Coke Redefines Business Intelligence with RFID based Freestyle Drink Dispenser

Filed in archive Companies on June 9, 2009

As a youngster I still remember the time when New Coke bit the dust and its just one of the several varieties of coke which failed to take of in the market. Even the market seems to have changed since then and has become more competitive of late therefore one mistake and millions of dollars could end down the drain.

In order to counter such failures in the market Coca Cola has developed a high tech soft drink dispenser which will very soon make debut in fast food restaurants across U.S. Dubbed as Freestyle Drink Dispenser, it will be mixing over hundred types of juice, sodas, flavored waters and tea to the delight of customers.

The machine holds thirty cartridges where every cartridge comes equipped with an RFID tag and the dispenser includes an RFID reader. This ensures tracking of what customers are drinking and in what quantity. The collected data would be sent back to the company which would help in generating and accessing reports regarding how successful the new drink is, its regional preference and answer other marketing issues.

It is expected to emerge as an inexpensive means of conducting test marketing and score over Coke's current product model which involves bottling and advertising of new drinks for several years and which are taken off the shelf only when they fail costing losses worth millions of dollars.

If the pilot proves successful then Coca Cola will be savings millions of dollars it spends in its marketing effort.