WO2006130912A1

WO2006130912A1 - Location based marketing

Info

Publication number: WO2006130912A1
Application number: PCT/AU2006/000783
Authority: WO
Inventors: Robert John Davies
Original assignee: Onspot Media Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2005-06-07
Filing date: 2006-06-07
Publication date: 2006-12-14

Abstract

The present invention provides a location based marketing method and system wherein a point of contact device (120) is provided at a location. The point of contact device (120) provides an offer inviting a participant to send an acceptance of the offer to a central system (180) using a participants personal mobile communication device (PMCD) (140). Following a participant sending acceptance to the central system (180) in an inbound message from the PMCD (140), the acceptance is validated and if the acceptance is valid, participant information is extracted from the inbound message and stored, then at least one outbound marketing message is sent from the control system (180) to the participant's PMCD (140) using information extracted from the inbound message.

Description

LOCATION BASED MARKETING

Field of the invention:

The field of the invention is directed to location based marketing and relates particularly but not exclusively to location based marketing for targeting people present at a particular location such as a shopping centre.

This application is based on and claims the benefit of the filing date of US provisional patent application 60/687,988 filed 7 June 2005.

Background of the invention:

It is desirable to have a marketing system which targets people in a particular location.

Typically vendors of goods and services cluster their shops or outlets in shopping strips or shopping centres to attract a variety of people.

Marketing systems such as displays of special offers by a particular vendor or group of vendors are known. Such displays rely on a person being in close vicinity to the display while the offer is being made or the person seeking out such a display. Typically the display is located within the particular vendor' s store and as a consequence a person will not be made aware of the particular offer unless they physically enter the store. Alternatively, announcements may be used to notify people of a number of special offers however, these may easily be ignored or not heard in a busy environment such as a shopping centre. It is also not possible to target specific persons using such methods.

There is a need for a system through which advertisers can target a variety of people though a personal mobile communication device such as a mobile phone, so that they will be informed of offers available in their vicinity as they move around a particular location such as a shopping centre or the like.

Summary of the invention:

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for location based marketing comprising the steps of: providing a point of contact device at a location; the point of contact device providing an offer inviting a participant to send an acceptance of the offer to a central system using a participants personal mobile communication device (PMCD) ; and following a participant sending the acceptance to the central system in an inbound message from the PMCD: validating the acceptance, and if the acceptance is valid, extracting and storing participant information from the inbound message, then sending at least one outbound marketing message from the central system to the participant's PMCD using information extracted from the inbound message. According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a system for location based marketing comprising: a point of contact device at a location for providing an offer inviting a participant to send an acceptance of the offer to the marketing system; a message gateway for receiving inbound messages sent from a participant's personal mobile communication device (PMCD) and for sending outbound messages to a participant's PMCD using information extracted from the participant's inbound message; a central system for validating a received acceptance, and for extracting participant information from the participant's inbound message, and for generating an outbound marketing message based on information extracted from the inbound message to be sent to the participant; and a storage means for storing participant information extracted from an inbound message.

The offer can provide a validation code that is to be included with the acceptance provided from the PMCD. It is preferable that the content of the validation code is periodically changed and is preferably uniquely generated based on location, date and time. The period the validation code is valid can include a time period that embraces the actual time period the code is provided at the point of contact display at the location.

Validation of the validation code can include checking the location from which the inbound message is sent and only validating the code if the inbound message is sent from a valid location.

Participant information can be stored for use in the marketing system. On receipt of an inbound message the extracted participant information from the inbound message is compared with pre-stored participant information, and any new participant information is stored. Messages may also be sent by the marketing system to participants to request further participant information such as demographic profile information which is then stored for use in the marketing system.

Participants may be enticed to send the code to the marketing system and participate in the promotion by entering a competition, filling in a survey or receiving a promotional offer. Where the enticement is a competition entry the marketing system can also check whether the participant sending the message is already entered in the competition and can then include information of the participant in a competition participant list if not already entered. For allocating a competition prize, the marketing system can select one or more prize winners from the competition participant list and notify the one or more prize winners in an outbound marketing message sent to the prize winner's mobile communication device.

