JP2001243241A - Information providing method and information communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information providing method and an information communication system to provide a customer with more useful information by predicting consumption behaviors of the customer from events to happen in the future. SOLUTION: This information providing method to provide the customer whose personal information is preliminarily registered with prescribed event information is provided with a step to store the personal information by every customer unit, a step to store providing information provided by an information provider, a step to select related information to be related to the event information from the providing information based on the personal information of the customer by prescribed analysis technique and a step to provide the customer with specific information formed by adding the related information to the event information at prescribed timing before occurrence of the event.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information providing method for providing event information to a customer, and an information communication system for communicating event information based on personal information via an open communication network such as the Internet. It is about.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a number of systems for providing various kinds of information corresponding to customer needs online using the Internet have been constructed. As such a system, for example, there is known a system that presents information owned by an information provider to a customer in advance, and periodically or irregularly transmits an e-mail with an advertisement on information desired by the customer. I have. Further, for example, as in the invention described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-282393, purchase history data for each customer is accumulated, and based on the purchase history data, an advertisement target corresponding to the taste and taste of the customer is stored in an advertisement product database. A system for selecting and providing a product is also known.

[0003] By the way, when an individual takes a consumption action,
There is always a motivation, and timing is important for initiating consumption. Therefore, if you provide advertising information to customers motivated to take consumption actions at the appropriate time,
Marketing with higher probability can be realized. For example,
Considering the behavior of people who have a child a year ago about buying a car, there is a motivation to want a large one-box car for the child, while on the other hand, seriously thinking about buying a new car near the inspection become. Providing new car information including a one-box car at such a timing enables more effective marketing. Also,
In the case of purchasing a certain product, there are many cases where related products are also purchased together, which is a great cross-selling opportunity for the sales side. In the case of the above example, for example, horizontal coordination with respect to one consumption behavior such as application for a car loan, review of car insurance, purchase of a child seat, etc. when purchasing a new car can be expected.

[0004]

However, the conventional method of regularly or irregularly sending an e-mail with an advertisement on the information desired by the customer is uniform, and the advertisement information that the customer potentially needs Could not be provided in a timely manner. On the other hand, the advertisement information provision method based on purchase history data is more effective than conventional advertisement information provision in terms of prediction of consumption behavior, but it does not show effect unless customer purchase data is accumulated to some extent. There was a problem that it was not possible to respond immediately. As described above, the conventional advertisement information providing system for customers has a problem that efficient and effective marketing utilizing characteristics of the interactive communication network cannot be achieved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides an information providing method and an information communication system for predicting customer behavior from future events and providing more useful information to the customer. With the goal.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information providing method for providing predetermined event information to a customer who has registered personal information in advance. Storing the provided information provided by the information provider, and, based on the personal information of the customer, determining, from the provided information, related information associated with the event information in a predetermined manner. And providing the customer with specific information obtained by adding the related information to the event information at a predetermined timing before the event occurs. .

According to the first aspect of the invention, the specific information is provided to the customer at a predetermined timing before the event occurs, so that the customer can reconfirm the date and time of the event, so that the customer is inadvertently forgotten. In addition to being able to prevent it beforehand, it is also possible to obtain relevant information suitable for oneself regarding the event. Further, since the information provider can provide the related information only to the customers who need it more, it is possible to provide the information efficiently and effectively. Specifically, for example, if the birthday (event) of the customer's wife is registered in advance, not only will the date and time of the birthday (event information) be notified in advance,
Since the gift information (related information) to be given to the birthday and the introduction information (related information) of the restaurant are also provided, the customer is more likely to move to the next consumption behavior by using the related information. Therefore, the customer can easily arrange gifts and the like without forgetting the important date of the wife's birthday.
On the other hand, also for the information provider, more efficient and effective marketing can be performed as compared to the provision of information to unspecified persons. In addition, since it provides information on events that will surely occur in the future, marketing will be more reliable than anticipating consumption behavior from customer purchase history, and it will be possible to respond immediately without accumulating customer data. Better than the method of providing information. In addition, since consumption behavior is expected, by posting advertisements or the like of products related thereto, opportunities for cross-selling increase.

[0008] Here, the means for providing the specific information may be any means such as an electronic mail using the Internet and a direct mail using mail. The personal information may be any information about the individual, such as, for example, address, name, age, gender, occupation, company name, e-mail address, hobbies, personal event information, questionnaire results, etc. Good. The registration method of the personal information may be any method such as a personal computer, a telephone, a facsimile, and a mail. The predetermined event information means information such as a personal event, a regular or seasonal event, or an event hosted by an information provider. Personal events include information specified by the customer, such as birthdays and vehicle inspection dates, as well as events derived from the specified information. Is also included. The related information includes family-related information such as family, housing, automobile, finance, health, travel, entertainment, etc. and related advertising information,
Other information may be used. The prescribed analysis method is
For example, it is a method using an aggregation / analysis tool such as OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) or data mining.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information providing method for providing event information to a customer who has registered personal information in advance, wherein the step of storing the personal information for each customer is provided by an information provider. Storing the provided information, extracting a predetermined keyword from the event information registered by the customer, and, based on the personal information of the customer, related information associated with the keyword from the provided information, Selecting by a predetermined analysis method, and providing the customer with specific information obtained by adding the related information to the event information at a predetermined timing before the event occurs. I have.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a predetermined keyword is extracted from the event information and related information associated with the keyword is provided, so that, for example, a customer registers so as not to forget an arbitrary event. Also for event information, it is possible to provide related information suitable for the event. Specifically, for example, "
When the customer inputs the event information of "Meeting Mr. A in Shibuya at 6:00 pm a day", the action of meeting Mr. A and eating in Shibuya based on the keywords of "6:00 pm" and "Shibuya" A pattern is expected, and information on restaurants and pubs in Shibuya as related information can be emailed together with event information.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 16, for example, a server (for example, an information providing server device) is provided to a customer who has registered personal information in advance through an open communication network. In the information communication system (1) for transmitting predetermined event information from 5) to a communication terminal (for example, the customer communication terminal 4), the server stores personal information in a personal information storage unit (for example,
Personal information database 591), provided information storage means (for example, a content database 592) for storing provided information provided by an information provider, and the event information from the provided information based on the personal information of the customer. Related information selecting means (for example, data analysis unit 5) for selecting related information associated with the
5), a specific information mail generating means (for example, a mail creation unit 56) for generating a specific information mail in which the related information is added to the event information, and a predetermined information mail corresponding to the occurrence of the event. Mail transmitting means (for example, the communication unit 5
8).

