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Where are we going as an industry?

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webmaster said:
Can you imagine the traffic they would get with a 'mead cam'? There is something that needs doing every day, and tons of people hungry to learn more about what goes on 'behind closed doors' in a meadery/brewery/winery. There's just something attractive about the creation of alcoholic beverages. So a 'virtual tour' or 'mead cam' is an attraction.

Getting back on track for 'what can we do for the industry' like Ian was asking, we can do the following:

  • foster a standard of excellence in presenting the product - if you present online and brick and mortar in a way that puts people off, they'll be put off.
  • market, market, market. If we don't *tell* people about mead, they won't know about it.
  • tastings - get them trying it. I can't tell you the number of people I found when doing a summer-long market test with a pro meadmaker who thought they wouldn't like it and did. To most people, they want 'red' or 'white' wine, or 'dry' or 'sweet' wine. They don't know what they really want or like, they just know what the big wineries tell them to like. Let them *try* your stuff, and 9 times out of ten, especially if you have multiple meads, you'll have something they like.
  • If every meadery does this in their own region, then it won't be very long (like less than a year) and *most* people in this country will know what mead is. Because if this happens, then the media will really pick up on it, and that will make it go even faster.

Do we need an association for that? Maybe. But as noted earlier, every time that has been tried, everyone is terribly enthusiastic until money is asked for and time is required. Then everyone becomes very busy and doesn't have time. So we need to determine the correct way to put it together that will encourage participation. The Mazer Cup and Gotmead are considering the problem, but at this point there is neither the interest or the cash available to make it happen right now. Possibly soon.

But in all honesty, this is something that every meadery *should* be doing to grow their business, it is basic marketing. You don't need an association to tell you 'grow your business, make a profit'. If they do that, the problem of making the buying market aware of the mead industry will solve itself. And the association, should it get formed, can tackle the real problems of working with the federal government to create fair interstate shipping regulations and a consistent application of TTB rules with a specific set of regulations that apply to mead, rather than lumping us together with wine or beer, which is what is happening now.
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Just to summarize and keep things together

1. One Bottle at a time, don't worry about growth or our industry problems just one foot in front of the other and keep up the pressure/marketing (the do nothing approach and be patient and persistent for the tide to turn and mead to take off)

2. Keep a proper up-to-date website that keeps your customers in the know about your product, pricing, where it is, and what is going on. Update that site constantly and don't use old technology for that site or poor keywords.

3. Collaboration to get a mead section highlighted at a few stores and see if we can get something going in what used to be the sherry section or other low-volume 'old' section.

4. Try the brew-pub keg and session approach and see if craft brew fans want to try mead from the tap or bottle. At the very least host parties at places and have a good time sampling the mead out.

5. Participate in the MCI and help it become bigger and better.

The list above is what I have seen so far, I encourage people to point out where I am wrong.

Also, the post from Vicki is strong in words, passionate, and to the point. If you are on the commercial forum and own a meadery (like me) then you are a big girl. I can take the heat because ultimately, no matter my direction or opinion, I need to have a successful business, and if I don't listen to advice from smarter people than me, that will never happen. Thank you Vicki for the feedback and I have incorporated it into my numbered list and removed some others.

PS. I will improve the architecture of my site, and get away from the Honey Wine Keywords a little and incorporate some Mead keywords a lot more ;), All in support of point #2 on the list above.
 
IanB said:

Just to summarize and keep things together

1. One Bottle at a time, don't worry about growth or our industry problems just one foot in front of the other and keep up the pressure/marketing (the do nothing approach and be patient and persistent for the tide to turn and mead to take off)

2. Keep a proper up-to-date website that keeps your customers in the know about your product, pricing, where it is, and what is going on. Update that site constantly and don't use old technology for that site or poor keywords.

3. Collaboration to get a mead section highlighted at a few stores and see if we can get something going in what used to be the sherry section or other low-volume 'old' section.

4. Try the brew-pub keg and session approach and see if craft brew fans want to try mead from the tap or bottle. At the very least host parties at places and have a good time sampling the mead out.

