catalogues; online display advertising on websites broadcast by website publishers or by other online intermediaries; online 5 search advertising; mobile phone display advertising or any other type of advertising. An "advertiser" as referred to herein, may be an individual or entity wishing to place an advertisement to promote their good or service, or could be an advertising or media buying agency which purchases advertising time and/or space on behalf of their clients (e.g. advertisers). 10 A "media outlet" as referred to herein, may be a publisher or broadcasting entity which offers advertising space or time to prospective advertisers in their one or more publications, radio stations, magazines, television channels, websites or the like. It is to be understood that a media outlet may be responsible for one or more media brands each typically representing a particular publication, radio station, 15 magazine, television channel or the like, and that prospective advertisers may request responses from any media outlet regarding the various media brands which that media outlet represents, or a request a response direct from particular media brand as required. Accordingly any reference to a "media outlet" herein is not to be taken to limit individual media brands from participation in a tender. 20 A reference to a "response" herein is to be understood to refer to an offer by a media outlet or brand, i.e. a bid or proposal at a specified price. The method of the present invention operates as an online tender process in which media outlets bid for the advertiser's business by offering to the advertiser the placement of advertisements on behalf of the advertiser in accordance with an 25 advertising brief prepared by the advertiser, which includes an advertising budget. The advertising brief also includes a tender end time by which all responses must be submitted. Responses placed by media outlets in response to the advertising brief may offer consideration in terms of value or benefit. For example a response may use 30 advertising inventory as currency, i.e. if the prospective advertiser's advertising budget is $2,000 the response could specify the size of the advertisement, and the timing and frequency of publication or broadcast of the advertisement. Alternatively, a media outlet could offer complimentary in-house creative services, colour advertisements or extended payment terms, or some other incentive or reward to 9 make their response more appealing to the prospective advertiser. If the advertiser's budget is expressed as a range (e.g. $1,000 to $1,500), the media outlet could pitch their response at the lower end of the budget in an effort to secure the advertiser's business. Optionally, a media outlet may choose to submit a non-conforming 5 response which may not comply with the requirements set forth in the advertising brief, but which may appeal to the advertiser under certain circumstances and may be accepted by the advertiser. The advertising brief may also specify the media type in which the advertisement is to be placed. Only media outlets that offer that particular media type 10 will participate in the online tender. However, it is envisaged that multi-media type tenders could also be catered for. Before participating in an online tender for placement of advertising, both prospective advertisers and participating media outlets must register with a website offering the online tender method. The registration process establishes the bona 15 fides of all participants on both sides of the tender process. Prior to setting up their first online tender, the prospective advertiser is required to provide additional information including a business category or type, target audience location, Australian Company Number (ACN), and/or Australian Business Number (ABN), principal advertising contact details, business and billing contact 20 details and the entity to be charged for the advertising, and username and password. The prospective advertiser may also sign up for a newsletter and other information. As the final step of the registration process the prospective advertiser is required to accept the website's terms and conditions. The registration process for media outlets requires the media outlet to provide 25 contact name(s), company name, Australian Business Number (ABN), email address, username and password, business and billing contact details and the entity to be billed. Media outlets are also requested to provide specific profile information including media category or type, editorial focus, target audience demographic information, objectionable content, logo, a minimum advertiser budget requirement, 30 advertising terms & conditions and to upload their current rate cards. It is the role of each registered media outlets to maintain the currency and accuracy of their own details. The media outlets may also sign up for a newsletter and other information. As the last step of the registration process a media outlet is required to accept the website's terms and conditions.