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the specific information communication is systematized, information can be provided almost automatically and online.

Here, the communication terminal includes a personal computer, a mobile phone, a mobile terminal, a game machine, an Internet home appliance, and the like.
Any device capable of network communication may be used. An open communication network is an interactive network such as the so-called Internet.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information communication system for transmitting event information from a server to a communication terminal via an open communication network to a customer who has registered personal information in advance. Personal information storage means for storing personal information for each customer, provided information storage means for storing provided information provided by an information provider, and keyword search means for searching for predetermined keywords from event information registered by customers ( For example, a keyword search unit 52), related information selecting means for selecting related information associated with the keyword from the provided information based on the personal information of the customer by a predetermined analysis method, A specific information mail generating means for generating a specific information mail to which the related information is added; The Lumpur, is characterized in that it comprises a, and mail transmission means for transmitting to the communication terminal at a predetermined timing before the event occurred.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, since the specific information communication is systematized, information can be provided almost automatically and online.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the information communication system according to the third or fourth aspect, a classification means (for example, a personal information classifying unit 54) for classifying personal information of the customer into predetermined segment information is provided. The related information selecting means,
The present invention is characterized in that related information is selected from the provided information based on the classified segment information.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the classification means classifies the customer's personal information into segment information,
Since the related information is selected based on the segment information, appropriate related information according to the segment can be provided to the customer.

Here, the segment information is obtained from personal information such as the sex, age, and family structure of the customer, for example,
The information is divided into segments such as “(male) in their (30s) having (1 year old child)”. The classification of the segments is arbitrary, and may be divided in any manner.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the information communication system according to the fifth aspect, a future event inference means (for example, a data analysis unit 55) for inferring a future event of the customer based on the segment information is provided. The related information selecting means selects related information associated with the future event inferred by the future event inference means from the provided information, and the mail generating means relates to the future event created by the mail generating means. A specific mail including information is generated, and the mail transmission unit is configured to transmit the specific mail to the communication terminal at a predetermined timing before the occurrence of the future event.

According to the sixth aspect of the invention, it is needless to say that the same effect as that of the fifth aspect of the invention can be obtained. In particular, the related information is determined based on the future event inferred by the future event inference means. A specific email with relevant information added to this future event will be sent.
For example, you can present potential future events that your customers have forgotten or never thought of,
Providing the related information about this future event makes it possible to draw out new purchasing behavior. Specifically, for example, in the case of a customer having segment information of “(male) in their (30s) having (three-year-old child)”, there is a potential consciousness that they want to buy a new car for their child. Therefore, for a customer having such a future event of “purchase of a new car”, for example, a future event of “purchase of a new car” is presented to a child's birthday, and new car information (related information) is added to the customer. By providing this, consumption behavior can be brought out.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the information communication system according to the fifth or sixth aspect, customer communication history storage means (for example, an access log database 597) for storing a predetermined customer communication history relating to a customer. Wherein the classifying unit is configured to classify by changing to different segment information when the customer communication history stored in the customer communication history storage unit satisfies a predetermined condition. I have.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, when the customer communication history satisfies a predetermined condition, the segment information is changed and classified into different segment information. Related information more suitable for customers can be provided. Further, in this case, the segment information is configured to be hierarchically subdivided, and the changed segment information is subdivided more than the segment information before the change. Is also good. By doing so, for example, if it is determined that the number of times of communication with the customer has reached a predetermined number and the trust relationship with the customer has deepened, the information is classified into finer segments and related information more suitable for the customer is determined. You will be able to make choices and build even deeper relationships of trust.
That is, by initially selecting the relevant information based on the coarse mesh segment information, and selecting the relevant information based on the finer mesh segment information as the trust relationship deepens, the customer can be pressed from the beginning without becoming distracted. Deepen the partnership between the two. Further, if the customer communication history is accumulated, the information for segmentation increases, and more appropriate information can be provided to the customer.

Here, the case where the customer communication history satisfies the predetermined condition is, for example, the case where the number of times of communication with the customer has reached a certain number or the case where the communication time with the customer has reached a certain time. It may be set arbitrarily. Further, for example, the number of times of communication, the communication time, the number of times of transfer, and the like in the customer communication history information may be converted into points, and the point may reach a certain value.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the information communication system according to any one of the third to eighth aspects, the related information includes: life information relating to event information; and advertising information associated with the life information. And a link from the living information to the advertisement information.

