WO2001080113A1

WO2001080113A1 - Advertising apparatus using medium attached to food/drink container and operating method thereof

Info

Publication number: WO2001080113A1
Application number: PCT/KR2001/000645
Authority: WO
Inventors: Young Woo Kim
Original assignee: Conic Korea Inc.
Priority date: 2000-04-19
Filing date: 2001-04-18
Publication date: 2001-10-25
Also published as: AU5273001A; JP2003531403A

Abstract

Disclosed are an advertising apparatus using a medium attached to a food/drink container and an operating method thereof which are capable of not only continuously providing an advertisement for hubber-attached products in an off-line fashion, but also continuously providing a variety of information and a variety of events in an on-line fashion via the Internet, thereby providing a maximum advertisement recognition effect, while managing mutual information provided by objects, that is, an advertisement ordering company, a consumer, and a food/drink manufacturing company, in association with the manufacture and sale of the hubber-attached product, using databases, thereby accurately determining the present selling status and the present advertisement status using those databases in an on-line fashion to produce mutual gains. Each hubber bears an intrinsic ID allocated in accordance with a desired cryptography algorithm. Accordingly, it is possible to enhance the value of the hubber while efficiently managing the hubber in accordance with an analysis and tracing of the intrinsic ID. It is also possible to provide diverse on-line games using the intrinsic ID. By virtue of such on-line games, it is possible to increase the frequency of subscribers accessing the Web system.

Description

ADVERTISING APPARATUS USING MEDIUM ATTACHED TO FOOD/DRINK CONTAINER AND OPERATING METHOD THEREOF

Technical Field The present invention relates to an advertising apparatus using a medium attached to a food/drink container and an operating method thereof, and more particularly to an advertising apparatus using a medium attached to a food/drink container and an operating method thereof which are capable of circulating a medium, that is, a hubber bearing a desired advertisement figure or characters, in accordance with the sale of food/drink products, respective contents of which are contained in containers each attached with the hubber, while unifying and managing, on the Internet, databases constructed by mutual information provided by objects, for example, an advertisement ordering company, a consumer, and a food/drink manufacturing company, in association with the manufacture and sale of the hubber-attached food/drink products, on the basis of the hubber, to operate those databases, thereby maximizing off-line and on-line advertisement recognition effects and providing diverse benefits to clients or consumers.

Background Art Advertisement is a well known method for promoting the purchase of goods by consumers. As a typical advertising method, there is an off-line advertising method using printed media or an advertisement method using broadcasting media. Recently, an on-line advertising method has been proposed, in which an advertisement is performed on a Web site via the Internet.

In accordance with the off-line advertising method, an advertising agency receiving an advertisement order from a sponsor, that is, an advertisement ordering company, arbitrarily puts an advertisement in media to distribute those advertisement media to clients, irrespective of the will of those clients. In other words, the advertising agency conducts advertisement in a state in which they cannot be fully aware of information and goods desired by clients, even though a marketing research has been made. On the other hand, the on-line advertising method allows clients to request information associated with desired advertisements to the advertising agency or advertisement ordering company. However, it is difficult for clients to accurately and rapidly search Web sites for desired goods and information. For these reasons, the above mentioned off-line and on-line advertising methods cannot meet the demand of advertisement ordering companies to obtain an enhanced effectiveness of advertising with reduced advertising expenses and the demand of clients to easily select desired advertisements from huge information. For instance, companies in the food/drink field are fully aware of the fact that consumers exhibit an increased purchasing desire for food/drink products of a more familiar brand. For this reason, companies in the food/drink field spend a huge sum of money every year on the development of new products and the selection of brands. However, it is very difficult to accurately catch the frequently-varying purchasing patterns of consumers in order to effectively cope with those purchasing patterns. A failed sales strategy may result in a vast damage due to the loss of huge advertising expenses, in addition to a defamation of the associated products and company.

Recently, advertising agencies have introduced an on-line advertising method using the Internet having a tendency of a continued increase in the number of users by virtue of the continued development of internet techniques and the distribution of infrastructures. In accordance with the introduction of such an on-line advertising method, most advertising agencies currently attempt to access clients by conducting advertisement in an off-line fashion via desired media and in an on-line fashion on the Internet. For instance, when a Web user, who visits a Web site displayed with diverse advertisements, clicks a selected one of the advertisements, an associated message or advertisement content is viewed. Alternatively, the Web user is connected to a home page linked to the clicked advertisement. Thus, desired advertisement is conducted.

However, the off-line advertising method is inefficient in terms of the effectiveness of advertising compared to advertisement expenses because the advertisement is arbitrarily exhibited to many and unspecified persons. In the on-line advertising method in which advertisement is conducted on a Web site exhibiting diverse advertisements, the exhibition of those advertisements is arbitrarily made under the condition in which the advertising agency is not aware of the desires and intentions of Web users accessing the associated Web site. For this reason, the on-line advertising method also provides a reduced effectiveness of advertising. Where the number of users accessing the Web site is excessively increased beyond the processing capacity of an associated system, the data transfer rate of the Web site may be undesirably reduced. In this case, Web users may have inconvenience, so that they may want to access the Web site no longer. Furthermore, the image of the Web site may be damaged.

Advertisement may be conducted by putting advertisements in a site of particular contents. In this case, however, considerable efforts and expenses may be required until the site becomes popular. The process of making the site popular is proceeded irrespective of the will of the associated advertising agency or advertisement ordering company. For this reason, this method is inefficient. Although desired advertisements are put in a popular site, it is difficult to expect a sufficient effectiveness of advertising, as compared to huge advertisement expenses.

Also, a premium-awarding advertising method has been proposed in which when a Web user visiting a Web site on the Internet clicks an advertisement displayed on the Web site, he is awarded a premium in the form of points or other equivalents. However, this method also has a problem of a reduced effectiveness of advertising because Web users are apt to have an increased interest in the premiums, to be awarded as the payment for the clicking of advertisements, rather than the advertisements displayed on the Web site. Furthermore, it is difficult to check an accurate viewing rate of advertisements. As a result, only a limited effectiveness of advertising is expected.

Disclosure of the Invention

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of a reduced or limited effectiveness of advertising involved in conventional advertising methods, and an object of the invention is to provide an advertising apparatus using a medium attached to a food/drink container and an operating method thereof which are capable of conducting a desired advertisement to clients using a medium, that is, a hubber bearing a desired advertisement figure or characters, in accordance with the sale of food/drink products, which are media easily available by clients and respective contents of which are contained in containers each attached with the hubber, thereby providing a primary advertisement recognition effect, while guiding clients to access a Web site indicated on one surface of the hubber and providing diverse information associated with the advertisement displayed on the Web site along with the profits of events, thereby continuously providing secondary and third advertisement recognition effects. Another object of the invention is to provide an advertising apparatus using a medium attached to a food/drink container and an operating method thereof which are capable of allowing a client to collect, on a desired site, advertising media corresponding to hubbers collected on off-lines, thereby allowing the client to check the present collection status of his advertising media while allowing the client to exchange those advertising media with those of other Web users and/or other clients, thereby presenting a new collection culture and providing much commercial profits to consumers .

Another object of the invention is to provide an advertising apparatus using a medium attached to a food/drink container and an operating method thereof which are capable of distributing gains, generated among clients purchasing media indicated with the advertising figure characters of a desired advertisement, an associated advertisement ordering company, and an associated food/drink manufacturing company in association with the advertisement, in accordance with responses of those clients to the advertisement and the food/drink product attached with the advertisement made in the process of distributing the advertisement to the clients, while returning a desired portion of the gains to the clients.

Another object of the invention is to provide an advertising apparatus using a medium attached to a food/drink container and an operating method thereof which allocate intrinsic IDs for media, that is, hubbers, respectively attached to food/drink containers in accordance with a desired rule, so that it is possible to efficiently trace and analyze data about clients, Web users, advertisement ordering companies, and food/drink manufacturing companies, to allow clients to enjoy diverse amusement cultures (games) presented by an operating company in an on-line/off-line fashion, and to award desired points to subscribers or to allow the subscribers to exchange their hubbers in accordance with the results of games, thereby being capable of allowing the advertisement ordering companies to obtain a continued effectiveness of advertising by virtue of the sale of food/drink products attached with hubbers bearing advertisements requested by those advertisement ordering companies while allowing the food/drink manufacturing companies to achieve an improved sale of their food/drink products by virtue of a promotion of the re-purchase of those food/drink products by the subscribers.

In accordance with one aspect, the present invention provides An advertising apparatus using a medium attached to a food/drink container comprising: a Web system for managing/unifying, on the Internet, mutual information among objects by use of a hubber, manufactured to have a shape and a material property allowing an attachment thereof to a food/drink container, as a medium, and operating a Web site, based on the mutual information, to provide information about an advertisement indicated on the hubber to the objects along with premiums and events; a plurality of food/drink manufacturing companies included in the objects and authenticated as advertisement section providers in accordance with a desired authentication procedure conducted based on basic information inputted by the food/drink manufacturing companies under a condition in which the food/drink manufacturing companies access the Web system, each of the food/drink manufacturing companies being capable of receiving desired processed data from the Web system in accordance with a desired search requesting procedure; a plurality of advertisement ordering companies included in the objects and authenticated as advertisement sponsors in accordance with a desired authentication procedure conducted based on basic information inputted by the advertisement ordering companies under a condition in which the advertisement ordering companies access the Web system, each of the advertisement ordering companies being capable of requesting a hubber design to the Web system or conducting the hubber design using an advertisement design ordering program, and making an advertisement application associated with the hubber design in accordance with a desired advertisement condition; a plurality of subscribers included in the objects and authenticated in accordance with a desired authentication procedure conducted based on personal information inputted by the subscribers under a condition in which the subscribers access the Web system, based on a Web site indicated on hubbers respectively attached to containers of food/drink products manufactured by the food/drink manufacturing companies and purchased by them, each of the subscribers being capable of receiving services and information about events under a condition in which he completes a hubber registration regarding the subscriber to be fully aware of an advertisement printed on a hubber held by him; a database for storing data about the Web system, the food/drink manufacturing companies, the advertisement ordering companies, the subscribers, and the hubbers, and reading out processed information at the request of the Web system to provide the read-out information to the Web system; the hubbers each indicated with an information code required in registering the hubber attached to a food/drink product manufactured by one of the food/drink manufacturing companies in accordance with an advertisement order made by one of the advertisement ordering companies ; and a food/drink supplying system for manufacturing the hubber- attached food/drink products and putting the hubber- attached food/drink products on the market.

Each of the hubbers is printed, at one surface thereof, with an intrinsic ID comprising a character portion consisting of desired words, a numeral portion consisting of a combination of a numeral having a desired number of digits, specific symbols, and alphabetic letters, and first and second pattern portions each consisting of printed patterns each having a desired shape, an advertisement image made by an advertisement ordering company in accordance with an advertisement order, an advertisement logo, the name of the country where the advertisement is sold, and the production year. The printing is conducted using desired printing means.

In accordance with another aspect, the present invention provides an operating method for an advertising apparatus using a medium attached to a food/drink container, comprising: a procedure of allowing a food/drink manufacturing company to execute an advertisement section provider authentication so that the food/drink manufacturing company is awarded a right of an advertisement section provider to attach, to a desired portion of a food/drink product manufactured thereby, a hubber bearing a desired advertisement figure and an information code and having a desired shape; a procedure of allowing an advertisement ordering company to execute a sponsor registration so that the advertisement ordering company is awarded a right of a sponsor to put an advertisement in the hubber and to receive information services; a procedure of allowing a client purchasing the hubber-attached food/drink product to input basic personal information including the name, age, sex of the client, a desired ID, a password, the address of the client, the date of birth of the client, the occupation of the client, the type of occupation, a telephone number/E-mail address, the food/drink product purchased, and collected hubber advertisement registrations, and to execute a subscriber registration based on the inputted basic personal information so that the client is awarded a right of a subscriber to receive services and to participate in an event opened in accordance with diverse conditions, in a state in which the client accesses a Web site indicated on the hubber held by him; a procedure of allowing the registered subscriber to search a database for the hubber held by him, based on the information code indicated on the hubber, and then to execute a registration of the hubber while allowing the food/drink manufacturing company and the advertisement ordering company to search a database for a desired advertisement, and then to provide an advertisement section or to make an advertisement order based on an advertisement condition inputted; and a procedure of allowing the registered subscriber to participate in an event opened in accordance with an event condition made by a Web system controlling the procedures, and then to be awarded a premium when it is determined in accordance with a desired lottery method that a point held by the registered subscriber is within a premium awarding range.

The operating method may further comprises a procedure of allowing the subscriber to play an on-line game with other subscribers accessing the Web system, in accordance with a predetermined game rule, using at least one of a character portion, a numeral portion, a first pattern portion and a second pattern portion included in an intrinsic ID indicated on the hubber.

In accordance with the above mentioned configurations, an off-line advertisement and an on-line advertisement on an Web site via the Internet can be simultaneously performed for food/drink products each attached with a medium bearing a desired advertisement figure and an intrinsic ID. Accordingly, it is possible to obtain an improved advertisement recognition effect. Diverse on-line games using the medium can also be provided to subscribers. Based on the intrinsic ID of the medium, it is also possible to easily trace the position of the subscriber registering the medium, that is, a hubber, and data held by the associated advertisement ordering company and food/drink manufacturing company. Accordingly, an efficient medium management is expected.

Brief Description of The Drawings

The above objects, and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent after a reading of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

Fig. la is a schematic view illustrating the configuration of an advertising apparatus using a medium attached to a food/drink container in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Fig. lb is a schematic view illustrating diverse databases included in the database of Fig. la;

Fig. 2 is a schematic view illustrating a detailed mutual configuration between a Web system and a food/drink manufacturing company in the configuration of Fig. la;

Fig. 3a is a flow chart illustrating a procedure in which the food/drink manufacturing company is registered as an authenticated advertisement section providing company after accessing the Web system; Fig. 3b is a flow chart illustrating a procedure in which the food/drink manufacturing company receives processed data in accordance with an information search after accessing the Web system;

Fig. 4 is a schematic view illustrating a detailed mutual configuration between the Web system and an advertisement ordering company in the configuration of Fig. la;

Fig. 5a is a flow chart illustrating a procedure in which the advertisement ordering company illustrated in Fig. 4a is registered as a sponsor after accessing the Web system;

Fig. 5b is a flow chart illustrating a procedure in which the authenticated advertisement ordering company receives information about request for advertisement, details of advertisement sales, and details of advertising hubbers after accessing the Web system;

Fig. 5c is a flow chart illustrating a procedure in which the advertisement ordering company makes an order for the design of a hubber or directly conducts the design of the hubber;

Fig. 5d is a schematic view illustrating an advertisement design ordering program used in the preparation of a hubber advertisement on the Web by the advertisement ordering company; Fig. 6 is a schematic view illustrating a detailed mutual configuration between the Web system and a client in the configuration of Fig. la;

Fig. 7a is a flow chart illustrating a procedure in which the client of Fig. 6 purchasing a hubber-attached food/drink product is registered as a subscriber after accessing the Web system;

Fig. 7b is a flow chart illustrating a procedure in which the authenticated subscriber conducts a hubber product registration. Fig. 7c is a schematic view illustrating a searching procedure conducted using a global information system in order to register a hubber product distributed over an area other than the residential area of the subscriber; Fig. 8a is a flow chart illustrating a procedure in which the Web system awards a premium to the subscriber when the subscriber wins a prize in an event opened by the Web system;

Fig. 8b is a flow chart illustrating a procedure in which the subscriber participates in the event of Fig. 8a at the request of the advertisement ordering company;

Fig. 9 is a schematic view illustrating the present status of the subscriber participating in the event of Fig. 8b;

Fig. 10 is a schematic view illustrating a hubber exchange conducted among subscribers to meet the premium awarding condition of an event in which the subscribers participate;

Fig. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration for providing additional services to clients accessing the Web site;

Figs. 12a to 12g are views respectively illustrating diverse hubbers and diverse hubber advertising images displayed by the Web system, which hubbers and hubber advertising images are classified in terms of size, color, and capacity in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 13 is a flow chart illustrating a procedure of outputting hubber advertisement images of Figs. 12a to 12g in accordance with a desired retrieval condition; Figs. 14a to 14e are views respectively illustrating conditions of diverse hubbers respectively attached to diverse food/drink containers;

Figs. 15a to 15d are views illustrating diverse structures of a hubber collection tool adapted to hold collected hubbers;

Fig. 16a is a flow chart illustrating a procedure in which a gain is generated by the food/drink manufacturing company by virtue of the advertising apparatus using media mounted to food/drink containers in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 16b is a flow chart illustrating a procedure in which a gain is generated by the advertisement ordering company by virtue of the advertising apparatus using media mounted to food/drink containers in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Figs. 17a to 17c illustrate a distribution of gains generated among the Web system, advertisement ordering company and subscriber in an on-line/off-line fashion by virtue of the advertising apparatus using media mounted to food/drink containers in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, in which

Fig. 17a is a flow chart illustrating a distribution of gains generated in an off-line fashion,

Fig. 17b is a flow chart illustrating a distribution of gains generated in an on-line fashion, and

Fig. 17c is a flow chart illustrating a distribution of gains generated in an on-line fashion in accordance with an electronic commercial transaction among the subscriber, food/drink manufacturing company, and advertisement ordering company; Figs. 18a and 18b are views respectively illustrating an advertisement image and an intrinsic ID printed on opposite surfaces of the hubber shown in Fig.

