The biggest lie in the marijuana industry

A new survey has come out that confirms what every other study in the past has reported about cannabis branding and marketing, it just doesn’t matter to consumers and they don’t remember it like your logo, your colors or yours Packaging looks a few days after purchasing your product. The three factors they remember 100% are how much your product costs, how well the product worked, and where they got the product from.

There’s a current wave of Millennials and Gen Z’ers under 40 who run “advertising agencies” and “branding companies” who want to convince you that the way you package your product, the colors you choose and How your logo looks super is important in the cannabis industry as it differentiates your product from every other CBD, edible, tincture or vape wagon out there. Yet up to this point in the history of legal marijuana, no survey or study has even confirmed this, and in fact every consumer survey ever conducted has shown exactly the opposite. Price, effects, and place of sale have consistently emerged as the top 3 influences for a marijuana user.

Why does the cannabis branding myth persist?

There are 3 main reasons why the marijuana branding myth keeps perpetuating in the cannabis industry.

The first is that the company or person peddling their brand story or business is trying to make money and pay their bills. It is in their best interest to convince you that branding really matters so that you agree to pay them anywhere from $5,000 to $50,000 for their professional branding services.

The second reason the myth perpetuates is that companies, some desperate to stand out and generate more sales, want to believe the myth and hope that writing a check to a marketing company will bring millions in sales and miles of pharmacy shelf space will create. With the industry so limited in where and how to advertise, brands are desperate for a “magic bullet check” that will allow them to pay someone to create a good-looking product, and that will unleash an avalanche of sales.

Third, the ecosystem of customer affinity and loyalty that works so well for tech companies like Apple and Google doesn’t work well for a commodity, or in this case a plant. Ever notice that all those millennials touting “branding expertise” want your product to look like it belongs in the Apple Store or on a Nike display? Why would anyone think that a smelly, smokable plant like cannabis should look like an iPhone or new Air Jordans? The top 3 influencers for adolescent millennials now running “ad agencies” were Apple (Steve Jobs), Nike and Disney/Coke. You love the words smooth and slick, but let me ask you, when has a cannabis plant ever looked smooth or slick?

Now you can see why branding experts want cannabis products that look like iPhone boxes and dispensaries that look like you’re stepping into an Apple Store. It was their main influences that grew up and what they use as the basis of what successful products and campaigns look like.

There is only one major problem with these stories, the data from every survey conducted on cannabis users in the US or Canada says exactly the opposite. If you pay an exorbitant sum for branding advice, logos, colors, etc. of cannabis products, you’re getting bad advice and wasting money.

Affinity and brand loyalty work for the tech market, but not for the cannabis market. Cannabis is developing more like the wine market. Yes, you have a favorite brand or two, but you shop by price and sales, don’t care about the wine company’s logo, and you remember if you liked that bottle of wine, how much it cost you, and where to get it have it. The results are almost identical to what any cannabis consumer survey is saying.

In fact, the branding argument holds much better when it comes to DISPENSARY branding as opposed to cannabis product branding. You can see the excitement Cookies have created as a dispensary chain and what consumers have an affinity for in the marijuana market. Consumers are showing they want to tell people more about where they got it ie cookies or MedMen than what they actually bought there and put in their bag. Imagine, kudos to Berner for figuring this out early.

For example, isn’t the Cookies Dispensary brand cool and you want to be associated with going there? Yes! What are their 3 best selling products? No idea.

The most recent endorsement of this anti-branding, treat-it-like-a-commodity survey comes from a Work Week article titled “Correct Price of Cannabis in 2022.” While the article focuses on consumer price points that work in the US and Canada, it also touches on branding and what consumers think and remember about a cannabis purchase. Some highlights are:

Lower prices are the number one influencer for Canadian cannabis consumers.

In the US, lower prices were consistently identified as one of the top three factors in consumers’ choice of cannabis products, with 27% of respondents saying that product prices influence their purchasing decisions.

34% of Canadian consumers said price is the most important factor when choosing a product at a cannabis retail store.

American consumers also pay attention to the taste of the product and the THC content in addition to the price, and are more likely to pay higher prices for products with strong flavors and higher THC concentrations.

