Role of Vending Machines May Be Changing Ever seen a gumball machine that takes Foursquare checkins as payment?
“This gumball machine allows people to tell their friends they are at your location. That will appear on Facebook and Foursquare. They purchase a gumball to check in, or announce they are at a location through Foursquare,” explained DeAngelo. “There’s less than a second delay. You are purchasing it through social media currency. The value comes from the impression you can garner from someone checking in.”
This gumball machine allows people to tell their friends they are at your location. That will appear on Facebook and Foursquare. They purchase a gumball to check in, or announce they are at a location through Foursquare,” explained DeAngelo. “There’s less than a second delay. You are purchasing it through social media currency. The value comes from the impression you can garner from someone checking in.” Role of Vending Machines May Be Changing According to DeAngelo, this is no small thing. With the average Facebook user boasting 300 or more friends, a dozen check-ins announce the location to some 3,000 people for a minimal cost of ball gum.
DeAngelo admits he knows virtually nothing about the vending industry. What attracted him to bulk vending machines was their ubiquitous, familiar and instantly understandable nature. Everybody knows what a gumball machine is. The exchange is immediate — check in and get a gumball.
“You’re building ‘top of mind’ awareness,” he said. “You can either pay money for a piece of candy or have the potential to build a brand. It’s a slightly different way of thinking of the role of a vending machine.”
The same concept can be applied to nearly any machine with a coin mechanism or bill acceptor — think pool tables, dartboards, videogames and jukeboxes, among other coin-op staples in bars and taverns. Very similar technology can be applied to offer a free game or version of free play with a simple check-in.
Whether this merger of coin-op and social media will take off remains to be seen. However, DeAngelo’s selection of a bulk vender as his proof of concept speaks volumes about the ubiquity and familiarity of these classic little machines and the potential of their unlikely pairing with social media. You are watching The Role of Vending Machines May Be Changing at the Vending Business Show. For more blogs New To The Vending Business?
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Read more: Ad Exec Pairs Bulk Vending And Foursquare: Check In And Get Gumball
