SOS, a vending machine company offering feminine products, noticed that Vistar Media was driving consumer experience focused media in the digital-out-of-home sphere. The companies partnered to develop a supply side platform to offer insightful advertising inventory to a vast range of advertisers.
SOS and Vistar Media teamed up to bring vending machines featuring products geared for women in locations that typically don’t have those essentials. Provided
SOS, a creator and operator of interactive vending machines for public spaces, wanted to not only offer feminine hygiene brands in places that were commonly lacking in women’s health products, the female-founded company was also searching for a way to interact with consumers.
Vistar Media, a programmatic out-of-home promotional company, turned out to be the perfect ally.
SOS, created by co-CEOs Susanna Twarog and Robina Verbeek and launched in 2020, noticed that Vistar Media was driving consumer experience focused media in the digital-out-of-home sphere. The companies began working together to develop a supply side platform to offer insightful advertising inventory to a vast range of advertisers.
“We’ve been working with Vistar for several years now and they’re a really important partner for us, for what we’re building,” Twarog said in a Zoom interview with Digital Signage Today.
Before launching SOS, Verbeek and Twarog both worked in the finance industry. Having to travel often for work, they noticed most of the locations they visited didn’t carry the essential products they needed.
“It got to the point where it was a major frustration and inconvenience in our work and social life to have to try to take the time getting products we needed,” Twarog said. “We took this moment of frustration and said, ‘You know, when we’re at work, on the go, at a game, a hotel, we really want to elevate access to this category of products that we need’ in a transformative way.
“As opposed to the machines that were old, lacked inventory, broken and typically didn’t take different forms of payment, we thought, let’s create a completely transformed piece of hardware that delivers an elevated aesthetic and connects with the modern consumer who is interested in cashless and contactless payment, as well as information about the brand on the product they’re going to be using.”
For more than two years, SOS has created a connected network of smart vending machines stocked with essential products, including menstrual care, hair care, cosmetics, skin care and other items.
“To go ahead with that, we wanted to have the ability to use digital signage images and screens to elevate the user experience in the retail and the discovery moment about the brand, the product, the ingredients,” Twarog said, “but also serve really curated, high-value content on the same platform. We wanted to really drive an amenity for retail owners, commercial real estate locations and employers to place in these spaces that isn’t anything they’ve ever had. And, also (it’s) a value driver for brands looking to distribute products to audiences in spaces typically not available to them.”
Twarog said one of her biggest goals is to have SOS vending machines in large sports venues, such as stadiums and arenas. In recent months, the company has secured deals with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Boston Red Sox. Women who attend football and baseball games at TIAA Bank Field and Fenway Park now have quick access to feminine products.
As of May 20, SOS has opened vending machines in 11 locations — eight in Massachusetts and three in Florida. Sports and entertainment venues include FLA Live Arena, home of the NHL’s Florida Panthers, and Daily’s Place in Jacksonville.
By placing ads on SOS vending machines, Vistar Media has developed a highly-visible, high-impact message that customers can’t miss. The platform could feature exclusive content from SOS, or a campaign that blends the feminine hygiene supplier with another brand. Consumers get a valuable product when they really need it and are being introduced to other important products simultaneously.
Out of home media used to consist mostly of billboards that carried standalone advertising placements. But, in the past few years, DOOH has become increasingly popular, with brands hoping to provide customers with valuable information and an emotional experience as well.
“What’s really unique about digital-out-home versus other media channels is you get to deliver a message to consumers within specific environments and really seamlessly blend your advertising messaging to a particular moment in time,” Leslie Lee, SVP of marketing with Vistar Media, said in a Zoom interview with DST. “SOS is a great example of that. You know exactly the context in which you’re going to be reaching your audience so you can be really smart with the advertising and the messaging you choose to display to make it really relevant to the audience you’re reaching.”
The shift in promotional philosophy has bolstered companies such as SOS to take risks to reach customers.
“One thing that is really compelling about programmatic OOH as an offering is you can do that across a whole variety of touchpoints people experience throughout the day,” Lee said. “The messaging you deliver on a billboard when someone might be on a commute can be different from the messaging that’s in a grocery store or on an SOS machine when (the consumer) is at a sporting venue or in an office building. It really allows advertisers to tailor the message and reach people as they’re going about their activities in daily life, which is really different than a lot of other media channels available.”
Hero Cosmetics, a personal care product developer, is one of the brands featured in SOS’s vending service. CEO Ju Rhyu, who founded the company in 2017, has built Hero Cosmetics from an idea to treat stubborn acne to a brand that features more than 30 skin care products.
Working with SOS provided Hero Cosmetics another avenue to promote its products besides store shelves. Rhyu felt the brands could be a great fit for each other.
“A year since meeting the SOS team, we now have a presence in all SOS machines and have become one of their largest direct advertisers,” Rhyu said in an email to DST. “We know our core demographic is visiting these machines, so the advertising spend is a great way for us to drive both brand awareness and trial among a high-value segment.”
Rhyu said SOS’s “products when and where you need them” mantra aligns perfectly with Hero’s Mighty Patch acne product, which promises to clear up breakouts quickly.
“This isn’t always a scenario you plan for, so SOS was a natural fit for us given that they focus on out-of-home, digitally driven commerce,” Rhyu said. “SOS offers unique and well-trafficked locations that put our product out there in a way we can trust. We like the fact that SOS methodically curates all brands that they put in their machines. They put us in public settings in a fun and engaging way, expanding our customer base and getting us valuable brand visibility and trial.”
Kevin Damask is the editor of Digital Signage Today. He has more than 15 years of journalism experience, having covered local news for a variety of print and online publications.
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