12a to 12g;

Fig. 19 is a block diagram illustrating a hubber printing means configured in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention to conduct a printing process for the hubber shown in Figs. 18a and 18b;

Fig. 20 is a flow chart illustrating a printing procedure conducted using the hubber printing means of Fig. 19;

Fig. 21 is a flow chart illustrating a procedure in which the hubber ID and advertisement image to be printed on the hubber of Figs. 18a and 18b are stored in associated databases, respectively;

Figs. 22a to 22c are schematic views respectively illustrating a premium image displayed at different percentages depending on a variation in the point held by the subscriber;

Fig. 23a and 23b are schematic views respectively illustrating a procedure in which the subscriber orders a premium to be awarded by the sponsor, based on the point held by him; and

Fig. 24 is a flow chart illustrating an on-line game conducted among subscribers accessing the Web system in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention Now, the present invention will be described in detail, with reference to the annexed drawings.

Fig. la is a schematic view illustrating the configuration of an advertising apparatus using a medium attached to a food/drink container in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in Fig. la, the advertising apparatus, which uses a medium attached to a food/drink container, includes a Web system 100 for managing/unifying, on the Internet, mutual information among a food/drink manufacturing company 200, an advertisement ordering company 300, and a client 400 by use of a hubber attached to a food/drink container as a medium, thereby operating the mutual information. The food/drink manufacturing company 200 also included in the advertising apparatus serves to access the Web system 100 via a network, and preparing an advertisement section, based on information supplied from the Web system 100. The advertisement ordering company 300 also included in the advertising apparatus serves to prepare an advertisement to be put in- the advertisement section prepared by the food/drink manufacturing company 200. The client 400 also included in the advertising apparatus is a subscriber having access to the Web system 100 while being registered as a member allowed to receive advertisements provided by the food/drink manufacturing company 200 and advertisement ordering company 300 and other on-line services provided by those companies 200 and 300. Practically, the advertising apparatus may include a plurality of food/drink companies 200, a plurality of advertisement companies 300, and a plurality of clients 400. The advertising apparatus also includes a database 500 for sorting data about the food/drink companies 200, advertisement companies 300, and clients 400, and data about diverse hubbers, and storing the sorted data, and a drink supplying system 600 for manufacturing and supplying a food/drink container (ADDCAN) contained with desired food/drink and attached with a hubber made based on analyzed data supplied from the Web system 100. In Fig. la, the hubber is denoted by the reference numeral 640.

As shown in Fig. la, the drink supplying system includes a printing factory 610 for printing/manufacturing a hubber 640 in accordance with a design prepared by the advertisement ordering company 300 in response to an advertisement order from the advertisement ordering company 300, a can manufacturing factory 620 for manufacturing a can body to be contained with desired food/drink and to be delivered to the food/drink manufacturing company 200 while forming, at an end portion of the can body, an ADDEND adapted to hold the hubber 640, and a drink manufacturing factory 630 for receiving the can body and ADDEND from the can manufacturing factory 620, conducting drink charging and sealing operations for the can body, thereby producing a food/drink product, and putting the food/drink product on the market denoted by the reference numeral 700.

A detailed configuration of the hubber 640 is disclosed in the Korean Patent Application No. 10-1999- 0035332 entitled "Cover of Drink Can". As disclosed in this patent application, the hubber 640 includes a disk- shaped hubber body. The hubber body is partially cut off to form a drink discharge hole extending radially inwardly from the peripheral edge of the hubber body. A curved rotation guide having a desired curvature is also formed at the hubber body in the vicinity of an inner end of the drink discharge hole to guide a rotation of the hubber body. An advertisement section having a desired area is defined at a portion of the hubber body arranged at one side of the drink discharge hole. The advertisement section is adapted to be printed with an advertisement figure or characters or to be attached with an attachment. Another hubber configuration is disclosed in the Korean Utility Model Application No. 20-2000- 0002006 entitled "Structure for Preventing Adsorption of Foreign Matters on Can Cover". As . disclosed in this patent application, a release sheet is detachably attached to the upper surface of a can cover in order to prevent an adsorption of foreign matters on the upper surface of the can cover.

The can cover having the above mentioned structure may be coupled between the upper surface of the can end and a tap in the manufacturing process for the can end so that they are integral together. This is disclosed in the Korean Patent Application No. 10-1999-051022 entitled "Can Provided with Can Cover And Method for Manufacturing the Same". Another method capable of conveniently and rapidly mounting a can cover to the upper surface of a can end while allowing the can cover to be rotatable is disclosed in the Korean Patent Application No. 10-1999- 58534 entitled "Can Cover Mounting Method and Apparatus". As shown in Fig. lb, the database 500 includes a subscriber information database (DB) 500a, a hubber information DB 500b, an event/premium DB 500c, an advertisement ordering company information DB 500d, and a food/drink manufacturing company information DB 500e. The subscriber information DB 500a includes a basic subscriber information DB, a subscriber hubber holding information DB, and a point DB. The hubber information DB 500b includes a basic hubber information DB, and a hubber advertisement image DB. The advertisement ordering company information DB 500d includes a basic advertisement ordering company information DB, and an advertisement order information DB. The food/drink manufacturing company information DB 500e includes a basic food/drink manufacturing company information DB, an advertisement section order reception information DB . The event/premium information DB 500c includes a list of subscribers who took part in an event or events or were awarded premiums in the event or events . Fig. 2 is a schematic view illustrating a detailed mutual configuration between the Web system 100 and the food/drink manufacturing company 200 in the configuration of Fig. la. The configuration of Fig. 2 includes the food/drink manufacturing company 200 for providing basic information, as an advertisement section provider, while requesting desired information and receiving food/drink products each attached with the hubber 640 from the can manufacturing factory 620, and the Web system 100 for analyzing the present marketing status of the food/drink products put on the market and sold, the advertising effect for the food/drink products, and the response of the clients to the food/drink products, and providing, to the food/drink manufacturing company 200, diverse data resulting from the analysis. The configuration of Fig. 2 further includes the database 500 for storing the analyzed data, and providing the stored data to the Web system 100, and a system (server) 200a provided at the food/drink manufacturing company 200.

Meanwhile, the hubber bears a code consisting of a desired number of bytes (for example, 65 bytes) in accordance with a desired code classification system. Based on the code, the hubber 640 can be sorted and managed by the Web system 100 in accordance with the code classification system. The code classification system will be described hereinafter, in conjunction with Table 2. The hubber may also bear an intrinsic ID allocated in accordance with a desired cryptography algorithm so that it has a tracing function. Based on the ID of the hubber, it is possible to trace and analyze the data about the associated user and advertisement ordering company. In Figs. 18a and 18b, such a hubber is illustrated, which is denoted by the reference numeral 1300.

Fig. 4 is a schematic view illustrating a detailed mutual configuration between the Web system 100 and the advertisement ordering company 300 in the configuration of Fig. la. As shown in Fig. 4, the advertisement ordering company 300 conducts inputting of basic information, request for advertisement, retrieval of advertisement schedule, retrieval of advertising effect, registration of event/premium, retrieval of event/premium schedule, and request for the manufacture of hubbers. The Web system 100 conducts an authentication for the advertisement ordering company 300 as an authenticated sponsor, and services providing diverse information about the list of event/premium advertisements, the result of the manufacture of hubbers, the present selling status of advertisements, the advertisement schedule, the hubber content associated with the advertisement ordering company, and the list of prize winners in events or with premiums . An interface is connected between the Web system 100 and the database 500. The database 500 receives, via the interface, data about registered advertising companies, data about advertisement applications, hubber data, event/premium data, data about hubber-registered clients, and data about the list of prize winners in events or with premiums . The database 500 stores the received data therein. The database 500 also processes the stored data to provide, to the Web system 100, information about the list of authenticated advertising companies, the advertisement schedule, the advertising event/premium schedule, the contents of the advertisement ordering company hubbers, the present selling status of advertisements, and the list of prize winners in events or with premiums, at the request of an authenticated object.

In Fig. 4, the reference numeral 300a denotes a system provided in the advertisement ordering company 300.

Fig. 6 is a schematic view illustrating a detailed mutual configuration between the Web system 100 and the client 400 in the configuration of Fig. la. As shown in Fig. 6, the client 400 recognizes an advertisement printed on the hubber 640 attached to a food/drink product after purchasing the food/drink product on the market 700. Via a Web site indicated on the hubber 640, the client 400 accesses the Web system 100 to receive diverse information associated with the advertisement along with the benefits of events and premiums . The database 500 stores all data inputted from the client 400 accessing the Web system 100, and processes the stored data to provide, to the Web system 100, data about the list of hubber subscribers to the Web system 100 when services or events are made for hubber subscribers .

Figs. 12a to 12g illustrate diverse hubbers and diverse hubber advertising images displayed by the Web system, which hubbers and hubber advertising images are classified in terms of size, color, and capacity in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. One or ones of the diverse hubber advertising images selected in terms of size in accordance with a search condition given by a client and/or an advertisement ordering company are displayed.

Figs. 14a to 14e illustrate conditions of diverse hubbers respectively attached to diverse food/drink containers. As shown in Figs. 14a to 14e, diverse hubbers each printed with an advertisement figure and/or characters may be attached to diverse packages for food/drink products such as cans (Figs. 14a to 14c), bottles (Fig. 14d) , and boxes (Fig. 14e), respectively.

As mentioned above, each hubber, which bears a code allocated in accordance with a desired code classification system, may be additionally printed at its one surface with an intrinsic ID allocated in accordance with a desired cryptography algorithm in order to achieve an enhancement in the management of hubbers, as shown in Fig. 18b.

The intrinsic ID comprises a character portion 1302 consisting of desired words, a numeral portion 1304 consisting of a combination of a numeral having a desired number of digits, specific symbols such as *, 1, ?, @, and $, and alphabetic letters, and first and second pattern portions 1306 and 1308 each consisting of printed patterns each having a desired shape to define the intrinsic ID together with the character portion 1302 and the numeral portion 1304. The character portion 1302 of the intrinsic ID includes several words selected from about 200 words, such as PEN, LOVE, and BOOK, etc., the meaning of which many and unspecified persons can easily understand. Of course, these words may be indicated using the national language of the country where food/drink products each attached with the hubber 1300 is sold. The numeral portion 1304 of the intrinsic ID includes a combination of a numeral, specific symbols, and alphabetic letters to have a desired number of digits, as mentioned above. For example, the , numeral portion 1304 may be "&*77" of four digits. This numeral portion 1304 is combined with the character portion 1302 and the first and second pattern portions 1306 and 1308 to form a desired intrinsic ID.

The first and second pattern portions 1306 and 1308 of the intrinsic ID have different patterns from each other. Each of the first and second pattern portions 1306 and 1308 may have patterns of a circular shape, a triangular shape, a star shape, an oval shape, or a square or rectangular shape. Each of the first and second pattern portions 1306 and 1308 may have a combination of diverse patterns while being diverse in the number of patterns. For example, one of the first and second pattern portions 1306 and 1308 may have three triangular patterns whereas the other pattern portion may have four circular patterns. In accordance with a diverse combination of patterns, the first and second pattern portions 1306 and 1308 may compose diverse intrinsic IDs for hubbers 1300, along with the character portion 1302 and the numeral portion 1304. The character portion 1302, the numeral portion

1304, and the first and second pattern portions 1306 and 1308 uniquely composing the intrinsic ID of the hubber 1300 have a mutual organic relation together in accordance with the cryptography algorithm. Accordingly, a change in one constituting element of the intrinsic ID should involve a corresponding change in other constituting elements in order to keep the unique combination of those constituting elements . For this reason, an optional change in one or more constituting elements made by a hubber purchaser or subscriber without involving any change in other constituting elements cannot produce any correct intrinsic ID. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent a registration of incorrect intrinsic IDs.

In addition to the intrinsic ID, the hubber 1300 is printed at its one surface with the name of the Web site associated with the system operating company. Printed on the other surface of the hubber 1300 are an advertisement image made by an advertisement ordering company in accordance with an advertisement order, an advertisement logo, the name of the country where the advertisement is sold, and the production year.

The printing of the intrinsic ID on hubbers 1300 may be achieved in accordance with a method using a printing injector under the control of a control unit (microprocessor) in a state in which the intrinsic ID is previously stored in accordance with a desired program. Alternatively, the printing may be achieved by repeatedly conducting a color offset printing method by the unit of a desired number of hubbers. Fig. 19 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a hubber printing means configured in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 19, the hubber printing means includes a microprocessor 1310 for controlling the entire printing, operation, a hubber information DB 1312 stored with a desired intrinsic ID, and a feeding unit 1314 for feeding hubbers 1300, to be printed with the intrinsic ID, in a state in which the hubbers 1300 are uniformly spaced apart from one another by a desired distance. The hubber printing means further includes a printer unit 1316 for printing the intrinsic ID on one surface of each hubber 1300 fed by the feeding unit 1314, a power supply unit 1318 for supplying electric power required in the printing procedure, a reset switch 1320 for initializing the printing cycle of the printing procedure in accordance with a hardware method when the printing procedure is completed for a predetermined number of hubbers 1300 or when an error is generated during the printing procedure.

Now, an operating method for the above mentioned advertising apparatus using a medium attached to a food/drink container in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail, with reference to Figs. 1 to 24.

In accordance with the illustrated embodiment of the present invention, the hubber 640 or 1300 is first allocated with a code consisting of a desired number of bytes in accordance with a desired code classification system. The hubber 640 or 1300 may also be allocated with an intrinsic ID in accordance with a desired cryptography algorithm so that it has a tracing function. Based on the intrinsic ID of the hubber, it is possible to trace and analyze the data about the associated user and advertisement ordering company.