10 Referring now to Figure 2, once the prospective advertiser has completed the full registration process, the advertiser prepares an advertising brief. At step 205 the advertiser is asked to name or number the advertising campaign for ease of reference. The advertiser then sets the duration of their advertising tender, specifies 5 when the advertising campaign should run, specifies their advertising objectives and provides any relevant background information. If the prospective advertiser is uncertain as to the media type in which to place their advertising, the system is configured to assist the prospective advertiser by building a profile of their target audience and matching that target audience profile 10 against relevant media outlets and media brands offered by media outlets registered in the system database. For example, in order to build a profile of the advertiser's target audience, at step 210 the system asks the prospective advertiser to select a specific media type, e.g. print or radio, and then specify the characteristics of their target audience including location, gender, age and editorial focus. For online display 15 advertising, the advertiser must also specify what artwork type, e.g. standard ad sizes or rich media formats, and pricing models, e.g. cost per impression or pay per click, they are interested in. The system further enables prospective advertisers to search and select at both the media outlet level and media brand level to accommodate various advertising strategies and advertising campaign complexities. 20 Advertisers who already know exactly where and with whom they wish to place their advertisements with can bypass these steps and use a search and select tool to select the media outlets that they wish to invite to participate in their tender. At step 215 the system generates a list of relevant media outlets based on the prospective advertiser's target audience description and profile. At step 220, the 25 advertiser can then select the media outlets that they wish to invite to participate in their tender. The advertiser may select the system's suggested media outlets or media brands or may choose some other media outlets or media brands not suggested by the system through a search and select tool. At step 225, the advertiser indicates if selected media outlets are to compete for the advertiser's total 30 budget, or if the advertiser's budget is to be divided up into more than one portion such that each portion is subject to separate responses by a participating media outlet. At steps 230 and 235, the advertiser selects a tender type.

