I spotted this article over at Mashable.com today and thought I’d share it. What a great example of how Coca-Cola can tap into crowdsourcing in real time to understand how fans and customers think drinks. And for customers who live in a larger town, there is a good chance they can take their ideas and quickly turn them around into a reality via a vending machine that dispenses their own unique concoction. I wonder how an application like this can help Facebook fans of other companies create their favorite restaurant meal, custom footwear or even the latest automobile design?
Coca-Cola on Wednesday rolled out a Facebook app that lets you mix your own Coke drink. The app is no online-only experiment, though: Real Coke vending machines that do the same thing are rolling out across the country.
The Coca-Cola Freestyle app, created by digital marketing agency 360i, lets you mix a drink using 125 Coke beverages, including Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta and Powerade. After choosing each, you hold down a “push” button to fill a cup of your choosing. When you fill your cup, you can name it. There’s also a game designed for the iPhone and Android formats.
The Facebook Page also directs you to Freestyle vending machines in your area and lets you ask for one in your town. There are now about 1,500 such machines in restaurants like Wendy’s, Burger King and Five Guys, but Coke plans to make more noise about Freestyle next year. The company is working with ad agency Ogilvy & Mather on a 2012 ad campaign for Freestyle, according to Advertising Age. Coke would like the apps to eventually generate a 2-D barcode, which could be scanned at one of the machines to create a blend, according to Ad Age.
I am very excited about the new developments in bioplastics research! Within the past few years there have been numerous new-to-market plastic products that either decompose in the landfill or make the recycling process cheaper, easier and more environmentally friendly. One company from France has launched a plastic “coffee pod” (like the kind used in…
There is a lot of buzz these days about clean energy technology and where U.S. companies are putting their money. A few hours ago Google Inc. announced that for the first time it is making a sizable investment in renewable power as a way to accelerate the deployment of the latest clean energy technology while…
Five Models for Sustainable Growth Part One of a Five-Part Series We’ve been receiving more and more inquiries lately about business model innovation. Companies recognize that their current models are becoming less effective, and that new upstarts are changing the game. It’s a fact: the lifespan of business models is shrinking, and companies cannot afford…
A new smartphone app is allowing inventors and entrepreneurs to meet and network with key influencers in their own geographic locations. The “influencer of the month series” is a free iOS app from HereOnBiz, and features a geo-location service that helps bring together like-minded professionals. Influencers simply select a city in which they want to…
Reality television has been around for awhile, but thanks to technology and a strategic partnership viewers will soon get to be a part of television history. The first interactive cartoon series is set to be launched in the U.S. in the next few months through production company RDF. RDF is the company behind shows like…
Coke is making a bold –and green–statement about the environment in the Philippines. This billboard was launched June 23 in Makati City. The 60 x 60 – foot advertisement is surrounded by hundreds of green Fukien tea plants, which can pull pollutants from the air. The campaign is part of the Coca-Cola Philippines’ Live Positively…
