Lets Get It Right The First Time Vending And Digital Advertising

As touchscreen interfaces proliferate on networked vending machines, the age-old dream of using vending machines as advertising media has reawakened. This time, it very well may work, but it will need to be seen in context and implemented in ways that customers will find at least useful and at best, enjoyable.

Soft-drink bottlers have been using their machines to display advertising since before World War II, and this has worked well: it reminds the passerby of an appealing product and, if that reminder evokes desire, the machine offers immediate satisfaction. It also has proven valuable as a medium for outdoor advertising in municipalities that restrict commercial signage. This can work with other kinds of snack and beverage venders, too, usually in a more generic way.

Beyond that, the fact that vending machines are found where people congregate has suggested that they might be employed to display advertising in general. This idea has been around for a long time, but prior to networked venders that could interact with patrons in ways beyond simply vending the desired product, it has been difficult to put into effect. Advertisers could not be sure of what they were buying, and it was difficult to gauge effectiveness. A lack of effective program oversight also severely curtailed programs built around supplier-subsidized branded machines.

A vending machine with a video graphic display panel is a much more attractive proposition, especially if that display is integrated with a payment system that identifies the patron. Today's cashless options include many that possess this feature, often working through a loyalty program or some other promotional incentive.

So far, so good. Being shown an ad for an available product and offered a deal for purchasing it does not make any demands on the consumer. Vending machines serving affinity groups in locations of specific types obviously can offer fairly precise demographic targeting, and inviting an immediate response from the purchaser to a new product or a special offer can provide immediate feedback that few other retail methods can match. The prospect of upgrading to new technology that can increase sales and customer satisfaction with new payment options and increasing route efficiency by monitoring machine inventories and collections becomes even more appealing if it also opens the door to an additional revenue stream.

It is possible, though, that there may be a down side. The danger can be avoided with a little imagination and common sense, but recent developments in the great world suggest that these qualities are not as abundant as one might like.

It is important not to lose sight of what advertising is, and what it can and cannot do. The whole object of advertising is to inform people about something that they'll like, and persuade them to buy it from you.

This used to be much better understood than it is at present. Whatever one may think of the advertising industry in its great age (as satirized in "Mad Men"), those who were involved in it were keenly aware that you do not sell people anything by infuriating them. Recent news stories have dealt with "ad blocking" software, which is especially attractive to users of mobile phones. Current advertising practice seems increasingly to favor writing an ad -- often including enormous graphic files that blot up bandwidth -- to the screen, overlaying the content that the user is attempting to read. This naturally inspires in that user a desire to stop this from happening, and an intense hatred for the perpetrators. This should be obvious, but apparently it isn't. Some digital marketers have taken to calling those who install ad blockers "thieves," the conceit being that they are "stealing" the content.

We think they might remember the late Yogi Berra's rhetorical question, "If people aren't going to come to the ball park, how are you going to stop them?"

The point is that vending can avoid this much more easily than many other businesses can. A brief, entertaining message on the screen while someone is standing in front of a vender can be entirely positive -- as long as it is intelligently presented so as not to interfere with or delay the process of making and paying for a selection.

Machines that can interact with users' cellphones also can present material that will reinforce consumers' fondness for the service provider. We can imagine a workplace service system in which the location personnel could opt to receive a message, as they arrived in the morning, that would inform them of the micromarket's or refrigerated food vender's luncheon menu. Such a thing certainly can be used to communicate promotional offers and otherwise invite interaction, but we think that must be done with a light touch, discreetly and with ample opt-out (and "not-now") provisions. We don't think anyone -- not even a "millennial" -- wants to be relaxing in a quiet bistro with a congenial companion and a bottle of wine, and suddenly get an urgent text message about a buy-one, get-one-free offer.

Done intelligently, the steps into this digital future can be lucrative and fun. Let's not screw it up.