11 The tender types on offer differ in regard to their competitive dynamics and accordingly can each cater to advertisers with different needs. Broadly, the tender types may be public or private tenders. In a public tender any media outlet or media brand is entitled to submit bids. In a private tender, media outlets are entitled to 5 submit bids by invitation only. Accordingly, the private tender may suit those advertisers that have existing relationships with one or more media outlets, whilst the public tender may suit advertisers which have no existing ties with media and those that do but want to verify that their media outlets of choice remain competitive. In addition, tenders may be competitive or blind. In a competitive tender, any 10 participating media outlet is able to view selected details on bids submitted by other participating media outlets. In a blind tender, any bid submitted by a competing media outlet is not available for viewing by other participating media outlets. Other tender types include a "winner takes all" (i.e. Total Budget) scenario as opposed to an apportioned tender wherein the advertiser's total budget is allocated across multiple 15 media outlets. The various tender types are described in more detail below: PUBLIC COMPETITIVE TENDER In a public competitive tender or auction, participating media outlets compete for an advertiser's total advertising budget, i.e. the winning media outlets receives 20 100% of the advertiser's budget. In this type of tender, all participating media outlets are privy to certain details regarding their competitors' responses and are able to update their own responses throughout the duration of the tender. However, only the advertiser is privy to the identities of competing media outlets. While the advertiser may specifically invite certain media outlets, other registered media outlets are free to 25 search for and enter Public Competitive Tenders: PRIVATE COMPETITIVE TENDER A private competitive tender or auction is much the same as the public competitive tender except that media outlets can only participate in the tender by invitation. 30 BLIND TOTAL TENDER A blind total tender or auction involves media outlets competing for 100% of the advertiser's budget. However, participating media outlets are not given access to details regarding the responses placed by competing media outlets. Additionally, media outlets are not aware whether there are in fact other media outlets competing 12 for the advertiser's business. In this type of tender, participating media outlets are provided with a single opportunity to response. Accordingly, each participating media outlet should put forward their best offer in the first instance in an effort to win the tendered budget. 5 BLIND APPORTIONED TENDER: A blind apportioned tender or auction is similar to the blind total tender except that the participating media outlets or media brands are not competing for 100% of the advertiser's budget. Rather, the advertiser's budget is divided into portions, with individual portions allocated to, for example, specific media brands so that for 10 example Brand A might be competing for 50% of the budget, Brand B might be competing for 25% of the budget and Brand C might be competing for 25% of the budget. Participating media outlets or media brands place responses for the relevant portion of the advertiser's budget and are not given access to details regarding the identity of, or responses placed by competing media outlets or brands. In fact, a 15 participating media outlet or brand may not even know whether there are any other participating media outlets or media brands. Private and public competitive tenders allow participating media outlets to refine their responses at any time from placement of their initial response to the tender end time. However, in some embodiments, the media outlet may revise their 20 response at the request of the advertiser. In a blind tender participating media outlets are entitled to lodge no more than one response before the tender end. However, in some embodiments, the media outlet can submit more than one response before the tender end at the request of the advertiser. 25 At step 230, in the event that the advertiser has selected media outlets or media brands to compete for the total advertiser's budget, the advertiser indicates a total budget for the selected media type. The advertiser's budget is preferably expressed as a range defined by an upper limit and a lower limit. Minimum budget requirements for each media outlet are made available to the prospective advertiser 30 to ensure that realistic budgets are set. If the prospective advertiser decides to apportion their budget across multiple media brands, at step 235, rather than creating a total budget tender, the advertiser is asked to allocate the budget portions against the various media outlets or brands. In this case, a running tally of the total advertising budget will be displayed to the 13 prospective advertiser. Again, minimum budget requirements for each media outlet or brand are made available to the prospective advertiser to ensure that realistic budgets are set. At step 240, for the total budget tender, the prospective advertiser prepares a 5 single advertising brief to be provided to all participating media outlets. The brief specifies the media type in which the prospective advertiser wishes to place an advertisement, a budget and a tender end time. In the case of a non-public tender type (i.e. private competitive tender or blind total tender), the brief may also include one or more specifications that may be specific to the media outlet that has been 10 invited to participate in the tender. In the case of the apportioned tender, at step 245, the prospective advertiser is given the option of preparing a single advertising brief to be provided to all participating media outlets, or preparing advertising briefs tailored to each portion of the budget. Depending on the media type selected, in steps 240 and 245 the advertising 15 brief may include media type specific preferences provided by the prospective advertiser. For example: Print: e number of advertisements e preferred advertisement size: DPS / FP / 1/2 14 / Strip / Other: __ / No 20 preference e preferred advertisement position: Front / Middle / Back / Other: * colour preference - existing artwork: Yes / No e objectionable content: Yes / No 25 * other important information: * how long do you want to give media outlets or media brands to respond: 24 hours / 2 days / 3 days / 4 days / 5 days / 6 days / 7 days Radio: * preferred advertisement length: 15sec / 30sec / 60sec / No preference 30 e preferred part of day: Breakfast (5:30am - 9:00am) / Morning (9:00am 12:OONoon) / Afternoon (12:OONoon - 4:00pm) / Drive (4:00pm - 7:00pm) / Evening (7pm - 12Mdnt) / B.M.A.D (5:30am - 7:00pm) / R.O.S (5:30am 12:00Midnight) I BTA 24hrs 14 e preferred day(s): Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday / Friday / Saturday / Sunday * frequency * existing material: Yes / No 5 e objectionable content: Yes / No * other important information: " how long do you want to give media outlets or media brands to respond: 24 hours / 2 days / 3 days / 4 days / 5 days / 6 days / 7 days Television: 10 0 preferred advertisement length: 15sec / 30sec / 60sec / No preference * preferred part of day: Late Night (10:30pm - 12:00am) / Overnight (12:00am 6:00am) / Morning (6:00am - 9:00am) / Women's Daytime / Weekend Day (9:00am - 4:00am) / Fringe (4:00pm - 6:00pm) / Children's (Weekdays)(3:00pm - 4:00pm) / Peak (6:00pm - 10:30pm) / Off Peak / Run 15 Of Station * preferred day(s): Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday / Friday / Saturday / Sunday 0 frequency e Planned TARPS (target audience rating point) 20 0 Planned Reach * Planned Effective Frequency * existing material: Yes / No e objectionable content: Yes / No e other important information: 25 Online Display Advertising: " preferred day(s): Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday / Friday / Saturday / Sunday e preferred part of day: Before 8am / 8am to 11am / 11am to 1pm / 1pm to 6 pm / 6pm to 10pm / After / 10pm / No preference 30 0 Key words and phrases * existing material: Yes / No e objectionable content: Yes / No " other important information: 15 The advertising brief(s) are then ready to be provided to participating media outlets. In the case of a public competitive tender, the advertising brief is posted on the website so that any media outlets that are not specifically invited to participate in the tender can review the advertising brief and register their interest in the tender and 5 submit responses. At step 250, the prospective advertiser can set further tenders in the same or other media types. Referring now to Figure 3, once the prospective advertiser has initiated the tender process and prepared and lodged the requisite advertising brief at 310, the 10 brief is reviewed for completeness and compliance at 320. For private competitive tenders, blind total tenders and blind apportioned tenders approval of a brief leads to generation of invitations to be forwarded to the media outlets selected by the prospective advertiser, usually by email at 330. Invitations contain the identity of the prospective advertiser, a copy of the advertiser's brief and a link to the website for 15 media outlets or media brands to login and lodge a response. If the advertiser has selected a public competitive tender, at step 320 approved briefs are posted to the website enabling any media outlet or media brand the opportunity to search for and response for the prospective advertisers business at 360. A media outlet in receipt of an invitation may opt to reject the invitation at 340. 20 Should the media outlet opt to accept the invitation, the media outlet must login to the website using a unique username and password as a tender participant at 350 in order to submit a response. If the tender is conducted as a competitive tender, whether public or private, responses submitted by each participating media outlet or media brand are ranked in 25 relation to one or more criteria which may include: lowest price, saving off list price, cost per thousand, and the amount of advertising space offered amongst others. Advertising space could refer to space in the sense of physical space in printed advertising media or time in the sense of radio and/or television advertising media. The rankings are preferably indicated numerically, with the number "1" indicating the 30 highest possible ranking. The table below provides an example of the ranking of three media outlets Company A, Company B and Company C in relation to four criteria. The advertiser's ranking is input by the prospective advertiser and is basically a subjective ranking, generally based on the advertiser's review of the rankings in respect of other criteria.