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, claims 3 to
It is a matter of course that the same effects as those of the invention described in any one of 8 are obtained. In particular, the related information includes living information related to event information and advertising information associated with the living information, Because it is configured to link to information, posting information that is useful for life related to advertisement information reduces the psychological resistance to accessing advertisement information, and naturally comes to the advertisement information ,
Consumer behavior can be enhanced. That is, as in the past,
Instead of suddenly posting advertising information related to event information, for example, providing lifestyle information such as consumption scenes related to products in advance, and then providing advertising information on the products, a different consumer mind is formed. ,
Consumer behavior can be enhanced.

Here, the format of the advertisement information is, for example, a banner advertisement, a text advertisement, a video advertisement for displaying a moving image such as a video clip, a voice advertisement for notifying by voice, a music advertisement for playing music, and a wallpaper or layout for a company or product. Examples of the advertisement include a wallpaper advertisement and a layout advertisement that image the like, but are not limited thereto, and may be any advertisement format that can be provided via a communication network. The advertisement information includes not only advertisements for providing products and services but also article advertisement contents.

The invention according to claim 10 is the first or second invention.
In the information providing method described above, a step of taking in personal information of a customer from a customer database of an external organization (for example, the external customer database 6), and whether the customer who has taken in the personal information wants to register the information providing service. And providing a part of the profit generated based on providing the specific information to the customer who has requested the registration of the information providing service to the external organization. It is characterized by.

According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, personal information of a customer is fetched from a customer database of an external organization,
It was confirmed whether or not the customer who took in the personal information wished to register the information providing service, and it occurred based on providing the specific information to the customer who wanted to register the information providing service. Part of the profit is given to an external organization. Therefore, the information providing service side can easily acquire the customer, and the external organization side can receive a part of the profit obtained by the information providing service for the customer of the external organization. The customer of the external organization can also select whether or not to register the information providing service, and the range of selecting new information collection is expanded. That is, a win relationship is established for any of the customer, the external organization, and the information providing service.

Here, the external organization may be, for example, an organization that provides services to fixed customers on the Internet, such as an Internet connection provider, or an organization that does not necessarily use the Internet as a medium, such as a bank or a securities company. It may be an organization having a fixed customer.

[0030]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an information providing method and an information communication system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an information communication system according to the present invention. An information communication system 1 shown in FIG. 1 is an advertiser server 2 provided by an advertisement provider such as a company or an organizer.
, A content communication terminal 3 of the content provider (for example, a personal computer, etc.) and a customer communication terminal 4 of the customer side (for example, a personal computer, a mobile phone, etc.), which form the core of the present information communication service. The information providing server device 5 is connected to the ISP (Internet S) as an external organization via the Internet 10.
This is a communication network system in which a customer database 6 of the service provider and the information providing server device 5 are connected by a dedicated line.

The advertiser server 2 includes an input device (not shown), a control device (not shown), a display device (not shown).
It is equipped with a communication device (not shown) and the like, and
Web) Has a function as a server. Then, a link is provided to the information mail provided by the information communication system, and the customer receives the URL (Uniform Reformed URL) displayed in the mail.
Clicking on (source Locator), an advertisement homepage is extracted from the WWW server of the corresponding advertiser server 2 and can be browsed. In addition, the advertiser can input and register desired conditions of advertisement attributes such as preset categories and segments by using the advertisement communication terminals 21... And transmit the advertisement attribute data to the information providing server device 5. Is done. In addition, the advertisement communication terminals 2 have a function of creating an e-mail and a function of transmitting and receiving an e-mail via the information providing server device 5.

The content communication terminals 3 are provided with an input device (not shown), a control device (not shown), a display device, a (not shown) communication device (not shown), a WWW browser is installed, and information is provided. The server device 5 can be accessed. Also, the content communication terminal 3 ...
Accordingly, the content provider can transmit the content provided by the content provider to the information providing server device 5 through the communication device. In addition, the content provider can register the content attribute by filling in a preset category classification using the content communication terminal 3.
The content attribute data is transmitted to the information providing server device 5 together with the advertisement information.

Input devices (not shown), control devices (not shown), display devices (not shown) are provided at the customer communication terminals 4.
A WWW browser is installed and a communication device (not shown) is installed. By accessing the information providing server device 5, a web page can be viewed on the screen of the display device. The customer uses this customer communication terminal 4 ...
By opening the personal information input web page of the information providing service site and inputting necessary items by using an input device in a predetermined entry field, a member can be a member. (Omitted) to the information providing server device 5. Customer communication terminal 4 ...
Is capable of creating an e-mail and transmitting / receiving an e-mail to / from the information providing server device 5.

As shown in FIG. 2, the information providing server device 5 has a personal information management unit 51 and a keyword search unit 5 therein.
2. Remind mail management unit 53, personal information classification unit 5
4. It includes a data analysis unit 55, a mail creation unit 56, a report creation unit 57, a communication unit 58, a database unit 59, and the like, and is constituted by, for example, a workstation. The information providing server device 5 includes a WWW server,
It has a function as a mail server.

The personal information management unit 51 is controlled by a CPU (not shown), and performs registration processing for registering personal information of a customer on a customer basis, change processing for changing personal information based on a customer's request, and customer's request. Manages processes such as a deletion process for deleting personal information and an authentication process for authenticating a customer based on the information. Here, the personal information includes, for example, basic information such as the gender, age, and address of the customer, as well as category information selected by the customer. Category information includes, for example, personal event information, family-related information, car-related information, housing-related information, health-related information, travel-related information,
Entertainment related information, shopping related information,
The information includes pet-related information, employment-related information, and financial-related information.

