Dive Brief:

• Coca-Cola is launching "Ekocenters" in developing communities across Africa, Asia, North America and Latin America.
• The kiosks will provide clean water, power, Internet, vaccines, cooked meals and Coke products, and the beverage giant plans to have as many as 2,000 in 20 countries by the end of 2015.
• Partners in the project include DEKA R&D, IBM, Inter-American Development Bank, NRG, Qualcomm, McCann Health, UPS and Technoserve.
• One center has already been piloted in South Africa, but since there is currently no business model set in stone, it is unclear which, if any, of the services will be free.

Dive Insight:

These new "downtowns in a box" are a great way for Coca-Cola to improve its public image by making water, power and health supplies easily obtainable—assuming, of course, that they are priced in a way that makes them so. Until there's a set business model detailed, we can only speculate, but one would assume that at least a few of these services are free.

Also of note: Coke's decision to use a "k" in "Ekocenter" results in the company's name appearing backwards from the center of the word. Clever.