If you know me, you know that I’m a Coke addict. Not the powdery white substance, but the brown liquid goodness that comes from the shiny red can (glass bottles are even better). I have been for years. So bad that my parents used to buy me Coke pillows, blankets, and other branded trinkets that I rarely had a use for. Although, I do still have the light-up Coke phone somewhere in the garage waiting for me to finish the game room where it can be hung on the wall.
So, I was pretty stoked when I saw the announcement of the Coca-Cola Freestyle machine. The Freestyle is a touch screen vending machine that allows the user to completely customize their vending experience. Want a regular old Coke? It’s yours. Want an Orange flavored Coke? It too can be yours. But, wait… I know you’re thinking “they don’t make orange Coke”. Well, now YOU can.
Assuming you’ve clicked through directly to this blog post, check out the video to the right for a little more explanation and a live demo.
One of the coolest features of the new vending machine from a marketing perspective is the ability for it to track and report the various mixes that it creates. From what I understand, it somehow uses RFID tags to track and report what the customers create. So, if a location sells a crap-load (and yes that’s an official marketing term) of a flavor, the Coca-Cola company may choose to bottle that flavor and sell it in that specific market. Pretty damn smart stuff there.
Right now, the machines are being tested in Atlanta and select cities in California. If all goes well, look for the machines in a convenience store near you.