Photo credits: VICE
Whether you are running a small or large business, the importance of an online review cannot be underestimated. Many shoppers you and me included check the ratings on popular sites such as Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Foursquare before buying into a product or service.
A few reviews positive or negative can make or break a business. How reliable are these sites, however, and how easily can they be manipulated? Easier than you think sadly. This is proven by the curious case of, The Shed at Dulwich.
Over the course of 7 months, a journalist for the Vice, Oobah Butler managed to transform the garden of his home into the hottest and most exclusive restaurant in London. One problem though. The restaurant did not exist!
I Made My Shed the Number One Restaurant in London
The Shed at Dulwich was the number one rated restaurant in London, with foodies, celebrities and bloggers trying to get a table. The main obstacle for them, however, was that it didn't exist. Here's the journey into a false reality that captured the world's attention.
Posted by VICE Video on Monday, January 22, 2018
To uncover how Butler pulled this one off, we will systematically look at a backstory of the whole ordeal, marketing lessons, the most important customer review sources for your business then wrap it all up:
Backstory
1. Setting Up “The Shed at Dulwich”
2. Ascending To the Top Spot: TripAdvisor Fake Reviews
3. Fake Exclusivity: The Perfect Storm for The Shed
4. Getting Out Of Control
5. The Final Push
6. Lonely At the Top
7. Grand Opening
Marketing Lessons: The Take Away For Your Business
#Reviews/Herd effect
#Scarcity/Exclusivity
#Knowing Your Market
Most Important Consumer Review Sources for Your Business
1. Amazon Customer Reviews
2. Google My Business
3. Angie’s List
4. Yelp
5. Facebook Ratings and Reviews
6. Choice
7. Trustpilot
BACKSTORY
Oobah Butler tricked TripAdvisor into listing his garden shed as the best-rated restaurant in London. He went on and served Iceland ready meals on the grand opening night.
Butler would get $10 for submitting a fake positive review on restaurants despite never having set foot there. He was monitoring restaurants all over the world and with time grew and obsession on monitoring these ratings.
I quickly realized that the ratings did work out for the restaurants and I was the force behind it.”
This revelation led Butler to believe that TripAdvisor was fool’s paradise with fake meals, and full of fake reviews. The only genuine thing about them is their existence- well not all of them as well come to see. One thing that was hard to fake was the actuality of the restaurants themselves.
While eating toast sitting on his garden shed one day, Butler had a revelation regarding the current wave of misinformation and epidemic fakery on the internet as a whole.
One day, sitting in the shed I live in, I had a revelation: within the current climate of misinformation, and society’s willingness to believe absolute bulls–t, maybe a fake restaurant is possible? Maybe it’s exactly the kind of place that could be a hit?”
Oobah Butler sought to create a fake restaurant and push it up the ranks at Trip Advisor through deception and fake reviews.
At that moment, it became my mission. With the help of fake reviews, mystique, and nonsense, I was going to do it: turn my shed into London’s top-rated restaurant on TripAdvisor.”
Oobah Butler was already experienced in impersonation and creating fake reviews. He recently impersonated a designer for Paris Fashion week and had written a ton of fake review for restaurants and gaming sites.
After this thoughtful adventure, “The Shed at Dulwich” was conceived, an exclusive eatery with a street name for an address and was always fully booked when you call for a reservation. His false reality began by registering The Shed on TripAdvisor and describing it as an appointment only destination for foodies.
1. Setting Up “The Shed At Dulwich”
Photo credits: VICE
The site of The Shed at Dulwich is a south London garden. In order to be verified by TripAdvisor, Oobah Butler got a cell phone and a phone number to serve as the restaurant’s contact.
Photo credits: VICE
Next step was to put an address to the restaurant. Enlisting an address will make it easy for skeptical checkers to find out that the Shed is non-existent. To circumvent this situation, Butler listed his home street and no address calling it an “appointment only restaurant.”
I realize what it is: the appointments, lack of address and general exclusivity of this place is so alluring that people can’t see sense,”
A Well Designed Website with a Touch of Creativity
Of course, the restaurant had to have an online presence. Butler bought a domain, built an elegant website, and sought for a silly out of the box concept. Instead of naming the menu traditionally, Butler served moods in a platter.
