Ice Cream Van 2.0

This falls in to the category of one of those things that I'm never going to do myself, but I think it's a good idea for somebody, so I'm putting it out there in the hope that somebody somewhere will run with it! This came to me randomly a few days ago, but then out of the blue an ice cream van came round our neighbourhood a couple of evenings ago - never heard one in nearly 4 years in this house - so I took it as a sign that I should post my idea here...

The traditional ice cream van (ice cream truck in the U.S.), tends to just announce itself by playing a tune, and potential customers may be able to expect it to turn up on a schedule, or maybe not (as the other evening proved).

Ice Cream Van 2.0 takes advantage of mobile technologies, such as 3G and GPS, as well as the web, to enhance its presence and provide a better service to ice cream fans.

For starters, people will be able to visit Ice Cream Can 2.0's website to see a live map tracking its location (similar to Google Latitude or NORAD's Santa Tracker). Each time it stops, it will tweet where it is and where it's going next on Twitter. People could also use the website to sign up for a text (SMS) alert to their phone when the van is on the way to their zip/postal code.

That's a huge improvement to the location/presence announcing, but you've got to want people to want to know where your van is for that to matter. People may not bother coming out of their home on the off-chance that the van has their choice of iced confectionary. That's why the van's website displays an up to date menu of stock, and customer reviews of products - this isn't just a mobile shop selling frozen goods - it's a social network of local ice cream lovers!

Ice Cream Van 2.0 doesn't just sell chilly treats, it also helps to introduce customers its friends to new varieties of icy snack through tweets/email/sms about daily special offers. Just think how excited little Jenny is going to be each day, waiting for her phone to chime to tell her not only is Ice Cream Van 2.0 on the way to her street, but today it has an extra chocolate flake in a 99 cone for free! Oh the wonderment!

Now I could go further, but we've already done so much (for a relatively low cost, I'd say). To go on would just cause me frustration when I see 1.0 ice cream vans in the future. So, mobile vending entrepreneurs, I gift this idea to you. Go with it and enhance it as you see fit (and if you do, please add a comment below so we can all support your venture).