Last time we talked about the importance of research and what I learned by talking to some people. In this post we’re going to talk about what I did with that Info.

Permutations

Once you have the research it’s time to come up with ideas. It’s important to brainstorm and to get as many out there as you can. At this stage there’s no such thing as a bad idea because every single one has at least something about it that can be valuable even if it’s just showing you what not to do.

At this stage I’m gonna remind you guys what I wanted to keep in mind:

• Mead growth is tied to food trends and the craft beverage industry
• Many new consumers are actively looking for something different
• New consumers need to understand what mead is

With that information, I knew that I wanted whatever I created to help educate new consumers as well as getting them to socialize through mead. So after I did all of my brainstorming I cut myself down to three ideas.

Web

The idea here was to create a website for the mead world that could act as a central hub for everyone. Consumers and makers alike. It would combine ideas of multiple other platforms  such as Reddit, Instructables and many great blogs already in existence, allowing for a place where one could share their thoughts with others, discover new recipes, learn to be a maker, as well as keeping the community updated on the going-ons around them.

The amazing thing about forums is the community that forms around them. When you get people together and have them build something, it isn’t just that thing thats getting built but connections between them as well. By having an open forum, you create a space for an exchange of ideas, thoughts and questions that can bring people closer. There would be sections dedicated to teaching newbies how to make their own while giving them a bit more support than a book.

Vending

An earlier focus of mine had been on specifically at home makers but also is very closely tied to current and growing food trends. People are caring more and more about where their food and beverages come from and you can find them purchasing their produce and such from farmers markets  and other locally focused businesses. This pairs extremely well with mead’s ability to be hyper local and offers a place where one could learn more about the subject. To aid in this, vendor’s would use the stand to help them introduce new consumers as well as help them educate these budding newbies on the products. 

Packaging

One of the questions I asked myself during my brainstorming sessions was “where could people encounter information on mead?” You saw two of my answers above but my favorite was also, in my eyes, the simplest: right at the source. Packaging is often used simply to catch the eye of the consumer and draw them in, but when handled correctly it can be so much more. It can also be offered as a teaching aid, to help people better understand what the product is and what it can offer.

This is the idea that I ended up continuing with and in the next article we’ll talk about the iterative process.