Certain high level chefs grumble about the flurry of camera phones going into action when their carefully constructed dish comes to the table. Some ban photo taking in the dining room completely. And critics observe that too many chefs are composing dishes for their photo appeal, not their flavor. But diners are taking pictures, restaurateurs love the promotional value of their posts and on July 31st, Instant Props, a new iPhone app (Android is coming this fall) is being launched to connect the two.
The idea for the app, according to 29 year old COO and co-founder Mark Totten, came out of watching this mass photography by his fellow members of Generation Y. “One person out of three is taking pictures of their food, “ he says. “Pictures speak a thousand words. And we knew people were getting discounts from checking in (On Foursquare), but no one was taking advantage of the power of a picture.”
Their idea was to target New York restaurants and areas most frequented by their target 21-35 year olds—the East and West Village, Soho, Tribeca. “Downtown is my focus,” he says. Within two months, 20 restaurants had signed on including Philip Marie and Bar Six in the West Village and the East Village Thai restaurant Ngam. “Restaurants that fit the bill if I’m 25 in the city and want to go to brunch or I’m going out with friends on Thursday night before I go to the Hamptons” as he describes it. Per Se and Daniel, needless to say, were not approached.
When diners post a photo on Facebook (deals with Instagram and Twitter are still to come) from the Instant Props app, the restaurants can either offer them a discount on a dish, a discount on the entire check, a free drink, dessert or other options either on that meal or their next--and discounts can multiply if friends like their posts. The revenue stream back to Instant Props is either a flat see or a service fee per post.
Once they gather usage data, more restaurants will be approached. And they already have expansion plans. If it works, expect to see more camera phones out when the main course arrives in restaurants in Miami, Boston and Los Angeles.
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