System and method of operating a proximity-based content distribution network using beacons

#Market research has established that brands are continuing to desire and find ways to engage with consumers on a one-on-one basis. One successful technique to engage consumers on a one-on-one basis is to engage consumers on mobile devices at points-of-purchase (e.g., retail stores and restaurants) through “proximity marketing” capabilities. It is believed that by 2018, brands will spend $10 billion on “proximity marketing” services to influence consumers at points-of-purchase and other venues.

#One problem that exists with creating “proximity marketing” channels is the ability to install and service communications equipment. Such communications equipment often includes a beacon or wireless communications device that operates a local wireless communications network (e.g., Bluetooth®) that enables mobile devices to communicate therewith. Installation and maintenance of these beacons requires overhead for a provider of the beacons that can be cost prohibitive. As an example, the beacons generally require power and real estate to accommodate the beacons. Moreover, retailers or other owners of points-of-purchase locations can be challenging to contractually engage such that a service provider of the beacons may support a sparsely populated network, thereby resulting in a high-cost network due to installation and maintenance costs of the sparsely populated network.

#Retailers or other owners of points-of-purchase locations are also currently limited to only their footprint of owned or managed real estate for establishing a communication channel with the consumer. As an example, a store with three locations can only currently communicate to consumers that are physically at those locations.

#Illustrative embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the attached drawing figures, which are incorporated by reference herein and wherein:

#FIG. 1 is an illustration of an illustrative network environment in which machines that provide consumer products, such as beverages, for consumers are configured with beacons configured to communicate beacon ID data with mobile devices proximate to the respective beacons;

#FIG. 2 is an illustration of an illustrative network environment in which a machine for dispensing consumer products, such as beverages, may be configured with a beacon located thereat;

#With regard to FIG. 1, an illustration of an illustrative network environment 100 showing venues 102a-102g, 102h-102m, 102n, and 102o (collectively 102) including machines 104a-104g, 104h-104m, 104n1-104n2, and 104o1-104on (collectively 104) that provide consumer products, such as beverages, to consumers is shown. The venues may be point-of-purchase locations (e.g. retail chain stores), public locations (e.g., streets, train stations, airports, etc.), and/or private locations (e.g., businesses). The machines 104 may be configured with beacons 106a-106g, 106h-106m, 106n, and 106o (collectively 106) that wirelessly communicate using a local wireless communications protocol with mobile devices 108a-108o (collectively 108). The venues 102 may be retail stores, grocery stores, restaurants, malls, sports venues, airports, walkways, or any other public or private location at which a consumer may purchase a consumer product, such as a beverage, from machines 104. The machines 104 may be vending machines, coolers, dispensers, or any other machine configured to provide consumer products for consumers to purchase or otherwise obtain. In an embodiment, the beverages may be soft-drinks, fruit beverages, still beverages, water, and so on. As understood in the art, the machines 104 may be serviced by a service provider that installs, moves or repositions, and maintains the machines 104, as well as restocks inventory in the machines 104.

#The machines 104 are shown to be positioned within the various venues 102 in which power and real estate, such as floor space or counter space, are provided to the machines 104. It should be understood that any number of machines 104 and combinations of machines may be positioned within the various venues 102.

#Each of the beacons 106 may be networked by having an assigned network address and/or device ID. In being networked, the beacons 106 may have a unique network identifier (ID), such as a MAC or IP address, or device ID. The beacons 106 may also be configured with other data that uniquely identifies the beacons. Each of the respective machines 104 and beacons 106 may be provisioned as a pair so as to support asset management functionality. For example, the beacons 106 may be provisioned with geographic or other location stand-alone location. In addition, each of the machines 104 may have a machine ID, and the machine ID and network address or identifier of the respective beacons 106 may be associated with one another in a data repository, such as a relational database, operating on a network server or elsewhere. Moreover, specific names or identifiers of geographic location within each of the venues 102 may be provisioned. For example, if a point-of-purchase or venue (e.g., mall) 102n has multiple machines, then position of the machines 104n1-104n2 within the venue 102n may be stored in association with each of the respective machines 104n1-104n2 in the venue 102n.