IT seems like almost everyone has a Facebook account these days, and both event organisers and partygoers have been using the social networking website to spread news and manage their online communities.
Michel Lu was one of the first to make full use of Facebook's potential to keep in touch with partygoers. All of his bars and restaurants, which include Hacienda and Superfamous, have Facebook pages of their own that users can subscribe to for updates. Members of these so-called Facebook groups can also view photos and descriptions of the latest parties held at the physical venues.
"Facebook has been a big driver in our customer relations strategy," Mr Lu says. "For instance, I manage a Facebook group for our latest venue Prive which has about 1,000 members. This was created weeks before we opened and was a way for us to keep in touch with people keen on what we were doing and for us to update them on menu planning, construction, etc."
"Brand ambassadors"
The Prive Facebook group could only be joined if you had an invitation, and the whole hush hush nature of it fuelled a fair bit of buzz about the dining and party venue on Keppel Island. "This keeps my guests and customers involved in the process and helped drive pre-opening publicity to a targeted group of individuals who become our "brand ambassadors", thereby creating even more hype by word of mouth," Mr Lu adds.
Facebook has the advantage of ubiquity, but it's far from the only social networking player out there. Mumtazz (mumtazz.com) and B-Yond (b-yond.com.sg) are specialised partying websites, and what they lack in sheer size and coverage is made up for in focused information targeted specifically at the party crowd.
Robbie Hoyes-Cock, managing director of both Mumtazz and B-Yond, feels that Singapore will soon be on par with the party scenes in Sydney, Stockholm and San Francisco, and that his websites cater to this growth.
Mr Hoyes-Cock says that B-Yond "serves the very top end of the consumer food chain", and that the website "is an information gathering and member-specific platform" for its service and product portfolio. B-Yond's portfolio includes personal training, fine dining, an online art gallery, as well as an upcoming six-bedroom villa in Seminyak Bali.
Mumtazz, however, has a more democratic platform. Mr Hoyes-Cock says that the website was "created for a national audience, but structured in such a way that every different type of audience feels understood and well catered for". Mr Hoyes-Cock uses the oxymoronic term "mass-exclusivity" to describe Mumtazz being available to anyone who signs up on the website. It is exclusive, however, only in the sense that you have to register on the site in order to gain access.
To add to the confusion, B-yond is also open to anyone who wants to sign up on the website. B-Yond is therefore only differentiated from Mumtazz by actually organising events and providing services, instead of just providing partying info.
While most clubs with a presence on Mumtazz are also on Facebook, Mr Hoyes-Cock doesn't see the latter as a competitor. "Facebook is 100 per cent consumer-generated content and is only as good and comprehensive as the time and content its members put in.
"We will always create our own core content - from club info, competitions, music, photos etc - and then encourage our members to build on it by sharing and commenting on it. The credibility and equity of our content is protected this way, and editorially we ensure we keep within our vertical niche - nightlife and partying."
Connecting party people
ONE of the clubs that decided to get on Mumtazz is Thumper. "Thumper has active accounts on Facebook and online community portals such as Mumtazz; where our latest events, news, and programmes are updated and "blasted" out to members of these social networking sites," says Che Pereira, Thumper's general manager.
For true exclusivity, there's always invitation-only site Diane Fay, though its limited membership base restricts its impact on the overall partying scene. "As Diane Fay's members are busy individuals, private showcases, parties and events that we invite them to are designed to cater to them," Diane Fay director Camilla Hall says.
IndoChine Group CEO Michael Ma adds that Diane Fay and the IndoChine Group work closely together for exclusive high-end parties, but that IndoChine events work especially well on Facebook. "Social networking sites like Facebook appeal to the masses," he says.
Mr Lu is content with the Facebook platform for the moment, and has no interest in Mumtazz, B-Yond or Diane Fay. Perhaps the key is to find what works for you, and he's most certainly made Facebook work for him.
Martell is another brand that is satisfied with how Facebook's social networking features complement its own website. While it does have event listings on Mumtazz, and uses Mumtazz's database to send out party info, it doesn't use any of the site's other features.
"Any enquiries or comments about the event can be answered promptly by posting on the "Wall" of the event page on Facebook. This in turn shows that Martell is interested in engaging its consumers," says Daren Ong, brand manager of Martell at Pernod Ricard.
