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Pepsi Like Machine trades soda for Facebook 'likes' (Video)

Pepsi blends digital signage and social media for branding, and for targeted customer data gathering.

June 6, 2013 by Christopher Hall — w, t

For decades pretty promo girls and boys have been handing out free samples at shopping malls and high-traffic intersections, hoping to entice consumers with their products — but it's high time for a high-tech rethinking of that idea, according to marketing agency TBWA Belgium and soda giant Pepsi.

So PepsiCo and TBWA teamed up to create and roll out The Pepsi Like Machine, a vending machine that doesn't accept money, only Facebook "likes."

The process of connecting through the vending machine is simple, according to TBWA. "Just use your smartphone, go to likepepsi.com, connect with your Facebook account, like the Pepsi Facebook page and get a free Pepsi," the company said on its website.

Using the smartphone's location settings, Pepsi was able to ensure that only people near the vending machine were offered a free sample, TBWA said. People without a smartphone could tap the 42-inch, built-in digital signage touchscreen to log-in on Facebook and get a free drink as well. Once the sample was handed out, a built-in timer made sure recipients were logged out from their Facebook accounts.

"That there are creative minds in Belgium is no secret. The Pepsi Like Machine is another good example of that," said Jan Verlinden, marketing director of PepsiCo, BeLux, on the TBWA website. "It's a new way of sampling which provides us with information, so we can immediately start communicating with our target audience."

Pepsi Belgium introduced the Like Machine at pop starlet Beyoncé's concerts in Antwerp, Belgium — and "people liked it, a lot," according to PepsiCo in the YouTube video posted of the deployment.

"And thanks to this new way of sampling, we know exactly who liked, tried and enjoyed an ice-cold Pepsi," the voice over said in the video.

According to CNET blogger Amanda Kooser, the Pepsi Like Machine isn't Pepsi's first foray into the intersection of social media and soda vending: As recently as two years ago, the brand rolled out a Social Vending System machine that linked to other machines in a network.

"The touchscreen and free sodas are certainly a draw, but the Pepsi Like Machine is all about collecting data," Kooser wrote in the CNET Crave blog. "The free samples no longer just disappear into the night, they're connected with personal information. It's an advertiser's dream."

Check out the video below from Pepsi and TBWA:

Learn more about digital signage and mobile interactivity.

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