Have some grasshoppers!

I spent around two and a half years in Mexico, during which I travelled like a gypsy exploring the length and breadth of the country, its culture and people and of course, the gastronomical delights the country has to offer.

During one of these trips to the state called Puebla, I was immersed in a city tour via one of their hop on, hop off bus services. While I was soaking in the colorful fuschia colored buildings and beautiful Talavera tiles and pottery, I heard a distant grumble. After the second instance, I realized, it wasn’t so distant. My stomach was grumbling thanks to its day long neglect by my wanderlust soaked soul.

I got off at the next site, looking for something to munch on and lo behold, I came across a sight I never thought I would see, a basket full of grasshoppers, nope, not green, but fried and red, served up with a dash of salt, chilli, and a squeeze of lemon.

What do you think I did next?

I shelled out the required pesos and picked up one from my plate to inspect how to get started with this dish. I had heard bugs are rich in protein and I was up to eat anything that was not four legged at that point of time. Given the fact that Mexican street food largely comprises animal proteins which I don’t eat, bugs were the richest and most acceptable source of nourishment I could sign up for.

Anyways, coming back to my crunchy dish, it did indeed crunch upon eating and was interesting in taste. The lemon and chilli helped make it more palatable and I thought of happy thoughts as if keeping dementors at bay.

Funny thing is, by the time I reached half way, I was feeling sorry that the stock on my plate was slowly depleting. I quickly glanced at my friend’s plate to see how much she had left on hers to do a mental math of how quickly I should finish mine to get a share of hers.

Yes, it was that tasty. I miss eating chapulines, as the dish is called in Mexico. Chapulín is the Spanish for grasshopper and the name of the dish reflects exactly what it is without any frills.

Of course, I am going to tie this incident to a marketing talk. This newsletter is all about a marketer’s quirky take on life, after all.

New things, be it trends, methods, or tools might seem too out of the world to try. But remember one thing, you are on a constant hamster’s wheel, like it or not, to make your brand’s mark on the world. Things are too fast and too crazy, but crazy isn’t bad. It might just be the right thing to satisfy the cravings of your customer at the opportune moment, so go ahead and give it a shot.

It might not make sense at first but keep at it, just like I stuck to my plate of chapulines only to fall in love with it later. What is not understood might not be bad, in fact, it might just be unexplored, which means…you are a first mover. Double bonanza.

As a marketer, always keep exploring, stay open to new things, and keep pivoting. I simply cannot emphasize on this enough!

That’s all from me today…

Have a splendid weekend ahead!

Proma