Preferably the participant's PMCD is a mobile phone or similar device having a unique calling identifier, and the information extracted from the inbound message is or embraces the unique calling identifier as part of the extracted information.

The point of contact device can be provided with a limited range wireless communication device, for example a radio frequency (RF) device such as Bluetooth/ adapted to communicate with the PMCD. The PMCD can be detected when it is in the vicinity of the point of contact device and the offer provided by transmitting a message directly to the detected PMCD, say via a RF message.

Alternatively it can be determined whether the detected PMCD is included in participant information pre-stored in the central system. If the PMCD is included in pre- stored participant information marketing messages can be sent based on the pre-stored information. Alternatively, if the PMCD is not in pre-stored information an offer to participate in the promotion can be sent to the PMCD.

Preferably the message display capability of the PMCD or message format preference is included in the participant information. The message display capability may be determined from a PMCD identifier, such as a unique device identifier for either the PMCD or a device, such as a Bluetooth communication device, incorporated in the PMCD. Where such information is provided the format of the outgoing marketing messages can be selected from a plurality of formats based on this information.

Preferably the marketing system includes an interface for entering and storing advertiser information regarding one or more of promotional offers, discounts or marketing material particular to one or more advertisers. This marketing information may also include such information as the duration the offer is valid for, the number of offers to be made, and target particular participants using participant's profile information. The marketing system can then select information provided by an advertiser to be included in an outbound marketing message. This selection can include comparing advertiser's target demographic profile information with participant profile information stored for use in the marketing system. Information may also be gathered from advertisers regarding the response to the marketing messages.

Preferably the control system is a computer and the storage means for the participant and advertiser information are databases. The marketing system components may be linked via the Internet. The advertisers could be retailers, such as a retailer from whom a promotional offer can be redeemed and/or separate marketing organisations.

Through the system is it possible to gather data from several sources, such as the participation rate, redemption of promotional offers from retailers, response to surveys from marketers, and the like, for use in generating statistical reports which can be used to determine the effectiveness of particular marketing messages and strategies.

Brief description of the drawings: Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a flow chart of an overview of the process executed on an inbound message in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a flow chart illustrating an example of code validation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method for selection advertising messages to be sent.

Figure 5 is a flow chart illustrating an example of running a competition in an embodiment of the present invention

Figure 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a possible system configuration in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed description of the preferred embodiment:

Embodiments of the marketing system and method of the present invention enable marketing messages to be sent directly to participants using the participant's own personal mobile communication device (PMCD) while the participant is in a location relevant to the marketing message. People are provided with an offer inviting them to participate in the marketing scheme. Acceptance of the offer is sent to the system using the person's PMCD in return for which they receive marketing messages on their PMCD.

Figure 1 shows an example of a marketing system 100 according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. The main components of the marketing system are a point of contact device 120, a control system 180 and a message gateway 180 and participant's PMCDs. Typically the PMCDs are mobile cell phones.

The point of contact device 120 provides an offer, which can be in the form of a visual display or audio announcement or the offer can be provided directly to a persons PMCD, such as via a limited range radio frequency interface such as Bluetooth. The offer can include a validation code 110 displayed on a display or sent in a message, along with general information regarding the marketing promotion.

The offer is accepted by the person sending a message from their PMCD to the marketing system. Where a validation code is provided, the acceptance must include the validation code to be valid.

The control system 180 controls one or more promotions being run by the marketing system and can also generate promotion offers and acceptance validation codes. The message gateway 150 is provided for receiving inbound messages 160 sent to the marketing system, forwarding information extracted from the message to the control system, and sending outbound messages 170 to users of the marketing system. The content of outgoing messages is prepared by the control system 180. An inbound message 160 can be sent by a participant 130 using a mobile communication device 140 such as a mobile cell phone or other communication device. Likewise outbound messages 170 are sent to the participants' PMCD.

The system can also have a separate advertiser's interface 190 to allow advertisers to provide information, such as marketing offers, to the control system. Each of the marketing system components can be connected via the Internet 610 or other communication means .

