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BOS Tweet for Tea
In 2012 we were just starting to understand the potential that some of the social media API’s offered. It dawned on me that we could harness user social actions and turn them into triggers for actions in physical installations.
The idea was simple, trade social currency for a free ice tea by hacking a vending machine. An innovative way to sample and generate talkability at the same time.
Whenever someone tweeted #BOStweet4tea they were rewarded with a free BOS Ice Tea.
How do you generate buzz around an innovative new product with a tiny budget? BOS Ice Tea came to us for a fun way to grow the BOS brand on social and to get cans in hand.
BEV connects to the Twitter Streaming API and registers the configured hashtag as a filter. All tweets containing the hashtag on the entire Twitter network are then streamed to the vending machine. It checks every Tweet’s location settings, and compares it with its own location boundaries (also configurable).
Over 50 news pieces across online, print, radio and TV covered the launch. Local coverage included Cape Talk, CNBC Africa and The Cape Times. International coverage included BBC Technology, Forbes, France24, The Bangkok Post and Cool Hunting.
To hack the vending machine’s ‘brain’ we worked with some pretty clever coders and engineers from RAAK. The lead creative technologist on the job was fellow South African, Adriaan Pelzer. Here’s a video of Adriaan in action doing some of the initial location tests for the vending machine hack.
When a Tweet is found to be within the boundaries, a drink is dispensed, and the machine deactivates itself for set period. During this time, the screen name field of the tweet is displayed on the LED display, alternated every five seconds by the number of seconds left before the machine becomes active again.
