Coke Digital Vending, Now with AI

Long time follower here of the Coke Freestyle experience, saw prototypes of it with suggestions of how it could be adapted to supply chain and user experiences, as far back as 2008.  Also have seen Pepsi Spire systems in the same vein.  Are these all drink user vending and now experience centers?

How Coca-Cola's AI Approach To Customer Experience Can Boost Its Performance    Trefis Team , Contributor, in Forbes.

As reported in recent months, The Coca-Cola Company is working on a smart digital vending machine powered by artificial intelligence which is likely to be launched in New Zealand soon, followed by a planned launch in the U.S. The company is looking to connect its vending machines to the cloud, giving it an ability to control them digitally. This technology upgrade will allow Coca-Cola to remotely adjust the prices of products sold via these machines (digitally) making it easier to introduce discounts and promotions at a specific location. Further, customers will be able to buy their drinks from this vending machine via smartphones even before reaching the machine. This feature gives customers the ability to buy drinks for their family or friends in any location including another country.

This technology will also allow the company to send personalized messages to its customers and provide a chat platform. Users can opt for conversations with the vending bot via Facebook Messenger and, based on the customer’s data collected via Facebook, the bot will customize its response. As companies increasingly look to make the retail experience more convenient and digitally engage customers, this vending machine upgrade can help Coca-Cola understand customer behavior better and modify its products/services accordingly. We expect that this will ultimately have an impact beyond vending machines. .... " 

Pepsi and Design Thinking: Pepsi Spire

From CGT: PepsiCo CEO Turns Design Thinking into Strategy
Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo's CEO, is ranked No. 15 on Forbes list of The 100 Most Powerful Women. In an interview this week, Nooyi speaks about making PepsiCo more design driven, the challenges in changing a culture, and her proudest achievement. .... " 

Let's take Pepsi Spire, our new touchscreen fountain machine. Other companies with dispensing machines have focused on adding a few more buttons and combinations of flavors. ... Our design guys essentially said that we're talking about a fundamentally different interaction between consumer and machine. ... We basically have a gigantic iPad on a futuristic machine that talks to you and invites you to interact with it. It tracks what you buy so that in the future, when you swipe your ID, it reminds you of the flavor combinations you tried last time and suggests new ones. It displays beautiful shots of the product, so when you add lime or cranberry, it actually shows those flavours being added; you experience the infusion of the flavour, as opposed to merely hitting a button and out comes the finished product   ... " 

Pepsico Innovation Paying Off

CPG and Beverage companies pushing innovation.

PepsiCo R&D chief: ‘Over $6bn in net revenue is coming from innovation’
By Kacey Culliney+, 03-Aug-2015

PepsiCo’s research and development used to be focused on brand refreshes but we’re now working with a whole new strategy that is ‘paying off in buckets’, says its global R&D head. ... " 

PepsiCo R&D

PepsiCo overhauls R&D to innovate, boost sales
A major research and development overhaul helped PepsiCo innovate with new products, including Tostitos Cantina and Mountain Dew Kickstart, which have earned the company more than $100 billion each in annual sales over the past three years. "This resulted in a more focused innovation agenda, a greater emphasis on development platforms rather than product line extensions only and more efficient allocation of development resources as we have significantly reduced redundant efforts through better coordination," CEO Indra Nooyi said.PepsiCo overhauls R&D to innovate, boost sales

A major research and development overhaul helped PepsiCo innovate with new products, including Tostitos Cantina and Mountain Dew Kickstart, which have earned the company more than $100 billion each in annual sales over the past three years. "This resulted in a more focused innovation agenda, a greater emphasis on development platforms rather than product line extensions only and more efficient allocation of development resources as we have significantly reduced redundant efforts through better coordination," CEO Indra Nooyi said. .... "

Pepsi Spire: Late Stage, on Shelf Customization

We saw early versions of Coke's Freestyle machine, an example of fashionable late stage drink differentiation that is now common in the marketplace.  An example of good engagement, provided by on site customization, but how profitable is it?  Now Pepsi is to follow with a similar idea, previewed in AdAge.  There is a claim that the Pepsi machine will let you invent your own beverage, but won't let you create a terrible beverage.  A hint at selection intelligence? Can selective product development intelligence be delivered to the consumer at point of purchase?  The ultimate end-stage differentiation.  And how can this be demonstrated to the purchaser?

More from Pepsi.  @Pepsispire

Virtual Reality in Advertising

In Adage:  Next new thing to impress and engage consumers?   Compare it to augmented reality often discussed here, which today uses less hardware. And its connection to game interaction.   " .... It's a bit like the leap marketers such as Coca-Cola, HBO and Nissan are taking into the nascent world of virtual reality. Well aware of the hurdles agencies, brands and the media must overcome first—not the least of which are the current cost of the technology and the cumbersomeness of the equipment—these first-movers are wagering on a marketing future where goggles can be bought at Walmart for $300 and brands can deliver visceral consumer experiences. Imagine Budweiser taking you behind the plate at the World Series or Pepsi giving you a virtual front-row seat at a Beyoncé concert. ... " 

Pepsi's Touch Tower

Touch Tower, which  appears to be Pepsi's response to Coke's Freestyle machines, which now seem to be common but not universal.  Coke says there are about 7000 of these in place and are meant to drive demand. We saw the Coke version in its early forms.    From a supply chain perspective, this introduces the concept of  late stage differentiation.  It also has the potential for gathering new kinds of point of sale information about consumer choice.   More in AdAge.  It is unclear if the images shown are final designs.   And in WSJ.

PepsiCo Expands Digital Incubator

Continued progress in how companies interact with digital innovation.  Something we started in 2000 via innovation center and related technology efforts:

" ... During this year's SXSW, PepsiCo will announce the expansion of incubator program PepsiCo10, which matches digital startups with Pepsi brands, to India and Brazil. The company also is sponsoring a "What If? Unconference" at SXSW, which asks participants to brainstorm innovative uses for digital solutions.... "