The allocation of a code consisting of a desired number of bytes to the hubber, to be attached to a food/drink container, in accordance with a desired code classification method may be achieved using a method in which an advertisement image made by an advertisement company is printed at a printing factory, along with the code, under the condition in which a code classification table (Table 2) previously provided is referred to. Using a similar method, the intrinsic ID may be printed on each hubber 1300 to be attached to a food/drink container, as shown in Figs. 18a and 18b, in a state in which an advertisement has been ordered. Now, the procedures of playing a game in an on-line/off-line fashion using the hubber 640 printed with the code or the hubber 1300 printed with the intrinsic ID, and exchanging the hubber 1300 will be described with reference to associated embodiments, respectively.

First, the procedure, in which a food/drink manufacturing company conducts a subscriber ^■ authentication and an information search after accessing the Web system, will be described in conjunction with Figs. 2 to 3b. The food/drink manufacturing company 200 first receives food/drink containers each attached with the hubber 640 from the can manufacturing factory 620, and then put food/drink products on the market 700. The food/drink manufacturing company 200 conducts a desired procedure to receive a right of an advertisement section providing company for the hubber 640. In accordance with this procedure, the food/drink manufacturing company 200 first accesses the Web system 100, and then requests a desired authentication procedure so that it is registered as an authenticated advertisement section providing company, as shown in Fig. 3a (Step 202).

At the request of the food/drink manufacturing company 200, the system operating company provides, to the food/drink manufacturing company 200, information associated with public notification matters, a stipulation, and a user guide so that the food/drink manufacturing company 200 can be fully aware of the information. Thereafter, the food/drink manufacturing company 200 inputs basic information for the advertisement section providing company (Steps 204 and 206). The basic information may include the name of the corporation, the name of the representative, the category of business, the business condition, the telephone number, the address, the web site address, the E-mail address, and the name of the can manufacturing company having business relations with the food/drink manufacturing company 200.

In this case, the food/drink manufacturing company 200 and the operator of the Web system 100 provide only the information requested by a registration form according to the stipulation. The information should not be used for a wrong purpose, a defamation, a leakage of information, and actions involving an intentional violation of the law.

When it is determined that an application for admission is completed after the inputting of the basic information conducted by the food/drink manufacturing company 200 ("YES" at Step 208), the Web system 100 assigns, to the food/drink manuf cturing company 200, an ID according to a desired code system along with a password (Step 210). Using the assigned ID and password, the food/drink manufacturing company 200 has access to the Web system, as a second-grade food/drink manufacturing company subscriber, to utilize information and services given for advertisement section providing companies (Steps 212 and 214).

Since the food/drink manufacturing company 200 has not make into a practical contract with the Web system 100 yet, they can utilize limited information and services given for the advertisement section providing companies.

When the food/drink manufacturing company 200 makes into a practical contract with the operator of the Web system 100 ("YES" at Step 216), the Web system 100 assigns, to the food/drink manufacturing company 200, a qualification for the first-grade food/drink manufacturing company subscriber (Step 218). That is, the Web system 100 upgrades the subscriber grade of the food/drink manufacturing company 200, and extends the scope of information and services given for the food/drink manufacturing company 200 as the advertisement section providing company. The Web system 100 then informs the food/drink manufacturing company 200 of this condition (Step 222). Also, the Web system 100 stores the information about the food/drink manufacturing company 200 in its food/drink manufacturing company information database 500e (Step 224). Where the food/drink manufacturing company 200 has qualification for the first-grade subscriber in accordance with an associated practical contract, they can retrieve information about the advertisement schedule, the event/premium schedule,. and the present status of food/drink products sold on the market. The food/drink manufacturing company 200 can also search information about past, current, and future hubber-attached food/drink products, commercially available, for desired information in accordance with diverse conditions, for example, in terms of nation, climate, area, or age. The food/drink manufacturing company 200 can further utilize information providing services. However, the second- grade subscriber can utilize only the past data. Where the food/drink manufacturing company 200 desires to make into a practical contract for an advertisement section providing company, it is preferably for the food/drink manufacturing company 200 to input detailed data about the kinds of food/drink products manufactured by each manufacturing factory, the distribution areas of the food/drink products for each kind of the food/drink products, respective quantities of food/drink products distributed per year and quarter in each distribution area, respective quantities of food/drink products totally sold per year and quarter by the food/drink manufacturing company 200, and the type of business. The operator of the Web system 100 is responsible to the security of the information against leakage. Under the condition in which the food/drink manufacturing company 200 has made into a practical contract, the food/drink manufacturing company 200 is assigned with an exclusive right for one kind of food/drink products. Accordingly, another food/drink manufacturing company wanting to subsequently make into a contact cannot register the same kind of food/drink products as the previously registered food/drink products .

Where the food/drink manufacturing company 200 authenticated as a subscriber accesses the Web system 100, and requests a search for the information to be read, the Web system 100 receives processed data from its database 500, and provides the received data to the food/drink manufacturing company 200 (Steps 230 to 238). For example, where the food/drink manufacturing company 200 desires to check the present status of orders received in association with the hubber 640 to be attached to the food/drink products thereof, the Web system 100 extracts information about orders from advertising companies in association with the hubber 640, from the advertisement order information DB stored with the order information, processes the extracted information, and then provides the processed information to the food/drink manufacturing company 200.

Based on the order information, the food/drink manufacturing company 200 determines the area where the food/drink products manufactured by the food/drink manufacturing company 200 are to be distributed, the type of the advertisement to be applied to those food/drink products , and the time when the food/drink products are to be distributed. Based on the result of the determination, the food/drink manufacturing company 200 can expect the sale effect for the food/drink products manufactured thereby. The food/drink manufacturing company 200 can also use the expected sale effect as basic data for establishing a sale strategy, selecting marketing objects, and constructing a system of goods.

Meanwhile, the advertisement ordering company 300 also can conduct a subscriber authentication after accessing the Web system, and receive a right of a sponsor while utilizing services given for the advertisement ordering company subscriber. This procedure will be described will be described in conjunction with Figs. 4 to 5d.

The advertisement ordering company 300 first accesses the Web system 100 using their system 300a, and then requests a desired authentication procedure so that it is registered as an authenticated sponsor, as shown in

Fig. 5a (Step 302) .

At the request of the advertisement ordering company 300, the system operating company provides, to the advertisement ordering company 300, information associated with public notification matters, a stipulation, and a user guide so that the advertisement ordering company 300 can be fully aware of the information. Thereafter, the advertisement ordering company 300 inputs basic information for the sponsor (Steps 304 and 306). The basic information may include the name of the advertisement ordering company, the category of business, the business condition, the telephone number, the address of the company, the E-mail address, the name of the person in charge, the ID, and the password. In this case, the advertisement ordering company 300 and the operator of the Web system 100 provide only the information requested by a registration form according to the stipulation. The information should not be used for a wrong purpose, a defamation, a leakage of information, and actions involving an intentional violation of the law.

When it is determined that an application for admission is completed after the inputting of the basic information conducted by the advertisement ordering company 300 ("YES" at Step 308), the Web system 100 assigns, to the advertisement ordering company 300, an ID according to a desired code system along with a password (Step 310). Using the assigned ID and password, the advertisement ordering company 300 has access to the Web system, as a second-grade advertisement ordering company subscriber, to utilize information and services given for advertising companies (Steps 312 and 314).

Since the advertisement ordering company 300 has not make into a practical contract with the Web system 100 yet, they can utilize limited information and services given for- advertising companies. When the advertisement ordering company 300 makes into a practical contract with the operator of the Web system 100 (Step 316), the Web system 100 assigns, to the advertisement ordering company 300, a qualification for the first-grade advertisement ordering company subscriber (Step 318). That is, the Web system 100 upgrades the subscriber grade of the advertisement ordering company 300, and extends the scope of information and services given for the advertisement ordering company 300. The Web system 100 then informs the advertisement ordering company 300 of this condition (Step 322). Also, the Web system 100 stores the information about the advertisement ordering company 300 in its basic advertisement ordering company information DB 500d (Step 324). Where the advertisement ordering company 300 has qualification for the first- grade subscriber in accordance with an associated practical contract, they can retrieve information about the advertisement schedule, the event/premium schedule, and the present selling status of advertisements. The advertisement ordering company 300 can also search information about advertisements printed on hubbers for desired information in accordance with diverse conditions, for example, in terms of nation, climate, area, or age. The advertisement ordering company 300 can further utilize services providing the above mentioned information.

Under the condition in which the advertisement ordering company 300 is authenticated as an advertisement sponsor in accordance with the above mentioned procedure, the advertisement ordering company 300 can log onto the Web system 100 using their grade ID and password so that they can make an application of a desired advertisement in an on-line fashion.

This procedure will be described in conjunction with Fig. 5b. Where the advertisement ordering company 300 inputs their grade ID and password in a state in which they log onto the Web system 100, and then makes an application of an advertisement meeting a desired search condition (Steps 330 to 334), the Web system 100 checks, based on the information stored in the basic advertisement ordering company information DB, whether or not the advertisement ordering company 300 is an authenticated advertisement ordering company (Step 352).

Where the advertisement ordering company 300 is an authenticated sponsor, they are allowed to retrieve the advertisement schedule (Step 354). In this case, different levels of information are supported for the advertisement ordering company 300 in accordance with the subscriber grade of the advertisement ordering company 300, as in the case of the food/drink manufacturing company. That is, where the advertisement ordering company 300 has qualification for the first-grade subscriber in accordance with an associated practical contract, they can retrieve information about the advertisement schedule, the event/premium schedule, and the present selling status of advertisements. The advertisement ordering company 300 can also search information about past, current, and future advertisement applications for desired information in accordance with diverse conditions, for example, in terms of nation, climate, area, or age. However, the second-grade advertisement ordering company, assigned with only an ID and a password and provided with a space for advertisement section providing company in accordance with an access to the Web system, can utilize only a part of data associated with the past advertisement applications .

After completing the retrieval of the advertisement schedule, the advertisement ordering company 300 makes an advertisement ^' application by inputting a desired advertisement condition (Steps 356 and 358). The advertisement condition may be determined using one or more selected from 6 advertisement types, that is, an off-line advertisement, an advertisement using an advertisement search menu, an advertisement using an advertisement information menu, an advertisement using a home page link, an advertisement using a subscriber room, and an advertisement using an advertising effect analysis. For example, The advertisement condition may be a full-package condition including all the above mentioned advertisement types, an A-package condition including the above mentioned advertisement types except for the advertisement using the advertising effect analysis, a B-package condition including the above mentioned advertisement types except for the advertisement using the subscriber room and the advertisement using the advertising effect analysis, a C- package condition including only the off-line advertisement, the advertisement using the advertisement search menu, and the advertisement using the advertisement information menu, a D-package condition including only the off-line advertisement and the advertisement using the advertisement search menu, or an E-package condition including only the off-line advertisement. The advertisement ordering company 300 inputs a selected one of the above mentioned diverse advertisement conditions, along with data about food/drink manufacturing company, kind of food/drink products, country, climate, area, term, and quantity, thereby making an advertisement application. In response to the advertisement application, the Web system 100 stores the information about the advertisement application in the advertisement order information DB, and informs the advertisement ordering company 300 of the allowance of the advertisement application. Subsequently, the Web system 100 conducts an advertisement meeting the advertisement condition selected by the advertisement ordering company 300. If a plurality of, for example, three, advertisement ordering companies A, B, and C make applications of an advertisement using the hubber 640 under the same conditions in terms of time, country, and area, respectively, it is then necessary to determine the allowance of those advertisement applications, taking into consideration the quantity of hubbers able to be sold in markets within a designated area. Since the quantity of hubbers able to be sold in markets within a designated area is substantially constant, it is typically impossible to accept two or more advertisement orders under the same advertisement conditions in terms of time, area, and food/drink product. Also, where the advertisement ordering company 300 makes an advertisement application while inputting conditions associated with advertisement price, advertisement quantity, and premium scale, the operator of the Web system 100 determines the allowance of the advertisement application in an off-line state, based on the inputted advertisement price, and informs the advertisement ordering company 300 of the result of the determination. Where there are two or more advertisement ordering companies inputting an advertisement price corresponding to the upper advertisement price fixed by the operator of the Web system 100, the operator of the Web system 100 selects one of the advertisement ordering companies, based on the scale of premiums to be given to clients. Thus, the competition of advertisement ordering companies may result in a proposal of better conditions for the Web system 100. Accordingly, consumers purchasing food/drink products each attached with the hubber 640 and clients registering the purchased food/drink products may receive increased benefits. On the other hand, where the authenticated advertisement ordering company 300 desires to receive information about the present status of advertising effects, they first input retrieval conditions associated with country, area, time, scale, sex, age, business, climate, and premium specification (Steps 342 and 344). The Web system 100 then provides, to the advertisement ordering company 300, the list indicative of the present status of advertising effects meeting the inputted retrieval conditions while referring to the subscriber hubber holding information DB (Steps 346 to 350). For example, the advertisement ordering company 300 can receive a present advertising effect status list associated with their advertisements purchased by female teenagers in Seoul within the period of time from March 1 to 31, 2000. In order to provide a more accurate present advertising effect status, the present advertising effect status list may be provided in the form of a graph using a global information system (GIS) or in the for of a table. In addition to the present advertising effect status, the advertisement ordering company 300 may make reference to the specification of the hubber advertisement. In this case, the advertisement ordering company 300 receives the content of advertisements made in terms of hubber image, country, area, and climate, the present status of client registration, and the present status of advertising effects (Steps 336 to 340).

Based on the result of the reference to the present status of advertising effects and the content of hubber advertisements, the advertisement ordering company 300 may plan an effective marketing strategy in future. Fig. 5c is a flow chart illustrating a procedure in which the advertisement ordering company 300 makes an order for the design of the hubber 640 or directly conducts the design of the hubber 640. In accordance with the procedure illustrated in

Fig. 5c, the advertisement ordering company 300 first applies a manufacture of the hubber 640, on which a desired advertisement is to be put, under the condition in which they are authenticated by the Web system 100 after logging onto the Web system (Step 370). For the application of the hubber manufacture, the advertisement ordering company 300 first selects a basic advertisement image to be printed on the hubber 640 (Step 372). Since there are diverse advertisement data provided for diverse advertisement ordering companies, the advertisement ordering company 300 can easily select a desired advertisement image to be printed on the hubber.

When the advertisement ordering company 300 requests a design for the selected advertisement image, the Web system 100 conducts a designing process to design the same advertisement image as the requested advertisement image (Steps 374 and 376). The designed advertisement image is transmitted to the advertisement ordering company 300 in an on-line fashion. When the advertisement ordering company 300 determines that the received advertisement image is identical to the requested advertisement image ("YES" at Step 378), the determined advertisement image is stored in the hubber advertisement image DB for its management (Steps 380 and 382). However, where it is determined that the received advertisement image is not identical to the requested advertisement image ("NO" at step 378), the advertisement ordering company 300 requests the Web system 100 for the re-designing of the advertisement image, so as to achieve a production of optimized hubbers.

On the other hand, the advertisement ordering company 300 may directly design a desired advertisement, without requesting the Web system 100 to conduct a desired advertisement designing process for the hubber 640 (Steps 384 to 392) . This procedure is illustrated in Fig. 5d. In accordance with the procedure illustrated in Fig. 5d, when the advertisement ordering company 300 clicks a hubber advertisement preparing page after accessing the Web system 100, an advertisement design ordering program 384 (previously downloaded and installed by the advertisement ordering company) capable of allowing a user to order an advertisement is driven on the Web.

In this state, the advertisement ordering company 300 can conduct a designing process, using the advertisement design ordering program along with a compatible program, such as Photoshop, Illustrator, or CorelDraw, capable of executing a design process. If necessary, the operator of the advertisement ordering company 300 may execute a desired process after being aware of a standard sample in accordance with an advertisement sample retrieval.

The designing process is conducted for a section of the hubber model defined by an advertisement design line drawn on the hubber model under the condition in which the hubber advertisement preparing page is referred to. Practically, the advertisement section is defined by a phantom line drawn on the hubber model inside the solid advertisement design line.

