WO2001063453A1

WO2001063453A1 - Selecting recipients of a direct mailing advertisement

Info

Publication number: WO2001063453A1
Application number: PCT/US2001/005546
Authority: WO
Inventors: David A. Brown
Original assignee: Ipdev Co.
Priority date: 2000-02-22
Filing date: 2001-02-21
Publication date: 2001-08-30
Also published as: AU2001239812A1; WO2001063453A8; WO2001063453A9

Abstract

The present invention discloses a method for the automated selection (54) of recipients of a direct mail advertisement or communication based upon their geographic proximity (51a) to a selected straight (52) or curved path such as a pipeline or railroad track.

Description

Selecting Recipients of a Direct Mail Advertisement

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The Technical Field.

The present invention relates generally to the mailing of direct mail pieces to specifically identified individuals and/or businesses. In particular, the present invention relates to the automated selection of recipients of a direct mail advertisement or communication based upon their geographic proximity to a selected straight or curved path.

2. Background

Specifically disclosed herein is a system for permitting the selection of intended recipients of a direct mail piece towards executing a highly focused direct mail program targeting a specific audience.

In rriany situations it is desirable, and often required, that a written communication or notice be sent to a certain class or group of addressees. For example, a pipeline operator or railroad company may be required to transmit a written notification to all individuals and business who reside within a specified distance from their pipeline or railroad track, for example, to give written notice of pipeline or track maintenance and/or cautionary or emergency procedures to be followed in the event of a pipeline or rail accident. It is typically desired, if not even mandated by local and federal law, that notice be given by depositing a written communication with the United States Postal Service (USPS) for delivery to the intended recipients. In another example, a railroad may which to advertise a special fare targeted to individuals residing close to the train's tracks. In many instances, the pipeline or railroad operator had to spend unnecessary money to provide the required or desired written notice in a manner that ensured that all required or intended recipients are actually sent the notice. For example, a pipeline operator might be compelled to periodically notify all homes and business within 1/2 mile of their pipeline of emergency procedures to be followed in the event of a pipeline leak. A railroad may be required to give notice when a special cargo passes along their tracks. While a pipeline operator may have assembled a database of addresses within a given range of their pipeline, such address databases quickly become outdated and inaccurate given the ever changing address parameters and the continued development of new housing including whole new subdivisions, especially in outlying areas where pipelines may have intentionally been built to be far from populated areas. Moreover, adjacent municipalities and states may each establish different criteria identifying who is required to be sent what type of notice thereby complicating any direct mail campaign.

An address database is typically sorted and maintained in zip code order, sometimes alphabetized by zip code, and often stored on a computer. A business or operator may choose to select addresses within a given zip code by either printing labels or generating a computer file containing the addresses within that particular zip code for direct printing on envelopes, etc. However, when a business needs to target its mailing in a more sophisticated manner, a great deal of effort is required - - an effort which is typically unsuccessful given the manner in which the address data is typically maintained by the business.

In some cases, it may be necessary to provide notice only to certain types of addresses within a given proximity to the pipeline or railroad, while other cases may require that everyone within a given proximity receive the notice. For example, the operator may wish that only schools or hospitals receive the notice for one type of situation and many more addressees receive the notice for another type of situation.

To ensure that governmental law is complied with, an operator may be forced to send mailings to every address within the zip codes through which its pipeline passes. Using a "Zip Plus 4" postal format the operator may be able to somewhat narrow the focus of the mailing, but is still often sending direct mail pieces to more addressees than is truly desired or necessary. In some situations, the operator may find that a mailing is required only to addresses proximate a certain limited section along of an otherwise extensive pipeline or railroad path.

It is envisioned the present invention has utility to others, such as highway departments who may need to notify homeowners living within mere blocks of a highway of a weed killing operation using sprayed insecticide.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system that selects recipients for a direct mail advertisement or communication based upon their geographic proximity to a straight line or curve defining the path of pipeline, railroad, highway or the like.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide the user with the ability to select recipients of the direct mail piece by geographic proximity to the user's pipeline, railroad, highway or the like.

A further object of the present invention is to provide for the selection of intended recipients of the direct mail piece in a manner which obviates over- selection of addresses and thereby minimizes costs.

These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in light of the present specifications, drawings and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 of the drawings illustrates one example of a pipeline running through a populated region and the boundary 1/4 mile one each side of the pipeline.

Fig. 2 of the drawings illustrates a boundary 1/2 mile on each side of a straight section of railroad; and

Fig. 3 of the drawings illustrates a boundary 1/2 mile on each side of a curved pipeline.

Fig. 4 of the drawings is a flow chart illustrating the various steps of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

While this invention is susceptible to embodiment in many different forms, there are shown in the drawings and will be described in detail herein several specific embodiments. The present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principle of the invention intended merely to explain and illustrate the invention, and is not intended to limit the invention in any way to embodiments illustrated.

Rather than having to over-select recipients for a direct mail communication, the present invention provides the user with the ability to effectively and efficiently implement and execute a highly focused direct mail campaign. For purposes of the present disclosure a direct mail communication being sent by a pipeline operator is illustrated with the understanding that the present invention is suitable for use by virtually any business or industry.

