INTERACTIVE PRODUCT PLACEMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD THEREFOR
A method for presenting advertisements for commercial products in video productions, whereby the commercial product is placed in the video production as an element of the video production. A viewer is enabled to interact with the video production to select the product. Information is then displayed about the selected product; and the viewer is enabled to purchase the selected product.
1 . A processor-implemented method, comprising:
transmitting, from one or more servers, a video production to a video player, the transmitted video production including at least one product or service that is displayed during display of the video production by the video player; and
transmitting, from one or more servers, a cue point data structure to the video player, the cue point data structure associated with the transmitted video production;
the cue point data structure stored separately from the video production,
the cue point data structure including at least one set of cue point metadata, each set of cue point metadata including:
(i) an indication of an elapsed time at which an interactive advertisement is to be displayed relative to a playback time of the video production being displayed,
(ii) a life cycle for which the interactive advertisement is to be displayed, and
(iii) a pointer to the interactive advertisement,
the cue point data structure configured such that, for each set of cue point metadata, the video player:
(a) displays the interactive advertisement indicated by the pointer in that set of cue point metadata at the elapsed time indicated in that set of cue point metadata, and
(b) stops display of the interactive advertisement if there is no user interaction with the displayed interactive advertisement within the life cycle indicated in that set of cue point metadata.
2 . The processor-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the interactive advertisement for at least one set of cue point metadata is related to the at least one product or service included in the video production.
3 . The processor-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein:
the interactive advertisement for at least one set of cue point metadata is related to the at least one product or service included in the video production; and
the cue point data structure is configured such that display of at least one interactive advertisement begins during a display of the at least one product or service included in the video production.
4 . The processor-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein:
the interactive advertisement for at least one set of cue point metadata is related to the at least one product or service included in the video production; and
the interactive advertisement for the at least one set of cue point metadata is configured to allow a user to initiate a purchase of the at least one product or service included in the video production.
5 . The processor-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the cue point data structure is further configured such that a calling cue point for each set of cue point metadata is displayed in a timeline for the video production when the video player displays the timeline.
6 . The processor-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein:
the cue point data structure is further configured such that a calling cue point for each set of cue point metadata is displayed in a timeline for the video production when the video player displays the timeline; and
a timeline display position for the calling cue point for each set of cue point metadata is based on the elapsed time indicated in that set of cue point metadata.
7 . The processor-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein an indication of elapsed time for at least one set of cue point metadata is based on the at least one product or service included in the video production.
8 . The processor-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the cue point data structure is further configured such that at least one interactive advertisement is displayed as an overlay when the video production is displayed.
9 . The processor-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein:
the cue point data structure is further configured such that at least one interactive advertisement is displayed as an overlay, when the video production is displayed, abutting at least one edge of a displayable area of the video production.
10 . The processor-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the cue point data structure is further configured such that, for at least one set of cue point metadata, the video player requests interactive advertisement information from a remote server.
11 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions, the instructions when executed by at least one computer processor causing the at least one computer processor to:
transmit a video production to a video player, the transmitted video production including at least one product or service that is displayed during display of the video production by the video player;
retrieve a cue point data structure associated with the video production, the cue point data structure stored separately from the video production, the cue point data structure including at least one set of cue point metadata, each set of cue point metadata including:
(i) an indicator of an elapsed time at which an interactive advertisement is to be displayed relative to a playback time of the video production being displayed,
(ii) a life cycle for which the interactive advertisement is to be displayed, and
(iii) a pointer to the interactive advertisement; and
transmit the cue point data structure to the video player, the video player configured to, in response to the cue point data structure:
(a) display the video production,
(b) display the interactive advertisement indicated by the pointer in each set of cue point metadata at the elapsed time indicated in that set of cue point metadata, and
(c) stop display of the interactive advertisement indicated by the pointer in each set of cue point metadata if no user interaction with the displayed interactive advertisement occurs within the life cycle indicated in that set of cue point metadata.
12 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein at least one interactive advertisement is related to the at least one product or service included in the video production.
13 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein:
at least one interactive advertisement is related to the at least one product or service included in the video production; and
the video player is configured to begin display the at least one interactive advertisement during display of the at least one product or service.
14 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein at least one interactive advertisement is configured to facilitate user-initiated purchase of the at least one product or service included in the video production.
15 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the video player is further configured such that a calling cue point for each set of cue point metadata is displayed in a timeline for the video production when the video player displays the timeline.
16 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein:
the video player is further configured such that a calling cue point for each set of cue point metadata is displayed in a timeline for the video production when the video player displays the timeline; and
a display location for the calling cue point of each set of cue point metadata is based on the elapsed time indicated in that set of cue point metadata with respect to an entire length of the video production.
17 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein an indication of elapsed time for at least one set of cue point metadata is based on a time of display of the at least one product or service included in the video production.
18 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the video player is further configured such that at least one interactive advertisement is displayed as an overlay.
19 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the video player is further configured such that at least one interactive advertisement is displayed as a partially transparent overlay.
20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the video player is further configured to retrieve at least one interactive advertisement from a remote server.
21 . A processor-implemented method, comprising:
receiving, from one or more servers, a video production, the video production including at least one product or service displayed during playback of the video production; and
receiving, separately from receiving the video production, a cue point data structure associated with the video production, the cue point data structure including cue point metadata, the cue point metadata having:
(i) a pointer to an interactive advertisement,
(ii) an indication of an elapsed time at which the interactive advertisement is to be displayed relative to a playback time of the video production, and
(iii) a life cycle for which the interactive advertisement is to be displayed;
retrieving the interactive advertisement indicated by the pointer in the cue point metadata;
displaying the video production;
displaying the retrieved interactive advertisement at the elapsed time indicated in the cue point metadata; and
stopping display of the interactive advertisement if no user interaction with the displayed interactive advertisement occurs within the life cycle indicated in the set of cue point metadata.
22 . The processor-implemented method of claim 21 , wherein the interactive advertisement is related to the at least one product or service included in the video production.
23 . The processor-implemented method of claim 21 , wherein:
the interactive advertisement is related to the at least one product or service included in the video production; and
displaying the interactive advertisement is started during playback of a portion of the video production during which the at least one product or service included in the video production is displayed.
24 . The processor-implemented method of claim 21 , further comprising:
facilitating a user-initiated purchase based on the interactive advertisement.
25 . The processor-implemented method of claim 21 , further comprising:
displaying a calling cue point associated with the cue point data structure in a timeline for the video production.
26 . The processor-implemented method of claim 21 , further comprising:
displaying a calling cue point associated with the cue point data structure in a timeline for the video production based on the elapsed time indicated in the cue point metadata with respect to a total playback time of the video production.
27 . The processor-implemented method of claim 21 , wherein the interactive advertisement is displayed as an overlay.
28 . The processor-implemented method of claim 21 , wherein the interactive advertisement is retrieved from a remote server.