For an embodiment of the marketing system where the offer is made in a manner which must be physically perceived by a participant, such as in a visual display, in a flyer/brochure, or in an audio announcement, a validation code 110 is generally provided with the offer. In this embodiment the code is valid only for a specific duration and for a particular location where the promotion is taking place. The code is changed according to the requirement of the promotion. This changing of the code may be triggered i.e. changed when a new promotion is started, or changed periodically i.e. changed say every 10 minutes, or other period, during a promotion. Different codes may be used in different locations so that a code itself can contain information to indicate the likely location from which it is sent. The code may^¬ be validated only using the sending time however, optionally the location from which a code is sent may be used in conjunction with the sending time to validate the code. If the time period for which the code is "valid" is relatively short, then there can be a reasonable assumption that the participant is using their PMCD from the location and not some other location. The combination of time and location indicated by the code enables participants at a particular location at a particular time to be sent marketing messages relevant to the location and time. The code can be generated by the control system 180 based on the time, date and location of the promotion.

The code is only valid for a particular period of time. There is no limitation on this time period, which may be minutes, hours, days, weeks etc depending on the particular application of the invention. In the preferred embodiment the code is valid for a relatively short period of time, measured in minutes and starting from the time the code is first displayed. This is suitable for an application where the marketer wants to target participants at the site of the point of contact display and send them advertising offers within minutes of them seeing the code.

Other embodiments may have different periods of time where the code is valid, and this period may be at a different time from when the code is displayed. For example, a code to enter a competition to win prizes at a football match may be shown at one time of the day say from 10am to 11am, however, the code is only valid for competition entry if it is sent to the market system say between 3pm and 4pm and the competition is run during the football game which starts at 4pm.

For an embodiment where the offer is made directly to the participant's PMCD, for example using a wireless communication means 125, such as a limited range radio frequency (RF) communication means, such as Bluetooth, it is not necessary to use a validation code to determine whether the participant is in the vicinity of the marketing system, as this can be determined simply by the PMCD being within range for the wireless communication.

For this embodiment the point of contact device will determine whether a PMCD enabled with a wireless communication means compatible with that of the point of contact device is within range for wireless communication, for example, by scanning for a compatible PMCD to send an offer to. Alternatively, an offer or device query signal could be broadcast so it could be received by a compatible PMCD within the broadcast range.

Communication between the point of contact device and the PMCD before sending a message to the PMCD can include the PMCD providing identification information to the point of contact device, for example an identifier for the PMCD itself or an identifier such as a unique Bluetooth device identifier for the short range communication functionality. Where such information is available the point of contact device 120 provides this identifier to the control system 180 which checks whether this identifier is associated with any participant already pre-stored in the marketing system.

If the identifier is associated with a pre-stored participant then the participant has already agreed to receive marketing messages, so marketing messages can be sent directly to the participant based on the pre-stored information.

If the identifier is not associated with a pre-stored participant, then an offer inviting participation can be sent to the PMCD. The offer lean be accepted either by sending a return message to the point of contact device via limited range wireless communication or via a message forwarded via the message gateway.

The control system 180 performs functions for controlling the marketing system. These functions include but are not limited to the functions of validating acceptances and validation codes sent by marketing scheme participants, recording information extracted from inbound messages, preparing content for outbound messages and selecting the participant to receive each message, maintaining a list of participants actively involved in a marketing scheme and controlling marketing functions such as controlling competition entries and prize draws, receiving marketing information from advertisers and allocation of marketing offers to participants.

To illustrate the use of an embodiment of the present invention the example of a shopping centre is used. Typically people carry their mobile phone or other PMCDs such as pagers, personal digital assistants (PDAs) or wireless communication terminals while shopping and pay attention to messages received. Embodiments of the present invention send marketing messages to a participant's own PMCD so the marketing message may be received while the participant is shopping and hence well situated to take advantage of any special offers.

At one or more central positions in the shopping centre location a point of contact device 120 is provided. The point of contact device provides an offer inviting a person to participate in a location based marketing scheme. The offer can be sent directly to a person's PMCD or be provided by a display or announcement. Information regarding the terms and conditions of promotion participation can also be given at the point of contact device 120 or included with the offer message. The invitation to participate in the promotion may include an enticement such as entry into a competition or participation in a survey. 0

The point of contact device 120 is a simple display providing a validation code and information regarding the promotion. The display may house wireless communication equipment 125 to communication directly with PMCDs. The point of contact device 120 may also include advertising terminals running multimedia presentations and displaying time synchronised validation codes.

