Marketing systems and methods that preserve consumer privacy

Claim 2

A computer-based marketing system for directing customized offers to consumers, the marketing system comprising: a secure server comprising: an individual records database of individual records derived from a consumer data set; and a first communications facility that enables the secure server to communication offers with individual consumers; a marketing server in communication with the secure server, comprising: a classes database of class records derived from an abstraction of the individual records database, wherein said classes database identifies individual records of said individual records database to which electronic offers are to be sent based on a user-selected marketing profile, and the said class records are devoid of information specifying the identify of the consumers associated with the class records; and a second communication facility that provides access by marketers to the marketing server; and a third communications facilities that enables the marketing server to communication with the secure server; wherein the secure server, in response to instructions received from the marketing server, communicates offers to individual consumers.

Claim 3

The computer-based marketing system according to claim 1 wherein the consumer data set comprises data collected from on-line consumer activity.

Claim 4

The computer-based marketing system according to claim 1 further comprising a search results database to store marketing profiles.

Claim 5

The computer-based marketing system according to claim 1 wherein the secure server is adapted to receive responses to the offers from consumers.

Claim 6

The computer-based marketing system according to claim 1 wherein the secure server includes software for applying data mining tools to the individual records database.

Claim 7

The computer-based marketing system according to claim 1 further comprising an index that traces class records in the classes database to individual records in the individual records database.

Claim 8

A computer-based marketing system for directing customized offers to consumers while preserving consumer privacy, the marketing system comprising: a secure server comprising: a first communications facility that communicates with a consumer data set derived from consumer data; an individual records database of individual records derived from the consumer data set; and a second communications facility that enables the secure server to communicate with individual consumers; a marketing server in communication with the secure server comprising: a classes database of class records derived from an abstraction of the individual records database, wherein said classes database identifies individual records of said individual records database to which electronic offers are to be sent based on a user-selected marketing profile; marketing profiles describing elements of the classes database; and a third communications facility that provides access by marketers to the marketing server, and a fourth communications facility that enables the marketing server to communicate with the secure server; wherein the secure server, in response to instructions received from the marketing server, communicates offers to individual consumers; and wherein information identifying individual consumers is shielded from the marketing server and from marketers by the secure server.

Claim 9

A computer-based marketing system for directing customized offers to consumers while preserving consumer privacy, the marketing system comprising: a secure server comprising: a first communications facility that communicates with a consumer data set derived from consumer data; an individual records database of individual records derived from the consumer data set; and a second communications facility that enables the secure server to communicate with individual consumers; a marketing server in communication with the secure server comprising: a classes database of class records derived from an abstraction of the individual records database, wherein said classes database identifies individual records of said individual records database to which electronic offers are to be sent based on a user-selected marketing profile; marketing profiles describing elements of the classes database; and a third communications facility that provides access by marketers to the marketing server, and a fourth communications facility that enables the marketing server to communicate with the secure server; wherein the secure server, in response to instructions received from the marketing server, communicates offers to individual consumers; and wherein information identifying individual consumers is shielded from the marketing server and from marketers by the secure server.

Claim 10

The computer-based marketing system according to claim 7 wherein the data repositories comprise third-party data repositories.

Claim 11

The computer-based marketing system according to claim 7 wherein the consumer data set comprises data collected from on-line consumer activity.

Claim 12

The computer-based marketing system according to claim 7 further comprising an index that traces class records in the classes database to individual records in the individual records database.

Claim 13

The computer-based marketing system according to claim 7 wherein the secure server includes software for applying data mining tools to the individual records database.

Claim 14

The computer-based marketing system according to claim 7 wherein the secure server receives responses from consumers.

Claim 17

The method of directing customized offers to consumers according to claim 13 further comprising the step of processing consumer responses to the offer.

Claim 18

The method of directing customized offers to consumers according to claim 14 further comprising the step of updating individual records and class records as consumer responses to the offer are processed.

Claim 19

The method of directing customized offers to consumers according to claim 14 further comprising the step of updating individual records and class records in response to a marketer request and as consumer responses to the offer are processed.

Claim 20

The method of directing customized offers to consumers according to claim 13 wherein the communicating step comprises communicating the offer electronically to individual consumers.

Claim 21

The method of directing customized offers to consumers according to claim 13 wherein the communicating step comprises communicating the offer electronically to individual consumers via an electronic mail message.

Claim 22

The method of directing customized offers to consumers according to claim 18 wherein the communicating step comprises communicating the offer electronically to individual consumers by serving a web page.

Claim 23

The method of directing customized offers to consumers according to claim 13 further comprising the step of collecting consumer data from at least one data repository, the consumer data including a consumer identifier.

