My Imajinashin

By now, the new coke fountains that produce over 100 flavours of beverage have started rolling out to a number of quick serve restaurants so there’s a decent chance that you’ve seen and/or used one of them. They’re cool. No doubt, being able to order Sprite with a blast of cherry flavour made my sandwich taste even better. While the new machines carry some issues with them (I wonder how the restaurants feel about the increased turn time due to a queue at the self serve fountains since there’s only one spout and I also wonder how these machines can work in small spaces) but the insight delivered by these machines makes it a no-brainer for Coke to invest time and energy into figuring out how to solve the nagging issues.

That’s right. I said the insight delivered. You see, Coke is using these machines to collect consumer data directly from the field. The machine makes a database record everytime a drink is served that tells them which flavour the consumer has mixed. So, instead of having to ask consumers what new flavour of soft drink they would like to find in a 12 pack at their local supermarket, they can just go to the database and see what consumers actually choose in the marketplace. These machines, combine a great consumer experience and provide Coca-Cola with a 24/7 user testing lab that couldn’t be duplicated in anywhere near it’s scale or scope. Much more accurate than surveying people at the mall, right?

As it happens, even with an overwhelming number of choices, the most poured drink remains Classic Coca-Cola. Interestingly though, nearly every potential flavour combination gets poured at least once every day from high volume machines.

Don’t be surprised if Coca-Cola sbrings several new soft drink flavours to market that are strong performers straight out of the gate. Thanks to their investment in collecting meaningful consumer insight, They don’t need to guess what consumers like… They know.