16 Company Best Price Saving off List Price CPM Adv. Space Offered Advertiser's Ranking CompanyA 1 1 1 2 1 Company B 2 3 2 1 2 Company C 3 2 3 3 3 The above described system of ranking responses assists the prospective 5 advertiser in identifying the media outlet that has submitted the most competitive response. In a competitive tender environment, participating media outlets are provided with access to ranking information. Allowing participating media outlets to view the advertiser's ranking of their own response, enables the media outlet to ascertain how their response has been perceived by the prospective advertiser during 10 the tender. This encourages participating media outlets to revise their responses as required to improve their ranking when compared with their competitors to achieve the optimum outcome for the advertiser. Despite response ranking information being made available to all competing media outlets, at no time is the identity of individual participating media outlets or any price sensitive information revealed. 15 All submitted responses are further ranked by the system in accordance with which response offers the overall best value for the advertiser. Instead of providing ranking based on individual criteria as described above, this ranking combines the full range of criteria to provide advertisers a comprehensive indicator of value. This ranking, which is only available to the advertiser, combines a range of factors 20 including price, discount, cost per thousand and audience delivery metrics amongst others. This ranking is preferably indicated numerically, with the number "1" indicating the highest possible ranking. This ranking is made available for all tender types. If the tender is conducted as a blind type tender, whether total or apportioned, participating media outlets are able to view information pertaining to the advertiser's 25 identity the advertising budget available to the media outlet specifically, and the advertiser's detailed advertising brief. In a blind tender, a participating media outlet will not know whether it is competing for 100% or only a portion of the advertiser's total advertising budget. Moreover, the media outlet will not know if it is the only media outlet that is competing for the given budget. Accordingly, in a blind tender, 30 participating media outlets assess their brief in isolation and formulate a response in response. Each participating media outlet has only one opportunity to submit a single, first and final response.