Claim 24

The method of directing customized offers to consumers according to claim 20 wherein the consumer data collecting step comprises collecting consumer data from at least one on-line data repository.

Claim 25

The method of directing customized offers to consumers according to claim 13 further comprising the step of storing marketing profiles in a search results database.

Claim 26

The method of directing customized offers to consumers according to claim 13 further comprising the step of using data mining tools to help marketers frame their requests.

Claim 27

The method of directing customized offers to consumers according to claim 13 further comprising the step of updating individual records and class records as additional consumer behavior data is obtained.

Claim 28

The method of directing customized offers to consumers according to claim 13 further comprising the step of forwarding offer responses from individual consumers to the marketer.

Claim 29

The method of directing customized offers to consumers according to claim 13 further comprising the step of updating individual records and class records in response to a marketer request and as additional consumer behavior data is aggregated.

Claim 30

The method of directing customized offers to consumers according to claim 13 further comprising the steps of collecting consumer data from at least one on-line data repository, the consumer data including a consumer identifier; using data mining tools to help marketers frame their requests; storing marketing profiles in a search results database; updating individual records and class records in response to a marketer request and as additional consumer behavior data is aggregated; processing consumer responses to the offer; updating individual records and class records in response to a marketer request and as consumer responses to the offer are processed; and forwarding consumer responses to marketers; wherein the index creating step comprises creating an index tracing the class records to the individual records, wherein the index is not accessible by the classes database; and wherein the communicating step comprises communicating the offer electronically to individual consumers.

Claim 33

The method of directing customized offers to consumers according claim 28 further comprising the step of forwarding offer responses from individual consumers to the marketer.

Claim 34

A computer-based marketing system for directing customized offers to consumers, the marketing system comprising: means for organizing an individual records database containing individual records from a variety of consumer data sources; means for generating class records in a classes database, the class records generating means further comprising means for abstracting the individual records to create class records; means for creating a marketing profile describing elements of the classes database in response to a request from a marketer; and means for generating offers to individual consumers described by the marketing profile in response to offer initiation by a marketer; wherein the abstracting means eliminates all individual consumer identifying information from the class records in order to preserve consumer privacy.

Claim 35

A computer-based marketing system for directing customized offers to consumers, the marketing system comprising: means for organizing an individual records database containing individual records from a variety of consumer data sources; means for generating class records in a classes database, the class records generating means further comprising means for abstracting the individual records to create class records; means for creating a marketing profile describing elements of the classes database in response to a request from a marketer; and means for generating offers to individual consumers described by the marketing profile in response to offer initiation by a marketer; wherein the abstracting means eliminates all individual consumer identifying information from the class records in order to preserve consumer privacy.

Claim 36

The computer-based marketing system according to claim 30 further comprising means for accessing a plurality of consumer data sources.

Claim 37

The computer-based marketing system according to claim 30 further comprising means for communicating with individual consumers.

Claim 38

The computer-based marketing system according to claim 30 further comprising means for communicating with the marketer.

Claim 39

The computer-based marketing system according to claim 30 further comprising means for applying data mining tools to the individual records database.

Claim 40

The computer-based marketing system according to claim 30 further comprising means for indexing the class records to the individual records, wherein the indexing means is not accessible by the marketer.

Claim 41

The computer-based marketing system according to claim 30 further comprising means for forwarding offer responses from individual consumers to the marketer.

Claim 42

A computer program product for directing customized offers to consumers, the computer program product comprising: a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code means embodied in said medium, said computer-readable program code means comprising: computer readable program code means for organizing an individual records database containing individual records from a variety of consumer data sources; computer readable program code means for generating class records in a classes database, the class records generating means further comprising means for abstracting the individual records to create class records; computer readable program code means for creating a marketing profile describing elements of the classes database in response to a request from a marketer; and computer readable program code means for generating offers to individual consumers described by the marketing profile in response to offer initiation by a marketer, wherein the computer readable program code abstracting means eliminates al individual consumer identifying information from the class records in order to preserve consumer privacy.

Claim 43

A computer program product for directing customized offers to consumers, the computer program product comprising: a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code means embodied in said medium, said computer-readable program code means comprising: computer readable program code means for organizing an individual records database containing individual records from a variety of consumer data sources; computer readable program code means for generating class records in a classes database, the class records generating means further comprising means for abstracting the individual records to create class records; computer readable program code means for creating a marketing profile describing elements of the classes database in response to a request from a marketer; and computer readable program code means for generating offers to individual consumers described by the marketing profile in response to offer initiation by a marketer, wherein the computer readable program code abstracting means eliminates al individual consumer identifying information from the class records in order to preserve consumer privacy.