After completion of the designing process, the advertisement ordering company 300 downloads a proposal form, and indicates their advertisement ordering intention on the proposal form. The completed proposal form is then transmitted to the Web system 100. In this case, the designed hubber model is stored in the hubber advertisement image DB for its management, in so far as it meets the designing condition proposed by the Web system 100.

Diverse advertisement images may be collected through public subscription. In this case, the advertisement ordering company 300 can select a best one from the collected advertisement images. The advertising ordering company 300 may then give a desired point or premium to the subscriber associated with the selected advertisement image. This will be described hereinafter. Now, procedures, in which a client purchasing a food/drink product attached with the hubber 640 receives a subscriber authentication after accessing the Web system 100, and registers the purchased hubber product, will be described in conjunction with Figs. 6 to 7b.

As shown in Fig. 6 and mentioned above, the client purchasing a food/drink product attached with the hubber 640 can participate in an event offering premiums to receive certain monetary benefits, in so far as he completes a subscriber registration and a hubber registration to the Web system 100. In accordance with the procedure illustrated in

Fig. 7a, once a client purchases a food/drink product attached with the hubber 640 on the market 700 (Step 402), he inputs basic personal information required for a subscriber registration (Steps 404 to 408). The basic information may include name, age, sex, desired ID, password, address, date of birth, occupation, type of occupation, telephone number/E-mail address, food/drink product purchased, and collected hubber advertisement registr tion . When the application for admission as a subscriber is completed after the inputting of the basic personal information, the Web system 100 registers the ID and password applied by the client. Using the registered ID and password, the client subsequently has access to the Web system 100 to utilize information and services provided by the Web system 100 in an on-line fashion (Steps 410 and 412) .

In this case, the operator of the Web system 100 should note that the information shall not be used for a wrong purpose, a defamation, a leakage of information, and actions involving an intentional violation of the law, as described in association with the authentication for the food/drink manufacturing company 200 or advertisement ordering company 300.

In the subscriber application, the personal subscriber also provides information required for the execution of an event, for example, sex, age, country, area, collected advertisement, and addresses of advertisement sites visited. The operator of the Web system 100 should note that the information provided by the personal subscriber will be provided in the form of processed information to the food/drink manufacturing company 200 and advertisement ordering company 300 in order to allow the information to be utilized as data for providing services of a better quality to subscribers, planning new events, and selecting premium items.

Fig. 7b illustrates the procedure in which the authenticated subscriber conducts a hubber product registration.

Where a client purchasing a food/drink product attached with the hubber 640 desires to register the purchased food/drink product, he first accesses the Web system 100, and then conducts a subscriber authentication while being aware of information given by the Web system 100 (Steps 420 and 422). After completion of the subscriber authentication, the authenticated client subscriber registers the purchased hubber product while referring to the hubber information DB 500b. In this case, when the client subscriber logs onto the Web system 100, the code associated with the residential area of the client subscriber is assigned to the client subscriber. Due to this code, the client subscriber is allowed only to search hubber products distributed over the residential area of the client subscriber (Step 424). When it is determined in accordance with this search procedure that the hubber product purchased by the subscriber is that distributed over the residential area of the client subscriber ("YES" at Step 426), the information inputted by the client subscriber is stored in the hubber holding information DB. On the other hand, where the hubber 640 desired to be registered by the subscriber is that distributed over the area other than the residential area of the subscriber ("NO" at Step 426), the subscriber searches for the area where the hubber product purchased by the subscriber is distributed, using the GIS (Step 428). Then, the subscriber registers the hubber product in the hubber holding information associated with the searched area (Step 432) .

The hubber product searching and registering procedures applied to the case, in which the hubber product is that distributed over the area other than the residential area of the subscriber, will now be described in conjunction with Fig. 7c. In this case, the hubber product searching procedure can be conducted using the above mentioned GIS. In accordance with the procedure illustrated in Fig. 7c, where the subscriber desires to search hubber products distributed over areas other than the residential area of the subscriber (Step 440), he first selects a desired search method, that is, a search method using GIS or a search method using keywords (Step 442). Where the search method using GIS is selected, information about hubber products distributed over the whole world are retrieved, as topographical hubber product information of adjacent areas, from hubber information DBs 500b distributed over the whole world in the form of graphic information displayed on a map of the world (Step 446). When the subscriber repeatedly selects an enlarged retrieval menu, he can retrieve more detailed information (Steps 448 to 452).

On the other hand, when the subscriber selects the search method using keywords, and inputs information about the country and area to be searched, information about hubber products distributed over the inputted area is retrieved (Step 444). After completion of the search using GIS or keywords (Step 452), the information inputted by the subscriber is stored in the hubber information DB 500b provided at the area associated with the hubber product purchased by the subscriber (Step 454) .

Meanwhile, subscribers registered as mentioned above can recognize information about events/premiums after logging onto the Web system 100, and take part in an event with a premium. When a subscriber wins a prize, he is awarded a premium. This procedure will be described in conjunction with Fig. 8a.

In accordance with the procedure of Fig. 8a, the Web system 100, advertisement ordering company 300 and client, as the host or guest of an event with a premium, first retrieve the schedule associated with events/premiums. After completion of the retrieval of the schedule, the Web system 100 or advertisement ordering company 300 sets a desired event content in terms of, for example, country, area, term, food/drink product, age, and climate. That is, the Web system 100 or advertisement ordering company 300 inputs an event/premium condition associated with an event to be held. In accordance with the event/premium condition, clients may take part in the event. When a client takes part in the event, this information is stored in the event/premium information DB (Steps 462 to 466).

Basically, such an event is held by the operator of the Web system 100. Where the advertisement ordering company 300 or food/drink manufacturing company 200 desires to hold the event, they may hold the event with an approval of the Web system 100. This procedure is illustrated in Fig. 8b (Steps 482 to 490).

With the approval of the Web system 100, subscribers can participate in the event held by the Web system 100, food/drink manufacturing company 200 or advertisement ordering company 300 (Step 468). Subsequently, the Web system 100 determines winners from the subscribers participating in the event in accordance with a predetermined lottery method, and informs the winners of the prize winning (Step 472). Typically, the lottery method may be a method based on the point accounts of subscribers stored in the point DB. Of course, other methods may be used, which meet the condition of the event held.

For each subscriber, the point DB accumulates the point awarded upon the hubber registration, the point awarded upon the visit to the Web system 100, the point awarded upon the clicking of an advertisement, and the point awarded upon the clicking of an event advertisement, and accumulatively stores those points in the point DB. The lottery is made only for subscribers who hold points included in a premium awarding point range. When a subscriber, who is one of subscribers holding points included in the premium awarding point range, wins a prize in accordance with the lottery ("YES" at Step 474), the Web system 100 informs the subscriber of the prize winning. Thereafter, the Web system 100 confirms the hubbers held by the subscriber in a hubber collection tool (Figs. 15a to 15d) , and awards an actual premium to the subscriber (Steps 476 and 478). The point held by the premium-awarded subscriber is then automatically deducted by the point corresponding to the awarded premium. The resultant point is then automatically stored (Step 480). Where the subscriber of the prize winning rejects the reception of the premium or does not verify the hubbers held by him in a hubber collection tool or the point held by him, the premium is awarded to another client of a next rank. The hubber collection tool, which is adapted to hold collected hubbers 640, may have diverse forms, as shown in Figs. 15a to 15d. For example, the hubber collection tool may have an album structure (Fig. 15a) having a plurality of pages each capable of holding a desired number of hubbers 640 respectively detached from drink cans, a can structure (Fig. 15b), or a sheet form having a desired shape (Figs. 15c and 15d).

As mentioned above, when the client retrieves the advertisement schedule or participates in an event with a premium, he is automatically linked to the home page of the advertisement ordering company 300. Accordingly, the condition capable of enhancing the advertising effect, the selling rate of products associated with the advertisement ordering company 300, and the recognition of the advertisement ordering company 300 can be established.

By virtue of events with premiums, subscribers accessing the Web site may always keep an expectation for the awarding of premiums. Accordingly, it is expected that no or few subscribers secede from the Web system.

When the Web system 100 awards the premium to prize-winning subscribers, it also opens, to the public, the list of prize winners. The Web system 100 may also opens, to the public, the content of an interview made with each prize-winning subscriber at the request of the prize-winning subscriber. Thus, the recognition of the advertisement ordering company, Web system, and hubber product by other subscribers can be improved. The awarding of the premium to the prize-winning subscribers involves an effect of returning the gain obtained by the Web system 100 according to the present invention. Also, subscribers, who could not win a prize, may keep an expectation for the awarding of premiums by checking the points held by them in accordance with a method which will be described hereinafter. Accordingly, various synergistic effects may be provided.

The advertisement ordering company 300 also receives applications for advertisement contents (advertisement products) desired by clients accessing the Web system 100 for a predetermined period of time, and then prepares a desired product advertisement list based on the received applications. After reviewing the product advertisement list, the advertisement ordering company 300 can make an advertisement order for a desired product. For instance, where clients accessing the Web system 100 desire to view advertisements associated with products such as computers, cars, or office appliances, and click those advertisements on the Web cite, respectively, the ranks of the advertisements can be determined, based on respective numbers of clickings for the advertisements. Based on the determined advertisement ranks, accordingly, the advertisement ordering company can determine the product for which an advertisement order is to be made. Therefore, it is possible to provide an improved effectiveness of advertising for the advertisement-ordered product.

Meanwhile, a subscriber may previously input a list of premiums to be awarded after winning a prize in an event. Based on the inputted premium list of each subscriber, the operator of the Web system 100 can make information about premiums desired by subscribers, and inform the food/drink manufacturing company 200 or advertisement ordering company 300 of the information so that the information can be used as data for the selection of a premium to be awarded in an event. Since the premium to be awarded to subscribers participating in an event can be selected prior to the opening of the event, in accordance with this procedure, it is possible to enhance the participation of subscribers in the event. On the other hand, it is difficult for subscribers participating in an event with premiums to accurately check whether or not their points are included in the premium awarding point range. For this reason, most subscribers simply wait for the result of the lottery after inputting information required in association with the event. In other words, there is an inconvenience in that subscribers should frequently access the Web site to check the result of the lottery.

In accordance with the configuration of the present invention, however, each subscriber can check the rank of the point held by him in association with the event. Since the point rank of each subscriber can be easily confirmed, it is possible to promote an active participation of subscribers.

In accordance with the present invention, subscribers participating in an event with premiums can check their ranks in the event. This will be described in conjunction with Fig. 9.

As shown in Fig. 9, the Web system 100 calculates respective ranks of subscribers participating in an event, based on the point meeting the lottery condition of the event, and displays the calculated ranks on the Web site. For example, where the point of a subscriber participating in an event offering notebooks is ranked highest in a premium awarding point range of the event under the condition in which 1,000 subscribers participate in the event, the Web system 100 allows the subscriber to view the entire portion of the premium image displayed on the Web site. However, where the point rank of the subscriber corresponds to 70% of 1,000 subscriber's points, that is, the 300th grade, the subscriber is allowed to view only a portion of the notebook image, that is, 70% of the image, as shown in Fig. 9.

Also, the point held by each subscriber is numerically ranked in accordance with a valuation of the subscriber's point in a point range including respective points of all subscribers participating in the event, so that the numerical rank is displayed in a real time fashion. In order to allow each subscriber to view only a portion of the premium image corresponding to the point held by the subscriber, the premium image is divided into a plurality of portions, for example, 10 portions. In this case, the portion of the premium image displayed for each subscriber corresponds to the percentage of the point held by the subscriber.

Where the subscriber is awarded the premium, the point held by the subscriber is deducted by a point corresponding to the premium.

As mentioned above in conjunction with Fig. 7b, the hubber 640 desired to be registered by the subscriber may be that distributed over the area other than the residential area of the subscriber. In other words, since diverse events with premiums may be opened under various conditions in diverse areas, there may be an occasion that a subscriber cannot meet the premium awarding condition of an event, only using the registered hubber products collected in the residential area of the subscriber or limited areas.

To this end, subscribers are allowed to search for hubbers 640 for an hubber exchange among them in accordance with the present invention. After such a hubber exchange search, a subscriber can exchange hubbers, held by him, with hubbers, held by other subscribers, meeting the premium awarding condition of an event in which the subscriber participates. This procedure will be described in conjunction with Fig. 10. - When a subscriber A finds that a subscriber B holds a hubber meeting the premium awarding condition of an event, in which the subscriber A participates, after searching the hubber information DB 500b' of the Web system 100 associated with the subscriber B, the subscriber A may contact the subscriber B for a hubber exchange. This hubber change may also be utilized for a collection of hubbers classified into a particular class. In accordance with this hubber exchange, subscribers participating in an event may have an enhanced expectation for the awarding of premiums and a promoted desire to purchase hubbers. Accordingly, an enhanced effectiveness of advertising associated with the advertisement ordering company 300 and food/drink manufacturing company 200 may be provided. Also, an improved selling rate is expected. Fig. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration for providing additional services to clients accessing the Web site in accordance with the present invention. As shown in Fig. 11, subscribers can receive diverse services provided on the Internet under the condition in which they access the Web site. The services may include a dialogue room 800, an E-mail 802, an information search 804, a voice chatting 806, a web- to-web phone 808, and an individual account service 810. In addition to these services, subscribers may receive diverse services to be subsequently provided.

Figs. 12a to 12g are schematic views respectively illustrating hubbers 640 of different sizes and advertisement images of those hubbers displayed on the Web system in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Hubber advertisement images, which are displayed on the Web system 100, are classified in terms of size, color, and capacity, as shown in the following Table 1. Table 1

Size

Size No. Size No. Size No. Size No. Size No. Size No.

6 5 4 3 2 1

251 * 237 201 * 189 135 * 129 100 * 95 80 * 76 48 * 46

Color (507H) (506H) (505H) (504H) (503H) (502H)

32 Colors 12.65k 9.12k 4.76k 2.99k 2.36k 1.13k

64 Colors 15.35k 11.19k 5.95k 3.79k 3.06k 1.44k

128

Colors 18.95k 12.79k 7.42k 4.78k 3.89k 1.86k

The subscriber or advertisement ordering company 300 may retrieve the hubber advertisement images classified as shown in Table 1 in order to conduct a hubber search or a direct hubber manufacture.

In this case, the subscriber or advertisement ordering company 300 should input the amount of data to be retrieved. The reason why the amount of data to be retrieved should be inputted is to rapidly provide hubber advertisement images to the subscriber or advertisement ordering company 300. When the time taken for one web page to be loaded is 7 seconds or more, the user may feel tediousness. In this case, the user is likely to access other web sites. To this end, the capacity of an image to be displayed is limited to 50 KB with reference to a 56 Kbps modem in accordance with the present invention. Under this condition, image data is outputted in accordance with an inputted data retrieval amount condition. Recently, users accessing web sites have an increased tendency of deleting banner advertisements in order to reduce the loading time of images to be displayed, taking into consideration the system speed. Taking into consideration such a tendency, the capacity of an hubber image to be displayed when a client clicks the hubber image is limited in accordance with the present invention, in order to reduce the waiting time taken for the hubber image to be displayed. During the user views a page currently displayed, a next page is also loaded in the buffer in accordance with the present invention so as to allow the user to view the next page more rapidly.

For example, where the subscriber or advertisement ordering company 300 selects a desired hubber advertisement image, this image is displayed on the screen in an amount corresponding to 40 hubber images of the 502H size (Fig. 12g), 24 hubber images of the 503H size (Fig. 12f), or 15 hubber images of the 504H size (Fig. 12e) at a time, even though the displayed image amount may be varied in accordance with the inputted data retrieval amount condition. Where the data retrieval amount is excessively high, an excessive amount of data is displayed in the form of text data. The 505H size (Fig. 12d) is selected when it is desired to display one hubber image. The 506H size (Fig. 12c) is selected when it is desired to view a hubber image in detail. The 507H size (Fig. 12b) may be selected by the advertisement ordering company 300 intended to download a hubber image in order to make a request for the manufacture of an associated hubber, or by the client having an interest in graphics. Fig. 12a illustrates a hubber with an actual size.

