Coca-Cola’s innovation group wanted to revolutionize the vending experience by integrating a 46”LCD touch screen into the front of a standard vending machine. The machine was to explore the possibilities of advertising, be an interactive display of technology, and create an immersive brand experience, all while vending beverages to consumers in a quick and user-friendly fashion.

Coca-Cola wanted to change how consumers interact with vending machines, by finding new ways to foster the connection between the consumer and the brand. The main challenges included incorporating advertising and vending in a manner that consumers found both compelling and easy to use, creating a visual language to navigate the user experience in the same time as traditional vending machines, and creating an experience that immerses users in the Coca-Cola brands in new, exciting, and interactive ways. The goal was to wow consumers with a unique platform that boosts sales while leveraging ad revenue through compelling, interactive placement.

The first Multi-Media vending platform was taken to the Beijing Olympics in 2008. It then toured through Simon Malls on the D-Tour where lines of curious consumers formed to experience the new, interactive technology. The second Multi-Media vending platform was publicly debuted at the Consumer Electronics show where lines wrapped around the exhibit and bloggers and analysts conducted interviews, many of which are now posted on youtube and several top technology websites. In usability testing, the interface design resulted in quick adoption, demonstrating the success of the combined navigation and visual system on the touch platform.In one of the Brand's most valuable locations for reaching teens, malls, we have secured advertising presence at an efficiency rate of over 3X. Over the next 5 years it will provide millions of dollars of incremental marketing value to our teen marketing efforts.

Vending machines are the number two connection point for reaching consumers with the Coke brand (behind products on the shelf). Traditional machines score high on visibility but low on image. This machine is increasingly visible, with significantly higher image scores.

Among under 25 year olds, our score for "Hip and Contemporary" went from a 10% rating for traditional vending machines to 79% with the Multi-Media Coke Machine. Based on a 2008 Ipsos vending study.

The final design is based on simplicity and utilizes strong visual cues to quickly draw the consumers’ attention to the two to three options they have on each interactive screen. The design focuses the user on a core engagement screen and drives all functionality off of this main touch interface. Both advertising and products are displayed on this main screen; however the clean design divides the interface into distinct sections to avoid consumer confusion. Finally, the use of 3-D and motion graphics on the individual product screens immerses the users in the Coca-Cola brands and illustrates the capabilities of the new Multi-Media vending machine.