17 As the responses are submitted, the prospective advertiser reviews each response with respect to key criteria. For example, if the tender is for print media, the key criteria may include total readership, target audience readership, circulation, cost per thousand, rate card value and discount off rate card, number of advertisements 5 and payment terms amongst others. If the tender is for radio media, the key criteria may include target audience reach, frequency, part of day, cost per thousand, rate card value and discount, number of advertisements and payment terms amongst others. Participating media outlets may optionally provide a media schedule for download by the prospective advertiser along with the response. 10 Media outlets may include additional monetary and/or non-monetary incentives into their responses. For example, a media outlet could offer complimentary in-house creative services or more generous payment terms to make their response more appealing to the prospective advertiser. If the advertiser's budget is expressed as a range (e.g. $1,000 to $1,500), the media outlet could make their response come in at 15 the lower end of the budget in an effort to secure their business. Once the tender end time specified in the advertising brief has passed, the advertiser has set a period of time, for example 24 hours, to review each response submitted and select the response or responses that best meet the advertiser's requirements. The advertiser is under no obligation to choose any of the responses 20 and may, indeed, select one, none or multiple responses. If the prospective advertiser selects one or more responses for acceptance, the advertiser is required to accept the terms and conditions of the relevant media outlet's offer via the website in order to secure placement of the advertisement. Acceptance of the terms and condition forms a legally binding contract between the advertiser and 25 media outlet. Media outlets upload the terms and conditions of their response to the website in advance so that upon acceptance of their response, the advertiser is required to agree to those specific terms. The executed agreement is provided to both the advertiser and the media outlet with a copy retained by the system for storage in the database. Upon receiving the contract, the media outlet invoices the 30 advertiser directly in accordance with the terms and conditions of the response. If the advertiser accepts a response either before or after the tender end time, the successful media outlet or outlets or media brands whose responses have been accepted by the advertiser are notified by email. From that point on, it becomes the responsibility of the advertiser and the media outlet to ensure the production and 18 dispatch of any creative materials and ensure that deadlines for publication or broadcast of the advertisement are met. Media outlets are charged a commission or fee (to be remitted by the media outlet) based on the value of the advertising time and/or space transacted through the 5 website. This is the only commission or fee incurred. For advertisers use of the website to conduct online tenders and purchase advertising is completely free of charge. The aim is to make use of the website as cheap and inviting for both advertisers and media outlets as possible. The only charge is to be borne by the 10 media outlets and only when they make a sale through the website. A sliding scale of commission may be introduced to encourage media outlets to become loyal and frequent users of the website. Recommended creative partners that advertisers can turn to for assistance with advertising material may be listed on the website. The listing of creative partners 15 and a creative services tender may become an additional source of revenue. Given that planning advertising campaigns can be complex, particularly for less experienced advertisers, a facility through which prospective advertisers can also contact a media planner for advice may be provided at a cost to the advertiser. Other media and advertising services may also be included. 20 While the website offers prospective advertisers the opportunity to select different tender types in accordance with their requirements, the process is intended to be relatively seamless from the perspective of the advertiser. That is, in preparing the advertising brief, the advertiser is asked a series of questions, the responses to which will refine the available options such that advertiser will not need to make a 25 conscious choice between, for example, a public competitive tender or a blind apportioned tender. This is to avoid confronting prospective advertisers with concepts and choices with which they are unfamiliar, and also to enable more experienced advertisers to navigate their way through the brief preparation process as quickly and efficiently as possible. 30 Any unregistered visitor to the website is unable to view the identities of prospective advertisers and media outlets participating in any tender. Likewise, once a response is submitted the identity of the responsible media outlet and any price sensitive information is withheld from other participating media outlets to avoid revealing the specifics of their response to competitors.

19 Advertisers may be provided the option to accept and purchase a particular response or responses prior to the scheduled tender end time. This "Buy Now" tool encourages media outlets to submit their best possible responses as early as possible in the tender process. 5 Referring back to Figure 1, the system 100 may be implemented using hardware, software or a combination thereof and may be implemented in one or more computer systems or processing systems. In particular, the functionality of the client user terminals 110, 120 and their graphic user interfaces 130, 140 as well as the server 160, may be provided by one or more computer systems capable of carrying 10 out the above described functionality. Such a computer system is illustrated in Figure 4. In this Figure, an exemplary computer system 400 includes one or more processors, such as processor 405. The processor 405 is connected to a communication infrastructure 410. The computer system 400 may include a display interface 415 that forwards graphics, texts and 15 other data from the communication infrastructure 410 for supply to the display unit 420. The computer system 400 may also include a main memory 425, preferably random access memory, and may also include a secondary memory 430. The secondary memory 430 may include, for example, a hard disk drive 435, magnetic tape drive, optical disk drive, etc. The removable storage drive 440 reads 20 from and/or writes to a removable storage unit 445 in a well known manner. The removable storage unit 445 represents a floppy disk, magnetic tape, optical disk, etc. As will be appreciated, the removable storage unit 445 includes a computer usable storage medium having stored therein computer software in a form of a series of instructions to cause the processor 405 to carry out desired functionality. In 25 alternative embodiments, the secondary memory 430 may include other similar means for allowing computer programs or instructions to be loaded into the computer system 400. Such means may include, for example, a removable storage unit 440 and interface 445. The computer system 400 may also include a communications interface 460. 30 Communications interface 460 allows software and data to be transferred between the computer system 400 and external devices. Examples of communication interface 460 may include a modem, a network interface, a communications port, a PCMIA slot and card etc. Software and data transferred via a communications interface 460 are in the form of signals 465 which may be electromagnetic, electronic, 20 optical or other signals capable of being received by the communications interface 460. The signals are provided to communications interface 460 via a communications path 470 such as a wire or cable, fibre optics, phone line, cellular phone link, radio frequency or other communications channels. 5 Although in the above described embodiments the invention is implemented primarily using computer software, in other embodiments the invention may be implemented primarily in hardware using, for example, hardware components such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASICs). Implementation of a hardware state machine so as to perform the functions described herein will be apparent to persons 10 skilled in the relevant art. In other embodiments, the invention may be implemented using a combination of both hardware and software. Additionally, the website will aim to become a hub for advertisers to learn more about effective advertising. Relevant content, including pod casts, blogs and forums may be posted on the website where advertisers can learn how to maximise their 15 advertising dollars from experts. To keep advertisers up-to-date, the website may post the latest readership, circulation, ratings and other relevant media measurement statistics. While the invention has been described in conjunction with a limited number of embodiments, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that many alternative, 20 modifications and variations in light of the foregoing description are possible. Accordingly, the present invention is intended to embrace all such alternative, modifications and variations as may fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as disclosed. The present application may be used as a basis or priority in respect of one or 25 more future applications and the claims of any such future application may be directed to any one feature or combination of features that are described in the present application. Any such future application may include one or more of the following claims, which are given by way of example and are non-limiting in regard to what may be claimed in any future application.

