Interactive product placement system and method therefor

Abstract

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 method for advertising for products in video productions, the method comprising:
 displaying a video production;   awaiting a cue point trigger;   upon receipt of a cue point trigger, generating and transmitting a request for an ad, the request including a cue point name and a video identification;   receiving the requested ad; and   displaying the ad, the ad including a link for enabling a user to interactively select the product and retrieve further information about the product and options for purchasing the product.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of displaying the ad further comprises placing the product in a timeline advertisement. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of displaying the ad further comprises embedding the product in a live overlay advertisement. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of defining at least one of properties, interactive elements, visuals, and motion of an ad element. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of defining at least one of properties, interactive elements, visuals, and motion of an ad element stored in metadata and XML format and packaged with the ad file. 
     
     
         6 . A system for advertising for products in video productions, the system comprising:
 a video server;   an ad server; and   an interactive video player coupled to the video server and ad server, the video player being effective for executing a computer program comprising:   computer program code for displaying a video production;   computer program code for awaiting a cue point trigger;   computer program code for upon receipt of a cue point trigger, generating and transmitting a request for an ad, the request including a cue point name and a video identification;   computer program code for receiving the requested ad; and   computer program code for displaying the ad, the ad including a link for enabling a user to interactively select the product and retrieve further information about the product and options for purchasing the product.   
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the computer program code for displaying the ad further comprises computer program code for placing the product in a timeline advertisement. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the computer program code for displaying the ad further comprises computer program code for embedding the product in a live overlay advertisement. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 6 , further comprising an interactive video editor, the video editor being effective for executing a computer program comprising computer program code for displaying a video production computer program code for defining at least one of properties, interactive elements, visuals, and motion of an ad element. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 6 , further comprising an interactive video editor, the video editor being effective for executing a computer program comprising computer program code for displaying a video production computer program code for defining at least one of properties, interactive elements, visuals, and motion of an ad element stored in metadata and XML format and packaged with the ad file. 
     
     
         11 . A method for advertising for products in video productions, the method comprising:
 placing the commercial product in the video production as an element of the video production;   enabling a viewer to interact with video production select the product;   displaying information about the selected product; and   enabling a viewer to purchase the selected product.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the step of placing further comprises placing the product in a timeline advertisement. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the step of placing further comprises embedding the product in a live overlay advertisement. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising the step of defining at least one of properties, interactive elements, visuals, and motion of an ad element. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising the step of defining at least one of properties, interactive elements, visuals, and motion of an ad element stored in metadata and XML format and packaged with the ad file.