This spice of creativity accentuates artistry but also exalts personalization. The menu creates a deeper connection with customers, depending on their emotions that day.
Personalised marketing and advertising is not about sales. It’s about building a relationship with the customer.” – Julian Hillebrand
This twist on the menu dictated that the Shed did not serve meals but actually served moods such as comfort, contemplation, love lust and many more. People were drooling over these moods.
Photo credits: VICE
A served mood example is ‘Contemplation,’ that included a deconstructed Aberdeen stew; all elements of the dish are served to the table as the would be in the process of cooking. Served with warm beef tea.
The Guardian restaurant critic, Jay Rayner was swept away by the ruse even tweeting:
At last: a restaurant that recognises food is all about mood. Of all the shed-based eating experiences out there this one sounds like the best. Or at least second best. (I have my own shed, hence). Personally I'm eager to try 'contemplation'. https://t.co/lRVKuDT1eZ
— Jay Rayner (@jayrayner1) November 16, 2017
Food Photography
People are visual beings and having great pictures go a long way in capturing your audience particularly in e-commerce. A great picture communicates value to the customer and instinctively ignites their imagination without having to read a thousand words.
Pictures have a knack of capturing people’s attention and using them well compliments your brand and also establishes your business as legitimate and authentic. As a marketer, you only have a few seconds to make your first impression and a good first impression that lasts.
It’s important that your content is appealing to first-time as well as repeated viewers and at the same time offers a clear understanding of the services offered and the accruing benefits.
Nearly 70% of e-commerce website shoppers say the product image is very important when making their purchase decision”- MDG Advertising
Oobah Butler’s menu cropped images were mouthwatering without a doubt, until you see the whole picture.
.@Oobahs made his shed London's top-rated restaurant on TripAdvisor, in part with pics of fake food made out of bleach and shaving foam: https://t.co/gLXBlxX08L @VICEUK pic.twitter.com/0lLCsWfAn4
— Jamie Clifton (@jamie_clifton) December 6, 2017
To illustrate, Butler created artsy photos of dishes made out of household products like shaving foam, paint, and bleach. For instance, a fudge brownie topped with cream was actually painted bleach cake with a dollop of shaving cream.
Photo credits: VICE
Edible?
Photo credits: VICE
Perhaps not
Photo credits: VICE
Delicious dessert?
Photo credits: VICE
…made from urinal cake and shaving foam.
Photo credits: VICE
A hunk of bacon next to a fried egg- or is it?
Photo credits: VICE
Is actually a close up of Butler’s foot.
I wanted people to be drooling over my foot, literally.” Butler writes
The whole concept, logo, and menu all helped to nail everything down and Butler finally submitted the forms to TripAdvisor.
On the 5th of May 2017, Butler woke up to an email of the approval of, “The Shed at Dulwich.”
Hello,
We’re excited to tell you that your listing request has been approved and is on our site for everyone to see.
[…]
Thank you for giving us this opportunity to let the TripAdvisor community know about The Shed at Dulwich.
Best Regards,
The TripAdvisor Support Team
Ascending To the Top Spot: TripAdvisor Fake Reviews
London is atop top destination for tourists in Europe and doubles as an economic and cultural centre. That said, visitors get most of their information from TripAdvisor on potential joints to eat and drink.
The website started out at the bottom, rank number 18,149 in the city. Therefore, in order to get to number one, the restaurant needed real reviews written on different computers in order to beat the anti-scammer technology used by TripAdvisor.
Butler sought reviews from friends and family on the experience at “London’s best-kept secret.” Basically, Butler got a hold of everyone he knew who could write incredible five start reviews talking about how difficult it is to get a table, how amazing the homemade food is and the serene cozy atmosphere.
With the experience Butler had with reviews, he got some super realistic five-star comments such as this one;
“Spent a weekend in London and heard through the grapevine that this place is a must-visit.”
Some reviews came in with offensively detailed remarks, which enhanced their credibility: a customer was offered a blanket that had a stain but still gave a five-star rating.
Here is a sample 5 star review
Photo credits: VICE
What Makes a Good Review?
Authentic reviews deliver the best because they contain a mixture of both negative and positives. Customer feedback will never be all good or all bad but creates a trustworthy feeling for your clients.
