About two dozen soda machines at a mall in Colorado where restocked about every other week. The machines were clean and well place throughout the mall, however machines at other locations were being refilled weekly.
After hanging around the mall for a while we notice that the patrons were avoiding the machines, they didn’t want to go anywhere near them.
We were going to fix that.
We replaced all the pictures on the front of the machines, branding them to invoke a visual stimulus. This included pictures that catered to the needs and expectations of customers.
We then changed the lighting, color of the buttons, added a border and carpets around the machines, even added benches and lounge areas. We did a handful of other tricks around the mall and kios (again, not blatantly advertising soda, just enhancing the environment they are sold in).
These tactics worked and the company was receiving complaints that the machines were empty every third day. The machines where left for a 90 day test with great success.
The client felt that our tactics were just a fluke: we then removed all of our “techniques” –soda sales dropped instantly.
They immediately called us and we returned a month later to return the machines to their selling potential.
*Note: We would like to say that there did turn out to be issues with many of the suggestions we had talked to the client about. The machines, although were owned by the client, had to have approved branding on them from the distributors. Thus, any changes to the machine, for whatever reason, had to go through the distributors corporate office and approved. Because of the removal of the branding as well as the modifications to the machines surroundings (considered visual noise) the approval for the changes were denied. Some of the wording in a distribution contract is insane.
We were able to make and keep some major changes to the environment of the machines that greatly effected the bottom line.