The keyword retrieval unit 52 is controlled by a CPU (not shown), retrieves a predetermined keyword from the characters of the event information input by the customer, and outputs the keyword to the data analysis unit 55. As the keyword, for example, a keyword whose time, place, purpose, etc. are estimated is registered in advance. More specifically, for example, when the customer inputs event information of “Meeting Mr. A in Shibuya at 6:00 pm on MM day”, the keywords “6:00 pm” and “Shibuya” are registered in advance. By doing so, these keywords are searched. The reminder mail management unit 53 is controlled by a CPU (not shown), and manages registration, change, and deletion of a reminder mail of a personal event by a customer.
Schedule files of personal events, seasonal events, and events related to life stages are created and managed by a campaign management tool (not shown).

The personal information classifying unit 54 is controlled by a CPU (not shown), and stores personal information registered according to a tallying / analyzing program (for example, a method such as OLAP or data mining) stored in a database unit 59 in a predetermined manner. The data is classified into segment categories, and the classified results are stored in a customer attribute database 581b described later. More specifically, the registered personal information is segmented into several layers in stages. For example, as shown in FIG.
In the first step, segmentation is performed with a relatively coarse mesh such as the age and gender of the customer. Next, in the second step, the address is further subdivided for each region, in the third step, further subdivided into lifestyles according to the hobbies and preferences of the customer based on the category information, and in the fourth step, the customer is staged in the life stage. It is configured to be further subdivided. The transition to each step is made when the number of communications with the customer has reached a predetermined number, and more detailed information provision can be developed depending on the degree of deepening the trust relationship with the customer. It has become.

The data analysis unit 55 includes a CPU (not shown).
, And functions as related information selection means and future event inference means. Specifically, first, the data analysis unit 55 performs matching with the related information from the provided information based on the personal information and the segment information of the customer.
That is, the segment information (section) possessed by the customer is extracted and matched with the mail content (related information) having the segment information (section). In addition, the data analysis unit 55 predicts an action pattern based on the keyword searched by the keyword search unit 52. That is, for example, based on a search for the keywords “6:00 pm” and “Shibuya” from the event information of “Meet Mr. A in Shibuya at 6:00 pm on XX day,” Meet and eat in Shibuya ". Then, information (event information) on restaurants and pubs in Shibuya is matched as related information from the predicted event.

Further, the data analysis unit 55 can infer and extract future events that the customer has forgotten or that the customer does not expect based on the segment information.
That is, for example, as shown in FIG.
By combining multi-axis information such as the axis of user (customer) preference information, the axis of basic information such as the age and family structure of the user, the axis of the segment level, the time axis, etc., the combination information thereof, that is, the segment information When the combination satisfies a preset future event condition, it is inferred that the probability of causing the future event is high, and related information on the future event is selected. here,
At the segment level, as shown in FIG. 5, the transmission of e-mail, the update of personal information, the transfer of content, and the reaction of content (click) may each be scored to infer a future event according to the score. Specifically, for example, when the segment level is 5 points or more, since the user likes “travel”, a trip for a New Year holiday (future event) can be proposed.

In the case of the above customer, if the segment level is 15 points or more, for example, "(3 years old child)
(30s) (male) with a hobby of (automobile),
(Travel) ", there is a potential awareness of wanting to buy a new car for a child. Therefore, for a customer having such a future event of “purchase of a new car”, for example, a future event of “purchase of a new car” is presented to a child's birthday, and new car information (related information) is added to the customer. By providing this, consumption behavior can be brought out. For these future events, conditions may be registered in advance, or conditions may be set based on the results of aggregation and analysis by OLAP or a data mining method. Further, the data analysis unit 55
As a result of providing the information, based on the access log of the customer accessing the advertiser, evaluation and analysis are performed using a tallying / analysis program, and analysis items and segments are reviewed. The reviewed segment is fed back to the personal information classification unit 54 as needed or periodically, and is classified into new segment information.

The mail creating section 56 is a CPU (not shown).
Based on the date of personal events, seasonal events, and events related to life stages registered by customers, select email content (related information) suitable for the event from the email content database and generate an email format I do.

The report creation unit 57 performs a process of totalizing the advertisement information for each advertiser on a monthly basis and issuing a bill,
The process of summarizing the advertisement information and the number of visits by customers for each advertiser on a monthly basis, and issuing a report on the effect of the advertisement, and summarizing and reporting using OLAP, data mining tools, etc.
Perform analysis and output the result.

The communication unit 58 transmits and receives data to and from the advertisement communication terminals 21, the content communication terminals 3, and the customer communication terminals 4.

The database unit 59 is a device for storing programs, data, and the like. This database unit 59
Is a magnetic or optical recording medium or a semiconductor memory C
The configuration includes a recording medium readable by a PU. Here, the recording medium is a floppy disk, CD-ROM
And fixed media such as hard disks. Further, a configuration may be adopted in which a program or data stored in a recording medium is partially or entirely received from a transmission control unit via a transmission medium such as a network line from a server. It may be a recording medium of a server constructed in the above.

Specifically, the database unit 59 includes a personal information database 591 for storing personal information of customers,
A content database 592 for storing content to be provided to customers, a category database 593 for storing category information, an event database 594 for storing event information, a reminder mail database 595 for storing reminder mail, and a tallying / analysis program and the like. And an access log database 597.

