Digital diet

There has been an explosion of nightlife related blogs in the past two years. There are some,such as Brown Paper Bag (bpbweekend.blogspot.com),which is an all-round guide to quirky or cool things to do or buy in Mumbai. Partner Mansi Poddar says,“We scout for offbeat and interesting places or products which are under the radar and not publicised much.” Co-owner Kanika Parab chimes in,“Word of mouth never reaches as many people and this is why we have decided to start this venture as a blog”.

Deap Ubhi,co-founder and CEO of Burrp (burrp.com) started the website in August 2006 as a platform for consumers to voice their recommendations for bars and restaurants in Mumbai. Asked about whether we can trust user reviews,Ubhi says,“User reviews greatly have the potential to impact consumer patterns,given enough critical mass. We do have a persistent editorial layer throughout the site now,so yes,we will conduct editorial reviews of the more popular places. What is interesting about Burrp,for us,is that they had their first Burrpers Choice Awards in 2008 — and several restaurants actually put up such certificates,thus recognising the value of consumer reviews”.

If established restaurants want to connect with their consumers,they are probably much better of using SMS or networking sites such as Facebook to remind regulars of their events. “As a consumer,I would be more inclined to give importance to Facebook events if someone I knew had similar tastes was going to that event. Similarly,once I know a bar is good,regular SMS updates allows me to make last minute decisions on what to do that night”,says Poddar. Blue Frog,for example,has live events almost every night and events created on social networking sites generate huge interest amongst regulars.

Newer establishments would be better off using a combination of the above with basics such as registering with directory services. “I often just call up Just Dial (2888 8888) to ask for recommendations for places that deliver wherever I am,since it is a sort of advanced search on directory listings,” says consultant Mitali Khanna.

We are certain that restaurants and hotel chains will soon follow the path of the ITC Group — they have recently launched a blog-style website which allows it to directly interact with users called Zest Lounge (zestlounge.in). While they have a section which provides updates on F&B promotions and festivals,the site also allows users to post comments on theirexperiences at ITC properties. B Hariharan,VP of Marketing,explains: “Zest Lounge is a first-of-its kind initiative amongst hotel companies in the country that is a result of three years of studying various ways in which we could reach out to our customers and deliver rich,interactive content at the click of a button.”

We are quite certain it won’t be the last.