HIVE MIND

Retail Packaging & Marketing Strategy

by zack | Oct 17, 2024

The Cannabis Branding, Packaging and Retail Strategy series – CHAPTER 7

Your customer’s journey with your brand starts at the first moment they are exposed to it. The absolute best way for them to receive that first exposure is a personal recommendation from a trusted friend or family member, but the vast majority of their first exposures will be from your marketing. Your marketing messaging should be synonymous with your brand as it is the first time that you are able to make your brand promise to your potential customer. If the promise is made effectively, they will carry it with them until they enter the dispensary or find you on an online menu. While the online cannabis shopping experience is very limited, the retail environment is a big opportunity to fulfill the brand promise.

Some effective tools you can use to make that a memorable and motivating experience for them include:

Brand noise and clutter: Your biggest competitor is not another brand. Your competition is the brand noise and clutter of the retail environment itself and industry as a whole. All of your marketing has brought them to this vital point when they are actually face-to-face with your product. Yes! Your packaging is doing the job you set it out to do. How can you take that to the next level?
Retail displays: A thoughtful retail display is your opportunity to level-up your visual brand experience in the dispensary. Your product is the star of the show! Why not put it on stage and give it the microphone? This communication tool reinforces your brand values, your logo, your trade dress and your important storytelling messages.

Woman looking at shelf of Cannabis packaging

A retail Point of sale display for The Farmer and The Felon

Here are some ideas for display tools that offer a variety of options, from premium to budget:

A fabricated riser that elevates your product off the shelf shows visual respect for the products while adding valuable surface area for your design and messaging.

Add a tagline to the front surface of the riser.

Create a backdrop that allows you to swap out variable backboards so you can promote deals or product info.

Set some guides or channels in the riser so your products stay in line and in place as they are handled.

If a larger staged display is outside or your budget, look into small branded signage. Something as simple as an attractive self-standing little sign with your logo on it can reinforce the brand in a way that doesn’t occupy too much shelf space.

Choose materials that reflect your trade dress. Does painted wood match your brand aesthetic? Maybe it’s holographic foil? Maybe it’s just a piece of driftwood or stone you purchased at the local import store? Choosing the elements that accompany your products say a lot about your products.

Pick a retail fabrication vendor that knows the cannabis industry. There are a ton of retail display vendors out there, but unfortunately most of them are reselling crap from China. Research cannabis display vendors that truly understand the dispensary environment.

Vinyl wraps and store take-overs can be a great way to elevate your brand presence in the dispensary. Often dispensaries are aware of the visual value that they represent. Have your sales team speak with the manager about the cost and timeline to apply a large vinyl wrap display on a wall or counter that displays your brand story. The closer to where your products are on the shelf – the better. Many dispensaries are hip to this profitable investment and charge premium slotting fees for the exposure. Determine if the ROI is worth it to you. Dispensaries are generally packed environments and shelf or wall space is at a premium.

Demos, events, and patient appreciation days can meaningfully connect with people in real life. Spend time putting together a unique demo table that isn’t just another stretch-fabric branded tablecloth on a folding table. How can you take some of these display tools we’ve discussed and use them to elevate your table? Let your demo team make their table unique with a flare of their own personality. Remember, people like to connect with people over boxes and logos.

With these retail marketing strategy guidelines, you have the opportunity to present your products to your customer with style and fulfill your brand promise. That magic moment when they’re holding your product in their hands, reading your messaging, taking in the branding, color and storytelling messaging should not be taken for granted. This is the conversion moment when they go from curious shoppers to customers. Treat this moment with value and respect and you will create enthusiastic customers.

After that moment, the brand promise moves all the way back up your supply chain to the cannabis plant, growing in its soil. It’s up to you to fulfill the promise with your choices of how you created a quality product. This is where your authenticity is truly tested. If you stayed true to the guidelines shared with you today, you will find that you have not only created new customers, you’ve created loyal fans. Loyal fans are the cherished golden egg of every cannabis brand.