Most online consumers are more inclined to trust reviews with some negatives rather than one with unanimous praise. While you will want your business to stand out, superlatives like, ‘the best of the best’ can have a negative recoil effect on your business.
As a business, you should not dread the negative review as it gives you an opportunity to step and empathize with your customers as a brand ambassador. Using this break to smooth out misunderstandings with your customers goes a long way.
Here are some good examples
Even the fake reviews are fantastic. ?
"The mood system is revolutionary – I went for 'horny' and was not disappointed." pic.twitter.com/aUVc2eavGC
— Michael Bass (@MWRBass) December 6, 2017
Other than the fake reviews, what else contributed to the Sheds popularity? ‘Exclusivity!’
Fake Exclusivity: The Perfect Storm for The Shed
The first weeks of business were easy, no phone calls and the restaurant cracked the top 10,000 without breaking a sweat. Butler still didn’t quite expect inquiries because the business did not get much attention he craved.
Soon after Butler and his friends dropped some fake reviews, however, things changed. This goes to show how local directories like TripAdvisor and Yelp can be used to broadcast your business. These are surefire ways of getting your business to the masses.
One morning the Shed’s phone went off and Butler picked up.
Hello? Is that The Shed?”
“… Yes?”
“I’ve heard so much about your restaurant… I know it’s a long shot, as you get booked up so quickly, but I don’t suppose you have a table tonight?”
“Sorry, but we’re fully booked for the next six weeks” Butler responded with a panicking voice.
The next day same story a phone call, “a 70th birthday booking. Four months in advance, nine people.”
The sad bit is that the restaurant was booked, throughout. No matter how famous or rich the guest was, The Shed was not up for reservations. This fake scarcity inflated the demand causing hype to grow around The Shed elevating it higher and higher on TripAdvisor’s charts.
Photo credits: VICE
Butler continued to play the restaurants mystique intriguing their customers.
The Shed’s phone continues to ring, more and more people begin to notice. On checking his emails, Butler finds tons of appointment requests.
Photo credits: VICE
The Shed at Dulwich suddenly became so appealing, jumping from rank 10,000+ to #1,456.
Butler writes, “the appointments, lack of address and general exclusivity of this place are so alluring that people can’t see sense. They’re looking at photos of the sole of my foot, drooling.”
Over the next few months, the Sheds phone was ringing incessantly.
Getting Out Of Control
Photo credits: VICE
By end-August the same year the listing has ascended to rank 156. At this point, things were getting out of hand for Butler.
Companies would get a rough estimate of The Sheds location based on Google maps and send free samples.
Photo credits: VICE
Next were prospective employees who would want to work at the shed, “who were quite a number”, says Butler. Even the local council got involved when they inquired about relocating The Shed to a new development site in Bromley.
An Australian company called, Butler enquiring of the chance to parade The Shed in their in-flight videos across global commercial planes.
Photo credits: VICE
The most convincing call came from a PR agency that proposed to get ‘The Shed’ onto the mail online. The agency wanted to do a Batman-themed launch with a Lizzie Cundy appearance costing 200 euros, but I eventually resorted to doing promotion on my own (obviously).
The Final Push
Photo credits: VICE
Soon enough the restaurant’s ranking escalates to number 30 the sheds phone couldn’t stop ringing with inquiries coming from all over the world.
People approach me on my road to ask if I know how to get to The Shed,” writes Butler.
Photo credits: VICE
The email came in from all over the globe asking to visit the shed. One night out of the blues, Butler receives an email from TripAdvisor.
This is it, the end.” He thought that the little game he played on people was about to be exposed.
This was exactly six months after registering on TripAdvisor, on the 1st of November 2017.
Instead, TripAdvisor was only congratulating, ‘The Shed’ for getting 89,000 views in a day. At this point, the shed at Dulwich had ascended to the top spot- The number 1 ranking restaurant in London.
This was not insignificant by any means. Ranking number one in a leading destination like London can bring a windfall of customers. TripAdvisor is one of the most visited tourist resource according to SimilarWeb. The website receives over 200 million visitors a month.
