Case Study: P&G Social Media Vending Machine

By Dean Schwartz (“SWAG Master”): The Latin Billboard Awards are the pinnacle of Hispanic music and popular culture. They took over the Bank United Center this year in Miami on April 24, and SOBO Concepts was front and center in partner with Citizen Relations, Procter & Gamble’s (P&G) public relations agency, to launch our one-of-a-kind social media vending machine!

The event was a pre-show award party. Oh, and are you wondering what in the world a social media vending machine is? We thought you might.

A social media vending machine works like a regular vending machine does – it dispenses products, after all – but it doesn’t operate on money like a regular one. Instead, it pops out exciting, customized premium products when users enter a social media command – like entering their Twitter login to send a tweet, or jumping on Facebook to make a status update.

As a result, it works for both parties – the brand that creates the machine receives important customer data, and the customer receives a really cool product that they can’t get anywhere else. Plus, it generates a ton of buzz as a unique customer experience.

In P&G’s case, we wrapped the machine and programmed it to dispense different premiums depending upon the hashtags that users entered that night. For example, if a user wanted a Covergirl makeup product, they had to tweet unique numbered hashtag, followed by #covergirl, and just like that – the prize would be released.

As the purveyors of this unique machine, the first step is to design the skin of the machine – fully customizable with a variety of design cues and colors – and to help the client make determinations on which type of premium products should be stocked inside, especially in the context of the audience that will be at the event in question.

That part is especially important to us. It’s about design and style, sure, but our solutions have to work for our clients. Bottom line. Because our reputation depends on it. Take for example the folks at Sprint, who also had a booth on the same night at the Latin Billboards. They were giving away phone cases that had their logo on them, along with an invitation to like them on Facebook.

The problem, of course, is that the product has more to do with what Sprint would want than what the recipients would want, which is why we like to be involved with the process every step of the way.

As for the rental of one of these machines, our standard plan involves a one-month rental agreement. Imagine how much buzz you could generate with 30 days-worth of fun premiums. Want to get your hands on a rental? Give us a call at 888-752-0432. (Or check out our 2023 “Must-Haves” for Tech SWAG, and how to use RFID, NFC, or QR code technology in your SWAG. Follow the links for more info). Oh, and a special shout out to Kim and Cristine for all of your help launching the vending machine at this great event!