The personal information database 591 further includes:
It is composed of a customer authentication database 591a, a customer attribute database 591b, and a change history database 591c. FIG. 4 shows the customer authentication database 591a.
As shown in (a), the registered customer's e-mail,
The name, gender, password (PWD), registration date, and the like are stored for each customer. Customer attribute database 591b
Stores a plurality of pieces of segment information (sections) classified from personal information. Change history database 59
In 1c, a change history of personal information by a customer is stored for each customer.

[0047] The content database 592 is
(Home Page) A content database 592a, a mail content database 592b, and a regional pattern database 592c. The HP content database 592a is a database that stores a homepage provided by a content provider and stores homepage content related to the information providing service. For example, as shown in FIG. , Content classification, HTML (Hype
r Text Markup Language).

[0048] Mail content database 592b
Is a database that stores the contents of e-mails to be provided to customers. For example, as shown in FIG. 4C, in addition to the contents themselves, they correspond to divisions such as contents numbers and target event names, and segments of personal information. The stored segment divisions are stored. Further, in the mail content database 592b, advertisement information suitable for the content (for example, a banner advertisement of an advertiser, URL display) is added and registered. In addition, the stringing of the advertisement information of the mail content may be manually added by the operator, or the advertisement information may be automatically linked with the mail content whose keyword matches by a preset keyword search. Good.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4D, the area pattern database 592c preliminarily divides the area into pattern numbers by postal code, and stores a pattern number that matches a providing area desired by the content provider. It is a database.

The category database 593 includes, for example,
As shown in FIG. 4E, this is a database that stores category information by classifying it.

The event database 594 is a database for storing data of personal events, global events, or internal events provided according to life stages and lifestyles. Here, personal events are, for example, events that occur periodically, such as birthdays and anniversaries of family members registered in advance by individuals, expiration dates of time deposits, renewal dates of vehicle inspections, licenses, passports, etc. An event related to a customer, such as an occasionally occurring event such as a wedding ceremony, legal affairs, or appointments with friends. The global event refers to, for example, a seasonal event such as a Japanese holiday notice, a doll festival, and Tanabata. The internal event refers to an event provided based on personal interests such as category services related to life, housing, cars, finance, and the like. The date of this internal event does not necessarily have to be determined.

The remind mail database 595 is
For example, as shown in FIG. 4F, this is a database that stores the details of reminders registered by customers, designated dates, notification timings, and the like.

The program database 596 stores the customer's personal information in the OLA as shown in FIG.
In addition to P and programs for data mining and classification into various segments, programs for performing personal information registration processing, change / deletion processing, remind mail registration processing, remind mail generation and transmission processing, report report processing, and the like are stored. Database.

The access log database 597 is a database that stores the history of access to the URL of the advertiser by the customer. Based on this access log, the information providing service is charged and the consumption behavior of the customer is predicted. Also used as data.

The customer database 6 of the ISP is connected to the communication section 58 of the information providing server device 5 through a dedicated line.
The external customer data of the SP can be taken into the information providing server device 5. The personal information management unit 51 extracts the captured external customer data of the ISP, and the mail creation unit 56 creates a guide mail as to whether or not to register the information providing service for the external customer, A guidance mail is transmitted from the communication unit 58 to the external customer, and the personal information management unit 51
The personal information of the external customer who has sent the reply mail requesting registration is stored in the personal information database 591 and the other personal information of the external customer is deleted. When registering in the personal information database 591, an external customer fetched from this external organization and other customers are identified. Then, when performing the accounting process using the access log, the profit generated by the information providing service for the external customer taken from the external organization is separately calculated, and a part of the profit is transferred to the external organization. I have.

The external customer data may be taken off-line. Further, the guidance for registration may be, for example, direct mail or the like instead of e-mail. In addition, the system may be configured to confirm the presence or absence of registration when becoming a member of the external organization, or may be configured to become a member of the information providing service at the same time as becoming a member of the external organization.

Next, an information providing method using the information communication system 1 having the above configuration will be described. The information providing method includes a personal information registration process shown in FIG. 6, a change / deletion process shown in FIG. 7, a reminder mail registration process shown in FIG. 8, a reminder mail generation and transmission process shown in FIG.
The process is divided into the report reporting process shown in FIG. Programs for realizing the functions shown in these flowcharts are stored as a storage medium in the database unit 59 in the form of a program code readable by a personal information management unit or the like.
This program can be transmitted in the form of a program code via a transmission medium such as a network line.

The provider of the information providing service according to the present invention first prepares a site for the information providing service, stores it in the HP content database 592a of the information providing server device 5 as a preliminary stage, and via the Internet. To make the service site accessible to customers.

Next, the personal information registration processing shown in FIG. 6 will be described. In the personal information registration process, first, in step S1, an unspecified customer (user) starts a browser installed on the customer communication terminal 4 and accesses the information providing service site via a search engine or the like. The menu page of the advertisement providing service site is extracted from the HP content database 592a, and is displayed on the display device of the customer communication terminal 4.
A menu screen as shown in is displayed. The menu page includes a screen 101 explaining the service contents and a part 101 displaying "user registration". When this part is clicked, the process proceeds to step S2, where the user basic information is read from the HP content database. The registration page is extracted, and, for example, a user basic information registration screen as shown in FIG. 12 is displayed on the display device of the customer communication terminal 4.

