The Pros: Renya Nelson, left, CEO; Collin Spratlin, right, Account Coordinator Company: Brand+Aid (asi/145193), Salt Lake City

Legal Producers Have Unique Challenges
CS: “Producers want their brands to be recognized and respected, and to attract a larger clientele. It’s legal recreationally in nine states, and each has its own set of regulations on packaging and consumption. In California, you can advertise almost anywhere, including buses and billboards. In other states, there’s a complete ban on advertising. But with restrictions, promo products become infinitely more valuable. Distributors can educate those who don’t yet understand the value of them.”

The Market Is Moving Beyond Old Stereotypes
RN: “Cannabis brands want to become lifestyle brands. They’re looking for a high-end approach to promo. It’s not stress balls and pens. It’s a higher-end demographic they’re targeting, not just your typical hemp shops anymore. Barneys in California is opening The High End, a dispensary inside its department stores with luxury cannabis items, including bongs made by world-famous glassblowers.”
CS: “There are new people coming into the market, but there’s still a half-baked societal stereotype out there. It’s about targeting the new emerging market, with health and wellness products, totes and drinkware. But we’re in a weird holding pattern. When it’s smoothed out, cannabis companies are going to come running in with ideas, money and a willingness to experiment. The rocket ship countdown has started – the engines just need to engage.”

The cannabis market employed 121,000 people in 2017; that number could grow to 292,000 by 2021. — (BDS Analytics)

The Industry Is Growing & Changing
CS: “When I started in the cannabis market in 2004 working for dispensaries, we saw 70 people a day. Now, dispensaries are seeing 500 a day with 10 times the amount of competition, and that’s in Los Angeles, the oldest cannabis market in the country. The estimates are that it will bring $50 billion in revenue, which I believe is a conservative estimate. ‘The Green Rush’ is real and we’d be fools to ignore the potential.”

Distributors Are Getting on Board
RN: “We’re seeing more distributors who specialize in selling cannabis promotional products, and they’re targeting segmented markets. When distributors started doing that for craft beer, the clients would say, ‘Why would we go anywhere else? You know us, our customers and our products.’”

Statistics

Click here for a larger image of the above graphic.

States That Have Legalized Both Medical and Recreational Marijuana:

Alaska
California
Colorado
Maine
Massachusetts
Nevada
Oregon
Vermont
Washington