The procedure of selecting a hubber advertisement image and viewing the selected hubber advertisement image is illustrated in Fig. 13 (Steps 900 to 920).

In accordance with the present invention, the subscriber can collect, from the Web site, hubber advertisement images respectively corresponding to hubbers mounted to food/drink products, and store them on a desired site within an allowed capacity. When one of hubber advertisement images stored in the site selected by the subscriber is clicked, the subscriber is automatically linked to a home page associated with the clicked hubber advertisement image. For example, it is assumed that hubber advertisement images A, B, and C are stored on the site of a subscriber. In this case, when the subscriber clicks the hubber advertisement image B, he is automatically linked to the home page associated with the hubber advertisement image B. Thus, the subscriber can easily access home pages respectively associated with hubber advertisement images, which he frequently accesses, by storing those hubber advertisement images on his site, and simply clicking the stored hubber advertisement images.

Fig. 16a is a flow chart illustrating a procedure in which a gain is generated by the food/drink manufacturing company 200 in accordance with the advertising apparatus using media mounted to food/drink containers. Fig. 16b is a flow chart illustrating a procedure in which a gain is generated by the advertisement ordering company 300 in accordance with the advertising apparatus using media mounted to food/drink containers .

First, the procedure, in which a gain is generated by the food/drink manufacturing company 200, will be described in conjunction with Fig. 16a. The food/drink manufacturing company 200 determines whether or not an on-line advertisement is necessary, after making into a practical contract with the Web system 100.

As shown in Fig. 16a, the on-line advertisement includes 5 advertisements, that is, an advertisement based on a food/drink search menu selection (Step 1020), an advertisement based on a food/drink information menu selection (Step 1030), an advertisement based on a home page link selection (Step 1040), an advertisement based on a subscriber room selection (Step 1050), and an advertisement based on sale effect analysis (Step 1060). When the food/drink manufacturing company 200 requests an on-line advertisement, the Web system 100 provides advertisement services in accordance with the advertisement condition requested by the food/drink manufacturing company 200. In this case, the advertisement expense is calculated based on the number of pages, to be viewed, displayed in response to clicking manipulations of subscribers on the Web site.

This will be described in more detail, with reference to Fig. 16a. Where the food/drink manufacturing company 200 makes an application for an online advertisement associated with only the advertisement based on a food/drink search menu selection (Steps 1016 and 1020) after accessing the Web system 100 (Step 1002) and completing a subscriber registration, an application for business, and an inputting of information about food/drink products to be advertised (Steps 1004 to 1014), an advertisement order is made by the Web system 1022 (Step 1022). Information about this advertisement order is then stored in an associated DB (Step 1024). Thus, an advertisement associated with the food/drink products to be advertised is displayed when the food/drink search menu is selected. For example, when a subscriber, who accesses the Web system 100, clicks the food/drink product search menu, respective graphic images of food/drink products to be advertised are displayed, along with graphic images of hubber-mounted food/drink products sold. When the subscriber clicks the graphic image of a food/drink product to be advertised, an advertisement associated with the food/drink product is displayed. Thus, the subscriber can view the advertisement.

Where the food/drink manufacturing company 200 makes an application for an on-line advertisement associated with the advertisement based on a food/drink information menu selection (Step 1030), it is possible to provide, to subscribers, more detailed information about food/drink products to be advertised. That is, when a subscriber clicks the food/drink search menu, and then selects an interested one of food/drink product advertisements displayed in accordance with the clicking manipulation, information about the selected food/drink product, for example, selling area, attached advertisement, quantity, term, prize winners, taste, ingredients, effects, developer, and meaning of brand, are displayed (Steps 1032 and 1034). In this case, the advertisement expense is increased, as compared to that of the advertisement based on the food/drink search menu selection. In other words, although the advertisement based on the food/drink search menu selection provides a secondary advertisement recognition effect in addition to an off-line advertisement effect, the advertisement based on the food/drink information menu selection additionally provides a third advertisement recognition effect, along with the off-line advertisement effect and the secondary advertisement recognition effect. Thus, an enhanced advertisement transferring effect is obtained.

Of course, the advertisements respectively based on the food/drink search menu selection and the food/drink information menu selection provide improvements in the advertisement exposure frequency and recognition effect, as compared to banner advertisements provided to many and unspecified persons on Web sites.

Where the food/drink manufacturing company 200 makes an application for an on-line advertisement associated with the advertisement based on a home page link selection (Step 1040), it is possible to provide, to subscribers, more detailed information about food/drink products to be advertised, as compared to the advertisement based on the food/drink search menu selection or food/drink information menu selection. That is, when a subscriber clicks a selected one of food/drink product advertisements on the food/drink search menu or food/drink information menu, he is automatically linked to the home page of the company associated with the clicked food/drink product advertisement (Steps 1042 and 1044). Thus, the subscriber can receive more detailed information about the selected hood/drink product in a state in which he has already received information about the selected hood/drink product before linking to the home page associated with the selected hood/drink product. Accordingly, an enhanced advertisement transferring effect is provided. In this case, the advertisement expense is calculated, based on the number of pages viewed. Under the condition in which the subscriber is linked to a home page, he can make an electronic commercial transaction with the food/drink manufacturing company 200 associated with the linked home page so that he directly purchases a desired food/drink product on the linked Web site. In this case,' the subscriber and food/drink manufacturing company 200 should pay a service charge associated with the electronic commercial transaction to the Web system 100.

Meanwhile, the subscriber room is an advertisement operating room which is operated on an individual site opened by a client registered as a subscriber. Such a subscriber room is operated to allow subscribers to manage their points while allowing them to collect hubbers 640 or to exchange their hubbers. Where the food/drink manufacturing company 200 makes an application for an on-line advertisement associated with the advertisement based on a subscriber room selection (Step 1050), food/drink product advertisements requested by the food/drink manufacturing company 200 are displayed, in the form of graphic images, on a page associated with the subscriber room. In the subscriber room, accordingly, subscribers are allowed to collect and manage advertisements in the form of graphic images while managing their points to have an opportunity to receive premiums. Subscribers can also exchange hubbers 640 in an actual or virtual fashion. Using hubbers 640, subscribers can participate in a certain game to increase their points (Steps 1052 and 1054).

Where the food/drink manufacturing company 200 makes an application for an on-line advertisement associated with the advertisement based on a sale effect analysis (Step 1050), the Web system 100 analyzes the sale effect of the hubber-mounted food/drink product associated with the food/drink manufacturing company 200, and provides the result of the analysis to the food/drink manufacturing company 200 (Steps 1062 and 1064). Accordingly, the food/drink manufacturing company 200 can utilize the analysis result as marketing data.

Now, the procedure, in which a gain is generated by the advertisement ordering company 300, will be described in conjunction with Fig. 16b.

Where the advertisement ordering company 300 makes an application for an advertisement (Steps 1108) after making into a business contract with the Web system 100 as mentioned above (Steps 1100 to 1106), the Web system 100 requests the advertisement ordering company 300 to select a desired advertisement type (Step 1110). There are two advertisement types, that is, an offline advertisement and an on-line advertisement. Where the advertisement ordering company 300 selects the offline advertisement (Step 1120), the Web system 100 provides information about kinds of food/drink products, term, area, and quantity (Step 1122). As described in conjunction with Fig. 5c, in this case, a hubber design task is conducted (Steps 1124 to 1128). Hubbers manufactured in accordance with the hubber design are then attached to food/drink products. Thus, an advertisement is conducted in an off-line fashion, using the hubber-attached food/drink products. On the other hand, where the advertisement ordering company 300 selects the on-line advertisement (Step 1112), the Web system 100 requests the advertisement ordering company 300 to select a desired on-line advertisement type. As mentioned above in conjunction with Fig. 16a, the on-line advertisement has 5 advertisement types, that is, an advertisement based on a advertisement search menu selection (Step 1132), an advertisement based on an advertisement information menu selection (Step 1142), an advertisement based on a home page link selection (Step 1152), an advertisement based on a subscriber room selection (Step 1162), and an advertisement based on sale effect analysis (Step 1172). The advertisement ordering company 300 can select one or more of the advertisement types.

Since the procedure, in which a gain is generated by the advertisement ordering company 300, is the same as the procedure, in which a gain is generated by the food/drink manufacturing company 200, no further description will be made in conjunction with that procedure.

Figs. 17a to 17c illustrate a distribution of gains generated among the Web system 100, advertisement ordering company 300 and subscriber in on/off-line fashions by virtue of the advertising apparatus using media attached to food/drink containers in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 17a is a flow chart illustrating a distribution of gains generated in an off-line fashion. Referring to Fig. 17a, the advertisement ordering company 300 first logs onto the Web system 100, and then makes an advertisement order. The advertisement ordering company 300 bears 100% of expenses generated in association with the advertisement order. The Web system 100, to which the advertisement ordering company 300 accesses, has a gain corresponding to 20% of the expenses. Also, the food/drink manufacturing company 200, as the advertisement section provider, has a gain corresponding to 20% of the expenses.

30% of the 100% advertisement expense is appropriated for the prime cost and manufacturing cost of hubbers. 20% of the advertisement expense is also returned, as premiums, to clients registered as subscribers after purchasing products attached with the associated hubbers and accessing the Web system. The remaining 10% of the advertisement expense is used as the expense of an associated event opened by the Web system 100.

Now, the configuration for returning the advertisement expense to subscribers, as premiums, will be described in more detail. First, the sum of money correspond to 20% of the advertisement expense to be returned for subscribers is estimated as 100 points (hereinafter, referred to as "resources"). The resources are distributed, in the form of points, among subscribers under the condition in which different distribution percentages are applied in accordance with different hubber registration times, respectively. That is, 50% of the resources is distributed among subscribers registering the hubber associated with the resources or collecting the hubber on the Web site within one month after the distribution of products associated with the hubber. 30% of the resources is distributed among subscribers registering the associated hubber or collecting the hubber on the Web site within a period of time from one month to two months after the distribution of the associated products . 10% of the resources is distributed among subscribers registering the associated hubber or collecting the hubber on the Web site within a period of time from two months to three months after the distribution of the associated products. The remaining 10% of the resources is distributed among subscribers registering the associated hubber or collecting the hubber on the Web site after three months from the distribution of the associated products.

Where it is assumed that the number of subscribers, N, registered in association with resources A within one month after the distribution of products associated with the resources A corresponds to 10, the point allocated to each of those subscribers is calculated, based on "A * 50% * (1/N)". Where the number of subscribers, N', registered in association with the resources A within a period of time from one month to two months after the distribution of the associated products corresponds to 20, the point allocated to each of those subscribers is calculated, based on "A * 30% * (1/N')". Fig. 17b is a flow chart illustrating a distribution of gains generated in an on-line fashion. Referring to Fig. 17b, the advertisement ordering company 300 (or the food/drink manufacturing company 200) makes an advertisement order associated with an on-line advertisement in addition to an advertisement order associated with an off-line advertisement mentioned above. Expenses to be paid by the advertisement ordering company 300 in association with the on-line advertisement may be varied, depending on the advertisement type requested by the advertisement ordering company 300 and the number of page-clicking times made by subscribers. 30% of the advertisement expenses is appropriated for a gain to be given to the Web operator whereas 70% of the advertisement expenses is appropriated for returns for subscribers.

The sum of money appropriated for subscribers is given to a subscriber purchasing, in an on-line fashion, a maximum quantity of food/drink products associated with the on-line advertisement. The sum of money to be given to the subscriber may be substituted by an equivalent article provided by the advertisement ordering company 300.

Thus, the sponsor of an event awards a premium, in the form of the sum of money or an article, to a selected one of clients or subscribers purchasing food/drink products associated with the event in an off-line fashion or in accordance with an electronic commercial transaction or clients or subscribers accessing the Web site of the sponsor to participate in the event in an online fashion. In association with the purchase of food/drink products in an off-line fashion, the premium is awarded to the client or subscriber who has a maximum number of registrations for food/drink products purchased in association with the event. In association with the purchase of food/drink products in accordance with an electronic commercial transaction, the premium is awarded to the client or subscriber who purchases a maximum number of food/drink products on the Web site. In association with the participation in the event in an online fashion, the premium is awarded to the client or subscriber who has a maximum number of accesses to the Web site of the sponsor.

Fig. 17c is a flow chart illustrating a distribution of gains generated in an on-line fashion in accordance with an electronic commercial transaction among the subscriber, food/drink manufacturing company, and advertisement ordering company. Where a client accessing the Web system 100 makes an electronic commercial transaction with the advertisement ordering company 300 or food/drink manufacturing company 200 after clicking the home page of the advertisement ordering company 300 or food/drink manufacturing company 200, the advertisement ordering company 300 or food/drink manufacturing company 200 should pay a service charge associated with the electronic commercial transaction to the Web system 100.

The sum of money corresponding to 30% of the service charge is appropriated for the gain of the Web operator whereas the sum of money corresponding to the remaining 70% of the service charge is appropriated for returns for subscribers.

The sum of money appropriated for subscribers is given to a subscriber purchasing, in an on-line fashion, a maximum quantity of food/drink products. The sum of money to be given to the subscriber may be substituted by an equivalent article provided by the advertisement ordering company 300.

Meanwhile, each hubber 640 bears desired information so that it is sorted and managed by the Web system 100. The following Table 2 describes the information provided at each hubber 640.

Table 2

Information Hubber-1 Hubber-2

Serial No. USD0005 KRGOOOl

Country 840 410

Area 033002 135737

Climate 06 07

Advertisement Ordering Company IBM 00005380

Advertisement Serial No. 0005 0001

Industry 3001 5000

Item 37880 38121

Food/Drink Manufacturing Company COKE 00005300

Kind of Food/Drink Product 12001 30001

Delivery Factory 003 001

Model 1012033091 1019210195 The information of each hubber 640 has the form of a code made in accordance with a desired code classification system. The code has a capacity of 65 bytes. This information is stored in the subscriber DB, food/drink manufacturing company DB, advertisement ordering company DB, and advertisement order DB, respectively.

As shown in Table 2, the code of each hubber 640 consists of 12 sub-codes. The hubber serial No. (7 bytes) is a serial No. allocated for each hubber 640 when a food/drink product, to which the hubber 640 is attached in accordance with an advertisement order associated therewith, is delivered. This serial No. is managed by the Web system 100. The hubber serial No. is a 7-digit code consisting of a leading code portion of two digits allocated for a country identification No. defined in accordance with the Korean Industry Standard Code Book, an intermediate code portion of one digit allocated for a classification code defined in accordance with an industry classification code system, and a trailing code portion of four digits serially allocated in the form of a decimal number.

The country code (3 bytes) is a number indicative of the country where the associated food/drink product is distributed. This country code is a 3-digit code defined in accordance with the Korean Industry Standard Code Book.

The area code (6 bytes) is a number indicative of a designated area in a designated country. The area code has 6 digits divided into two portions each consisting of 3 digits in order to subdivide the area. For example, the first 3 digits of the area code represents a district whereas the second 3 digits of the area code represents a block in the district. Each digit of the area code is allocated in the form of a decimal number in accordance with a descending order.

The climate code (2 bytes) is a number indicative of the climate of the associated area. This climate code is defined, based on a global climate distribution according to Kόppen ' s classification of climate. The climate code has 2 digits serially allocated in the form of a decimal number in accordance with a temperature- descending order.

