Last night I went out for drinks at Der Raum. It's a secluded spot on Church Street, Richmond, praised as potentially Melbourne's best cocktail bar and one of the world's best. Their cocktails are phenomenal! However, I was a little confused when one of the bar staff told off a group of customers for taking photos of their drinks.
As a bar that already has a brilliant reputation and seems to attract attention for their creative drinks menu (one cocktail, 'The Pharmacy,' is put together by injecting a syringe and popping a pill into a medicine bottle before being shaken and drunk from the bottle; check out the link below), why are they so surprised and unimpressed by customers wanting to capture their experiences on camera?
Despite being able to see that Der Raum is perhaps trying to brand itself as an exclusive, hidden bar in Melbourne, I can see little other reason why snapping shots in the venue should be frowned upon. In fact, I would argue that a bar such as this that does not advertise and relies purely on word of mouth to spread the word about it, should relish in the idea that its customers can now promote this place to their friends faster than ever before via social media. Considering the present trend of Instagram, Urbanspoon and sharing pictures of our food and beverages with friends online, Der Raum - and indeed any popular eatery or drinking hole - should be pleased with those who post images of their products on the internet. As we know, people are more likely to trust the recommendations of those we know and trust than that of advertisers. So why not let good impressions spread about your bar between friends through digital technology?
What are your thoughts on this? Should Der Raum be stopping customers from taking photos of their drinks and sharing them online? Or is it simply stunting the growth of their business?
Check out how 'The Pharmacy' is made below.
How 'The Pharmacy' is made
Thanks for the interesting post, Elise! You've definitely made me want to go out and try this drink now :)
ReplyDeleteI think that by allowing customers to promote the bar's drinks via word-of-mouth on Instagram, Facebook and other photo-sharing applications, Der Raum would have greater opportunity to boost their revenue and create more widely spread buzz about their products. It seems strange that the bar isn't supporting this, since so many people now rely on recommendations and 'photo evidence' of the quality of a restaurant or bar before choosing to go there.
Then again, they may be trying to keep word-of-mouth to a contained group of target customers to keep the brand exclusive and encourage people to go to the bar themselves to experience, without preconceptions, what all the rage is about!
My thoughts exactly Vanessa. Thanks for the response. I hadn't thought that Der Raum might be trying to get people to have an uninfluenced experience. I still think that getting their name out there (even if it is through photos) would benefit them more than refusing snapshots in the bar.
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