A person indicates they wish to participate in the promotion by sending an acceptance message to the marketing system. A condition of participation in the promotion is that the participant agrees to receive marketing messages on the participant's mobile phone or similar mobile communication terminal . A point of contact display may or may not be connected to the control system.

A validation code can 110 be provided with the participation offer, in particular where the offer is made through a visual display or announcement. The validation code 110 can be used to confirm the person is accepting the offer during a time period where they are most likely to be at the shopping centre where it is useful to receive the marketing messages.

The validation code 110 is displayed by the point of contact device 120 along with a time and optionally, date for which the code is valid. The time period in which a participant can expect to receive marketing messages for the promotion may also be displayed. A validation code 110 will only be valid for a limited period of time and it is during this time that a participant must forward the validation code 110 to the marketing system 100 to accept the offer to participate in the promotion. The validation code 110 may be valid only while it is displayed or at another time. If a participant forwards a validation code 110 to the marketing system 100 before or after the time period where it is valid, participation in the promotion will be rejected.

Typically a participant 130 will see the point of contact display 120 and choose to accept the offer to participate in the marketing scheme. The person 130 sends the validation code 110 using a known messaging technique such as SMS, MMS, interactive voice response (IVR) , e- mail or any other messaging technique to the marketing system 100. In the example shown in Figure 1 the participant 130 uses their mobile phone 140 to accept the offer by sending an SMS text message containing the validation code 110 to a phone number displayed at the point of contact display 120. Where the offer is made by wireless communication directly to the participant's PMCD the reply information to accept the offer is included with the offer message.

This inbound acceptance message 160 is received by a message gateway 150 where data from the message is extracted and forwarded to the control system 180 or by a wireless receiver in the point of contact device 120 which forwards information extracted from the message to the control system. The data extracted from the inbound message 160 can include the validation code 110 and the sending phone number or other identification information to enable a message to be returned to the sender.

The control system 180 validates the validation code 110. If the validation code 110 is valid, participant information is stored and if the message is in response to a competition entry the participant is entered into the competition.

Advertising information and offers 190 from advertisers involved in the promotion are available to the control system 180. This information may be stored in the control system 180 or in an external database accessible by the control system. From this marketing information the control system selects marketing information to be sent in outbound messages to the participants in the promotion.

The functions performed by the control system are explained in more detail with reference to Figures 2, 3, 4 and 5. The control system is forwarded message content and information such as sender identifier information, time of message and possible sender location from the message gateway in step 200 or wireless receiver in step 201. The control system first determines whether the message contains a validation code in step 202 or 203. If the message contains a validation code then the code is validated in step 204.

If the message does not contain a code the control system checks whether the message is in response to an offer message sent directly to the participant's PMCD in step 221 or in response to a request for further information in step 224. If the message is in response to an offer made directly to the PMCD, then no validation code is required so the control system goes on to read the participant information in step 206. If the message is in response to a request for further information the information is recorded in step 226 otherwise the message is ignored. Once the additional information is recorded, if the participant was offered an entry in a competition 228 in return for supplying extra information the participant is added to a competition list 230. The process for code validation is shown in Figure 3. The code sent in the message, the time the message was sent and also optionally the location from which the message was sent are used to validate the code. First, the time of the inbound message is checked at step 300. The control system then checks whether the sent code is valid at the time of the inbound message in step 302. If the code is not valid at the time of the inbound message, then the code is not validated in step 308 and the message will be ignored.

Optionally the location from which the message was sent may also be checked in step 304. The code will only be validated if it is sent from the location indicated by the code. For example, if a code is valid for a location in a particular suburb and that suburb is not covered by the base station the mobile communication device accessed to transmit the message, (i.e. the mobile phone cell) then the code will not be validated.

When the code is deemed valid, participant information is extracted from the message and stored in step 306 to enable messages to be sent back to the participant, for example, the sending phone number of the participant's mobile phone. Other information, for example survey information, or an indicator of level of participation in the promotion may also be extracted from the message and stored.