The advertisement ordering company code (8 bytes) is a number indicative of the name of the company making an advertisement order. The advertisement ordering company code is a code defined, based on the stock code of the associated country. For the advertisement ordering company having no stock code, its advertisement ordering company code is allocated in such a fashion that the first one of 8 digits thereof is allocated with "9", and the remaining 7 digits thereof is serially allocated in the form of a decimal number.

The advertisement serial No. (4 bytes) is indicative of the number of advertisement orders made by the advertisement ordering company. The advertisement serial No. is allocated with 4 digits in the form of a decimal number corresponding to the number of advertisement orders made up to the associated advertisement order.

The industry code (4 bytes) is a number indicative of the category of business of the associated advertisement ordering company. This industry code is defined, based on the industry classification code according to the Korean Industry Standard Code Book. The industry code has 4 digits.

The item code (5 bytes) is a number indicative of the item requested to be advertised by the associated advertisement ordering company. This item code is defined, based on the goods classification code according to the Korean Industry Standard Code Book. The food/drink manufacturing company No. (8 bytes) is a number indicative of the food/drink manufacturing company manufacturing food/drink products to which the advertisement requested by the advertisement ordering company is attached. The food/drink manufacturing company code is a code defined, based on the stock code of the associated country. For the food/drink manufacturing company having no stock code, its food/drink manufacturing company code is allocated in such a fashion that the first one of 8 digits thereof is allocated with "9", and the remaining 7 digits thereof is serially allocated in the form of a decimal number.

The food/drink product kind No. (5 bytes) is a number indicative of the name of the food/drink product to which the advertisement requested by the advertisement ordering company is attached. The food/drink product kind No. has 5 digits allocated in the form of a decimal number in accordance with a classification standard for soft drinks stipulated in the Korean Food Yearbook. The first digit of the food/drink product kind No. represents the kind of the associated food/drink product. That is, "1" represents carbonated drinks, "2 " fruit drinks, "3" mixed drinks, "4" powdered soft drinks, "5" coffee drinks, "6" soy oil drinks, " 1 " mineral water drinks, and "9" other drinks, respectively.

The delivery factory code (3 bytes) is a number indicative of the manufacturing factory of the associated food/drink manufacturing company. This delivery factory code has 3 digits allocated in the form of a decimal number. Where there is no code used in the food/drink manufacturing company as the delivery factory code, the food/drink manufacturing company code is preferentially used as the delivery factory code.

The model No. (10 bytes) is a number indicative of the model used to express the advertisement requested by the advertisement ordering company. This model No. is a 10-digit code consisting of a first code portion of 5 digits defined by a goods classification code according to the Korean Standard Code Book, and a second code portion of 5 digits defined by another goods classification code according to the Korean Standard Code Book. Thus, the model No. can represent two subdivided models. Where there is no goods classification code corresponding to the model used to express the advertisement, the first one of the 5 digits is allocated with "9", and the remaining 4 digits is serially allocated in the form of a decimal number.

Based on the above mentioned code, the Web system 100 can effectively sort the associated hubber 640.

This will be described in conjunction with the hubber-1 described in Table 2. The following description is equivalently applicable to the hubber-2 described in Table 2. Accordingly, no description will be made in conjunction with the hubber-2.

Where the hubber 640 has a code "USD0005-840- 033002-06-IBM-0005-3001-37880-COKE-12001-003-1012033091", it can be found that the hubber 640 is the fifth hubber manufactured by the hubber manufacturing company in U.S.A., based on the hubber serial No. USD0005. Based on the code of the 640, it can also be found that the food/drink product attached with the hubber 640 is distributed in Armonk, New York, U.S.A with a temperate rainy climate, that the advertisement ordering company is IBM company associated with the manufacture of computers, that the number of advertisement orders made by the advertisement ordering company is five, that the advertisement requested by the advertisement ordering company is attached to the "COCK" drink product manufactured by Coca-Cola Company and distributed in Armonk, New York, and that the advertisement bears horse and coffee images.

Meanwhile, the hubber, which bears a code allocated in accordance with a desired code classification system, may be additionally printed at its one surface with an intrinsic ID including a character portion, a numeral portion, and first and second pattern portions. Now, the procedures of manufacturing the hubber bearing the intrinsic ID and conducting an operation using the hubber will be described.

The subscriber registration, hubber registration, and on-line/off-line services based on the hubber bearing an intrinsic ID are carried out in similar fashions, respectively. Accordingly, the following description will be made only in conjunction with the manufacture of the hubber bearing an intrinsic ID, an on-line game, and services additionally provided. In the following description, the same constituting elements are denoted by the same reference numeral.

Figs. 18a and 18b illustrate an advertisement image and an intrinsic ID provided at one surface of each of the hubbers respectively shown in Figs. 12a to 12g. Referring to Fig. 18a, the hubber, which is denoted by the reference numeral 1300, is printed at one surface thereof with an advertisement image requested by the advertisement ordering company, an advertisement logo, the name of the country where the advertisement is sold, and the production year. As shown in Fig. 18b, the hubber 1300 is also printed at the other surface thereof with an intrinsic ID including a character portion 1302 consisting of desired words, for example, PEN, LOVE, or BOOK, a numeral portion 1304 consisting of a combination of a numeral having a desired number of digits, specific symbols such as *, !, ?, @, and $, and alphabetic letters, and first and second pattern portions 1306 and 1308 each consisting of printed patterns each having a desired shape, such as a rectangular shape, a triangular shape, or a star shape, to define the intrinsic ID together with the character portion 1302 and the numeral portion 1304.

The procedure of printing the intrinsic ID will be described in conjunction with Figs. 19 to 21.

When the Web system (Web operating company) 100 receives advertisement data, to be advertised using the hubber 1300, from an optional advertisement ordering company in accordance with an advertisement order from the optional advertisement ordering company (Step 1400 or 1420), they analyzes the received advertisement data, and sorts the advertisement data based on the result of the analysis. Thereafter, the Web operating company stores the sorted advertisement data in the hubber information DB 1312.

Based on the advertisement data stored in the hubber information DB 1312, the Web operating company conducts a design task using an advertisement design ordering program, thereby making advertisement images (Steps 1402 and 1404). One of the advertisement images selected by the advertisement ordering company is then printed on one surface of each of hubbers ordered by the advertisement ordering company. At this time, each hubber, which is printed at one surface thereof with the advertisement image, is printed at the other surface thereof with the name of the Web site of the Web operating company. Thus, a primary printing procedure for hubbers is completed.

Each hubber 1300 printed with the advertisement image and the name of the Web site is then printed with an intrinsic ID. The intrinsic ID is predetermined by the microprocessor 1310, based on information about the advertisement ordering company making the associated advertisement order, the distribution area, and the number of hubbers to be distributed. For example, where the advertisement ordering company makes an advertisement order requesting one million hubbers each attached with an NIKE advertisement, the Web operating company allocates intrinsic IDs, to be printed, for the one million hubbers in a serial or random fashion, respectively (Step 1422). At this time, the intrinsic IDs are configured to have different character portions 1302, different numeral portions 1304, different first pattern portions 1306, and different second pattern portions 1308, respectively. Since each portion of each intrinsic ID is configured to have a mutual organic relation with other portions in accordance with a desired cryptography algorithm, it is possible to provide about two hundred and twenty billion different intrinsic IDs. Therefore, there is no possibility that the same intrinsic ID is printed.

After the setting of intrinsic IDs to be printed is completely made by the microprocessor 1310, hubbers 1300 are uniformly fed from the feeding unit 1314 to the printer unit 1316 under the control of the microprocessor 1310. The printer unit 1316 receives information about the intrinsic IDs to be printed, and prints intrinsic IDs on the hubbers 1300 in a sequential fashion, based on the received information.

That is, the hubbers 1300 to be printed with intrinsic IDs are sequentially fed to the printer unit 1316 via the feeding unit 1314 under the control of the microprocessor 1310 in such a fashion that one surface of each hubber to be printed with an intrinsic ID is exposed. At this time, the microprocessor 1310 sequentially reads out the intrinsic IDs, to be printed, from the hubber information DB 1312. At this time, the microprocessor 1310 reads out the character, numeral and pattern portions of each intrinsic ID. The microprocessor 1310 then controls an ink injection operation of the printer unit 1316, thereby causing each hubber 1300 to be printed at the exposed surface thereof with its intrinsic ID (Steps 1406 and 1408).

Thereafter, each hubber 1300 printed with its intrinsic ID and the advertisement image is mounted to a desired food/drink product via the can manufacturing factory 620 and drink manufacturing factory 630, and then put on the market. The attachment of the hubber 1300 may be carried out during a can manufacturing process conducted at the can manufacturing factory 620. In this case, each can attached with the hubber is then supplied to the drink manufacturing factory 630 so that it is subjected to a drink charging process and a sealing process. Alternatively, the hubber 1300 printed with a desired advertisement image may be attached to a food/drink product subjected to the drink charging and sealing processes. In either case, the attachment of the hubber 1300 is carried out after a cutting and assembling process conducted for the hubber 1300 (Steps 1412 and 1414) .

The designing of a desired advertisement image to be printed on the hubber 1300 may be executed using the above mentioned advertisement design ordering program. Alternatively, diverse advertisement images may be collected from subscribers accessing the Web site, through public subscription. In the latter case, the advertisement ordering company 300 can select a best one from the collected advertisement images. The advertising ordering company 300 may then give a desired point or premium to the subscriber associated with the selected advertisement image. In this case, it is possible to provide a wider advertisement image selection range to the advertisement ordering company 300. Where a person purchases a food/drink product attached with the hubber 1300 bearing an intrinsic ID, and then registers the intrinsic ID of the hubber 1300, the hubber 1300 can be analyzed based on the intrinsic ID. That is, detailed information about the hubber 1300 such as the content of the advertisement printed on the hubber 1300, the advertisement ordering company ordering the advertisement, and the manufacture order of the hubber 1300, can be read out from the hubber information DB 1312 (Step 1424).

For example, where the hubber 1300 registered has an intrinsic ID consisting of "Love" as the character data of its character portion 1302, "&*77" as its numeral portionl304, three triangular patterns as its first pattern portion 1306, and four circular patterns as its second pattern portion 1308, it can be accurately analyzed, based on the data provided by the portions of the intrinsic ID.

Where a subscriber, who purchases a food/drink product attached with the hubber 1300 bearing an intrinsic ID, logs onto the Web system 100 to register the hubber 1300, the hubbers collected by the subscriber up to date and the point held by the subscriber are displayed. Where a person desires to initially register a hubber held by him, he can register hubber information after completing a subscriber registration. The hubbers displayed when a subscriber logs onto the Web system 100 may include hubbers collected after being purchased by the subscriber, and hubbers collected from other subscribers in accordance with the hubber exchange system. For the registration of each hubber collected as mentioned above is achieved, the intrinsic ID allocated for the hubber should be registered. In accordance with the registration of the intrinsic ID, information to be registered by the subscriber in association with the hubber is automatically stored in the associated database.

For example, where a subscriber, who purchases a food/drink product attached with the hubber 1300 bearing an intrinsic ID consisting of "Love" as the character data of its character portion 1302, "&*77" as its numeral portionl304, three star patterns as its first pattern portion 1306, and two circular patterns as its second I

67 pattern portion 1308, registers the intrinsic ID of the hubber 1300, information about the country, area, advertisement image, and food/drink product associated with the ^• hubber is automatically registered, based on data stored in the hubber information DB 1312. Thus, the registration of the hubber can be more easily achieved.

On the other hand, a hubber purchaser or subscriber may intentionally register an incorrect intrinsic ID while referring to a correct intrinsic ID, or unintentionally register an incorrect intrinsic ID. Since each of intrinsic IDs made in accordance with the present invention is a unique combination of diverse constituting elements having a mutual organic relation, a change in one constituting element should involve a corresponding change in other constituting elements in order to keep the unique combination of those constituting elements. For this reason, an optional change in one or more constituting elements made by a hubber purchaser or subscriber without involving any change in other constituting elements cannot produce any correct intrinsic ID. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent a registration of incorrect intrinsic IDs. In other words, the Web operating company, advertisement ordering company, and food/drink manufacturing company can secure a correct number of subscribers.

Meanwhile, the subscriber accessing the Web system 100 can check the point held by him, and the percentage of the point, held by him, based on a premium awarding point. In particular, the subscriber can check the point percentage based on the premium awarding point by viewing a premium, to be awarded, partially displayed in accordance with the point percentage, that is, the percentage of the displayed premium image portion. This will be described in conjunction with Figs. 22a to 22c. When a subscriber logging onto the Web system 100 inputs his subscriber ID and password, the hubbers collected by him up to data are displayed. Also, the point currently held by the subscriber and the premium image are displayed at one side of the displayed hubber image . When the subscriber clicks a list of premiums after checking the point held by him so that he is awarded one of the premiums corresponding the point held by him, the image of the premium is partially or completely displayed in accordance with the percentage of the point, held by him, based on the premium awarding point.

For example, it is assumed that a subscriber participates in an event awarding cars while requiring a car awarding condition of 5,000 points. Where the subscriber, Kildong Hong, holds 100 points in an initially accessing state (Fig. 22a), only the tire portion of a car image is thickly displayed, as shown in Fig. 22b. Where the subscriber subsequently holds 200 points in accordance with an increase in point, the car image to be thickly displayed may include the bonnet portion in addition to the tire portion, as shown in Fig. 22c.

Thus, each subscriber, who participates in an event, based on the point held by him, can check the percentage of the point, held by him, based on a premium awarding point by checking the image of a premium, to be awarded, displayed in accordance with the point percentage, that is, the percentage of the displayed premium image portion. For instance, it is assumed that a subscriber holding 300 points participates in an event awarding cars, computers, and digital cameras while requiring car awarding conditions of 1,000 points, 500 points, and 300 points for those premiums, respectively. Where the subscriber clicks a digital camera, the image of the digital camera is completely displayed, so that the subscriber can recognize the fact that the digital camera is awardable to him. However, when the subscriber clicks a car or computer, the image of the car or computer is partially displayed at a percentage corresponding to the percentage of 300 points based on the associated premium awarding point. Thus, the subscriber can directly confirm the premium awardable to him in accordance with the point held by him.

Therefore, it is possible to effectively inform the subscriber of the point to be further accumulated for the awarding of a desired premium, for example, a car. Meanwhile, the subscriber can receive, in accordance with various methods, a premium selected based on the point held by him after checking the point under the condition in which he accesses the Web site. That is, the subscriber first clicks a premium ordering method select button, that is, a "WISH" button. In response to the clicking manipulation, a pop-up menu is displayed. The pop-up menu may include a menu "Please select a premium wished". Also, a selection menu is subsequently displayed. The selection menu may include a menu "1. Text Message?, 2. Graphic Image?, 3. Would you like to receive the premium by cash?".

When the subscriber clicks a selected one of "1. Text Message" and "2. Graphic Image", the price of the premium and the point corresponding to that price are displayed in the form of text data or a graphic image.

After reading the displayed text data or graphic image, the subscriber may conduct a clicking manipulation to receive a premium awardable to him, based on the point held by him. In response to this clicking manipulation, the subscriber is connected to an electronic business/shopping mall associated with the sponsor providing the premium. After acknowledging the premium, the sponsor delivers the premium to the subscriber.

This will be described in more detail, with reference to Figs. 23a and 23b. Where the subscriber, Kildong Hong, holding 100 points desires to receive an article awarded, as a premium, by the sponsor, he first clicks the "WISH" button, and then clicks a "GOOD INFORMATION" button. In response to the clicking manipulation of the subscriber, respective names and prices of articles awarded by the sponsor and respective points corresponding to those prices are displayed. Referring to the displayed information, subscribers can recognize that they must hold at least 100 points to receive a portable phone, and at least 400 points to receive a camcorder.

