Coke lets you create your own drink on Facebook!

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After reading the Facebook case, I was thinking about something my uncle told me a few months ago. He lives in the USA and he told me about a project of a friend of him. A few years ago, this friend had an idea for vending machines. Instead of just buying a Coke or a Fanta, this guy thought you can let the vending machine mix ingredients you choose and make your own beverage.

Many people liked the idea, even the global leader in the beverage industry, Coca Cola. And if Coca Cola likes your idea, it must be good! Coca-Cola Freestyle® is the brand name for a new Coca Cola fountain dispenser that uses microdosing technology to dispense more than 100 sparkling and still beverage brands from a single freestanding unit. In august 2011 Coca Cola rolled out a Facebook app that lets you mix your own Coke drink. It is not just an online experiment, real Coke vending machines are already rolled out across the States.

The app lets you mix a drink using 125 Coke beverages, including Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta and Powerade. After choosing each, you hold down a “push” button to fill a cup of your choosing. When you fill your cup, you can name it. Coke would like the apps to eventually generate a 2-D barcode, which could be scanned at one of the machines to create a blend.

The Facebook page also directs you to Freestyle vending machines in your area (in the USA of course) and lets you ask for one in your town. There are now about 1,500 such machines in restaurants like Wendy’s, Burger King and Five Guys. I think the idea of using Facebook for sharing ideas for mixing different tastes is a very good idea. A quick look tells us the Facebook page is used very often and it gives you a good indication of which mixes are popular.

I think Facebook is a good social medium for this product, because everyone can give their opinion about the different mixes and try to invent new tastes. If Coca Cola brings this concept to, for example, Europe, Facebook can be one of the most important marketing tools. You can reach millions of people with it.

But the question is, do you think the product will be a succes in Europe?

The following links will give you a better idea of the product.

Here you can find all the different tastes people invented:

http://www.facebook.com/cocacolafreestyle

Here you can find the article I’ve found about the product:

http://mashable.com/2011/08/24/coke-lets-you-create-your-own-drink-on-facebook-and-in-the-real-world/

Here you can find the official website:

http://coca-colafreestyle.com/