Fig. 1 of the drawings illustrates a pipeline running through a populated region and a boundary extending 1/4 mile one each side of the pipeline. Pipeline 20 is shown on a map passing through a populated region comprising numerous individual streets. Region 11 in the illustrated example is defined by Zip Code boundary 10. Northern boundary 21 and southern boundary 22 each define a perimeter one-quarter of a mile in each direction perpendicular to the path of pipeline 20, essentially one quarter mile to the north and one quarter mile to the south of pipeline 20.

The present invention provides for the selection of recipients of a direct mail advertisement or communication based upon geographic proximity to a straight line or curve. In the illustrated example, pipeline 20 is the starting point from which addressees are identified. As can be seen in the illustrated example of Fig. 1, if the pipeline operator is required to send a written communication to every address within one quarter mile of the pipeline, the selection of the entire region defined by Zip Code 10 results in many more addressees receiving the pipeline operator's mailing than truly required. However, by complying with the one quarter mile specification, only the necessary addresses would be selected. Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 of the drawings illustrate a 1/4 mile boundary on each side of a straight section of pipeline and a 1/4 mile boundary on a curved section of pipeline, respectively. The straight line of Fig. 2 is defined by end points 30 and 31 while the curved line of Fig. 3 is defined by points 40 through 46. Likewise, pipeline 20 of Fig. 1 is defined by points 12 each shown by the letter "X".

The present system is intended for implementation on a personal computer that includes software for generating a user interface for accepting from the user commands and instructions as well as software for executing the computational aspects of the present invention. The specific software code is code which one of ordinary skill in the art, having the present disclosure before them, would be capable of creating, without undue experimentation. Existing address database software and graphical mapping software can be used to execute the present invention.

The present system operates by automatically generating a two dimensional polygon defined by a straight or curved line, corresponding to the pipeline in the present example, and a distance therefrom specified by the user. The present system permits the selection of a entire long running pipeline, or like structure, or a mere section thereof, depending upon the end points selected.

The coordinates which define the pipeline, or like structure, are preferably specified by latitude and longitude coordinates (Lat/Lon). These Lat/Lon coordinates may be manually entered into the system or may be entered using a map and a digitizer tablet and pen where the user merely touches the pen to a map overlying the tablet to select and input into the system the coordinates defining the path of the pipeline. The user thus defines the coordinates which in turn define the pipeline structure, step 50 of Fig. 4.

The user next specifies a geographic distance from the line which is used to define a two dimensional boundary within which the user intends to send its mailing. For example, the user may specify a distance of one half mile, step 51 of Fig. 4. Once entered into the system, the system software automatically computes the vertices which define a two dimensional boundary one quarter mile from the pipeline, step 52 of Fig. 4. The number of vertices generated will depend upon the shape of the pipeline, where a straight line will generate fewer vertices than a curved line. As illustrated in Fig. 2, in the case of a section of pipeline 20, the boundary 23 is substantially straight at point 24 and curved at point 25 so as to accurately define the specified region and comply with the specified one quarter mile variable. As illustrated in Fig. 3, the boundary 23 is curved at point 24 following the curve of pipeline 20 and more sharply curved at point 25 so as to accurately define the specified region and comply with the specified one quarter mile variable

The boundary as thus defined constitutes a specification which is applied by the system software to an address database which may be maintained within or external to the system. The boundary thus constitutes a "filter" which is applied to the database to identify the intended addressees within the established boundary.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the database of addresses includes the name, house number, street, city, state and zip code for each address together with a Lat/Lon coordinate - sometimes known as a geopoint.

Once the boundary is identified the system will search the address database for matches to identify addresses from the database which are located within the generated boundary, step 53 of Fig. 4. Convex Hull or other techniques may be used to select the desired conforming addresses. The system thus generates a list of addresses which lie within the boundary region, step 54 of Fig.4.

In one embodiment of the invention, the database entry for each user includes an additional database field containing a code identifying a particular or special characteristic of the address, such as whether the address corresponds to a school, hospital or other unique facility. The user may also include this field when specifying not only a distance parameter but also a special variable used to narrow the identification of addressees, step 51a of Fig. 4. According to the present invention a pipeline operator or like entity may accurately and efficiently select only those addressees which are required to receive a mailing. Addresses are not selected which do not comply with the criteria set by the user. The user may adapt the system to select addresses for different ranges or sections of pipeline in manner which permits compliance with laws or regulations which are inconsistent with one another, such as may be exist when adjacent municipalities through which a pipeline runs establish different criteria as to who should receive notices.

The foregoing description and drawings merely explain and illustrate the invention and the invention is not limited thereto except insofar as the appended claims are so limited, inasmuch as those skilled in the art, having the present disclosure before them will be able to make modifications and variations therein without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

Claim -1 -

A method for creating a custom defined list of intended recipients of a direct mail communication based upon geographic proximity to a line, said method comprising: identifying two or more points defining a line; specifying a geographic distance X; generating a boundary region the perimeter of which is a distance X from said line; compiling the list of recipients for a direct mail communication by identifying only those addresses within an address database that are within the boundary region.

Claim - 2 -

The method according to claim 1 wherein the step of specifying a geographic distance X further includes the step of specifying an additional characteristic of addresses which may lie within the boundary region.