The Coca-Cola Co. recently expanded its test of its new 100-flavor-plus Freestyle dispenser, adding test markets in Southern California and Utah.
To increase awareness of the new dispenser, the company has launched a Twitter and Facebook page. according to a story in Marketing Daily. The Facebook fan page has more than 1,000 members since the launch at the end of July, Helen Tarleton, senior communications manager at Coca-Cola, just grabbed the Twitter page, @ccfreestyle, late last week.
As of 12:45 p.m. Eastern time today, the Twitter account had only 17 followers and two updates, one directing followers to the company's Facebook page.
The new dispenser borrowed microdosing technology from the medical industry to use high concentrate branded flavor oils stored in cassettes about the size of a printer cartridge. The cassettes are identified by radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, allowing operators to change them easily.
According to Marketing Daily, the RFID technology also is used to monitor, track and maintain dispenser operations as well as to provide real-time business analytics about product consumption and preferences.
From Marketing Daily:
"Consumers also have begun to video their experience with the Freestyle machines and upload the content to Google's video sharing site, YouTube."Tarleton believes combining consumer feedback on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter with data from the Freestyle machines will help Coca-Cola provide consumers with more choices. Consumers can find a full list of southern Calif. locations testing the machine on the company's Facebook page."