5. Participate in the MCI and help it become bigger and better.

The list above is what I have seen so far, I encourage people to point out where I am wrong.

Also, the post from Vicki is strong in words, passionate, and to the point. If you are on the commercial forum and own a meadery (like me) then you are a big girl. I can take the heat because ultimately, no matter my direction or opinion, I need to have a successful business, and if I don't listen to advice from smarter people than me, that will never happen. Thank you Vicki for the feedback and I have incorporated it into my numbered list and removed some others.

PS. I will improve the architecture of my site, and get away from the Honey Wine Keywords a little and incorporate some Mead keywords a lot more ;), All in support of point #2 on the list above.
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This is a good list.

Some notes on website marketing: meta keywords don't work, they were downplayed to nearly nothing years ago. You need to be on all the sites that list meaderies/wineries, both nationally and for your area. You need good reciprocal links with valid sites (not spammy list sites), good meta descriptions and titles on all pages, meta titles on all pictures that use your keywords, and use your keywords in your content, as close to the beginning of paragraphs as possible. Make sure Google Local and Bing Local show your meadery in their database. I strongly recommend learning the basic ways of search engine optimization (or hiring someone to help you if you have the budget) to ensure your site reaches the first page of Google. If you're not on the first page, then you don't get seen. A first page Google listing is a very powerful tool for driving traffic to your site and your meadery.

Ian, a quick check of your site shows me the following:

  • it redirects from another domain - this isn't a good idea, Google frowns on redirects
  • your layout is fine, and you have the necessary info out there
  • I don't see an address for your meadery on the site, maybe I missed it? It is considered 'good business' to let people know your location, as a missing location is often seen as 'hiding something' by other businesses and potential clients
  • You note on your main page (before the redirect) that 'static websites are old-fashioned' but it doesn't matter if they are, since Google sees static websites (or code prepared to resemble static html) much better than generated code like you have with Blogger. That is why Flash websites are useless unless you are already a market presence. Google can't see them. If the site code doesn't provide them with relevant text for the site with the right keywords in it (look at the source code for your site, there is about 5 pages of code with no relevant text before you get to anything that Google will parse), then it will keep you low on the rankings. I did Gotmead in Joomla, because it presents pages to Google that can be read as html (using the SEO tools I have in the program), and that increases rankings. Blogger, from what I see in your source, not so much.
  • A google search of 'mead Massachusetts' shows you mentioned in an article in a local paper, but not your site in the first couple pages (and the article is on page 2) <- people won't be searching for your business name necessarily, but more general info. The first return for that term is Green River Ambrosia, which would get clicked because they are first
  • The average customer isn't all that internet savvy. When they see 'winery blog' their thought is going to be 'where is their website?', so I'd just use it as a website if that is the plan, and not call it a 'blog' in the title.
  • I see no meta description or meta title tags for your pages. Google will first go to these tags for keywords and info before it looks at content to provide your listing in their system. Not having them will hurt your rankings
  • If you wish to use the blog style, you don't need to have your domain forward to blogger.com. You can install Wordpress on your domain, and not need to redirect, plus you get better control, and the ability to put in SEO tools that will make your site more visible to Google.

Not sure what you mean by the 'do nothing approach'. The key here is that as you do your job and reach *your* market, and if other meaderies do the same, the national market visibility will take care of itself, because each meadery will be educating and reaching their local market, and eventually those markets will merge, as education and word-of-mouth (the best kind of advertising) does its work. Obviously, that is dependent on each meadery to do *their* work to reach their market, but if they're not doing that, then they're not a professional meadery, they're a hobbyist with a license.

Yes, I use strong words. I'm a direct person. I've watched this industry and worked with the meaderies for nearly 16 years now, and have a *very* strong wish to see the industry grow and succeed. Between Gotmead, the IMA (now defunct) the Mead Fest (also no longer being held), and now the MCI, I've worked to help it grow as best I can. I like to think I've done a bit of good.