Claims (22)

1. A method of conducting an online tender for placement of advertising on behalf of an advertiser in media offered by one or more media outlets, the method including 5 the following steps: (a) preparing an advertising brief including at least one media type in which an advertisement is to be placed, a budget and a tender end time as determined by the advertiser; (b) selecting a tender type from a plurality of tender types including at least one 10 public tender type and at least one private tender type; (c) submitting a response offered by or on behalf of at least one participating media outlet for placement of advertising in accordance with the advertising brief or a response that does not conform to the advertising brief that proposes an alternative offer; and 15 (d) concluding the online tender upon the advertiser accepting at least one response or at the tender end time, whichever occurs earlier.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the budget is expressed as a range defined by a lower limit and an upper limit. 20

3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the budget is divided into more than one portion such that each portion is subject to separate responses by a participating media outlet. 25

4. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein choosing the tender type includes presenting to the advertiser one or more questions, such that a response to each question is used to refine the available tender types offered for selection. 30

5. A method according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the tender types include: (a) a public competitive tender wherein any media outlet is eligible to participate in the tender and selected details regarding the responses lodged by other participating media outlets are made available to all other participating media outlets; 22 (b) a private competitive tender wherein media outlets are eligible to participate in the tender by invitation only and selected details regarding the responses lodged by other participating media outlets are made available to all other participating media outlets; 5 (c) a blind total tender wherein each participating media outlet lodges a response for the advertiser's total budget and is not provided with any detail regarding responses lodged by other participating media outlets; and (d) a blind apportioned tender wherein each participating media outlet lodges a response for a portion of the advertiser's total budget and is not provided with any 10 detail regarding responses lodged by other participating media outlets.

6. A method according to claim 5, wherein private and public competitive tenders allow participating media outlets to refine their responses at any time from placement of their initial response to the tender end time. 15

7. A method according to claim 5, wherein private and public competitive tenders allow participating media outlets to refine their responses at any time at the request of the advertiser. 20

8. A method according to claim 5, wherein in any blind tender participating media outlets are entitled to lodge no more than one response before the tender end time.

9. A method according to claim 5, wherein in any blind tender participating media outlets are entitled to lodge more than one response before the tender end time at the 25 request of the advertiser.

10. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein each response lodged by a participating media outlet is ranked against any competing responses lodged by other participating media outlets in relation to one or more criteria. 30

11. A method according to claim 10, wherein the one or more criteria used to rank competing responses: (a) lowest price; (b) saving off list price; 23 (c) circulation; (d) total readership and target audience readership; (e) Total reach and target audience reach; (f) average frequency and effective frequency; 5 (g) cost per thousand based on total readership, target audience readership, total reach, target audience reach, impressions; (h) Expected clicks; (i) Cost per click based; (j) Cost per click monthly budget; 10 (k) Total TARP (Target Audience Rating Point); (1) Cost per TARP; (m) amount of advertising space offered and (n) advertising appearance dates. 15

