Coca-Cola introduces an interactive vending machine. They call it a fantastic partnership between marketing, technology and their agency.
I say it is about time. What took them so long to add a brand experience to the vending machine. It was a lifeless, emotionally devoid consumer touchpoint. Now they can begin to integrate marketing communications, promotions, data capture and the true brand essence into the 1000's of vending machines that exist in some very high-traffic locations across North America.
At the same time I find the quote by the Global Brand Manager about how the the interactive vending machine is a fantastic partnership between marketing, tech and sapient very telling of where the minds of marketers are. I for one feel that this should be the case with everything that an interactive agency does for their client. Marketing problems are not solved by banner ads, landing pages, email blasts but by pairing the right creative solution to the marketing challenges. The creative solution for an interactive team is just as much a creative solution rooted in technology as it is rooted in the standard understanding of "creative" (copywriting and art direction) that connects through the internal truths known as insights.
I have a feeling that the interactive vending machine was probably something that Sapient showed to Coca-Cola creative presentation after creative presentation, educating them how they could effectively integrate their campaigns into the technical solution. A company like Sapient didn't just bring this idea to Coca-Cola in 2008/09. I have a feeling that it was Coca-Cola that waited until 2008/09 to buy the idea.
...and I think we should start calling them IVM's. Our industry is dying for another acronym.
