Coca-Cola adds location-based mobile commerce

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by Bob Brewin

(IDG) -- Driving around and really need a Coke and a pizza? Coca-Cola in Atlanta has a fix for that problem through a deal it signed today with Go2 Systems that will provide the location of the nearest fast-food outlet, convenience store or gas station serving its products to consumers who have a wireless Web phone.

Tom Moore, vice president and general manager of the Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Fountain division, said in a statement that the agreement will help the company's food service customers grow "food and beverage sales through promotion and mobile commerce."

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A spokeswoman for Irving, Calif.-based Go2 said the agreement would provide Coke and its food service customers with their own category on the Go2 wired and wireless Web pages, making it easy for potential customers to find directions to the nearest retail outlet.

Craig Mathias, an analyst at Farpoint Group in Ashland, Mass., said "location [services] are hot, and I expect you'll see more deals like this in the future. This is location-specific advertising."

If a customer has a telephone or personal digital assistant that's capable of automatically determining its location, then that information is communicated to the Go2 Web site, which then automatically provides the nearest location and driving directions. However, since few wireless phones have such capabilities today, the Go2 spokeswoman said, most customers would use the service by inputting their street address, and the Web site would then provide location information.

Moore said one reason Coca-Cola made a deal with Go2 is the company's nearly universal placement with North American wireless carriers. Major carriers offering Go2 location services include AT&T Wireless Group, BellSouth Mobility DCS, Sprint PCS Group and Verizon Wireless.

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