12. A system for conducting an online tender for placement of advertising on behalf of an advertiser in media offered by one or more media outlets, the system including: (a) an advertising brief building component for preparing an advertising brief including a selection component for selecting at least one media type and a tender 20 type from a plurality of tender types, and a specification component for specifying a budget and a tender end time as determined by the advertiser; (b) a response generation component for preparing and lodging a response on behalf of at least one participating media outlet for the placement of advertising in accordance with the advertising brief or a response that does not conform to the 25 advertising brief that proposes an alternative offer; (c) a display component for displaying responses lodged by participating media outlets to the advertiser; and (d) a notification component for notifying any participating media outlet that has submitted a response which response the advertiser chooses to accept. 30

13. A system according to claim 12, further including a budget apportioning component for dividing the budget into more than one portion such that each portion is subject to separate responses by a participating media outlet 24

14. A system according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the selection component for selecting at least one media type and a tender type from a plurality of tender types includes one or more questions to be presented to the advertiser, such that a response to each question is used to refine the selection of available media and/or 5 tender types.

15. A system according to any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein the tender types include: (a) a public competitive tender wherein any media outlet is eligible to participate in 10 the tender and selected details regarding the responses lodged by other participating media outlets are made available to all other participating media outlets; (b) a private competitive tender wherein media outlets are eligible to participate in the tender by invitation only and selected details regarding the responses lodged by other participating media outlets are made available to all other participating media 15 outlets (c) a blind total tender wherein each participating media outlet lodges a response for the advertiser's total budget and is not provided with any detail regarding responses lodged by other participating media outlets; and (d) a blind apportioned tender wherein each participating media outlet lodges a 20 response for a portion of the advertiser's total budget and is not provided with any detail regarding responses lodged by other participating media outlets.

16. A system according to any one of claims 12 to 15, further including a response ranking component for ranking each response lodged by a participating media outlet 25 against any competing responses lodged by other participating media outlets in relation to one or more criteria.

17. A system according to claim 16, wherein the one or more criteria used to rank competing responses: 30 (a) lowest price; (b) saving off list price; (c) circulation (d) total readership and target audience readership; (e) Total reach and target audience reach; 25 (f) average frequency and effective frequency; (g) cost per thousand based on total readership, target audience readership, total reach, target audience reach, impressions; (h) Expected clicks; 5 (i) Cost per click based; (j) Cost per click monthly budget; (k) Total TARP (Target Audience Rating Point); (1) Cost per TARP; (m) amount of advertising space offered and 10 (n) advertising appearance dates.

18. A method of conducting an online tender for placement of advertising on behalf of an advertiser in media offered by one or more media outlets, the method including the following steps: 15 (a) receiving an advertising brief including at least one media type in which an advertisement is to be placed, a budget, a tender end time as determined by the advertiser and a tender type selection from a plurality of tender types including at least one public tender type and at least one private tender type; (b) receiving a response offered by or on behalf of at least one participating media 20 outlet for placement of advertising in accordance with the advertising brief; (c) transmitting the responses for display on an advertiser client terminal; and (d) receiving one or more response acceptance selections made by the advertiser causing conclusion of the tender, or concluding the online tender at the tender end time, whichever occurs earlier. 25

19. A method of conducting an online tender for placement of advertising on behalf of an advertiser in media offered by one or more media outlets, the method including the following steps: (a) inputting advertising brief data including at least one media type in which an 30 advertisement is to be placed, a budget, a tender end time and a tender type selection from a plurality of tender types including at least one public tender type and at least one private tender type; (b) displaying a response offered by or on behalf of at least one participating media outlet for placement of advertising in accordance with the advertising brief; and 26 (c) inputting one or more response acceptance selections causing conclusion of the tender, or receiving a signal indicating that the tender end time has elapsed, whichever occurs earlier. 5

20. A method for conducting an online tender for placement of advertising on behalf of an advertiser in media offered by one or more media outlets substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to figures 2 or 3.

21. A system for conducting an online tender for placement of advertising on 10 behalf of an advertiser in media offered by one or more media outlets substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to figures 2 or 3.

22. Software for conducting an online tender for placement of advertising on behalf of an advertiser in media offered by one or more media outlets substantially as 15 hereinbefore described with reference to figures 2 or 3.