Cantaloupe launches Vine Digital Studio, the next iteration of VendCentral
One month after acquiring VendCentral, Cantaloupe Inc. rebranded the company as Vine Digital Studio, a full-service marketing platform, which launched live today. In addition to a fresh look, Vine Digital Studio will offer new marketing programs, leveraging the Cantaloupe team’s experience as a global marketer and working with seasoned VendCentral team members to streamline offerings and optimize a multi-channel approach.
“What’s important to understand is that marketing is a multi-channel approach. It’s not a one-and-done,” said Elyssa Steiner, chief marketing officer at Cantaloupe Inc. “What we focused on was high value, high impact, specific elements of the programs.”
What’s changing?
As part of the rebrand, the Vine Digital Studio team leaned into their combined years of marketing experience to meet operators where their marketing needs were today. “We looked at these packages from a legacy standpoint and said, ‘Okay, what makes sense going forward?’ And it all came down to ‘What, at the end of the day, are our customers asking for? What is providing high value to them, and giving them high impact?’” Steiner explained.
“At Cantaloupe, when we look at marketing, we’re a growth engine to the business. We want to drive pipeline opportunities. We want to drive leads,” Steiner said. “The operators want the same thing. They want to be noticed. They want to drive leads. And so, I think if we root in that as the foundation as we build these packages, it’s not necessarily that we’ve completely wiped the slate clean and everything is different. It’s more of the ‘how we do it.’ That’s what I think is so critical.”
While Vine Digital Studio is introducing new packages, clients can continue with their legacy VendCentral programs, Steiner noted.
What’s not changing?
Vine Digital Studio will offer a range of services, including website development, social media marketing, lead generation and email marketing. Among the early launches by the Vine Digital Studio team are Surpass Refreshments, complete with new branding and website, and Premier Breakroom Solutions, which includes a showcase of their breakroom solutions.
All full-time VendCentral employees and contractors, besides owner Neil Swindale, have joined Vine Digital Studio. For existing customers, this means their experienced marketing team remains in place.
Relationships are important, Steiner noted, and effective marketing can help an operator build its brand, establish credibility and build trust in the market. When someone is looking for those types of service offerings, she continued, that prospective customer sees your business as an obvious choice.
“We understand your business better than any other outside marketing agency. We understand who you’re going after in the selling process. And we think we can create the right kind of partnered marketing approach that helps you land the potential prospect and then go and close the deal,” Steiner said.
Where to next?
Cantaloupe will host a Vine Reveal presentation at the NAMA Show on Thursday, May 8 at 1 p.m. PT in the Vine Social Hub. The team will discuss the Vine Digital Studios packages and their approach to serving clients. Prospective customers and clients can meet one-on-one with the team as well.
While Vine Digital Studios is firmly focused on the convenience services industry, Steiner notes that allied industries may also present opportunities.
“Historically, VendCentral has been very focused around the vending kind of convenience services industry. We have a tremendous opportunity to go into verticals like amusement, which I think also really need services like this,” she said.
As a global company, Cantaloupe serves customers in other verticals and markets. Steiner anticipates that the full-service marketing arm of Vine Digital Services will be prepared to take on those opportunities when the time comes.
Linda Becker | Editor-in-Chief
Linda Becker is editor-in-chief of Automatic Merchandiser and VendingMarketWatch.com. She has more than 20 years of experience in B2B publishing, writing, editing and producing content for magazines, websites, webinars, podcasts, newsletters and eBooks, primarily for manufacturing and process engineering audiences. Since joining Automatic Merchandiser and VendingMarketWatch.com, Linda has developed a new appreciation for the convenience services industry and the essential role it plays. She is dedicated to serving readers by covering the latest news in the vending, office coffee service and micro market industry. She can be reached at 262-203-9924 or [email protected].