The user basic information registration page includes a mail address 102, a password 103, a name 104,
There are provided entry fields for gender 105, date of birth 106, postal code 107, received mail type selection 108, etc.
Fill in these fields and click "Agree" at the bottom of the screen
If you click on the part 109, the basic information data is
Customer authentication database 5 of personal information database 581
At the same time, a registration completion page as shown in FIG. 13 is displayed on the screen. On this registration completion page, a selection column for desired category information is displayed below the display 110 of “User basic information registration completed”. For example, click on a portion 111 displaying “Family category”. Then, a family category registration page shown in FIG. 14 is displayed on the screen.

The family category registration page shown in FIG. 14 includes, for example, a column 112 for entering a family's birthday, a column 113 for selecting the number of notifications, a column 114 for selecting a notification date, a name 115 of the family, a relationship 116 , Gender 117, and a message entry column 118 are provided. Further, on the lower side of the screen, a column 119 for entering a wedding anniversary, a column 120 for selecting the number of notifications, a column 121 for selecting a notification date, a message entry column 122, and the like are provided. When the user fills in these entry fields and clicks on the "Agree" field 123 at the bottom of the screen, the family category data is stored in the remind mail database 585, and the registration of personal information is completed.

Next, in step S3, a customer ID is issued, and the registered mail address is
A registration completion mail including ID information is generated by the mail creation unit 56. In step S4, a personal information registration completion screen is displayed, a registration completion mail is transmitted to the customer, and the personal information registration process ends.

Next, the process of changing / deleting personal information will be described with reference to FIG. When the personal information change / deletion process is started, first, in step S11, menu page extraction and screen display processing are performed.
Move to 2. In step S12, the information is entered in the ID entry field 124 and the password entry field 125 of the menu page. Next, in step S13, after performing authentication processing of the input ID and password, step S13 is performed.
The process proceeds to 14 to perform screen display processing of the user's personal information. Here, when the link is made from the e-mail as in step S11 ′, authentication is performed using the e-mail address,
No input of ID and password is required.

Next, step 15 changes the personal information displayed on the screen, or shifts to step S16 to delete the personal information displayed on the screen. The changed or deleted personal information is stored in the change history database 581c, the information stored in the customer authentication database 581a and the customer attribute database 581b is updated, and the personal information change / deletion process ends.

If the entry method of the input item is incorrect or if there is any omission, the information is not transmitted to the information providing server device 5 and the illegal portion is pointed out.
Again, a display prompting entry is made in the entry field.

Next, the remind mail registration processing will be described with reference to FIG. When the reminder mail registration processing is started, first, in step S21, menu page extraction and screen display processing are performed, and the process proceeds to step S22. In step S22, the user inputs the ID and password in the ID entry field 124 and the password entry field 125 of the menu page, respectively, and clicks a “login” button at the bottom of the screen. Then, the process proceeds to step S23, where the information stored in the personal information database is stored. After performing the authentication processing of the input ID and password based on the above, the process proceeds to step S23.

In step S23, a remind mail registration page is generated and displayed on the screen of the customer communication terminal. In the remind mail registration page, for example, as shown in FIG. 14, columns for selecting an event type (for example, 112 and 119) and columns for entering e-mail contents to be transmitted to oneself at the time of an event (for example, 118 and 122) ,
A column for entering an event date, a column for entering a mail notification timing (for example, 114, 121), a column for entering a mail notification cycle (for example, 113, 120), and the like are provided. Although not shown, a column for entering event information that does not specify the event content is also provided. In this entry column, an event date and time, a message column, a notification date, and the number of notifications are entered.

Next, in step S 24, after filling in the required fields in the entry fields of the remind mail registration page, when the register button is clicked, the remind mail data is stored in the remind mail database 585. Then, while notifying that the reminder mail registration has been completed, a completion page (FIG. 14) displaying a list of the registered reminder mails is extracted and displayed on the screen, and the reminder mail registration process ends. .

It is also possible to modify and delete the registered reminder mail data. Specifically, after the customer is authenticated in step S22, the user wants to modify or delete the currently registered reminder mail list. The user can select an item and change or cancel the registered contents.

Next, the remind mail generation / transmission processing will be described with reference to FIG. When the reminder mail creation process is started, first, in step S31, event information having a predetermined date for mail generation is imported from the schedule file to the mail creation unit 56.
Move to step S32. Next, in step S32, detailed information such as the customer's personal information (including segment information) and remind mail information on the event information is acquired from the personal information database 591 and the remind mail database 595, and step S33 is performed.
Move to

In step S33, based on the segment information of the customer, the mail content matching the segment information is stored in the mail content database 592.
b, and generates a reminder mail (specific information) in which the selected mail content (related information) is added to the event information, and proceeds to step S34. In step S34, a transmission process of transmitting the generated reminder mail to the customer at the designated timing is performed, and the reminder mail generation / transmission process ends.

Here, as a specific example of the above-mentioned reminding mail generation / transmission processing, “1 of customer son” shown in FIG.
Announcement of a birthday of an age (personal event) ". First, let us know that your son's first birthday (event information) is near. In this case, the presenter predicts the behavior of purchasing a present for the son and provides present information. At this time, instead of suddenly providing product advertisement information such as a catalog of presents, for example, it is inferred that it is about time to start walking from the age of the son, and in that case, what is needed is image information (life Information) and then link to the advertiser's URL. In this way, the posting of information useful for life related to the advertising information reduces the psychological resistance to accessing the advertising information, naturally leads to the advertising information, and enhances consumption behavior. I can do it. In addition, by providing related information related to early childhood education and providing related advertising information, etc., we will aim for cross-selling opportunities.