State Of The Art Technology
Crazy how a non-existent business can rank as number one in one of the world’s biggest cities on arguably the biggest trusted-reviews website. This is what TripAdvisor had to say concerning the reviews on their website.
It (TripAdvisor) dedicates significant time and resources [to] ensuring that the content on TripAdvisor reflects the real experiences of real travelers” when queried by Butler on how he skived their rigorous checks.
“Generally, the only people who create fake restaurant listings are journalists in misguided attempts to test us,” replies a representative via email. “As there is no incentive for anyone em we experience with our regular community – in the real world to create a fake restaurant it is not a problem, therefore, this ‘test’ is not a real-world example.”
The responses by Trip Advisor were fair enough considering that this does not happen very often. The representative continues and adds that;
Most fraudsters are only interested in trying to manipulate the rankings of real businesses”, so the “distinction between attempted fraud by a real business, as opposed to attempted fraud for a non-existent business, is important”. To catch these people out, TripAdvisor uses “state-of-the-art technology to identify suspicious review patterns” and says, “Our community too can report suspicious activity to us.” The representative then quotes a 2015 study that found “93 percent of TripAdvisor users said they find the reviews they read to be accurate of the actual experience.“
Photo credits: VICE
By the first week of November, ‘The Shed at Dulwich’ had climbed to position 1. On November 2, ‘The Shed’ dropped to position two after a reviewer termed it as, “the absolute champion.”
The next day, ‘The Shed’ dropped to position 3 after two reviews but then officially took over the top spot on November 4th after a few more reviews. ‘The Shed at Dulwich,’ stayed at number one through November 8th.
Photo credits: VICE
Lonely At The Top
Butler left The Shed’s phone at a friend’s house for a whole weekend only coming back to find 116 missed calls. So the process begins all over again answering the calls and stacking one lie on top of another.
We’re booked up,” Butler lies
“We have a christening.” And lies again
Photo credits: VICE
Like you’d guess Butler didn’t stop there.
Having created this false reality, the only thing left to do is for Butler to make it a reality. Butler decided to open London’s best restaurant- The Shed at Dulwich.
Grand Opening
Butler was to open the restaurant for one night filling more than half of the tables with actors. The actors would have the time of their lives recreating the same psychological space as the reviews on TripAdvisor.
The biggest hurdle is that Butler had never had more than three people to serve, let alone provide drinks for 20.
A lot of work had to be done but Butler nailed the restaurant ambiance by hiring a DJ to play the music on CDJs.
Butler family and friends got to work; tidying the backyard, provide some heating and adding a few extra seats. He then set up tables in the garden and hired a few more friends to pretend to be servers and patrons.
Joe the chef had worked for a decade traveling the world working on some fine restaurants. Phoebe also arrived, an intuitive waitress who knew her way around our menu and any other menu thereof.
Butler and his friends went ahead and got some Iceland ready meals, microwave dinners, and soup mix.
With all this in motion, Butler’s mission came to life.
Guests were sipping mugs of wine on the roof, actors were chomping away on £1 instant meals and the DJ pumped in some good ambiance.
The first two guests were Americans Joel and Maria vacationing in Europe for the first time all the way from California. Joel and Maria were in Paris the previous night, came to London for a Pokémon convention, and wanted to spend the evening at The Shed.
Butler asked the guests to put on blindfolds, they initially declined but quickly agreed after two actresses came in and agreed to be blindfolded. The four were led by hand into the garden.
Photo credits: VICE
We serve moods here. I’ll interpret yours and bring a dish that suits. Maria, I get a homely energy from you. Joel? I’m feeling ‘cool’, right?” goes Butler
Rushing into the kitchen Butler grabs two mains upon Joe’s advice and signals the DJ to play the “ding” sound in order to disguise the noise of the microwave.
Photo credits: VICE
There was this moment that I can just remember so clearly. I was looking from a distance and the woman, who described herself as a foodie, she got out her phone to take a photo of the mac and cheese, looked at it through the phone, and then just didn’t take the photo. She put it away. I felt kind of guilty at that point.“
The evening crawls by slowly and Joel cannot stop staring at the two actors on the roof. After approximately 40 minutes the couple leaves. At the same time, two locals arrive filled with questions about the place. Butler lets Phoebe lead the as he attends to a table of four.
