BOS Ice Tea has launched the world’s first Twitter-activated sampling machine at Wembley Square, Cape Town, on Friday 15 June 2012.
‘Bev’ the whirling, bleeping, buzzing BOS Ice Tea-vending robot made her debut appearance at the 2012 Design Indaba, where she spent her time refreshing and amusing delegates and the public.
Vending Machine Tweaked To Respond To Tweets
Originally triggered using tokens and rigged with speakers and cameras to show her inner workings, Bev has recently been tweaked to respond to Tweets. She now delivers a refreshing BOS Ice Tea whenever a tweet is posted with her unique hashtag.
BOS’ digital agency, Cow Africa, worked closely with UK-based social media agency, RAAK, to fully realise the Twitter integration.
The response from the public has been amazing. The “BEV – incredible sampling robot” video on YouTube has gone viral and has been watched over 38, 000 times within a few weeks of launch. BOS Ice Tea and Bev have been trending on Twitter in the Cape and nationally with over 337, 000 Twitter mentions.
Press interest has been prolific including coverage by CNBC, Cape Talk, The BBC, Forbes, Cape Times, and scores of blogs, and marketing/tech web sites.
The BOS team are proud, excited, and enjoying their small role in the unfolding history of social media technology – and we’re right there alongside them!