# US 2014/0156406 A1 · Communication system and method for narrowcasting > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2014/0156406 A1 - Document ID: US20140156406A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 13/931,555 - Filed: 2013-06-28 - Published: 2014-06-05 - Earliest claimed: 2006-07-17 - Assignees: Next Jump, Inc. - Applicants: NEXT JUMP, Inc. - Inventors: Yong-Chul C. KIM; lsabella CHUNG; Thomas FULLER; Nettana SAMROENGRAJA - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140156406A1 ## CPC - G06Q 30/0226: Incentive systems for frequent usage, e.g. frequent flyer miles programs or point systems - G06N 20/00: Machine learning - G06Q 30/02: Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising - G06Q 30/0215: {Including financial accounts} - G06Q 30/0224: {based on user history} - G06Q 30/0244: {Optimization} - G06Q 30/0269: {based on user profile or attribute} - G06Q 30/0275: {Auctions} - G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR - G06N: COMPUTING ARRANGEMENTS BASED ON SPECIFIC COMPUTATIONAL MODELS ## Abstract A communication system with client devices in communication with at least one communication network. User data stores are also in communication with the communications network and store user data of users using respective ones of the client devices. Offer data stores also in communication with the communications network store offers from merchants. A narrowcasting engine includes an active data gathering module to collect the user data, and an active learning module to generate a user profile based on the user data. The communication engine selects dynamically offers from the offer data store based on the profile, and communicates the selected offers in the offer data store to the users. ## Claims ### Claim at position 1 1-41. (canceled) ### Claim 42 A method for narrowcasting, comprising: registering, by a computer, an affiliated network having a plurality of members; collecting, by the computer or a computer system, demographic information and preference data about the plurality of members from the affiliated network; receiving, by the computer or the computer system, a request to register a first member of the affiliated network; generating, by the computer or the computer system, questions about the first member during an enrollment process to refine the demographic information and preference data about the first member, wherein the questions are dynamically generated based on the demographic information and preference data from the affiliated network and responses to answered questions during the enrollment process; segmenting, by the computer or the computer system, the first member into at least one segmentation cell based on the demographic information and preference data provided by the affiliated network and the responses to answered questions during the enrollment process; providing, by the computer or the computer system, access to a benefits website to the first member; collecting, by the computer or the computer system, behavior data by tracking activities of the first member while accessing the benefits website; and presenting, by the computer or the computer system, a set of offers determined most relevant to the first member based on the refined demographic information, the refined preference data, and the behavior data. ### Claim 43 (depends on 42) The method of claim 42, further comprising: determining, by the computer, a persona for the first member based on the demographic information and preference data provided by the affiliated network, the responses to answered questions during the enrollment process, the behavior data, and past purchase behavior. ### Claim 44 (depends on 42) The method of claim 42, wherein the behavior data includes a request for future reminders of expired offers. ### Claim 45 (depends on 42) The communication system of claim 42, wherein the behavioral data includes at least one of click-throughs, hovers, and search terms performed by the first member. ### Claim 46 (depends on 42) The communication system of claim 42, wherein the questions asked during the enrollment process are presented as a preference game for obtaining additional preference data of the first member. ### Claim 47 (depends on 42) The communication system of claim 42, further comprising: determining, by the computer, a life-stage for the first member based on the demographic information and preference data provided by the affiliated network, the responses to answered questions during the enrollment process, the behavior data, and past purchase behavior. ### Claim 48 (depends on 42) The communication system of claim 42, wherein providing access to a benefits website to the first member comprises presenting to the first member a first set of offers stored in a merchant offers database determined most relevant to the first member based on the at least one segmentation cell of the first member. ### Claim 49 (depends on 48) The communication system of claim 48, wherein presenting a set of offers determined most relevant to the first member comprises presenting to the first member a second set of offers stored in a merchant offers database determined most relevant to the first member based on the refined demographic information and refined preference data and the behavior data. ### Claim 50 A method for narrowcasting, comprising: registering, by a computer, an affiliated network having a plurality of members; collecting, by the computer, demographic information and preference data about the plurality of members from the affiliated network; receiving, by the computer, a request to register a first member of the affiliated network; segmenting, by the computer, the first member into at least one segmentation cell based on the demographic information and preference data provided by the affiliated network; presenting, by the computer, a first set of offers stored in a merchant offers database to the first member during an enrollment process, wherein the first set of offers is selected based on the segmentation cell; generating, by the computer, questions about the first member during the enrollment process to refine the demographic information and preference data about the first member, wherein the questions are dynamically generated in response to the demographic information and preference data from the affiliated network and responses to answered questions during the enrollment process; presenting, by the computer, a second set of the offers stored in a merchant offers database to the first member in response to the first member answering a question, wherein the second set of offers is selected based on the responses to the answered question and the segmentation cell; and collecting, by the computer, behavior data when the first member interacts with one of the offers presented in the first set or the second set of offers. ### Claim 51 (depends on 50) The method of claim 50, wherein the segmentation cell is one from the group comprising: a basic cell, an advanced cell, and a custom cell. ### Claim 52 (depends on 51) The method of claim 51, wherein a basic cell is generated based on the demographic information. ### Claim 53 (depends on 51) The method of claim 51, wherein the advanced cell is based on the demographic information and preference data. ### Claim 54 (depends on 51) The method of claim 51, wherein the custom cells are categories created in accordance with directions provided by the affinity network. ### Claim 55 (depends on 50) The method of claim 50, further comprising: providing, by the computer, access to a benefits website to the first member, wherein the benefits website presents a third set of the offers stored in a merchant offers database to the first member based on the segmentation cell of the first member, the behavioral data, and the refined preference data; collecting, by the computer, additional behavior data by tracking activities of the first member while accessing the benefits website; and presenting, by the computer, a fourth set of offers to the first member based on the refined demographic information, the refined preference data, and the behavior data. ### Claim 56 (depends on 50) The method of claim 50, wherein the demographic information includes home and work locations, gender, income level, job title, and marital status. ### Claim 57 (depends on 56) The method of claim 56, further comprising: presenting, by the computer, expensive items to the first member when the first member has an income above a certain threshold. ### Claim 58 (depends on 50) The communication system of claim 50, wherein the behavioral data includes at least one of click-throughs, hovers, and search terms performed by the first member. ### Claim 59 A system, comprising: (a) an offer data store including one or more offers from one or more merchants; (b) a registered card module configured to register one or more payment cards to be used for a purchase transaction; (c) a transaction matching module configured to match purchase transaction data resulting from the purchase transaction with the one or more merchants in the offer data store; and (d) a rewards module configured to determine an incentive to be applied to the one or more payment cards based on an offer associated with the matched merchant and to generate a qualified transaction data to be transmitted to an issuer of the one or more payment cards; and (e) a points module configured to generate points based on the qualified transaction data and the offer associated with the matched merchant and to convert a designated number of points into a monetary value and apply the converted monetary value to the purchase transaction, wherein the points module generates points when the points are applied to the purchase transaction. ### Claim 60 (depends on 59) The system of claim 59, wherein the points module is further configured to convert a designated number of points into a monetary value and apply the converted monetary value to a saving account. ### Claim 61 (depends on 59) The system of claim 59, wherein the points module is further configured to convert a designated number of points into a monetary value and apply the converted monetary value to a charity account.