Photo credits: VICE
After seating the four, Butler hears a loud scream from the kitchen and simultaneously there is a squeal from a lady running across the restaurant. Trevor clutched the chicken chasing the woman and he quickly stuffed it into the Wendy house.
Photo credits: VICE
Butler quickly took the opportunity to introduce Trevor the chicken guy.
The woman’s friends begin to laugh about the ordeal. One person asked why The Shed has a live chicken. “It’s pick your chicken! We cook the one you like the look of,” Butler responded.
Photo credits: VICE
Meanwhile, people seemed to be enjoying the food and he kept thinking about the chicken flapping its wings. Butler writes.
Presented with an opportunity to impress during a client’s birthday, Butler alerted one of his friend and comedian- Lolly Adefope who sang “Happy Birthday” privately to the birthday person.
Two other real clients leave almost at the same time with the foursome. Butler apologizes for the difficulties and new menus. Just before stepping out, Butler is halted and asked on future availability by a non-actor.
Yeah, so about availability,” the lady says. “Now that we’ve been once, is that easier?”
“What?”
“Yeah, is it easier for us to book a table now?” her husband jumps in.
“Yeah, it would be nice to come again.“
Photo credits: VICE
Rendered speechless again Butler took a second and replied
Uh, that’s certainly something we can look at.”
As the visitors disappeared into the darkness.
By this point, the restaurant has would probably have slipped in ranking but the page has now been deleted. Staying top for almost 2 weeks obviously had an effect.
The visitors who came on the grand opening still left some excellent reviews on The Shed. This was largely because they didn’t pay a dime on launch day or they really did have a good time.
Random people were invited to the launch and most of them really thought that The Shed could really be the best restaurant in London, just based on reviews on TripAdvisor.
One could argue that the odor of the internet is so strong nowadays that people can no longer use their senses properly.
From another perspective, you could say that everything we know is essentially nonsense.”
But from Butlers optimistic view
… So what I would say is I think that this proves that if I can make a fake restaurant in my shed … anything is possible. There you go. What about that?”
MARKETING LESSONS: THE TAKE AWAY FOR YOUR BUSINESS
This article is based on a social experiment conducted by Oobah Butler who created a restaurant with nothing but the power of the internet and marketing ingenuity.
#Reviews/Herd effect
While reviews and the heard effect are independent variables, they highly influence each other in the marketing world.
If there is anything you should learn from this entertaining story is that reviews matter to your business. You can do everything right, have the best customer service, most intuitive website but attracting new clients can be an uphill task without good reviews. Online marketing can be tough, but reviews are one of the many strategies that you can use to build a reputation for your business.
The Shed at Dulwich is a perfect example of this execution and in under 7 months, the phone would not stop ringing. Considering that Butler used fake reviews, this inadvertently means that legitimate reviews from satisfied clients can cause significant ripples across the internet. All it takes is a willingness to engage and be vulnerable.
The herd effect, in this case, is a psychological phenomenon where people flock together doing a common thing that the majority are doing. From a marketing perspective, consumers are very sceptical and social proof is a telling factor in attracting new clients. If potential consumers see others buying a product or service associated with positivity, it’s very easy for them to do the same.
Reviews create a herd effect and play a major role in attracting new clients. The rationale behind this is that when a majority of people keeps buying a particular product/service most individuals lower their guard and skip the process of individual assessment entirely.
Reviews are not only good for SEO but also healthy for your company as well.
#Scarcity/Exclusivity
Oobah created scarcity. He did this by utilizing a simple economic principle: if the demand for a product or service outweighs its supply then the value increases exponentially. For starters, the only way to get a table was by appointment and guests had to book in advance. When people called in early the response, the restaurant is fully booked for weeks to come.
The exclusivity of The Shed at Dulwich spread like wildfire earning the restaurant more views and a quick rise in the TripAdvisor charts. With the increased number of calls, more were rejected creating a snowball effect, as foodies and adventure seekers could not reserve a table at this exquisite restaurant.
Scarcity is a tactic you can use even though limited offers are not always true. This is possible owing to the fact that human minds are fragile in wanting to stay in the vicious cycle of consuming more of what is less.
