Coke gets juiced

New gizmo does a lot of things better than anyone else

By Mark Alexander Posth

Coke has unvelied a point of purchase machine that mixes drinks and sends immediate user feedback to Coke headquarters to develop new products.

Coke's ultrahigh-tech "Freestyle" allows the company to test products quickly, manage inventory, and gives consumers 100 different drink choices.

The machines are like a robotic army, gathering intelligence for coke

Customers will fill orders through the machine and also create their own custom drinks. Everything is reported to headquarters, so coke will be able to tap the cutting edge of consumer preferences.

What are the lessons? A key breakthrough is allowing cusomers to be co-creators of actual physical content, much in the same way that social media allows co-creation of digital content.

And with this capability, Coke leapfrogs its competitors -- if they interpret the data correctly, of course.

The only downside--for other companies-- is the Freestyle took many years to develop. How will they catch up?

Mark Alexander Posth specializes in creating exceptional online strategies. Email Mark at mark@mposth.com.