Canna Marketing and Branding is a topic well covered. For most, you know the basics, so we invited a group of the best in the business to get a chance to really explore where this is all going.
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AUTHOR: Heather Allman
PUBLISHER: CANNABIS LAW REPORT
EVENT
CLAB, or Cannabis Law, Accounting, Business —
The Future of Cannabis Branding, Marketing, and Events
DATE
Thursday, June 18, 2020
MODERATOR
Evan Bopp, Founder, Potent Brands
EXPERT GUESTS
Yesenia Garcia, Director of Marketing, Curaleaf
Rosie Mattio, Founder MATTIO Communications
Jared Mirsky, Founder Wick & Mortar
Valda Coryat, CMO, Trulieve
KEY DISCUSSION
Do we even know the basics like the difference between marketing and branding?
Canna Marketing and Branding is a topic well covered. For most, you know the basics, so we invited a group of the best in the business to get a chance to really explore where this is all going.
Learn about CPG, SEO, PPC and other key terms and concepts that are coming to define how we think and act as we market and promote.
Further, now that live events, conferences, expos and festivals are not a possibility, what can we do above and beyond Zoom to reach our audience and engage the community?
The hurdles and obstacles are great, but so too are the opportunities.
KEY INSIGHTS FROM THE EXPERTS
Highlighted by the June 18, 2020 CLAB panel, key insights and strategies concerning the future of cannabis branding and marketing revealed sweeping changes.
From Yesenia Garcia, Director of Marketing, Curaleaf:
“Brand education is a story. You need to create a story, or even have micro-stories attached. Create a story centered around your brand values and goals to instill trust with consumers. People want to connect with the story behind the product.”
From Rosie Mattio, Founder MATTIO Communications:
“Within marketing, there are two branches. One is a brand’s outward communication to consumers and community; this is vital. But there is also internal communication to employees, cannabis operators, and ancillary service providers. Both matter.”
Mattio continued that a “brand must also realize the importance of earned media in the space. Paid media is dead. I work with clients to tell their story and experiences. You can use data to tell story, but people need to hear the story and not just figures.”
From Jared Mirsky, Founder Wick & Mortar:
“Beyond photography, create micro reviews on social media to organically grow. Get creative of how you develop brands through yourcontent. The possibilities are endless.”
Mirsky expanded on this idea of developing your brand: “It starts with core of who you are and the values of your brand. As a brand, it’s a promise you make to your customers. A logo and a name are only identity. Not values.”
From Valda Coryat, CMO, Trulieve:
“Although an organic online presence helps your brand, don’t use Facebook platform because it is pay-to-play, We are navigating more fields.
Coryat explains further: “With cannabis, you can’t use the benefits of products, so to market, we must educate consumers. Educate through the company website and digital tools. For compliance, these can provide information only —no prices, no ingredients. However, this education process occurs throughout: ahead of time through media, during the transaction at the store, and afterwards when at home.”
“Trulieve employees are part of the community in which they live. Therefore, they are representative of that community. That alone serves to tell part of your brand story. We tell employees to bring their whole self to Trulieve. They are representative of not only themselves, but also the larger community in which they work and live.”
KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THE EXPERTS
From Rosie Mattio:
- “Don’t pitch to media only when you have something that’s new. Rather, build relationships.”
From Jared Mirsky:
- “Use the employees, turn your budtenders into fans of the brand and again, you have organic growth.”
From Valda Coryat:
- “Community and education need to be priorities, as well as Nonprofit work.”
- “When it comes to community based businesses, including physicians, marketing— local community Grassroots efforts are at the heart of Trulieve. The ‘human element’ really comes through and comes across to our consumers.”
CONCLUSIONS ON MARKETING AND BRANDING
Concerning cannabis, CBD, or hemp, organically generated earned media, such as editorial content, and brand education, are where your marketing and branding attention needs to focus.
- Be original in your content, style, and tone for each platform.
- Tell a story focused around your core values.
- Authenticity is everything.
- Organic growth should be priority.
FUTURE GOALS FOR MARKETING AND BRANDING
- “Realizing potentcy is not the main driver.” – Mirsky
- Education
- Variety
- Consistency
- “Providing a safe, comfortable place for consumption” —Mattio
SPONSORS
ABOUT CLAB
Organizer: Cannabis LAB
The Future of Canna Branding, Marketing and Events
These are exciting times in the cannabis industry. We appreciate you tuning into us and participating in our events. Years ago we began by educating attorneys with continuing education programs regarding the emerging practice area of cannabis law. Back then educating attorneys is all we did. When we began with cannabis law programs we noticed for the first time that business professionals of all types were showing up and eager to connect with their peers and learn more. So we decided to move forward with a conference and that sold out like most of our cannabis law programs did.
Based on the success of our conference, a clear demand in the market to connect the best and brightest in the industry, to provide high level education and to move the industry forward we created a professional services organization for the cannabis industry called The Cannabis LAB.
The LAB stands for law, accounting and business. As you have noticed with the emergence of organizations within the cannabis industry several niches are being filled.
We are focusing on our true audience, the professional services sector including: business owners, investors, entrepreneurs, financial services, accounting, law, insurance, marketing and the like. We like to say we are infusing professionalism into the cannabis industry. It is clear that as the industry transitions it is the people that already operate in the corporate or business space that will become its leaders.
If you are committed to the cannabis industry, if you want to know who you need to know to be a resource to your clients and your own business, if you want to continue to learn then we created Cannabis LAB for you. Welcome. We invite you to grow healthy, grow wealthy and grow smarter.
© 2020
FURTHER READING
¹ If Your Brand Didn’t Matter Before COVID-19, It Sure Does Now
² Key Branding Terms | Branding glossary | Vistaprint
³ The Ultimate Dictionary of Marketing Terms You Should Know
⁴ 99 Marketing And Sales Terms Everyone Should Know
⁵ 2019 Cannabis Branding and Packaging Trends – CODO Design
⁶ Selling Legal Weed: How Branding, Websites, & Marketing are Everything in This Game (2019)
⁷ Cannabis branding: 42 chronic weed logos and marijuana packaging ideas
⁸ Wick & Mortar: Award Winning Cannabis Branding Agency
⁹ Cannabis Branding Is Proving To Be Worthless — So What Can You Do To Sell Your Weed? 3 New studies show marijuana branding is a myth, so what can you do to sell your brand?
¹⁰ Cannabiz Trend Report: The Evolution of Marijuana Branding in 2020
¹¹ How Cannabis Companies Can Use Experiential Marketing to Build a Brand
¹² Build Customer Trust: Cannabis Branding and Marketing Explained
¹³ The Growing Importance of Branding for Cannabis Businesses (2019)
¹⁴ The Best Cannabis Marketing Agencies of 2020
¹⁵ The 6 Steps to Bringing a Cannabis Brand to Market
¹⁶ 4 Effective Ways to Build a Standout Cannabis Brand