In addition, points at the segment level are increased, and inferences that take into account factors such as lifestyle
The data analysis unit 55 analyzes the data using a tallying / analysis tool such as LAP or data mining, and provides, for example, a future event of going to a swimming class. Also in this case, it is configured to link to the advertisement information after providing the living information in which the effect of swimming and the like are imaged in advance. Each related information is provided with a transfer button, so that each related information can be individually transferred to a friend or the like. In the above example, the type of the event information is known in advance. However, for an arbitrary event of a customer who does not know the type of the event information, for example, the keyword in the message content of the message entry column is used. A search may be performed by the keyword search unit 52, and related information related to the keyword may be selected and transmitted based on the searched keyword.

The main flow of providing information to the customer has been described above. For the advertiser, for example, as in a report processing, the browsing result of the advertisement by the customer is compiled as a report, and the report is sent to the advertiser. Report. When the report reporting process is started, first, at step S41
Then, a report selection page stored in advance in the HP content is extracted and displayed on the screen. Then, when an advertiser is selected, access data relating to the relevant advertisement is extracted from the access log database.

Next, in step S42, a process of generating a report in a predetermined format from the extracted access data is performed. Specifically, for example, a report in which data obtained by statistically processing the number of times of browsing, the number of browsing customers, the browsing time, and the like are compiled in a table or a graph, a report in which individual browsing histories are listed, or the like is created. Then, step S
At 43, a process of distributing the created report to the advertiser is performed, and the report report process ends.

According to the information providing system 1 of the present invention described above, the customer's personal information is classified into segment information in advance, and related information related to the customer's event information is classified based on the segment information. By selecting from 592b, it is possible to provide information more suitable for the taste and taste of the customer in a timely manner. Also, event information is an event that will almost certainly happen in the future, and the consumer's consumption behavior for this event is
By narrowing down the targets that can be predicted to a certain extent and taking the expected actions by segment information, the advertising effect is more reliable and the new customer without purchase history can be compared with the conventional case where the customer's consumption behavior is predicted from the purchase history. Can respond immediately to customers. If the customer communication history reaches a certain point, it is changed to more segmented segment information and classified, so at first select related information based on coarse mesh segment information, and trust relationship gradually increases By selecting relevant information based on finer mesh segment information as it deepens, partnerships with customers can be progressively deepened without becoming intrusive from the beginning.

Further, if the customer communication history is accumulated, the information for segmentation increases, so that more appropriate information can be provided to the customer. The customer's personal information is fetched from the customer database of the external organization, ISP, and it is confirmed whether or not the customer who has fetched the personal information wishes to register the information providing service. Part of the profit generated based on providing the specific information to the desired customer is given to the external organization. Therefore, the information providing service side can easily acquire the customer, and the external organization side can receive a part of the profit obtained by the information providing service for the customer of the external organization. The customer of the external organization can also select whether or not to register the information providing service, and the range of selecting new information collection is expanded. That is, a win relationship is established for any of the customer, the external organization, and the information providing service.

Note that the configuration of the advertisement providing system described in the above embodiment is an example, and does not limit the present invention. For example, the screen configurations shown in FIGS. 11 to 16 may be changed as appropriate. In addition, segment conditions and future event extraction conditions may be arbitrarily set and may be freely changed.

[0079]

According to the first aspect of the invention, the specific information is provided to the customer at a predetermined timing before the occurrence of the event, so that the customer can reconfirm the date and time of the event and inadvertently forget. In addition to this, it is possible to obtain relevant information suitable for oneself about the event in addition to the fact that the event can be prevented. Further, since the information provider can provide the related information only to the customers who need it more, it is possible to provide the information efficiently and effectively. In addition, consumption behavior is expected,
By posting advertisements and the like for products related thereto, opportunities for cross-selling increase.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a predetermined keyword is extracted from the event information, and related information associated with the keyword is provided. For example, a customer is registered so as not to forget an arbitrary event. Also for event information, it is possible to provide related information suitable for the event.

According to the third aspect of the invention, since the specific information communication is systematized, information can be provided almost automatically and online.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the specific information communication is systematized, information can be provided almost automatically and online.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the classification means classifies the customer's personal information into segment information.
Since the related information is selected based on the segment information, appropriate related information according to the segment can be provided to the customer.

According to the sixth aspect of the invention, it is needless to say that the same effect as that of the fifth aspect of the invention can be obtained. In particular, the related information is obtained based on the future event inferred by the future event inference means. A specific email with relevant information added to this future event will be sent.
For example, it is possible to present a potential future event that the customer has forgotten or never imagined, even if it is clearly specified, and provides relevant information about this future event to create a new purchasing behavior. It can be withdrawn.

According to the invention of claim 7, when the customer communication history satisfies a predetermined condition, the segment information is changed and classified into different segment information. Related information more suitable for customers can be provided. Further, in this case, the segment information is configured to be hierarchically subdivided, and the changed segment information is subdivided more than the segment information before the change. Is also good. By doing so, for example, if it is determined that the number of times of communication with the customer has reached a predetermined number and the trust relationship with the customer has deepened, the information is classified into finer segments and related information more suitable for the customer is determined. You will be able to make choices and build even deeper relationships of trust.

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, the third to third aspects are described.
It is a matter of course that the same effects as those of the invention described in any one of 8 are obtained. In particular, the related information includes living information related to event information and advertising information associated with the living information, Because it is configured to link to information, posting information that is useful for life related to advertisement information reduces the psychological resistance to accessing advertisement information, and naturally comes to the advertisement information ,
Consumer behavior can be enhanced.

