I read with interest the article in the Daily Telegraph about a food blogger’s review of a Dubai restaurant, and the Italian chef’s response. The blogger FooDiva had visited the beachfront restaurant and written a mixed review. She enjoyed the meal, indeed raved about some of it, but was disappointed by the high prices and not quite professional service.
Don’t tell FooDiva, but I drink Prosecco in a wine glass too
Andrea Brambilla, being both Italian and a chef, left a hotheaded response on the blog. He began by explaining the reason for the high prices, and talked about the menu and the providence of some of the ingredients, but veered well off course when he concluded
Go please \to other restaurants in other locations, check them out, but don’t forget to wear first a condom on your tongue in order contain the orgasm of your ignorance.
All the above is direct also to all “professors” that without having a clue of what they are talking about they keeping: writing, twitting, facebooking.
Guys get a life!
As I have mentioned, Social Media can be a great way to promote your business, but it can backfire. Would Andrea have left that comment, if he had known that the post would go viral? It is likely to be shared even more in the coming days, since the Telegraph highlighted it.
Now, I don’t know the restaurant and I hadn’t read the blog before (although I have bookmarked it as it looks interesting) so I cannot say who is right and wrong here.
I’ll admit that I found the comment amusing, and was struck by the fact that so many found them beyond the pale. Do these people not use the internet for more than reading foodie blogs and looking up the rugby scores? As insults go, they are pretty tame. Don’t let these people near Mumsnet, for goodness sake!
Still, they are quite unprofessional, and it does not surprise me that the owning company Meydan have distanced themselves from the temperamental chef.
The blogger responded with good humour and a professional tone, which is a good lesson on how to respond to such comments.
It is really difficult for restaurants in this digitalised and Social Media age. Previously influential restaurant critics would often have been recognised and particular care taken with the service of that diner. Now anyone with a blog or even a Facebook or Twitter account can review a restaurant, and there is no saying how influential that person could be. Even a blog with a limited local following can go viral.
Would a negative review by a blogger influence you on your choice of restaurant?
I often look up reviews of restaurants, and must admit that a negative review would put me off, although I would look at several reviews if possible. There is always a chance that the reviewer was a bit picky, or the staff of the restaurant were having a bad day. It only takes a glance at the Thickos of Trip Advisor thread on Mumsnet to see that reviews are not always based on objective criticism, but on personal preferences
”The staff were friendly enough but the food was very continental, lots of fish with bones and wierd looking dishes. The guests were 99.9% spanish”
Fucking Spanish food eating Spanish Spain bastards in Spain.
(do take an hour to read that thread, it is hilarious)
A negative review can actually be quite a good help in decision making, as one poster on Mumsnet noted:
Oh no I agree, some of the negative reviews made my mind up to book the holiday for this year. Whinging that there are no clubs or pubs, no Englsh food, complaining that there are no watersports as they might disturb the ‘freaky looking stupid turtles’ nesting on the beach etc etc. Booked immediately
I like reviews, but find that some blogs are so full of reviews, that I stop reading them. I read one recently with a ‘sponsored post’ – a paid review by another name – which was so ridiculous that I immediately closed the browser tab. A sponsored post is very tricky because they encourage bloggers to write a post loosely connected to the product. How do you write a post about a credit card without it sounding totally ridiculous?
(By the way, if any credit card company would like to sponsor me to write a post, I have a GREAT one half written about how to get a bleeding credit card when you have no credit rating cause you have lived abroad all your life, and how ridiculous the UK system of credit checks is)
What do you think?
Would a review on a blog help you make a decision on going to a restaurant or hotel, or buying a product?
Would a review by a blogger you already know and trust influence you more?
Would you stop reading a blog if it contained too many reviews?
In answer to your questions (as a blogger):
1. I would read the review on a blog with a pinch of salt because they are usually positive - you rarely get a negative review and I applaud bloggers who write fair and balanced reviews.
2. As above but I may ask them directly about it.
3. Yes. Totally and without thought. I may, however, bookmark it and use it as a reference tool if I knew they wrote fair reviews.
With regards to the viral aspect of some web content, I think people are slowly coming round to the idea that the audience of online content is far wider-reaching that is initially realised. They put their own content out there for people to find but tend to forget about that reach when commenting.
Alternatively, virility is very much like the newspapers used to be - tomorrow's virtual chip paper. It is read by a high number of people for a short period of time and then very rarely referred to again. The only "problem" with online content is that it sill *can* be found if the content is kept live - unlike a rare copy of a newspaper kept for years and years and unread until the article didn't matter any more.
Good point about the longevity of such viral phenomenons. I've had a post 'go viral' a couple of times - exciting for a day or two but then it settles back down and there is barely a noticeable increase in readership. For a blogger, a slow growing reader base is much more valuable than one blog post that explodes the stats.
As a blogger I write reviews and as a consumer I read them before making most purchases, or sometimes have been introduced to new products because they were mentioned on a blog post. Right now I am seeing a lot of traffic on the reviews on my blog, I guess because people are looking for stuff to buy for Christmas. My personal theory is that you can link this directly to the recession - finances are shaky, everything costs more and we want to make sure we're not wasting our money when we do buy something. Hence we go looking for trustworthy reviews.
The problem I find with many blog reviews is that they read like the blogger has had their head turned by getting a freebie and fails to address the reader's needs and leaves out basic information. Also I wonder if PRs sometimes see bloggers as a bit of a soft touch and a guarantee of a positive review - there was a case just this week where the PR asked for a product back because the review wasn't 100% positive.
But all in all I enjoy reading well-written, non fluffy blog reviews and have made lots of purchases as a result.
I would trust fair and balanced reviews of bloggers I know. I would form an opinion and make up my own mind
I believe that bloggers should be impartial so that they will be trusted.
Re your article above about www.foodiva.net
it is clear to me that those taking part in social media discussions should not use rude language and be tactful. The link below is self explanatory.
http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/13041.aspx?format=2
@Nickie,
Your answer is useful to all,
Just thank you..
Following above post, it would be interesting for all professionals in the hospitality industry to click on site below and read on how to handle an online reputation disaster as was the case for Giannino Dubai/Chef Andrea Brambilla.
http://befoundonline.com/rep-man/2112/online-reputation-disaster-for-giannino-in-dubai-five-takeaways