Megrim or Cornish sole? đ
If you were offered Megrim sole or Cornish sole in a restaurant, which would you choose?
Itâs actually the same fish, but youâd be forgiven for choosing the second. While Megrim sounds a little, well, grim, the word Cornish conjures up something a lot more appealing: blue seas, golden sands, and delicious cream teas, to name just a few. Such images make the mouth water.
And yet although Megrim is caught in that very same blue sea, 95% is usually exported to Spain. Itâs hoped a rebrand will encourage us Brits to start eating it.
It might seem far-fetched to hope that simply swapping a word out will transform the fishâs popularity, but it worked with pilchards.
Six years ago, fisherman rebranded pilchards (adult sardines apparently) to become âCornish sardinesâ and Waitrose reported a 19% rise in sales as a result.
Itâs not just the word Cornwall that makes people want to eat ugly fish though. And itâs not just place names that make our mouths water.
Think of the way âking prawnsâ sound so much better than plain old prawns.
The same goes for âgourmet popcornâ and âheritage tomatoesâ. See also âorganic and âartisanâ anything.
And moving away from food for a second, Iâd much rather buy a âvintageâ coat instead of a mouldy old âsecond handâ one. How about you?
What does this tell us?
That certain words can be great at evoking a dream, an emotion, a memory.
And thatâs helpful when youâre trying to engage with people.
Research by Canada Life a while back showed this when it looked at equity release. When they asked over 55s if they would like to continue to live in their current property as they grow older, 48% strongly agreed. However, when they asked the same question but used the word âhomeâ instead of âpropertyâ, the figure jumped to 61%.So choose your words carefully.
And if youâre in a gastro pub this weekend, give peas a chance đ.
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