"The Event function on Facebook allows its members to forward the event to the individual's circle of friends. The key insight here being that people do not go to parties alone. People are generally more interested in attending an event when they see their friends registering their attendance on the Events page."
Some clubs, like Zouk, held out for quite a while before deciding to establish a Facebook presence. "We have had many fan and tribute sites set up by individuals on the various social networking sites like MySpace, Friendster and Facebook over the years but it was only in July 2007 that we decided to have our own official page on Facebook," says Tracy Phillips, Zouk's marketing manager.
"As a popular site that many check daily, it's easy for members of the Zouk Group to check in on what the club is up to and rsvp for events, showing their friends what they're attending at the same time."
Geeks have a tendency to be fixated with technology itself instead of asking if it really makes a difference to users. Photographs of partygoers posted online aren't evidence of social networking's reach, since it doesn't tell us whether or not that crowd goes online or not. But comments left on events and venue Web pages do show the extent to which partygoers use social networking sites, and by this benchmark, usage is very high.
But many clubs already have well-developed websites of their own and don't want to rely excessively on social networking sites they don't have direct control over.
Personalised manner
"For us, both platforms are effective in a different way. A platform like Facebook is more social and personal that reaches out to our regulars and members," Attica's Amanda Ng, says. "On the other hand, our website reaches out to the masses globally. I believe these networking sites allow us to reach out to our customers in a more personalised manner as well as offers great viral marketing for parties."
Zouk's marketing manager Tracy Phillips says that the club's own website "has more information and complete details whereas our Facebook group page focuses more on just highlights so it depends what our clubbers are after."
Martell's Mr Ong emphasises that "social networking sites are not a replacement for any company's website". To illustrate his point, his explains that Martell's website "allows users to obtain the information they need, register their interest in an event, as well as engage in a host of other activities such as downloading pictures from the parties or find out the different ways that Martell can be consumed.
"Social networking sites such as Facebook, on the other hand, are used to inform other partygoers who are not on Martell's mailing list about the event. It is used to complement and not replace."
Thumper's Mr Pereira, however, feels that the power of social networks outstrips that of its own website. They are "definitely more effective as these sites allow us to leverage on different platforms," he says. "We do have a regular base of visitors at our website, but social networking sites allow us access to a wider audience base."
More concretely, Mr Pereira reveals that "there is a noticeable turnout from guests who have come to know about Thumper parties from these sites, like our Xmas Eve Playboy party and New Year's Eve's Masquerade parties".
Facebook already works on mobile phones, and BlackBerry mobile e-mail device users benefit from especially advanced features, but Johnnie Walker is set to take things to the next level with its mobile-phone-based partying concierge service called Jennie.
Moet-Hennessy Diageo's marketing director, John Collins, says the service is set to debut in the first quarter of this year, and will go beyond disseminating partying information to provide services such as scheduling taxi pick-ups and sending SMS text messages to your designated drivers. "It's set to be your one-stop digital partying assistant, which you can take care of every aspect of your night out," Mr Collins says.
But social networking websites aren't standing still. "Very soon, we will introduce our own social networking functionality that will complement the core Mumtazz site," Mr Hoyes-Cocks says. "There will be a lot of interactivity and dialogue between the core information site and the social networking section.
"We will start to take on the more established social networking sites," Mr Hoyes-Cock adds, but Mumtazz's main selling point will remain its city-specific nightlife focus. "Nightlife and partying is a particularly territorial industry. People today can afford to party by geography. This has created a lot of local pride and a competitive spirit amongst a city's local party fraternity to make theirs the global party destination."
Mr Lu is sticking with his proven platform. "Facebook will continue to be a big force for connecting to our guests in 2008," he says. "In fact, our new website for Prive will have a Calendar Of Events page that connects directly to our Facebook group so that all the details for events, promotions and so on are available online at our Facebook group. Our Facebook group is also linked to my occasional personal e-mailers for my mailing list," he adds, underscoring the extent to which he's integrated Facebook into his marketing efforts.
With all the current and future partying platforms out there, it looks like we're spoilt for choice, which is never a bad thing.