After the code validation at step 204 the control system checks the participant information against already stored participant information 206 and adds any new information provided. If a participant is included in a loyalty program, loyalty points or the like may also be updated at this step. If the participant is new or the participant profile information is incomplete in step 212 the control system can prepare a response message requesting further information from the participant in step 214. This message will then be forwarded to the message gateway or wireless communication device for sending to the participant in step 220. This response message may include a further offer or competition entry as a reward for providing more information.

Next, a marketing message is prepared. First the control system checks whether a participant should still be receiving marketing messages in step 216. After the participant sends a code they become actively involved in the promotion. Involvement may remain active for a period of time and/or until a number of marketing messages are sent. These involvement parameters may be designated in accordance with a particular promotion or as preferences for particular participants or classes of participants . For example a particular promotion may designate all participants receive 3 marketing messages within 30 minutes of sending a valid code to the marketing system. Alternatively, a class of participants who are frequent users and subscribe to a loyalty scheme in connection with the marketing system may have a preference set whereby they receive 5 (for example) marketing messages or an unlimited number of messages for a period of time (say 5 minutes) for each valid code or each time their device is detected in the vicinity of the point of contact device to collect loyalty points. The control system choses a marketing message in step 218. The marketing message may be chosen on a participant basis. For example, where a participant is available to receive marketing messages, the message can be chosen from a list of offers made available by advertisers in the participant's location and sent to the participant in step 220. The marketing message may also be selected based on matching advertising offers with profile information provided by the participant, i.e. age, gender, income bracket, brand preferences, household status (e.g. partnered, single, number of children/dependents) , housing status or the like.

The format for the marketing messages, such as SMS, e- mail or MMS, may be selected based on preference information included in the stored participant information. Alternatively the message format may be based on the display capabilities of the PMCD receiving the message. This capability can be determined automatically from identification information provided in the acceptance message, such as the identifier of the phone or a unique identifier of the wireless communication device. For example, from a unique Bluetooth identifier the type of mobile phone the Bluetooth device is included in can be determined, which, in turn, can be used to determine whether the phone is capable of displaying messages with graphics or only text so an appropriate message format can be selected.

An alternative method for allocating marketing messages is shown in Figure 4. Information regarding advertising messages is stored in an advertising details table 400. Participants who have accepted to participate in the marketing system and have not yet received their allocated number of messages or their participation time expired are stored in an available shopper table 430. From the advertising details table 400 the control system selects a particular advertising offer in step 410. The control system then checks whether there are any participants in the active shopper table 430 for who the advertising message is suitable in step 420. If there are suitable participants in the active shopper table 430 one or more suitable participants are selected to receive the advertising message. In step 440 the advertising details table 400 is updated to reflect the advertising offer has been sent, and the details in the active shopper table 430 for each participant to receive the offer is updated to reflect the sending of the offer. This may result in some of the participant's status being removed from the active shopper table 430 if the specified number of messages have been allocated to the participant. The marketing messages are then sent to the selected participants in step 450.

A method of running a competition prize draw is now described with reference to Figure 5. Details regarding running competitions are stored in a competition details table 500. A list of competition participants is stored in a competition pool table 510. Participants are listed in the competition pool table 510 during the processing of an incoming message from the participant. For example, as shown in figure 2 a participant enters a competition by accepting an offer and/or sending a valid code, or if the competition is a reward for forwarding participant profile information to the marketing system the participant is entered into a competition pool table 510. The competition pool table 510 may list participants for several different competitions and the competitions they are eligible to be in the draw for.

Competition details are read in step 520 from the competition details table 510. When the time to draw a competition winner has arrived the winner is selected in step 530 from eligible participants in the competition pool table 510. The competition details table is updated to reflect the competition draw has been completed in step 540, this can include removing participants from the competition pool table 510 if they are no longer entered in a running competition. The competition winner is informed using a message sent to their mobile communication device in step 550.

