Vengo And Signal 360 Bring New Mobile Engagement Capabilities To Vending

NEW YORK CITY -- Vengo Labs and Signal 360 have teamed up to introduce iBeacon and Sonic Audio-capable vending machines that enable mobile connectivity and interactivity when a user approaches the vender. Last April, Vengo Labs closed a $2 million financing round to expand its network of compact vending machines that deliver digital media at the point of purchase.

The New York City tech startup's latest machines sell or dispense samples of products ranging from chips and candies to over-the-counter medicines and headphones. The machines serve as a digital advertising network for such brands as Uber and Mondelez. Vengo says its vending machines are now in colleges, offices, bars and malls across New York City, Chicago and Boston. It has plans to expand the network to another three cities over the next six months.

Through its new partnership with Signal360, consumer messaging will be triggered by apps that are enabled by the Signal 360 SDK and can reportedly power such offers as contests, "unlocking" brand experiences. The collaboration is expected to drive a new level of interactivity between the vending machine and the user's mobile device.

Brands and retailers can extend their messaging to third-party apps like SnipSnap, as well as their own, to message their fans and shoppers through use of the Vengo machines as "touch points" to connect the digital and the physical elements.

"Vengo expands the ways and the places where CPG brands can reach, engage and sell to millennial consumers," said Vengo Labs cofounder and chief executive Brian Shimmerlik. "Signal 360's platform and technology allows us to engage consumers in deeper and more creative ways."

Through the use of immersive media integrated into the consumer experience, Vengo Labs says it is able to engage consumers, gather data and report it in real time to vendors and advertisers. The company said its machines engage 150,000 millennial consumers each month for an average of more than 30 seconds per engagement as it continues to expand its reach across major U.S. and Canadian media markets.

Signal 360 uses patented cross-platform "inaudible-sound" mobile notification technologies, as well as the emerging BLE (Bluetooth low energy) standard (iBeacon and Android variants) to wirelessly enable physical locations to reach mobile devices in real-time with highly targeted contextual content, based on users' location and interests.

In addition, the system's analytics engine processes data reported by these devices to allow companies to refine their marketing messaging and location experiences.