This article reflects information as of 2020. For the latest details, please contact us.
Hello and good evening, everyone!
This is the Web-DOG Executive Committee.
[Web-DOG Iwate] Azumamine Brewery Site Renewal is now well underway! Having finished the competition and the kickoff meeting, this week we held concept brainstorming with the students!
You can see past articles at the links below.
How the competition was held: ・[Web-DOG Iwate] "Web-DOG," a project promoting regional digital transformation (DX) through industry-academia collaboration, held its first student competition in Iwate. How the project is progressing: ・[Web-DOG Iwate] Azumamine Brewery Site Renewal — Kickoff Meeting Report
1. Preparing for the Brainstorm
The purpose of this brainstorm was to decide a concept, and to work out what marketing methods would raise sales in order to realize that concept.
Since this is Azumamine Brewery's site renewal, as preparation for the brainstorm we asked the students to research and input the following three points in advance.
- Efforts / success cases / failure cases in the same industry. Not just sake — it would be good to have cases of sales changes, initiatives, and consumer changes across the alcohol industry as a whole, including cases trying to respond to COVID. 2. Efforts / success cases / failure cases in other industries. Not just the alcohol industry — look into industries where consumers changed significantly. 3. Cases of change as a user. Interview yourself or those around you about how purchasing behavior or lifestyle has changed. These real voices are hard to compile as statistical data, but they're also an important method called qualitative research.
We also used Backlog so that each person's research could be written in the comment section of the tasks, letting each member input before the brainstorm.
(Everyone's active contributions on Backlog)
2. Points to Watch in a Brainstorm
Since we brainstormed with an especially large group this time, I've compiled a few points to watch, thinking about what to be careful of if placed in a similar situation again.
- Make the purpose clear. → A brainstorm with no purpose is just chit-chat, so this should be clarified in advance! 2. The moderator matters. → So that participants can spend meaningful time, the moderator, who guides things properly toward the purpose, carries quite heavy responsibility. 3. Quantity over quality for ideas. → Since it's a brainstorm, it's a place to bounce ideas off each other. So quantity matters more than quality for ideas. Of course, the moderator's guidance is needed there too. 4. A tool for collaborative work. (Google Docs, etc.) → As ideas fly around, putting them into text and showing them to everyone matters too. Once a certain volume of "spilling out" is done and no more ideas seem forthcoming, grouping them is good too.
What I especially felt this time is how solid the students of Morioka Business & Design Vocational School are! Seeing them actively speak up, I felt like giving them a round of applause!
3. Next Time: A Meeting to Create Content and a Roadmap
Now that "Web-DOG Iwate — Azumamine Brewery Site Renewal" has officially started, after the kickoff meeting and the brainstorm, next comes a meeting to create content and a roadmap!
Please follow our note and don't miss the next meeting either!
4. To Local Gunma Companies
Together with local Gunma schools, why not solve DX challenges — like your company's site renewal or opening an EC site — through industry-academia collaboration?
If you have any questions beyond what's written in the materials, please don't hesitate to contact the "Web-DOG" inquiry desk.