Vending During the Pandemic. Vengo

Marci Weisler (no relation), Chief Commercial Officer, Vengo Labs, has a challenging role to play during the pandemic. Her company, Vengo, positions itself in the out of home space with a network of over 1400 mini interactive digital vending machines at gyms, hotels, colleges and corporate locations in major DMAs. How is she able to maneuver when many of the venues are still closed or functioning at lower capacity? Where has Vengo been able to expand its base?

Charlene Weisler: What is Vengo's current distribution?  

Marci Weisler: Over recent weeks  Vengo expanded its footprint as the NYC MTA installed Vengos at multiple Subway stations (in Manhattan and the Bronx) offering PPE, including KN95 masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer. Those are in addition to the over 1,400 Vengo interactive digital kiosks that connect brands with consumers in the places they go: gyms, colleges, hotels, offices and retail, providing samples and other goods. We continue to expand as more locations want to offer PPE and find value in transitioning to touchless solutions in the coming months.

Charlene: Tell me about the pre-COVID state of the company's offerings - data, completions etc. 

Marci: The Vengo network grew significantly in 2019, offering data-driven product sampling, interactive DOOH media and unattended retail. Typical campaigns running on Vengo's network see over 70 seconds of consumer engagement time, up to 16% conversion and up to 33% lift in sales at retail from a sampling program.

Charlene: What has happened during the pandemic? 

Marci: Given that many of our retail locations closed temporarily in the first half of 2020, due to the pandemic, we used this time to adapt our strategy and expand our offerings. Rather than panic, Vengo recognized that consumer behavior in the post-COVID world will be very different, so we used this period to drive product development and new partnerships. First and foremost, we extended what we do on the kiosk to mobile -- creating the first end-to-end touchless sampling program. Now the consumer interacting with Vengo can use her own mobile phone to experience the content found on the Vengo screen, and then trigger the dispensing of the product from the machine. Brands, retailers and agencies are all very excited about this new enhancement.  We also now support PPE products with both dedicated kiosks like those in the NYC subway and through product additions at existing locations.

Charlene: How is the company pivoting and is this a short term or long-term pivot?   

Marci: Adding touchless is a long term extension of our business--it gives the consumer flexibility to interact with Vengo in the way that works best for them-- on the Vengo screen or their own screen, and gives the brands and retailers we work with additional touchpoints to connect with the consumer. Also, given the health-conscious focus right now, it provides a vital way for consumers to get the PPE they need, and immediately while in a transit station or at other locations. 

Charlene: How do you see the next several months playing out as businesses reopen?  

Marci: Change can be exciting when positioned for it.  As businesses reopen, our touchless s

olution for retail and sampling will roll out following the success we had with the MTA subways, where thousands of consumers have already taken advantage of kiosks over just two weeks.   Additionally, Vengo will expand its number of initiatives beyond just subway stations in the city, around the wider distribution of consumer PPE, so consumers feel safe in the places they go- with easy access to masks, wipes and sanitizer for sale and through sponsored programs.  

Charlene: Is your business varying by state and if so, what is the overview - impact of reopening, consumer confidence, fulfillment etc.?  

Marci: We are closely monitoring state's re-opening plans--and have seen locations begin to come back online over the last couple weeks. We are monitoring activity at the kiosks and will have better insight into consumer behavior in another few weeks.

Charlene: What data do you collect and how is it being interpreted during the pandemic?  

Marci: We are a data-driven marketing platform--so typically we collect lots of information -- from engagement to lead generation to sales lift on differing campaigns.  As locations open again, we will be able to track how attendance at locations and consumer engagement with campaigns look relative to pre-pandemic numbers.  

Charlene: Where do you see Vengo a year from today?   