A brand’s competitors in a particular region, the markups that retailers in a region apply to their products, local and state regulations, costs, and tax structures all affect the final price of the cannabis product to consumers.

Brand reputation is not a top 10 influencer for US consumers.

Only 18% of cannabis users surveyed said that a brand’s reputation is important when making a final purchasing decision.

Their interesting conclusion or insight at the end was as follows:

Our opinion

In a cannabis retail business, budtenders seem to be the first point of trust for cannabis customers, not brands.

Based on other data we checked; Customers seem to make the “trust decision” based on the products a cannabis retailer offers in their store. We call this the art of cannabis curation.

Nonetheless, price is only one piece of the puzzle, and earning the trust of retailers is likely a much larger component to succeeding as a cannabis brand in 2022.

The data that 4 out of 5 consumers don’t care about your branding isn’t new, it’s just being tested and confirmed time and time again. You can read articles like “The Cannabis Branding Myth”, “Cannabis Branding Proves Worthless” and “The Billion Dollar Cannabis Debate – Does Branding Matter in Weed” to read about previous stories and polls involving the same three Things the consumer acknowledges when he or she buys weed, price, effect and location.

It would be too easy to end the article with a big nose in the air at branding experts and marketing majors, but let’s talk about a solution. If these dates are all true, then what is the solution?

Just reverse the results, just like the transitive property in math. When we see what consumers say is NOT important, just reverse those statements to find out what is important.

huh?

We know that price, quality (effect), and location (ease of getting the product) are the three most important factors influencing a consumer’s cannabis purchase. So if you want to persuade consumers and sell a lot of cannabis products, build a quality cannabis product that achieves the goal of the product, such as: B. getting high or pain relief, at a reasonable price and in as many places as you can. As the Work Week article concludes, convincing the pharmacy owner is far more important than the actual consumer because just like with wine, people will go with price, quality (desired result when drinking 2 glasses) and how far I had to go to get it, or the ease of purchase.

Sell ​​a good product, cheap, and have it everywhere. Sounds a lot like a beer and wine market to me.

If someone tells you that branding is key and that your logo, colors and packaging are very important, ask them to show you any data that confirms that statement is true among cannabis users. When you say that a consumer identifies with a brand and creates an affinity with brands that they feel define them and want to be identified with, you’re saying, “Yes, I see why that for technology and consumer products like Apple, Google, Nike, Telsa, Lululemon, North Face, but why do you think that applies to a pre-roll someone’s going to smoke or a vape cart they’re going to blow through in a week’s time?

In the end, all data, not just opinions, show that the consumer doesn’t remember what they bought, your colors, your logo, your packaging, or even how much they took, but they remember 100% how much Their product cost it works well and how easy it was for them to get ie they drive 10 minutes but not 45 minutes for it. That’s why engaging with purchasing executives and pharmacy owners should be your priority, as opposed to fancy boxes and logos.

Remember, as the Work Week article reports, “Brand reputation is not a top 10 influencer for US consumers. Only 18% of cannabis users surveyed said brand reputation is important when making a final purchasing decision.”

Branding is not even in the top 10 results when cannabis users list reasons for purchasing a particular product, and over 4 in 5 consumers (81%) said that a brand’s reputation is not a factor in their final purchase decision.

Game. Sentence. Game.

Do you know the best selling beer in America? Budweiser and Bud Light.

Do you know the retail price number for a bottle of wine in America? Under $10.

Don’t think about it too much. It’s a plant, not a smartphone.

Now go to dinner with your local pharmacy owner and get him or her some court seats. It’s a much better investment in the success of your product than a new logo and packaging. Maybe toss the buds some Dunks or Starbucks gift cards when you visit a dispensary, too! Remember, they are the first point of contact to establish “Like, Know, or Trust” your brand.

IS BRANDING AT WEED A WASTE OF MONEY READ MORE…

THE CANNABIS BRAND MYTH WHAT CONSUMERS DON’T REMEMBER.

OR..

BRANDING WEED – HOW CAN COMPANIES BECOME SUCCESSFUL?