Video That Pumps You Up

Heavy-duty kiosks:
Chevron's interactive
11-inch touchscreen gas pump.

By now you'd think we'd have exhausted all the venues for spreading interactive media, but the folks at BPG Worldwide (408/559-6300) and Radiant Systems (770/772-3000) are just getting revved up! Both are pumping interactive marketing into gas stations.

"It's two minutes of time when people are doing absolutely nothing," says Ephraim Lindenbaum, president and CEO of BPG, creators of Chevron's touchscreen kiosk. The Chevron pump not only delivers MPEG 2 video commercials and entertainment, but drivers can also use it to order a car wash or even a Big Mac from the McDonald's next door. "We made it modular, so the stations can plug in anything they want, including news feeds from the station's satellite dish," says Lindenbaum.

Shell's Pump Shopper must withstand desert heat and Arctic snow, and even an occasional slam from a Chevy Blazer. Their central processors live in the station, of course.

The Shell Pump Shopper, which is rolling out to 20 sites in the Sacramento, California, area, also offers touchscreen merchandise service. The next phase may introduce sports highlights, movie and TV previews, or local weather forecasts.

But be warned, the kiosks must not only pass rigorous user testing but also meet rigid safety standards.

"Our cable had to withstand heat up to 200 degrees Celsius -- you can't buy that at Fry's!" says Lindenbaum. "Plus we had to make sure someone wearing thick gloves in 20-below weather could use our touchscreen." BPG solved the problem with a Philips custom-built, ultrabright, backlit LCD touchscreen encased in three layers of Plexiglas.

Perhaps now price wars will take a back seat as the high-octane video stations siphon business from low-tech competitors.