A significant number of meaderies out there now are there partly because of Gotmead, what they learned here, and in a sense are my 'kids' thereby. I'm a protective parent, and not averse to getting right to the point when telling 'my' meaderies what I see out there that needs doing to grow their businesses. My experience in this marketplace, plus my 20 years as a marketing specialist (not anymore, I got out of doing professional marketing last year) give me the ability to help, so I do. What they do with the info, that is another thing, but I put it out there so they can use it if they want to.

Good luck, Ian. If you're persistent, it will pay off. It has for all the successful meaderies out there, you just have to keep up the pressure. Pete says you have good meads, so that is a huge step, as sadly, there are a significant number of commercial meads out there that just aren't very good.
 
More thoughts

Vicki,
Please understand I am not on this commercial forum asking what our industry should do for direction because I want personal advice about what my meadery should do to improve things. I would ask that you start another thread with your most recent post about my site and how it can be improved. Personal critique is appreciated, but under the right thread. I am not posting here because I need SEO advice, I am posting here to hear what others think about mead as an industry and what strategic direction we are moving.

My question was for our 'industry' what should we do? (And it appears so far that my previous post highlighted the idea's so far. At least according to ATOE :p...thanks by the way)

Also, on the action/testing some of these idea's for our industry. I think we are getting extremely close to hosting a Mead Night event at Sunset in Allston MA when 4 mead makers are in Boston in May. I will report back on the success/failure of the event as soon as we get the 100% guarantee that it is going to happen.

As an industry, maybe a larger single tasting event like the Sunset one we are trying to setup with more than one meadery could be a good thing for mead and people will respond. Maybe even some print/media will show up to the first one since it hasn't been done before. I will post a new thread about the event when we have it setup.
 
Ian, my post was in response to what seemed to me in your original post to also be the question of why things weren't picking up the way you'd hoped, and hence my feedback on your site in an effort to help you increase your visibility. Sorry I was incorrect in that assumption.

Sounds like your public events are going well, though, and I wish you the best of luck in them, I hope they garner public review and press.
 
As an industry, I think meaderies may need some joint effort toward modifying government regulation. One example is vintage dating which I understand is currently prohibited on meads (please correct me if I wrong). Among wines, generally speaking, no vintage means "cheap wine" (not talking Champagne) - at least that's the impression most folks I know take away when they see no vintage date. Although that is clearly not a correct assumption, and a bit of "wine snobbery" it is what it is. If meads stay lumped with non-vintage wines, the perception of quality is likely to be diminished.

If labels require "honey-wine" that could be another area to consider pushing for change. The "no-grain-in-winery" rule that makes braggots more difficult is another. I'm sure there are many others - essentially, I think meaderies should be broken out as distinct from brewers, wineries, and distillers with rules crafted to suit them better. Legislative clout (i.e. MONEY) will be required.
 
That is bad news... I think I will run into similar problems in EU-regulations with regards to displaying vintage and possibly mention of geographical areas on the label (though hopefully not).

Medsen Fey said:
If labels require "honey-wine" that could be another area to consider pushing for change.
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This is really the root of the other two problems, more than likely. Mead needs to be legally recognised as its own form of product. Until it is, it won't get any special form of laws, and needs to follow the wine rules. In wines there's a kind of ranking system of quality, in regards to where they're from and what they contain, and only those recognised as "high quality" by authorities are allowed vintage labeling as to not "trick the consumer". But if mead is recognised legally as something distinctly different from wine it could have its own more sensible rules.

The question is what would have to be done in order for this to happen? Probably three things.

-People need to have better grasp of what mead is
-Meaderies and the media need to be bitching about it, and do some stories about how mead needs to be recognised as something seperate
-There needs to be some "faux" mead out there, so that there's something new laws would "save" the real mead from.
 
Something else that will most likely help is scientific data, detailing the benefits of aging mead. If for example it could be "proven" that mead has a higher fortitude than wine (on average) that would probably be a big plus.
 
I have some good news, for myself at least. Systembolaget found no query with my plans for labels and the inclusion of vintage on them.

