Cannabis Marketing

Special Challenges and Strategies for Cannabis Rebranding and Marketing 

Ask yourself, how would you feel about speaking supportively about cannabis to your friends, family & colleagues, blasting it out on social media? Most would be pretty uncomfortable.

Although standard marketing practices will eventually apply, this isn’t just a new widget that needs a clever “lifestyle brand strategy program.” 

There have been 90+ years of government-orchestrated propaganda pounding cannabis with the label of social pariah. The cannabis industry is strictly prohibited from advertising, uniquely denied tax deductions and banking services, and burdened with extreme regulations. As a result, their marketing budgets are limited and focused mostly toward existing consumers. Large multistate cannabis companies cripple brand identity and loyalty with multiple brands & logos for different product categories (flower, vapes, edibles, topicals, tinctures, etc.)

Taking into account all of those obstacles, how much rebranding does cannabis need?

When you assess those challenges, it's no surprise that local municipalities “opt out” of allowing legal cannabis dispensaries, even though they have proven to be a safe form of city revenue.

You can’t vote against cannabis when you know some basics: 

Cannabis has been a food, fuel, textile, and medicine since the beginning of civilization. 

Modern scientific research began in the 1960s, and there's a patent issued in 2003, Cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants, which lists parkinsons, alzheimer’s, and stroke in the opening paragraph. Cannabinoids are unique compounds found in abundance within the flowers of the plant. Over 140 different cannabinoids have been discovered so far, with the most research and knowledge on THC and CBD. The early research revealed those plant compounds interacting with a previously unknown, highly complex, intercellular, regulatory system: the endocannabinoid system, and now there’s over 26K studies cataloged at pubmed.gov. 

Those are compelling facts, but the one I found to cause the biggest mental and emotional shift is that cannabis does not cause death from overdose. That fact breaks any rationale for cannabis prohibition, but we continue to prosecute people for possession. 

A successful marketing campaign creates content and messaging from *two sources: Science and Emotion. *Each fuels the other, driving toward *full market potential.

You’d think that with thousands of studies over decades, *including a patent and a couple FDA approved cannabis based medicines, *we’d be so much closer to the goal. Ironically, each new study notes the need or desire for more research; *all of it has been virtually impotent for advancing access to or acceptance of cannabis. 

The other resource is where the action is. Applying marketing efforts to this area makes the biggest and quickest impact. *It’s the personal stories that make the strongest impact. This industry has relied on pioneer advocates, already burdened with devastating health problems, who share their desperate choice to try cannabis. They faced being ostracized from their doctors, family & community, and most times they were vulnerable to being prosecuted by law enforcement. 

Because of the complete vilification of cannabis, it’s absolutely essential to unleash every coercive, manipulative, psychologically provocative device. 

This strategy uses a specialized relationship of digital promotions and content creation with a direct-to-community engagement campaign, each fueling the other. A great example is the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Approaching the community, building relationships, customizing content for specific groups and demographics, creating coordinated events, and developing digital promotions strategies. 

It’s logical for each cannabis company to consolidate its holdings and products into one focused brand and then “sponsor” the non-traditional, alternative marketing program using an independent agency. That eliminates any chance of violating advertising prohibitions while saturating the campaign events and promotions with their branding. 

This special formulation navigates the unique challenges of marketing the cannabis industry and is prepared to go 10X. Meaning that the formula can be applied to one community or nationwide, which would create many professional opportunities. For a frame of reference, there are 81K pharm reps in the US, they service only one main demograhic and Pharma can advertise anywhere and everywhere. Imagine what we can accomplish with a comprehensive program. 

A crucial component of this specialized strategy is converting acceptance into advocacy. Cannabis can be the tool that liberates, comforts, and evolves the whole world with a cleaner, healthier environment and economy. 

Pursuing a place in the cannabis industry comes with an automatic agreement to contribute to advocacy because the industry wouldn’t exist without advocates who started years ago, when it was even harder. 

Now you have a solid description of the marketing challenges and how we can use non-traditional education, promotion, and branding to drive community engagement and expand advocacy until we reach full market realization. 

As more people join the industry, they bring their experience, connections, and creativity. It diversifies the variety of devices and opportunities for building community acceptance.

Thanks for taking the time to incorporate this into your understanding of the needs and potential in the cannabis space.