Food Porn: How it has become free advertisement for restaurants?
Food Porn: How it has become free advertisement for restaurants?

Today, food on social media has become the latest fad. It has brought new food trends, inspired the new age status symbol of having been there and provided free advertisements to restaurants and food joints.

Good food portrayed through appealing pictures online encourages people to try out new restaurants serving foods and cocktails. And as it is turning out as the best way to promote one brand connecting with the millennials, who rely more on the number of reviews and photos posted online rather than word of mouth. The online visual content is high in demand as it has enticing photos on website across various social media platforms and it has become an essential part of the promotion. And with apps like Instagram and Facebook, people today share their memory online. And these pictures are helping in creating a connection between restaurants and their guests.

According to a recent survey in the UK, only 11 per cent between 18-29 year olds feel that food advertising is aimed at them. Therefore, if the brands want to change that number they have to take a different approach. Edelman advised the brands to connect with these consumers, as they eat with their eyes first and “snackable food images are just as important as the content they accompany.”

The young adults live digitally. They share each activity and they won’t eat a meal till they capture it and upload the image of the meal on the Web, sharing it with their friends on social pages.

“Millennials understand technology, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or any other such platforms like foodpanda which is able to marry all these things. And the food that is being consumed by these advertisements is where a combination is needed to strike the right balance. So it is going to be a more hybrid model and is very exciting,” pointed Dheeraj Gupta, MD, Jumbo King Food Pvt Ltd.

Nature of Market

The power of social food is spreading to marketing. With this, restaurants have started displaying their menu on these social pages inviting people to spread their brand for free, banking high on growth. And as the industry is soaring with competition among restaurants, one has to give 100 per cent to be successful.

According to experts, restaurants should have unique marketing ideas and strategies which can improve the business and get attention from ‘hungry eyes’ everywhere. “The Business is growing huge because of the millennial eating habit and taste, which has changed, as they are well travelled and seeking adventurous platter who have more belief on food porn,” shared Zorawar Kalra, MD & Founder, Massive Restaurants Pvt. Ltd.

The trends of casual and family dining are the ones that are feeling the constant pressure from the attack of so-called fast casual chains. Casual dining restaurants usually serve breakfast, lunch and dinner and the restaurant staffs provide full service. The food usually takes longer to prepare and serve, compared to fast casual chains and the restaurant does not offer a drive-through ordering facility.

“Everyone wants to share things online and the young generation wants the content for their page,” said Vikrant Batra, Owner, Cafe Delhi Heights.

There are a lot of people addicted to pulling out their cell phones to take snapshots of the creative food like greasy burgers, frothy mochas and picturesque cupcakes they eat, while out in the town. Vaibhav Kumaravel, Partner, The Chinese Story shared, “The news spreads on social media so fast that you can probably become the star of the night.”

Now there are many restaurants that started promoting at an official Instagram menu also, but other joints have also embraced the photo-sharing network. The idea of using the hashtag is actually for observing how many people pulled out their mobile phones once their plates hit the table. Even the well-known chefs and popular restaurants are enthusiastically interacting with their customers on social networking sites and making it memorable.

 
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