At the recently concluded South by Southwest (SXSW) 2014 conference, Oreo showcased a vending machine that created custom Oreo cookies based on what was trending on Twitter and then converting the trends into custom Oreo flavors and colors.
Here is a behind the scenes look of how the vending machine worked…
Since the time I started writing this blog, I have come across many innovative vending machines. Some I featured right here on Ramble.
Now to add to this collection, here is an invisible vending machine from Coca-Cola Turkey that becomes visible only when couples walk by. The machine was created specially for Valentine’s Day (last week) and was installed in Istanbul to spread happiness Coca-Cola style. 😎
As part of its global “Open Happiness” campaign, Coca-Cola has set up interactive vending machines in various parts of the world. In Singapore the consumers could hug for a Coke, in Korea they could dance for a Coke…
and now in Stockholm they can sing for a Coke. 🙂 The vending machine has been placed at the Royal Institute of Technology with the sign “Sing For Me” in the front…
Kenco Millicano’s whole bean instant coffee is the closest thing to a proper coffee from a vending machine. However people have a negative perceptions in general about drinking instant coffee from a machine. So to engage and excite people enough to want to substitute their traditional coffee shop coffee for an instant in a vending machine, Kenco Millicano along with Leo Burnett London came up with a talking vending machine. The voice for the machine was provided by comedian Mark Oxtoby, who spent a whole day in Soho Square interacting with passerby’s…
Similarly in Hong Kong, Levi’s along with ad agency TBWA came up with a talking phone booth dubbed the “Levi’s Summer Hotline”. In the booth two popular local radio hosts connected via video from a nearby Levi’s store and challenged visitors to answer questions or do crazy stunts. The crazier the stunt, the bigger the prize, which was printed out in the booth like a receipt to be redeemed at the nearby Levi’s stores. The booth got half a million people to enter and interact over a three day period, and drove sales up by 30%!
To see more examples of interactive vending machines click here.
Interactive vending machines are a great way to get consumer participation and engagement on ground. There are tones of examples out there, of which some have been covered here and some archived on SunMatrixTV. In this latest example ad agency Clemenger BBDO Adelaide has set out to see how far people will go for a free pack of Fantastic Delites (snack food).
So a machine dubbed the “Delite-O-Matic” was created, that gave people a free pack of Fantastic Delites by means of pushing a button hundreds of times or performing challenges. It was then put out on the streets to prove that because Fantastic Delites taste so good, people would go to incredible lengths to get them. Well, they weren’t wrong if this video is anything to go by… 😎
Argentina is the country with most football fans in the world. But in their northern Salta province, the New Zealand of Argentina, everybody loves rugby! So Salta Beer set out to give the rugby fans from Salta a live and unique experience.
Their agency Ogilvy Argentina created the first of its kind vending machine that gives rugby players what they want most for doing what they do best i.e. one cold Salta Beer per tackle. 😎
The game of vending machine one-upsmanship between Coca-Cola and PepsiCo continues with Coke’s “Friendship Machine”.
To celebrate International Friendship Day last August, Coca-Cola in Argentina planted machines that appear to be about 12 feet tall and require that you ask a buddy for a boost to use it. As a reward the Coke machine dispensed two Cokes instead of one.
The “Friendship Machine” plays off of Coke’s “Happiness Machine” viral video, which shows a Coke machine spitting out free soda and pizzas to a group of delighted students. Coke also updated that idea in February with a “Happiness Truck” video that features a Coca-Cola truck giving out Cokes along with surfboards, beach toys and sunglasses.
PepsiCo this week has responded to Coke’s experiments with their very own “Social Vending Machine” that lets you gift free Pepsis to friends and strangers via a text message.
What if someone bottled the water that millions in developing countries drink every day and offered it on the streets of New York?
For just a buck, during World Water Week (March 22-29), New Yorkers in the Union Square Park area were able to enjoy the benefits of Dirty Water. It was available in a wide variety of choices like Malaria, Cholera or even Typhoid Dirty Water — and currently has 900 million consumers.
New Yorkers were startled to find Yellow Fever or Hepatitis Dirty Water bottles. They looked at the vending machine in disgust. Though no one drank Dirty Water, many did donate to the cause. This idea of “selling” dirty water was inspired by UNICEF’s promise that every dollar donated would provide safe drinking water to 40 children for a day.
This eye-opening Dirty Water initiative from Casanova Pendrill New York is still active since people can continue donating online at tapproject.org or via text message. Text TAP or AGUA to UNICEF (864233) to make a $5 donation.
Dirty Water is not an actual product, but a real problem for millions of children around the world!
A Coca-Cola vending machine is transformed into a happiness machine delivering “doses” of happiness…