A lot of times the lack of legislation for mead is a good thing. But I think all in all, more recognition and rules from authorities would be beneficial, as it could help mead make the headlines too.
 
something that I came accross today

This article:

http://www.winespectator.com/webfeature/show/id/44871

Gives one good idea for mead that I really like. the idea that we could change the label's to be a portal to the brand. With one of those QR, or quick recognition codes, (the bar-code like image on the back of some products) and people could use cell phones to connect to the meadery and sign up for the email list.

Just something I wanted to post out here for discussion. I am really considering it on our next batch of labels.
 
FWIW, several years back I invented a new technology with some buddies at the Jet Propulsion Lab (the invention had nothing to do with the space business), that allowed direct recognition of cell phone imagery and supported linking to a website thru images sent to a server via the phone. The concept isn't so new any more and it is slowly being incorporated into marketing efforts around the world (slower here than Europe and Asia), but it offers the ability of your existing label to be all the link that you need. QR codes are not required. We started a company to offer the service: http://www.linkmemobile.com/ and Google is offering something similar thru their Google Goggles. I suspect that very soon, QR codes on magazine pages and product labels will be "so yesterday." ;D

Google is infringing on our patent, BTW, but we don't have the team of lawyers able to successfully do battle with them in court, yet.
 
hee hee hee hee!

I love those blue bottles too. Whenever anyone brings one to the house we always claim it for filling with our own mead.
 
wayneb said:
FWIW, several years back I invented a new technology with some buddies at the Jet Propulsion Lab (the invention had nothing to do with the space business), that allowed direct recognition of cell phone imagery and supported linking to a website thru images sent to a server via the phone. The concept isn't so new any more and it is slowly being incorporated into marketing efforts around the world (slower here than Europe and Asia), but it offers the ability of your existing label to be all the link that you need. QR codes are not required. We started a company to offer the service: http://www.linkmemobile.com/ and Google is offering something similar thru their Google Goggles. I suspect that very soon, QR codes on magazine pages and product labels will be "so yesterday." ;D

Google is infringing on our patent, BTW, but we don't have the team of lawyers able to successfully do battle with them in court, yet.
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I was really hoping the last line of that sentence was going to be "I invented a new technology with some buddies at the Jet Propulsion Lab with mead powering the engines"...then we would have a REALLY cool feature we could market...

"Mead...it powers Jet's"....BAM! Take that SAAB.

On a more serious note, I am going through the demo at the moment Wayne, and this looks promising if the cost is scalable for smaller guys compared to the larger campaigns on the site. I think the idea here is just to make Mead information more accessible to everyone, and this could do that!

Ian
 
wildoates said:
hee hee hee hee!

I love those blue bottles too. Whenever anyone brings one to the house we always claim it for filling with our own mead.
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Muahahahaha...got a whole *box* of them from the beer fest! Sadly empty, LOL, but I will fill them...yess, my precious.

Also got an entire box *full* (of mead that is) of baby 175 ml bottles from the MCI. Those will be fun for sampling nights.
 
IanB said:
I was really hoping the last line of that sentence was going to be "I invented a new technology with some buddies at the Jet Propulsion Lab with mead powering the engines"...then we would have a REALLY cool feature we could market...

"Mead...it powers Jet's"....BAM! Take that SAAB.

On a more serious note, I am going through the demo at the moment Wayne, and this looks promising if the cost is scalable for smaller guys compared to the larger campaigns on the site. I think the idea here is just to make Mead information more accessible to everyone, and this could do that!

Ian
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OOH... the first mead-powered mission to Mars. This gives me ideas! ;D

But also seriously for a bit, we just sold the company's assets to a larger entity (with deeper pockets), and I don't know if they're going to still work with the little guy. We were pretty much open to all users, at all levels, since we were looking to grab the bulk of market penetration before all our competitors did.

Bottom line is that I don't have any influence over where this newly agglomerated company will go with our technology, although if they abandon the smaller users, I'm not averse to filling that gap by "getting the band back together" (i.e. my JPL buddies), and setting up a server somewhere that could do this specifically for mead bottle label recognition. Out of deference to our purchasers (and to avoid IP entanglements), you need to check with them first to see if they can provide an affordable service to you. But if they decline, once they decline, we're free to run with it.
 
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