Marci: In addition to creating a "new normal" in the interactive kiosk space during recent weeks, we see the pandemic driving more long term change in consumer behavior, and forcing an acceleration in retail and marketing innovation; as a result, Vengo will be a key player in the next wave of data-driven marketing.  By next year at this time Vengo will have greatly expanded its footprint--and will be playing an even bigger role in the sampling and DOOH media space-- both in-store and in other locations where people go every day.  Sampling, a key channel for so many marketers, can no longer be reliant on street teams and in-store reps giving away product to random passers-by. Vengo's touchless, data driven solution will enable meaningful data capture for lead generation, CRM and consumer survey information.

This article first appeared in www.Mediapost.com

Tying Attribution to OOH Sampling. An Interview with Marci Weisler of Vengo Labs

Marci Weisler (no relation, though we tried to figure it out), Chief Commercial Officer, Vengo Labs, works for a uniquely situated company in the out of home space. Billed a, “retail and marketing tech company that is reimagining how brands connect with consumers,” Marci noted that this technology “bridges the gap between digital and real world experiences by combining retail with DOOH media and product sampling.”

Vengo is actually a network of over 1200 mini interactive digital vending machines at gyms, hotels, colleges and corporate locations in major DMAs. Future plans include expanding into retail stores. The company offers a consumer the ability to sample products from personal tech (headphones and chargers) to beauty and wellness, to CPG and non-perishable food. 

According to Marci, the data they collect is opt-in via consumer interactions with surveys and quizzes, also collecting emails and/or phone numbers on a campaign by campaign basis. The “cloud based Vengo Information Portal (VIP) tracks retail (product inventory, sales), all media (impressions delivered, screen interactions) and sampling campaigns (samples vended, opt-ins),” she explained. The campaign level data is shared with Vengo’s clients on a campaign by campaign basis.   “On the sampling side, Vengo is closing the loop enabling brands to understand ROI and retarget consumers in ways they have not been able to use in the past, and giving them the opportunity to connect with consumers post-sample and drive to purchase/conversion,” she stated.

While Marci believes that Vengo is unique in the combination of retail, DOOH media and trackable product sampling, their competitive set varies by product category. In fact, Vengo sees them as potential partners such as in the following categories:

Ø  Sampling--in-store reps handing out samples, sampling companies like Birchbox, sampling-only kiosks.

Ø  DOOH Media--other networks and media.

Ø  Retail/vending--Zoom Systems, micro-markets

The retail ecosystem changing, she noted, with consumers spending less time in brick and mortar stores and making purchasing decisions everywhere.  “Vengo meets consumers at contextually relevant times in their day, aligning product availability with the time they need them most.  For example, in the gym locker room they can purchase headphones or trial a new beauty product, while seeing an ad for a new wellness supplement. We are also working with retailers to enhance the in-store experience and drive engagement at the point of sale,” she added.

Vengo is also going cross platform with connections to mobile devices through geo-fencing as well as marketing initiatives such as mobile coupon codes redeemable at Vengo, or sampling opportunities that require taking a quiz and giving your email address to get a free sample which can then result in another coupon code to use for next retail purchase of the product.

But there are challenges. She explained that with a big hardware component, there are challenges expanding the network (as opposed to building traffic to a web site or mobile app), “but now that our network has surpassed over 1200, we are ramping quickly.  We also have a size constraint since our machines are compact and take only two square feet of wall space, but our ex-aerospace engineering team has maximized the ability to put a high quantity of product into a small space.”

Advantages include the ability to engage consumers digitally--whether through sampling or interactive DOOH media, collect actionable marketing data to convert “trailers” to buyers and drive product trial and calculate ROI on sampling programs. “For retailers we provide retail tech solutions that make shopping in-store fun and compelling--and provide metrics-based sampling programs that drive in-store purchase,” Marci stated.

And what she terms as, “critically interesting” is Vengo’s ability to “tie attribution to sampling which never existed before. For that reason we got a major investment from Arcade Beauty,, the world's leading manufacturer of beauty samples and are working to reimagine the space for brands and for retailers. We've got some exciting campaign results,” to be released in the possible future.

This article first appeared in www.Mediapost.com