campaigns in the PACE system
The PACE client is a system for managing and displaying ‘campaigns’ to the end user
A campaign is the central unit on which rules run and the PACE client's dynamic user interface is built. The campaign system is designed so that simple things are simple to do and complex things are possible.
campaign definitions
A minimal campaign definition consists of a single XML document (called pace.xml)
containing the definition of a single campaign.
More usually, a campaign includes:
- A single Pace Campaign Definition (XML)
- This document provides definitions for one or more campaign items and is read by the client when it starts.
- One or more View XML Definitions (XML)
- Views tell the client how to create the user interface for a campaign. They are loaded lazily, at the point that the campaign UI is shown to the user and may be cached to improve performance.
- One or more SVG, SWF, PNG, GIF or JPG Files
- The campaign UI can either a simple image (PNG, JPG or GIF), a SWF movie or an SVG file. Dynamic user interfaces (those where the content of an element can be changed, for example an SMS preview campaign) must use SVG as this supports dynamic manipulation of the DOM.
- Ancillary Content Required by the Campaign
- A campaign might include additional content such as an installer for an application promoted in a campaign or a MP4 video.
The collection of all of these files is called a campaign channel. On the server, this file collection is packaged in a standard ZIP archive for download to the client.
many independent campaigns
The PACE client can manage many campaign channels simultaneously. Every different campaign might have different purpose, be it advertising, providing a voicemail alert, or assisting roaming subscribers.
Independent campaign channels are just that: they can be downloaded from different Web servers as well as updated or deleted according to their own schedule. They can, however, use functionality provided by another channel and can also request that related campaign channels be installed or updated.
For example, the client provides a set of view templates for use by other channels. These provide a standard look and feel for common UI elements.
campaign channel metadata
The PACE document contains some important metadata that applies to every campaign in the content channel.
This metadata includes:
- The date before which none of the campaigns in the content channel should be shown.
- The date after which none of the campaigns in the content channel should be shown.
- The date after which the client should attempt to update the content channel.
- The date after which the client should delete the entire contents of the content channel.
- The web address of a server that can provide updates to the content channel.
- A function that can veto whether any rules in any campaign should be evaluated.
Using content channel metadata, it is simple to build campaigns that activate, de-activate and remove themselves, say in concert with a TV broadcast schedule.
Similarly, more complex campaigns such as our roaming support can be built and, when installed on the handset, consume few system resources due to the careful separation of user interface from campaign definitions and the appropriate use of metadata and rules.
technical benefits
The PACE campaign system is designed to be simple, efficient and flexible. The design means that the client can easily manage many campaigns which are totally independent of each other. This solution is ideal for use in mobile advertising as well as across a wide range of other operator and third party app needs.