Accordingly, the subscriber can receive a portable phone. Also, he can receive a camcorder after holding an increased point in future.

The sponsor may directly delivery the article to the subscriber. Alternatively, the sponsor may delivery the article to the subscriber via a collaborator.

In accordance with the latter method, the sponsor may delivery the article to the collaborator, for example, a 24-hour-opened store, so as to allow the subscriber to receive the article at the 24-hour-opened store. In this case, the subscriber should visit the 24- hour-opened store to receive the article. Accordingly, there may be an occasion that the subscriber may further recognize or purchase food/drink products associated with the sponsor or associated food/drink manufacturing company. Thus, an increased advertisement recognition effect is obtained in association with hubbers and food/drink products attached with those hubbers.

To this end, the Web operating company may give different bonus points to the subscriber in the case in which he directly receives the article from the sponsor and in the case in which he receives the article via a medium such as a 24-hour-opened store, respectively.

Meanwhile, subscribers holding hubbers 1300 each having an intrinsic ID consisting of character, numeral, first pattern, and second pattern portions 1302, 1304, 1306, and 1308 can play diverse games in an on-line/offline fashion using those hubbers, based on respective IDs of the hubbers. In accordance with the result of a game, the winner may receive hubbers or points from other subscribers participating in the game.

By virtue of such a game function, a continued advertisement recognition effect is provided. That is, subscribers participating in a game may continuously recognize advertisements printed on their hubbers. Since a certain point is awarded to the winner in accordance with the result of the game, it is believed that subscribers desire to participate in games. This may result in an increased desire of subscribers to hold hubbers. Accordingly, the desire of subscribers to purchase hubber-attached food/drink products may be increased.

Now, several games using hubbers will be described in detail.

As mentioned above, the intrinsic ID of the hubber 1300 consists of several portions each forming a unique combination of characters, numerals, or patterns alone or along with another one. By virtue of such a unique combination, the hubber 1300 can provide diverse games, as compared to a hubber bearing a simple code made based on the above mentioned Industry Classification Code Book.

An on-line game may be conducted, only based on the first and second pattern portions 1306 and 1308 printed on one surface of the hubber 1300. It is assumed that the Web system supports on-line games in which a subscriber holding a maximum number of patterns is determined as the winner, and three subscribers, that is, a subscriber A holding three star-shaped patterns, a subscriber B holding two star-shaped patterns, and a subscriber C holding five star-shaped patterns, participate in the same on-line game. When the subscribers A, B, and C participate in the on-line game in which the subscriber holding a maximum number of star- shaped patterns is determined as the winner (Steps 1450, 1452, and 1454), the Web system compares respective numbers of star-shaped patterned held by the subscribers A, B, and C with one another in an on-line fashion, thereby determining the subscriber C as the winner. After an on-line acknowledgement, the Web system conducts a control for allowing the subscriber C to receive hubbers from the subscribers A and B or points corresponding to those hubbers (Step 1456).

Other on-line games based on the character portion 1302 or numeral portion 1304 of the intrinsic ID may be performed. Thus, diverse games may be opened in accordance with operating rules of the Web operating company in which the winner is determined, based on the kind and number of particular characters, numbers or patterns included in intrinsic IDs held by subscribers. For example, an on-line baseball game may be opened. Where four subscribers participate in the on-line baseball game, they are divided into two teams each including two subscribers. This on-line baseball game may be conducted in such a fashion that the subscribers of two teams alternately show characters included in their intrinsic IDs so that it is progressed in accordance with a baseball rule based on the kind of the shown characters.

Also, a sentence constructing game using words represented by respective character portions in hubbers may be opened in accordance with game operating rules of the Web system operator or advertisement ordering company. For instance, the advertisement ordering company may open an event for awarding a premium to subscribers holding hubbers constructing a desired sentence, for example, the advertisement sentence of the advertisement ordering company. This advertisement sentence may be "I Love Coca-Cola". In accordance with i

73 this event condition, the sponsor awards a premium to subscribers collecting hubbers 1300 respectively bearing words capable of constructing the sentence.

Thus, the Web operating company can support diverse games to which the intrinsic ID printed on each hubber

1300 is applied. Subscribers accessing the Web system

100 can select a desired one of the supported games to participate in the selected game.

In accordance with the operation of the above mentioned game, the advertisement ordering company can make subscribers, intended to collect hubbers capable of constructing the advertisement sentence of the advertisement ordering company, continuously recognize the advertisement thereof. In addition, there is an effect of promoting an active participation of subscribers in that the games provide, to those subscribers, an expectation to receive a premium or point.

As mentioned above, the hubber 1300 is printed with an advertisement in accordance with an advertisement order made by the advertisement ordering company, and then attached to a food/drink product to be distributed over a selected area. In order to obtain a concentrated effectiveness of advertising, it is preferable that an available on-line hubber registration is limited within a certain period of time. In this case, the available registration term is indicated on the hubber 1300 in the process of the manufacture of that hubber. In accordance with this method, a hubber cannot be registered after the available registration term indicated thereon elapses. For example, in the case of a hubber indicated with an available registration term spanned from January 1, 2000 to June 30, 200, the subscriber holding the hubber is allowed to register the hubber within the indicated available registration term. Thus, only the subscribers, who register their hubbers within an available registration term, have a qualification to participate in an event and to receive a premium or point .

The hubber registration may be conducted via a cable communication network or a wireless communication network. Generally, a subscriber accesses the Web system 100 of the Web operating company via a modem, a highspeed communication network, or a telephone network, under personal computer environment. By virtue of recent development of wireless internet environment, a wireless access to the Web system 100 using a cellular phone or a PCS phone is also possible. Since different effects may be generated in the case of conducting an access to the Web system under the wireless internet environment and the case of conducting an access to the Web system under the personal computer environment, respectively, it is preferable to apply different points to subscribers respectively corresponding to those cases. This will be described in more detail.

Where a subscriber accesses the Web system via a personal computer, it is impossible to find the access position of the subscriber. However, where the access to the Web system is made via a cellular phone under wireless internet environment, the access position of the subscriber can be found. This can be possible by finding the base station currently conducting services for the cellular phone. Accordingly, where a subscriber, who accesses the Web system via a cellular phone, participates in an event after purchasing a food/drink product associated with the event, the Web operating company can find the position of the subscriber in a real time fashion, based on information received from the base station currently conducting services for the cellular phone. Thus, the Web operating company can easily obtain desired information such as information about the position of the subscriber, information about the food/drink product purchased by the subscriber, and information about the hubber registered by the subscriber.

Since data about each subscriber is stored in a desired DB so that it is managed. Accordingly, the disposition of a subscriber, who accesses the Web system at an optional place, can be easily checked. Also, the sale of the food/drink manufacturing company can be effectively analyzed and managed.

In accordance with the present invention, a mail reception selecting function is also provided. In accordance with this mail reception selecting function, the subscriber, who registers a hubber after purchasing a food/drink product attached with the hubber, can select whether or not he desires to receive a mail from the associated advertisement ordering company or food/drink manufacturing company. Where a subscriber, who registers a hubber printed with a NIKE advertisement after purchasing a COCK drink product attached with the hubber, he is requested to register private information about him. At this time, he is also requested to optionally determine whether or not he wants to receive a mail from Coca-Cola Company or Nike Company. For example, the subscriber can determine to allow the reception of a mail from Nike Company while rejecting the reception of a mail from Coca-Cola Company. In this case, the subscriber may be awarded certain points from Nike Company allowed to send a mail to him.

In association with the above mentioned mail reception selecting function, the Web system 100 may separately manage subscribers allowing a mail reception after conducting a DB task to store information about those subscribers. In this case, the Web system 100 can provide information stored in the DB associated with subscribers allowing a mail reception, at the request of the advertisement ordering company or food/drink manufacturing company. Since the advertisement ordering company and food/drink manufacturing company can be fully aware of the subscribers receiving a mail therefrom, based on the subscriber DB, they can conduct a steady subscriber management. Meanwhile, a questionnaire on the food/drink product manufactured by the food/drink manufacturing company or the advertisement image requested by the advertisement ordering company may be conducted, based on the subscribers allowing the reception of a mail from the food/drink manufacturing company or the advertisement ordering company. Based on the replies submitted to the questionnaire, the food/drink manufacturing company or the advertisement ordering company may modify the food/drink product or advertisement image associated therewith.

For example, the advertisement ordering company may conduct a questionnaire on an advertisement figure designed to have a desired color and shape, based on mail-reception-allowing subscribers of a wide age range, by sending hubbers printed with the advertisement figure to those subscribers. After analyzing opinions of the subscribers subsequently transmitted to the advertisement ordering company via an on-line/off-line medium, the advertisement ordering company can conduct a modification to make a better advertisement image. In similar, the food/drink manufacturing company may conduct a questionnaire on a food/drink product manufactured by them prior to the putting of the food/drink product on the market, based on subscribers accessing them, by sending samples of the food/drink product to those subscribers. After analyzing opinions of the subscribers submitted to the questionnaire, the food/drink manufacturing company can expect the sale rate of the subject food/drink product. Based on the opinions of the subscribers, the food/drink manufacturing company may also perform a comprehensive analysis to expect the age group favorable to the food/drink product. Thus, it is possible to minimize the risk resulting from a depression of sales.

The hubber 640 or 1300 adapted to be attached to a food/drink container, as a medium according to the advertising apparatus and operating method thereof in accordance with the present invention has been described in conjunction with various embodiments in which the hubber 640 or 1300 is configured to be mounted to the top of the food/drink container having a typical can structure. However, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the technical field that other embodiments may be implemented in conjunction with the hubber.

For example, although the hubber 640 or 1300, which is printed with a desired advertisement figure has been described as being mounted to the top of a food/drink container, it can also be mounted to any portion of the food/drink container where a redundancy area allowing the mounting of the hubber thereto is provided. Furthermore, although the hubber 640 or 1300 has been described as being applied to food/drink containers having a can structure, it can also be applied to food/drink containers having other structures.

Although the preferred embodiments of the invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.

Industrial Applicability

As apparent from the above description, the present invention provides an advertising apparatus using a medium attached to a food/drink container and an operating method thereof which are capable of not only continuously providing an advertisement for hubber- attached products in an off-line fashion, but also continuously providing a variety of information and a variety of events in an on-line fashion via the Internet, thereby providing a maximum advertisement recognition effect, while managing mutual information provided by objects, for example, an advertisement ordering company, a consumer, and a food/drink manufacturing company, in association with the manufacture and sale of the hubber- attached product, using databases, thereby accurately determining the present selling status and the present advertisement status using those databases in an on-line fashion to produce mutual gains.

Accordingly, the food/drink manufacturing company can expect an increase in sales gain in that an enhanced effectiveness of advertising is obtained because the food/drink product manufactured by the food/drink manufacturing company is distinguished from other products by virtue of the hubber attached thereto. The food/drink manufacturing company can also positively cope with demands of clients while establishing a desired future marketing strategy, based on information provided in an on-line fashion. Furthermore, the food/drink manufacturing company can hold unspecified consumers as fixed clients in accordance with a marketing involving continued events. In addition, the food/drink manufacturing company can expect an increase in sale in accordance with a strategic cooperation with the advertisement ordering company.

The advertisement ordering company can efficiently keep secondary and third advertisement recognition effects in on-line and off-line fashions. The advertisement ordering company can also select an advertisement object without any geographical and spatial limitations . The client can steadily recognize advertisements in off-line and on-line fashion, based on hubbers respectively attached to food/drink products. The client can also receive diverse premiums and additional services associated with an E-mail, the construction of an individual home page, the collection of hubbers, the exchange of hubbers, and discount coupons.

Since each hubber bears an intrinsic ID allocated in accordance with a desired cryptography algorithm, it is possible to enhance the value of the hubber while efficiently managing the hubber in accordance with an analysis and tracing of the intrinsic ID. It is also possible to provide diverse on-line games using the intrinsic ID. By virtue of such on-line games, it is possible to increase the frequency of subscribers accessing the Web system. The subscriber can receive a desired one of articles, awarded by the sponsor, corresponding to the point held by him.

The subscriber can also determine whether or not he wants to receive a mail from the advertisement ordering company or food/drink manufacturing company. In this connection, the Web operating company can manage subscribers allowing the reception of a mail, using databases. Accordingly, the advertisement ordering company or food/drink manufacturing company can receive accurate and organized information about subscribers allowing the reception of a mail. Based on this information, the advertisement ordering company or food/drink manufacturing company can maximize the effect of their advertisement recognized by subscribers.

Claims

Claims 1. An advertising apparatus using a medium attached to a food/drink container comprising: a Web system for managing/unifying, on the Internet, mutual information among objects by use of a hubber, manufactured to have a shape and a material property allowing an attachment thereof to a food/drink container, as a medium, and operating a Web site, based on the mutual information, to provide information about an advertisement indicated on the hubber to the objects along with premiums and events ; a plurality of food/drink manufacturing companies included in the objects and authenticated as advertisement section providers in accordance with a desired authentication procedure conducted based on basic information inputted by the food/drink manufacturing companies under a condition in which the food/drink manufacturing companies access the Web system, each of the food/drink manufacturing companies being capable of receiving desired processed data from the Web system in accordance with a desired search requesting procedure; a plurality of advertisement ordering companies included in the objects and authenticated as advertisement sponsors in accordance with a desired authentication procedure conducted based on basic information inputted by the advertisement ordering companies under a condition in which the advertisement ordering companies access the Web system, each of the advertisement ordering companies being capable of requesting a hubber design to the Web system or conducting the hubber design using an advertisement design ordering program, and making an advertisement application associated with the hubber design in accordance with a desired advertisement condition; a plurality of subscribers included in the objects and authenticated in accordance with a desired authentication procedure conducted based on personal information inputted by the subscribers under a condition in which the subscribers access the Web system, based on a Web site indicated on hubbers respectively attached to containers of food/drink products manufactured by the food/drink manufacturing companies and purchased by them, each of the subscribers being capable of receiving services and information about events under a condition in which he completes a hubber registration regarding the subscriber to be fully aware of an advertisement printed on a hubber held by him; a database for storing data about the Web system, the food/drink manufacturing companies, the advertisement ordering companies, the subscribers, and the hubbers, and reading out processed information at the request of the Web system to provide the read-out information to the Web system; the hubbers each indicated with an information code required in registering the hubber attached to a food/drink product manufactured by one of the food/drink manufacturing companies in accordance with an advertisement order made by one of the advertisement ordering companies; and a food/drink supplying system for manufacturing the hubber-attached food/drink products and putting the hubber-attached food/drink products on the market.

2. The advertising apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the database comprises: a subscriber information database including a basic subscriber information database, a subscriber hubber holding information database, and a point database; a hubber information database including a basic hubber information database and a hubber advertisement image database; an advertisement ordering company information database including a basic advertisement ordering company information database and an advertisement order information database; a food/drink manufacturing company information database including a basic food/drink manufacturing company information database and an advertisement section order reception information database; and an event/premium information database including an event participating object information database stored with data about lists of subscribers, advertisement ordering companies and food/drink manufacturing companies associated with events or were awarded premiums in the event or events , and a premium-awarded subscriber information database.

3. The advertising apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a global information system for allowing the subscribers to conduct a hubber search task when each of the subscribers desires to register a hubber distributed over an area other than the residential area of the subscriber or not provided with a code associated with the residential area.

4. The advertising apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the advertisement design ordering program comprises: a drive program installed on each of the advertisement ordering company and adapted to allow the advertisement ordering company to make an advertisement order on the Web site; and a graphic designing program having a desired format compatible with a printing process made by the Web system to conduct an advertisement designing task in accordance with the drive program.

