Samsung "uVending" Project

One of my first projects at Samsung PIT… Our LCD business unit asked us to come up with new ways of driving sales. One of our concepts was coined “UVending” which incorporated a 46” LCD into traditional vending machines. By networking them and delivering outstanding creative content, we wanted to turn these ubiquitous machines into a 24/7 advertising platform.

We were not the first to invent the idea — and a quick google search will show many different individuals claiming the idea. However, my role was to lead the entire prototyping and execution team to pilot launch the concept at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. We worked with Coca-cola (the marketing and equipment groups — not the bottlers!), the vending machine manufacturer, and about 5 different Samsung groups. It was a messy project, but we successfully launch 17 machines throughout the Olympic village. Afterwards, Coca-cola began to deploy units through Simon mall properties as well as many airport locations.

1st prototype assembly time-lapsed video: youtu.be/KArkjZ_rg5g