Even though we happen to be Coke fans, we have to admit when it comes to tasty social media campaigns, Pepsi is the tastiest drink in town. The cola company has knocked its competitors on their fizzy behinds. From Twitter to Facebook and beyond, Pepsi has come up with one groundbreaking social media maneuver after the next. Now the soda giant has found a way to use social media to literally give soda to their fans.
Pepsi’s Be Social Vending Machine reinvents the old soda pop chine of yesteryear. The idea is much like other apps from brands like Starbucks that connect users with their products. Pepsi takes it a step further. With the Be Social Vending Machine, Pepsi drinkers can gift their friends with actual Pepsi products. Pepsi fans use the machine pick out the drink they want to gift, enter their friend’s number and a short message along with a redeemable code good for a free Pepsi product. The app allows customers to see the nutritional information on the side of the can just like they would in the store. The machine is loaded with interactive branded fun. The touchscreen elements invite consumers to click on the product they love like an old-fashioned vending machine while sharing it with friends on Facebook.
While all of this is fun for the customers, the implications with something like social vending are huge. Companies have been offering deals to their followers via social media for years, but social vending is a super hybrid between social media and shopping. Since Pepsi has been on the forefront of social media marketing, we can assume other brands are right behind them with vending machine type of ideas of their own.
But let’s hear what you all have to say: Are we over this super social brand of marketing, or do we still love to get social with big name brands? Sound off in the comments below!
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