5. The advertising apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the subscribers is provided with a hubber collection tool for collecting and managing hubbers purchased by the subscriber, the hubber collection tool having an album structure having a plurality of pages each capable of holding a desired number of hubbers respectively detached from drink cans, a can structure, or a sheet form having a desired shape.

6. The advertising apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the hubbers has a size, a color, and a capacity determined to allow a predetermined number of hubbers to be displayed on a display unit via the Web system.

7. The advertising apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information code indicated on each of the hubbers includes a serial No., a country code No., an area code No., a climate code No., an advertisement ordering company No., an advertisement serial No., an industry code No., an item code No., a food/drink manufacturing company code No., a food/drink product kind No., a delivery factory code No., and a model No., all the numbers being allocated when an associated food/drink product is delivered.

8. The advertising apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the hubbers is printed, at one surface thereof, with an intrinsic ID comprising a character portion consisting of desired words, a numeral portion consisting of a combination of a numeral having a desired number of digits, specific symbols, and alphabetic letters, and first and second pattern portions each consisting of printed patterns each having a desired shape, an advertisement image made by an advertisement ordering company in accordance with an advertisement order, an advertisement logo, the name of the country where the advertisement is sold, and the production year, the printing being conducted using desired printing means .

9. The advertising apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the intrinsic ID is made in accordance with a desired cryptography algorithm so that a change in one constituting element of the intrinsic ID involves a mutual and organic change in the remaining constituting elements of the intrinsic ID.

10. The advertising apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the printing means comprises: a microprocessor for controlling the entire printing operation of the printing means; a hubber information database stored with the intrinsic ID; a feeding unit for feeding hubbers, to be printed with the intrinsic ID, in a state in which the hubbers are uniformly spaced apart from one another by a desired distance; a printer unit for printing the intrinsic ID on one surface of each of the hubbers fed by the feeding unit; a power supply unit for supplying electric power required in the printing procedure; and a reset switch for initializing the printing cycle of the printing procedure in accordance with a hardware method when the printing procedure is completed for a predetermined number of hubbers or when an error is generated during the printing procedure.

11. The advertising apparatus according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the intrinsic ID bears the information code indicated on each of the hubbers includes a serial No., a country code No., an area code No., a climate code No., an advertisement ordering company No., an advertisement serial No., an industry code No., an item code No., a food/drink manufacturing company code No., a food/drink product kind No., a delivery factory code No., and a model No., all the numbers composing the information code together.

12. The advertising apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the point database is configured to accumulate a point awarded upon the hubber registration, a point awarded upon a visit to the Web system, a point awarded upon the clicking of an advertisement, and a point awarded upon the clicking of an event advertisement.

13. The advertising apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the Web site is provided with a premium receiving method select button allowing each of the subscribers to select, as a premium, one from a list of articles or to receive a cash corresponding to the price of the premium in an on-line fashion, based on a point held by him under the condition in which he accesses the Web site.

14. An operating method for an advertising apparatus using a medium attached to a food/drink container, comprising: a procedure of allowing a food/drink manufacturing company to execute an advertisement section provider authentication so that the food/drink manufacturing company is awarded a right of an advertisement section provider to attach, to a desired portion of a food/drink product manufactured thereby, a hubber bearing a desired advertisement figure and an information code and having a desired shape; a procedure of allowing an advertisement ordering company to execute a sponsor registration so that the advertisement ordering company is awarded a right of a sponsor to put an advertisement in the hubber and to receive information services; a procedure of allowing a client purchasing the hubber-attached food/drink product to input basic personal information including the name, age, sex of the client, a desired ID, a password, the address of the client, the date of birth of the client, the occupation of the client, the type of occupation, a telephone number/E-mail address, the food/drink product purchased, and collected hubber advertisement registrations, and to execute a subscriber registration based on the inputted basic personal information so that the client is awarded a right of a subscriber to receive services and to participate in an event opened in accordance with diverse conditions, in a state in which the client accesses a Web site indicated on the hubber held by him; a procedure of allowing the registered subscriber to search a database for the hubber held by him, based on the information code indicated on the hubber, and then to execute a registration of the hubber while allowing the food/drink manufacturing company and the advertisement ordering company to search a database for a desired advertisement, and then to provide an advertisement section or to make an advertisement order based on an advertisement condition inputted; and a procedure of allowing the registered subscriber to participate in an event opened in accordance with an event condition made by a Web system controlling the procedures, and then to be awarded a premium when it is determined in accordance with a desired lottery method that a point held by the registered subscriber is within a premium awarding range.

15. The operating method according to claim 14, wherein the registration of the food/drink manufacturing company as an advertisement section provider comprises the steps of: inputting basic information including the name of the corporation, the name of the representative, the category of business, the business condition, a telephone number, the address, the web site address, the E-mail address, and the name of the can manufacturing company having business relations with the food/drink manufacturing company, by the food/drink manufacturing company as an advertisement section provider under a condition in which the food/drink manufacturing company accesses the Web system; and providing, to the food/drink manuf cturing company, information and services according to the grade of the right awarded to the food/drink manufacturing company under a condition in which the food/drink manufacturing company is admitted as an advertisement section provider, based on the inputted basic information.

16. The operating method according to claim 14, wherein the registration of the advertisement ordering company as a sponsor comprises the steps of: inputting basic information including the name of the corporation, the name of the representative, the category of business, the business condition, a telephone number, the address, the web site address, the E-mail address, the name of a member in charge, an ID, and a password, by the advertisement ordering company as a sponsor under a condition in which the advertisement ordering company accesses the Web system; and providing, to the advertisement ordering company, information and services according to the grade of the right awarded to the advertisement ordering company under a condition in which the advertisement ordering company is admitted as a sponsor, based on the inputted basic information.

17. The operating method according to claim 15 or 16, further comprising the step of: assigning, by the Web system, an ID and a password created in accordance with a desired code system to the food/drink manufacturing company or the advertisement ordering company when the food/drink manufacturing company or the advertisement ordering company is awarded the right of the advertisement section provider or the right of the sponsor.

18. The operating method according to claim 15 or

16, wherein the grade of the right is automatically initially set when an associated one of the food/drink manufacturing company and the advertisement ordering company makes an application for admission, and subsequently adjusted in accordance with the level of a contract made with the Web system by the associated company.

19. The operating method according to claim 18, wherein the food/drink manufacturing company selectively receives information about an advertisement schedule, an event/premium schedule, and the present status of hubber- attached food/drink products sold on the market, along with information about hubber-attached food/drink products searched in accordance with search conditions in terms of country, climate, area, age and time, and provided in accordance with the grade of the right awarded to the food/drink manufacturing company.

20. The operating method according to claim 18, wherein the advertisement ordering company selectively receives information about an advertisement schedule, an event/premium schedule, and the present status of advertising effects, along with information about hubber- attached food/drink products searched in accordance with search conditions in terms of country, climate, area, age and time, and provided in accordance with the grade of the right awarded to the advertisement ordering company.

21. The operating method according to claim 14, wherein the searching of the database for the hubber comprises the steps of: allowing the subscriber only to search hubber products distributed over a residential area of the subscriber, based on a code value associated with the residential area and recognized when the subscriber logs onto the Web system; and if the hubber desired to be registered by the subscriber is that distributed over an area other than the residential area of the subscriber, then allowing the subscriber to search hubber products distributed over a desired area, using a global information system.

22. The operating system according to claim 16, further comprising the steps of: allowing the subscriber to exchange the hubber, held by the subscriber, with a hubber registered at an area other than a residential area of the subscriber so that the subscriber meets a premium awarding condition.

23. The operating method according to claim 14, wherein the procedure of awarding a premium comprises the step of: checking whether or not the subscriber actually holds hubbers meeting a premium awarding condition.

24. The operating method according to claim 14, wherein the Web system operates to sort diverse information defined by the information code indicated on the hubber while representing a serial No. , a country code No., an area code No., a climate code No., an advertisement ordering company No., an advertisement serial No., an industry code No., an item code No., a food/drink manufacturing company code No. , a food/drink product kind No., a delivery factory code No., and a model No., after a recognition for the information, to store the sorted information in desired databases in the form of data, respectively, to manage the stored data using the databases, and to provide desired data from the databases when an information search is requested by the subscriber, the food/drink manufacturing company or the advertisement ordering company.

25. The operating system according to claim 14, wherein: the point held by the subscriber is a total point calculated by accumulating a point awarded upon the hubber registration, a point awarded upon a visit to the Web system, a point awarded upon the clicking of an advertisement, and a point awarded upon the clicking of an event advertisement; the awarding of the premium to the subscriber is made when the total point of the subscriber corresponds to a highest point rank in the premium awarding range; and if the subscriber is awarded the premium, the point held by the subscriber is deducted by a point corresponding to the premium.

26. The operating system according to claim 25, wherein the determination of whether or not the subscriber is to be awarded the premium is made, based on a selected one of the point awarded upon the hubber registration, the point awarded upon a visit to the Web system, the point awarded upon the clicking of an advertisement, and the point awarded upon the clicking of an event advertisement, or a point obtained after summing at least two of the points.

27. The operating system according to claim 25, wherein the Web system calculates the rank of the point held by the subscriber participating in an event, based on a relative comparison with respective points held by other subscribers participating in the event while meeting a condition of the event, informing the subscriber of the calculated rank, and displaying an image of the premium by a percentage corresponding to the rank of the subscriber.

28. The operating system according to claim 25, wherein when the subscriber to be awarded the premium rejects a reception of the premium or does not verify the hubbers meeting the premium awarding condition, the premium is awarded to another subscriber of a next rank.

29. The operating system according to claim 14, wherein the advertising ordering company is allowed to make an advertisement order after selecting an advertisement package including at least one of an off- line advertisement, an advertisement based on a food/drink search menu selection, an advertisement based on a food/drink information menu selection, an advertisement based on a home page link selection, an advertisement based on a subscriber room selection, and an advertisement based on sale effect analysis, and inputting an advertisement condition including information about food/drink manufacturing company, kind of food/drink products, country, climate, area, term, and quantity.

30. The operating system according to claim 29, wherein two or more advertisement orders made under the same advertisement condition in terms of time, area, and food/drink product are prevented from being accepted.

31. The operating system according to claim 29, wherein if at least two advertisement ordering companies simultaneously make applications of an advertisement using the hubber, based on the same upper limit of a predetermined advertisement estimate range, one of the advertisement ordering companies is selected as a sponsor, based on the scale of premiums to be awarded to clients .

32. The operating system according to claim 29, wherein the advertising ordering company is allowed to receive a list of advertisement products desired by clients accessing the Web system for a predetermined period of time, and then to make an advertisement order for a desired product after reviewing respective ranks of the advertisement products in the advertisement product list.

33. The operating system according to claim 14, wherein the advertisement ordering company obtains hubber advertisement image samples, to be printed on the hubber, by selecting a basic hubber form and a basic advertisement image form, and requesting a design for the advertisement image samples on the basis of the basic forms, thereby causing the Web system to conduct a hubber designing process, by downloading an advertisement design ordering program to be driven on a desired terminal, conducting a designing process meeting a desired designing condition by use of the advertisement design ordering program along with Photoshop, Illustrator, or CorelDraw, capable of executing a design process, or by collecting advertisement image samples from subscribers through public subscription via the Web system, selects an optimum hubber advertisement image from the obtained hubber advertisement image samples, makes an advertisement order associated with the selected optimum hubber advertisement image to an operator of the Web system.

34. The operating system according to claim 33, wherein: respective sizes of hubber advertisement images to be displayed on a page viewed in response to an associated clicking manipulation of the subscriber accessing the Web site are determined, based on a data retrieval amount requested by the subscriber; the number of the hubber advertisement images to be displayed is determined not to exceed a capacity of the page; and if the data retrieval amount exceeds the capacity of the page, an excessive amount of data is displayed in the form of text data.

35. The operating system according to claim 33, wherein the subscriber is allowed to collect, from the Web site, hubber advertisement images, and to store them on a desired site so that when a selected one of the stored hubber advertisement images is clicked, the subscriber is automatically linked to a home page associated with the clicked hubber advertisement image.

36. The operating system according to claim 34, wherein during the subscriber views the hubber advertisement images displayed after a completion of a loading of the page, a next page is loaded in a desired buffer to wait for a subsequent display thereof.

37. The operating system according to claim 14, wherein an operator of the Web system provides, to the food/drink manufacturing company or the advertisement ordering company, information about premiums requested by the subscriber, in response to an inputting of a list of premiums desired to be awarded by the subscriber when the subscriber participates in an event opened by the food/drink manufacturing company or the advertisement ordering company.

38. The operating system according to claim 37, wherein when the inputting of premium information by the subscriber is made within a desired term divided into sub-terms to which different percentages are applied, respectively, the subscriber receives a gain calculated by applying, to expenses generated in association with the premium information, a percentage determined based on the sub-term associated with the inputting of premium information by the subscriber, thereby calculating a portion of the expenses to be distributed to subscribers associated with the sub-term, and dividing the calculated expense portion by the number of the subscribers associated with the sub-term.

39. The operating system according to claim 14, wherein expenses generated in association with the advertisement order made by the advertisement ordering company are appropriated for a gain of the Web system, a gain of the food/drink manufacturing company, premium expenses for subscribers, event expenses, and manufacture expenses under a condition in which different percentages are applied to the appropriated portions of the expenses, respectively.

40. The operating system according to claim 14, further comprising: a procedure of allowing the subscriber to play an on-line game with other subscribers accessing the Web system, in accordance with a predetermined game rule, using at least one of a character portion, a numeral portion, a first pattern portion and a second pattern portion included in an intrinsic ID indicated on the hubber .

41. The operating system according to claim 40, wherein the subscribers are allowed to exchange hubbers and points, held by them, with one another in accordance with a result of the game.

42. The operating system according to claim 14, further comprising: a premium ordering procedure comprising the steps of a procedure of allowing the subscriber to check the point held by him, and then to click a premium ordering method select button; a procedure of displaying at least one premium list and respective prices of premiums in the premium list in the form of text or graphic data in accordance with the clicking of the premium ordering method select button, along with points respectively corresponding to the premium prices; a procedure of allowing the subscriber to select one of the displayed premiums corresponding to the point held by him and to order the selected premium or allowing the subscriber to receive a cash corresponding to the point held by him; and a procedure of allowing the subscriber to directly receive the premium from a premium provider receiving the order from the subscriber in an on-line fashion or to indirectly receive the premium via a collaborator.

43. The operating method according to claim 42, wherein the operator of the Web system awards different bonus points to the subscriber in the case in which the subscriber directly receives the premium from the premium provider and in the case in which the subscriber receives the premium via the collaborator, respectively.

44. The operating method according to claim 14, further comprising: a procedure of determining, upon the execution of the hubber registration, whether or not the subscriber wants to receive mails from the advertisement ordering company and the food/drink manufacturing company, providing, to the subscriber, a plurality of sample data associated with food/drink products manufactured by the food/drink manufacturing company and advertisement images held by the advertisement ordering company, when the subscriber wants to receive mails from the advertisement ordering company and the food/drink manufacturing company, analyzing an opinion of the subscriber to the sample data to determine an optimum food/drink product and an optimum advertisement image, and informing the advertisement ordering company and the food/drink manufacturing company of a list of mail receiving objects including the subscriber, when the subscriber wants to receive mails from the advertisement ordering company and the food/drink manufacturing company.

45. The operating method according to claim 14, wherein: the subscriber has access to the Web system in a cable connection fashion via a cable communication network using a modem, a telephone network, a high-speed communication network while using a personal computer, or has access to the Web system in a wireless connection fashion using a cellular phone or a PCS phone; and the operator of the Web system awards different bonus points to the subscriber in the case in which the subscriber accesses the Web system in the cable connection fashion and in the case in which the subscriber accesses the Web system in the wireless connection fashion, respectively.