According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, personal information of a customer is fetched from a customer database of an external organization,
It was confirmed whether or not the customer who took in the personal information wished to register the information providing service, and it occurred based on providing the specific information to the customer who wanted to register the information providing service. Part of the profit is given to an external organization. Therefore, the information providing service side can easily acquire the customer, and the external organization side can receive a part of the profit obtained by the information providing service for the customer of the external organization. The customer of the external organization can also select whether or not to register the information providing service, and the range of selecting new information collection is expanded. That is, a win relationship is established for any of the customer, the external organization, and the information providing service.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an information communication system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a main configuration of an information providing server device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of how to segment information.

FIG. 4 is a table showing an example of data items of a database unit.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a concept of inferring a future event by a data analysis unit.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a personal information registration process.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a change / deletion process.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a reminder mail registration process.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a reminder mail generation and transmission process.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a report report process.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a menu screen of the information communication system according to the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a user basic information registration screen according to the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a user basic information registration completion screen according to the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a category information registration screen according to the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a remind mail list screen according to the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of a reminder mail according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Information communication system 2 Advertiser server 3 Content communication terminal 4 Customer communication terminal 5 Information provision server device 6 External customer database 51 Personal information management part 52 Keyword search part 53 Remind mail management part 54 Personal information classification part 55 Data analysis part 56 Mail Creation unit 57 Report creation unit 58 Communication unit 59 Database unit

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Shinichiro Hashiguchi 3-4-3 Misaki-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 4th floor of Mikami Building, Misaki-cho Inside the Force Channel Initiative (72) Inventor Akihiko Uchino Tokyo F-term (For reference) 5B075 NR12 PR03 PR08 UU24 5B089 GA11 GA21 GA25 HA10 JA08 KC32 KC34 KC44 KC53 LB14

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. For customers who have registered personal information in advance,
In an information providing method for providing predetermined event information, a step of storing the personal information for each customer; a step of storing provided information provided by an information provider; and the providing based on the personal information of the customer. Selecting relevant information associated with the event information from the information by a predetermined analysis method; and providing the customer with specific information obtained by adding the relevant information to the event information before the event occurs. Providing the information at the following timing: and an information providing method. 2. For customers who have registered personal information in advance,
In the information providing method for providing event information, a step of storing the personal information for each customer; a step of storing provided information provided by an information provider; and extracting a predetermined keyword from the event information registered by the customer Selecting the relevant information associated with the keyword from the provided information based on the personal information of the customer by a predetermined analysis method; and providing the relevant information to the event information for the customer. Providing the specific information to which the information has been added at a predetermined timing before the occurrence of the event. 3. For customers who have registered personal information in advance,
In an information communication system for transmitting predetermined event information from a server to a communication terminal via an open communication network, the server is provided by a personal information storage unit for storing the personal information in a customer unit, and an information provider. Provided information storage means for storing provided information, based on personal information of the customer, related information selecting means for selecting related information associated with the event information from the provided information by a predetermined analysis method, A specific information mail generation unit that generates a specific information mail in which the related information is added to the event information; and a mail transmission unit that transmits the specific information mail to the communication terminal at a predetermined timing before the event occurs. An information communication system, comprising: 4. For a customer who has registered personal information in advance,
In an information communication system for transmitting event information from a server to a communication terminal via an open communication network, the server includes: a personal information storage unit configured to store the personal information for each customer; and a provision provided by an information provider. Providing information storing means for storing information; keyword searching means for searching for a predetermined keyword from event information registered by the customer; and association associated with the keyword from the provided information based on the personal information of the customer. Related information selecting means for selecting information by a predetermined analysis method; specific information mail generating means for generating specific information mail in which the relevant information is added to the event information; and Mail transmitting means for transmitting to the communication terminal at a predetermined timing, Information communication system according to claim Rukoto. 5. The information communication system according to claim 3, further comprising a classifying unit for classifying customer personal information into predetermined segment information, wherein the related information selecting unit is configured to perform a process based on the classified segment information. An information communication system configured to select related information from provided information. 6. The information communication system according to claim 5, further comprising: a future event inference unit that infers a future event of the customer based on the segment information, wherein the related information selection unit is configured by the future event inference unit. Selecting, from the provided information, related information associated with the inferred future event; the mail generating unit generates a specific mail including the future event and the related information created by the mail generating unit; An information communication system configured to transmit the specific mail to the communication terminal at a predetermined timing before the occurrence of the future event. 7. The information communication system according to claim 5, further comprising customer communication history storage means for storing a predetermined customer communication history relating to a customer, wherein said classification means comprises: said customer communication history storage means. An information communication system characterized in that, when the customer communication history stored in (1) satisfies a predetermined condition, the information is changed to different segment information and classified. 8. The information communication system according to claim 7, wherein the classification unit is configured to be able to hierarchically subdivide the segment information, and the changed segment information is more than the segment information before the change. An information communication system characterized by being subdivided. 9. The information communication system according to claim 3, wherein the related information includes living information related to event information and advertisement information associated with the living information, and An information communication system configured to link to the advertisement information. 10. The information providing method according to claim 1, wherein the step of taking in personal information of the external customer from a customer database of the external organization, and registering the information providing service with the external customer taking in the personal information. Confirming whether or not to request, and providing to the external organization a part of the profit generated based on providing the specific information to the external customer who has requested registration of the information providing service, An information providing method, comprising: