Impress with the Exotic

“And for the next item in our Mexican feast, may I offer you a smoked corn custard sprinkled with pale yellow, squirming wax moth larvae?”
     Not your cup of tea—or your cup of chapulines, those little fried grasshoppers described as tasting like the exoskeleton of a potato chip? Then how about visiting the latest exhibit at our local museum where we’ve graphic photographs of children from Mozambique snacking on live locusts?
     A New York Times article described the bug-filled Mexican feast at Brooklyn Kitchen restaurant. Exotic experiences like these will draw interest in, and therefore footsteps to, your retail business. Whether you run a restaurant, a museum, a travel agency, or some other type of business altogether, think of what unusual experiences you might offer to your target audiences.
     Then, as you plan the publicity for these events, consider what benefits the unusual experiences provide:

• Roller Coaster Effect. Consumers go on the most treacherous roller coasters not only for the stimulating physical sensations, but also for the sense of pride achieved in prevailing over fears. To draw shoppers, publicize the thrill of confronting the exotic. Tell people they’ll be able to take away a memento to verify their show of courage.
• Exotic Dancer Effect. Some people are more interested in breaking taboos than in breaking through fears. We don’t call those ladies “exotic dancers” simply because they hail from faraway places. As a general rule, consumers yearn to push the limits. Publicize the opportunities you’re giving people to do that.
• Educational Effect. The organizers of the Brooklyn Kitchen event touted the benefits from learning about cultures in which eating bugs is common. And notice how the Travel Channel introduced viewers to exotic places with presentations of Andrew Zimmern’s “Bizarre Foods” international ingestion interludes. Publicize the educational benefits of your unusual offerings.

     After reading the NYT article, I decided to add a fourth effect to those three. It was of particular relevance in New York City. It was also probably of particular interest to one diner at the Brooklyn Kitchen event. She works at Victoria’s Secret. Around the time of the exotic dinner, a NYC Victoria’s Secret store along with a Niketown store shut down for a while in order to eliminate infestations of bedbugs. Considering this, the pleasure from chomping down on bugs might be called the Revenge Effect.

For your profitability: Sell Well: What Really Moves Your Shoppers

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