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Facebook Review: Renaissance Cocktail Mixer
June 6, 2008

As Facebook applications proliferate as a marketing tool and hotels (slowly) jump on the bandwagon, I'll be periodically reviewing them.

The first Mu & Mi Facebook review is of Renaissance Hotels & Resorts' new app, a virtual cocktail mixer. 

Basic concept: The app lets users send and receive house specialties from a handful of Renaissance properties. After installing the app, you roll the virtual dice to select which cocktail you're working with, then you "choose an action"—toast, shake, pour, mix, etc.—before finally selecting which Facebook friend to send the virtual drink. That person, assuming they care enough to download the app also, then displays the drink on his or her Facebook profile page. I give the basic concept a B.

Interactivity: I sent Derek Gale a Wild Berry Mojito from San Juan, and he returned the favor with Reef Juice from Hawaii. I was somewhat disappointed on both the sending and receiving ends. In selecting the cocktail, you have to keep rolling the dice until the cocktail you want happens to come up. And when I selected "mix" as my action, I was expecting to at least see some animation of the drink being mixed. No such luck. When I received my drink from Gale, all I got was a picture of the drink with a brief discription of it. Interactivity is minimal. C-

Marketing execution: The Renaissance name and logo are prominent throughout, but not so overwhelming that it feels like crass commercialism. The use of actual Renaissance bar drinks adds some authenticity to it. B+

Overall: It's definitely not the worst Facebook app I've ever seen, but I can't really imagine trying to convince my friends to download it. If it had some kind of user incentive—along with the virtual drink, the recipient could get a discount on the actual drink on property, for instance—I could see this taking off. At the very least, it needs some Flash animation. The framework is there, but it needs a little something more for me to bother using it again. Overall grade: C

Posted by Adam Kirby on June 6, 2008 | Comments (1)