#Knowing Your Market
Right from the beginning, Oobah Butler understood that his potential customers are not just looking for a meal but rather an experience. Anyone looking for a meal can easily find one at McDonald’s. Unlike any other Italian restaurant, however, Butler sought to understand his customers wants prior to his experiment.
As a business owner, understanding your customers begins with understanding why your customers need you, what information you have on your customers and your customer’s current suppliers.
Judging from the callers and diners, The Sheds prospective customers looked to be young, middle-class whites – quite like Butler himself. The group of clients can be perceived as a ready-meal generation with little in the way of the palate. No wonder they are not disappointed by the crappy instant meal cuisine bought from Iceland on the grand opening night.
Most Important Consumer Review Sources for Your Business
When looking to build a strong online brand or strengthen an existing one, reviews are very important. As a marketer, you ought to know that Google’s search engine algorithm uses credibility to find you on the internet.
This credibility aka domain authority is very important if you are to improve your website’s ranking. Like Butler, it’s important that you create citations in local business directories and even better if you can get reviews as well.
For instance, TripAdvisor, Urbanspoon, and OpenTable are great for hotels and restaurants. If you are going to get reviews for any other business, however here are some leading B2C sites with incredible domain authority:
Amazon Customer Reviews
One of the first online stores to open the forum for product reviews in 1995, Amazon remains a central figure in dictating customers’ purchasing decision. Fun fact; even if a consumer is looking to purchase a product from elsewhere he/she will look up its Amazon review prior to the purchase.
Sure, there are many competitors and knock-offs on Amazon but what’s going to make your product stand out? Good customer reviews. Amazon does a great job of breaking down reviews by percentage, the most recent and most helpful customer reviews.
Google My Business
Business owners should know the value of setting up their business on Google My Business. It’s important that business owners claim and verify their business listing because new customers use Google to track information for businesses more than any other source.
GMB uses Google’s Pigeon algorithm update using distance and location ranking to deliver better local search results. Improving your comments, pictures reviews do give your business a boost in GMB for more optimized search results.
Angie’s List
Angie’s list is a niche in the US geared for the high end. Angie’s list tries to give well-thought informative reviews on an A-F scale. Its users have to pay for membership but it’s worth every penny and this does away with a lot of ranting and raving common on free review sites.
One cannot post anonymous reviews and this helps in curbing down fake reviews and companies are allowed to respond as well.
What’s more, it’s free to set up a page for your business. Encourage your customers to sign up and leave reviews.
Yelp
Yelp is a free review site for both consumers and businesses. The site gives ratings on a five-star scale and businesses are permitted to respond to reviewers. We recommend that you take a laid-back approach with yelpers as they are a tight community.
Although the site has come under fire lately due to malpractices, the company has tried to iron out their kinks and made reviews as verifiable as possible. Still, yelp is here to stay and a positive review can still be used to your benefit.
Your yelp profile will also be filled with information such as opening hours and location. The profile will turn up more often than not when people Google your business.
Facebook Ratings and Reviews
Facebook is the social media platform for many and is also a good place to interact with customers in a transparent manner. Many business owners are unaware that Facebook allows your customers to leave ratings and reviews of your product/service.
It’s easy to use and is accessible to anyone with a Facebook account. Your customers simply have to head onto the reviews section, rate you, and then write an optional review. Customers have the option of making their review public, private, or only visible to friends.
Choice
If you are targeting customers in Australia or happen to have customers in that part of the world, Choice is a good member-funded alternative you can use. Choice conducts an independent test on products or services and then provides reviews for their members.
In addition to testing products/services, Choice creates product comparisons and writes buying guides. Members are also allowed to leave reviews, rate and discuss products/ services.
Trustpilot
Trustpilot is a quickly growing community-driven consumer review platform based in Denmark. The company has recently expanded to more than 60 countries including the United States. For Trustpilot, the customers provide both product and seller reviews thereby verifying the third party in the process.
As a business, you can use Trustpilot to collect customer reviews. The basic plan allows business owners to create a profile where they can collect customer reviews while the paid plan allows for review invitations and rating sharing on social media.
WRAPPING IT UP
To sum it up the success story of, ‘The Shed at Dulwich’ shows the importance of using great photos, creativity, personalization, exclusivity, and positive reviews in marketing.
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