An interface 190 can be provided to allow advertisers to provide information on promotional offers directly to the control system of the market system. For example, an Internet web site may provide a portal to the marketing system. The web site may be accessed using a conventional Internet browser and using a standard form an advertiser can provide advertising details to be stored in the marketing system. The advertising details may include information such as target demographic or shopper profile preferences, location of offer, number of offers to be made, expiry time of offer etc. The advertiser can be an individual retailer in the shopping centre or an advertising agency which prepares advertising campaigns on behalf of a collection of retailers or a chain of retailers. For example/ an advertising agency might prepare a shopping centre wide promotion in which all retailers or all of a type of retailer, such as ladies fashion, participate. Alternatively an advertising agency may prepare a promotion running in several shopping centres, through a point of contact device at each shopping centre, for a particular retail franchise.

Providing the access for the advertisers via the Internet 610 allows simple timely access to the marketing system by a number of advertisers. Fees for posting advertising may be paid directly via the Internet web page or each advertiser may set up an account with the marketing system and be invoiced for the services. Further, this advertising portal may also enable statistics to be gathered and distributed regarding the effectiveness of the promotions. For example, the number of participants in different profile groups, number of special offers sent and the uptake of the special offers etc. This information can be collected at each applicable step in the promotion from the sending of participation offers to the redemption of promotional offers or response to advertising messages gathered from the participating retailers. This information can be consolidated into statistical reports to be provided to advertisers, retailers, shopping centres etc. to monitor the effectiveness of advertising campaigns or promotions.

Internet portals to enable promotion participant's access to additional promotional offers can also be provided. For example, a person may check, via an Internet, site what types of promotions are available at the shopping centre to entice them to visit the shopping centre and if they visit the shopping centre at a particular time and participate in a promotion they may receive an additional entry into a competition or the like.

In the claims which follow and in the preceding description of the invention, except where the context requires otherwise due to express language or necessary implication, the word "comprise" or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising" is used in an inclusive sense, i.e. to specify the presence of the stated features but not to preclude the presence or addition of further features in various embodiments of the invention.

It is to be understood that, if any prior art publication is referred to herein, such reference does not constitute an admission that the publication forms a part of the common general knowledge in the art, in Australia or any other country.

Claims

CLAIMS :

1. A method for location based marketing comprising the steps of: providing a point of contact device at a location; the point of contact device providing an offer inviting a participant to send an acceptance of the offer to a central system using a participants personal mobile communication device (PMCD) ; and following a participant sending the acceptance to the central system in an inbound message from the PMCD: validating the acceptance, and if the acceptance is valid, extracting and storing participant information from the inbound message, then sending at least one outbound marketing message from the central system to the participant's PMCD using information extracted from the inbound message.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the offer provides a validation code that is to be included with the acceptance provided from the PMCD.

3. A method as claimed in claim 2 wherein the validation code is only valid for a particular time period.

4. A method as claimed in claim 3 further comprising the step of periodically changing a content of the validation code.

5. A method as claimed in claim 3 wherein the time period for which the validation code is valid, includes a time period that embraces the actual time period during which the code is provided by the point of contact device.

6. A method as claimed in claim 2 wherein the validation code is uniquely generated based on location, date and time.

7. A method as claimed in claim 2 wherein the offer, including the validation code, is provided by a visual display at the location.

8. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the point of contact device includes a limited range radio frequency (RF) device adapted to communicate with the PMCD, the method further comprising the steps of: detecting a PMCD provided in the vicinity of the location; and providing the offer by transmitting an RF message to the detected PMCD.

9. A method as claimed in claim 8 further comprising the steps of: determining whether participant information for the detected PMCD is included in pre-stored information with the central system; and either providing the offer if participant information for the PMCD is not found, or sending outbound marketing messages based on the pre-stored participant information for the PMCD.

10. A method as claimed in claim 9 wherein the participant information includes a unique identifier for the participant's PMCD.

11. A method as claimed in claim 10 wherein a message display capability of the PMCD is determined based on a unique identifier of the PMCD.

12. A method as claimed in claim 11 wherein a message format for an outgoing marketing message is selected from a plurality of possible formats based on a message display capability of the PMCD.

13. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the step of validating the acceptance includes checking the location from which the inbound message is sent, by checking a location indicator contained with the inbound message, and only validating the acceptance if the inbound message is sent from a valid location.

