There’s No Stopping The Social Vending Revolution by Retailers

Social media reaches into the homes, smartphones, tablets, and thoughts of every person daily. However, people do not usually equate social media with vending machines, yet that is exactly what is happening. Vending machine manufacturers have seen the uptick in use of social media as a vending machine campaign to expand their current market. The social vending industry requires users to perform a given task on social media in the hopes of winning a prize. Finding a vending machine for sale doesn’t quite describe how the masses have responded to the use of social media vending machine campaigns.

All-Star Prizes and the Cincinnati Reds

With baseball season officially in full swing, the Cincinnati Reds want to show appreciation to their fans, and a social media vending machine campaign was an excellent option. Users would line up at the vending machine, and the machine would generate a unique Twitter hashtag for @AllStarGame. The vending machine provider would then randomly select All-Star Prizes for different people using the corresponding unique hashtag.

Fans won a variety of prizes, which included autographed baseballs by players in the Hall of Fame, former All-Stars, and current Reds players. In fact, at least one person won tickets to the iconic All-Star Game in July 2015.

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New Balance’s Free T-Shirt Promotion

Another social media vending machine is spitting out free t-shirts as a promotional product for a coming New Balance store.  However, some people were skeptical as to if the machine even had any t-shirts at all. Upon reading the Instagram post of one concerned follower, New Balance Philly advised people to try to get to the machine early since it is refilled every morning.

In addition to a free shirt, the Philly New Balance vending machine campaign promises to send out a gift card, valued between $10 and $500, to anyone who happens to score one of the free shirts. The shirts boast white lettering among a red background, and #LoveNBPhilly sends out the message of hitting up the vending machine.

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More businesses are looking to increase their profits, and the vast inter-connectedness of social media offers an excellent outlet for combining vending machines and social media. By promoting events, products or services, a vending machine manufacturer can enhance an organization’s image without expensive marketing campaigns. Candy bars and sodas won’t be the only things in a vending machine for sale anymore; the selections will be amazing prizes, free gifts, and opportunities for once-in-a-lifetime events.

Battery Recycling Vending Machine a Great ‘Eco’ Idea

Concerns over protecting the environment and conservation efforts have grown remarkably in the past few years, and the topic of batteries remains high on this list. Unfortunately, society’s rapid reward and disposal mindset has led to a major problem concerning batteries. Batteries have the potential to decimate entire ecosystems, points out Emma Hutchings, since one tossed battery could contaminate up to 20-square-meters of soil. Fortunately, Hutchings revealed how Russia is partnering with local businesses and vending machine revolutionaries to address this problem.

Battery Recycling Vending Machine

In Moscow, a typical battery recycling center gathers about 1,000 batteries in a single month. Once the battery recycling vending machine, which allowed users to pay for items with used batteries, had been installed, the total number of batteries collected in this area soared to more than 8,000. This equates to 160,000-square-meters of ground space protected by simply installing this Think Blue Machine.

Items in the Machine

Now, many might argue that batteries are not a viable way to pay for goods, such as foods or drinks, due to the potential for cross-contamination. However, the battery recycling vending machine isn’t primarily for these items. For example, users could pay two batteries to get a stress ball, four batteries to get a bottle of water, or six batteries for an eco-friendly t-shirt. All of the items within the Think Blue Machine are selected for their ability to encourage more people to protect the environment and stay healthy, i.e. water instead of soda.

Future of Battery Recycling

Russia is responsible for the disposal of up to 15 million batteries annually, which equates to millions of cubic miles of toxic soil in dumping grounds. Volkswagen is no stranger to the battery industry; each vehicle uses a battery for starting the engine, except in electric vehicles. While society becomes more aware of the potential hazards for not properly disposing of batteries, eco vending machines like the Think Blue Machine could be the solution to much more than recycling single batteries. The machine could work like an exchange; providing new batteries in exchange for 10 used batteries. Ultimately, the battery manufacturer and the recycling organization make money in this way.

Although the Think Blue Machine was designed expressly for recycling batteries and encouraging eco-friendly thoughts among industrial cities, this could prove to be a venture to use across many other landscapes. The applications for a recycling vending machine could include aluminum cans, glass, plastics, and more. The only real question that remains is how will future generations want to pay for the things they want?

Sources:

https://www.psfk.com/2015/04/volkswagen-vending-machine-batteries-money-think-blue-campaign.html