14. A method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a step of comparing extracted participant information from an inbound message against pre-stored participant information and storing participant information if not pre-stored.

15. A method as claimed in claim 14 further comprising the steps of : sending a message to the participant's PMCD from the central system to request the participant provide additional participant information in a further inbound message; and receiving the further inbound message and storing the additional participant information.

16. A method as claimed in claim 15 wherein the additional information requested is demographic profile information.

17. A method as claimed claim 1 wherein the offer includes an enticement including but not limited to any one of, a competition entry, a survey, or a promotional offer.

18. A method as claimed in claim 17 wherein when the enticement is a competition entry further comprising the steps of: when a new inbound message including a valid acceptance is received, checking whether the participant sending the message is already entered in the competition and including information of the participant in a competition participant list if not already entered; selecting one or more prize winners of the competition from the competition participant list; and notifying the one or more prize winners in an outbound marketing message sent to the prize winner' s PMCD.

19. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the outbound marketing message includes advertising or special offers relevant to at least one of the location of the point of contact device and or the participant's demographic profile.

20. A method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising the steps of : storing advertiser information regarding one or more of promotional offers, discounts or marketing material particular to one or more advertisers with the central system; and selecting information provided by an advertiser to be included in an outbound marketing message.

21. A method as claimed in claim 19 wherein the central system controls one or more of: a) a duration for which the information is valid and may be included in outbound marketing messages, b) a number of outbound marketing messages in which to include the information, c) a duration for which the information may be used by a participant receiving the outbound marketing message.

22. A method as claimed in claim 19 wherein the central system stores a target demographic for each piece of marketing information, and uses that target information when selecting marketing information to be included in an outbound marketing message.

23. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the offer provided at the point of contact display is generated by the central system.

24. A method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising collecting information from advertisers related to participant response to marketing messages.

25. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the participant's PMCD is a mobile phone or similar device having a unique calling identifier, and the information extracted from the inbound message is or embraces the unique calling identifier as part of the extracted information.

26. A system for location based marketing comprising: a point of contact device at a location for providing an offer inviting a participant to send an acceptance of the offer to the marketing system; a message gateway for receiving inbound messages sent from a participant's personal mobile communication device (PMCD) and for sending outbound messages to a participant's PMCD using information extracted from the participant's inbound message; and a central system for validating a received acceptance, and for extracting participant information from the participant's inbound message, and for generating an outbound marketing message based on information extracted from the inbound message to be sent to the participant; and a storage means for storing participant information extracted from an inbound message.

27. A system as claimed in claim 26 wherein on receipt of an inbound message the central system is configured to check whether participant information for the participant sending the message is pre-stored in the storage means, and to store any participant information not pre-stored.

28. A system as claimed in claim 26 further comprising an interface to enable advertisers to provide information to the central system for inclusion in outbound marketing messages regarding one or more of a competition entry, a survey, or a promotional offer or like enticement.

29. A system as claimed in claim 28 wherein the interface further enables information to be collected from advertisers related to participant response to marketing messages.

30. A system as claimed in claim 26 wherein the participant's PMCD is a mobile phone or similar device having a unique calling identifier and the information extracted from the inbound message is or embraces the unique calling identifier as part of the extracted information.

31. A system as claimed in claim 26 wherein the central system is a computer system.

32. A system as claimed in claim 26 wherein the storage means is a database.

33. A system as claimed in claim 26 wherein the central system is connected with one or more points of contact display (s) via the Internet.

34. A system as claimed in claim 26 wherein the central system is connected to the storage means via the Internet.

35. A system as claimed in claim 26 wherein the central system is connected to the message gateway via the Internet .

36. A system as claimed in claim 28 wherein the central system is connected to the Interface via the internet .

37. A system as claimed in claim 26 wherein the offers provided at the point of contact display are generated by the central system.

38. A system as claimed in claim 26 wherein the offer is uniquely generated based on location, date and time.

39. A system as claimed in claim 38 wherein the location from which the inbound message is sent is determined and the acceptance is only validated if the inbound message is sent from a valid location.