Crafting a premium cannabis beverage brand

Looking at two recent entrants in the drinks category of the cannabis consumer market demonstrates how cannabis brands can take a premium position. Cannabis beverages outperformed the overall market from 2018-2020 (according to data from Headset), a trend likely to continue due to the overall growth in edibles, and other factors such as subtle shifts…

Lighting up in the land of Lincoln

September adult use sales in Illinois surpassed $120M as $1B mark nears with YTD sales up 131% versus the same period last year. The Illinois cannabis market is booming. Adult-use sales alone have exceeded $100M for the seventh month running, and the state is set to eclipse $1B in adult-use sales by year’s end. “Out-of-state…

Delta-8 is dead, long live delta-8?

Is delta-8 legal? (…or delta-10? delta-7? delta-10? THC-O-acetate?) Should cannabis brands foray into the isomers market*? We first looked at these and other questions back in March when the delta-8 “trend” picked up enough momentum to draw attention from many, many corners. The sidebar below contains an updated cross-section of recent press and analysis along…

Is Cannabis Ready for “Trendology”?

As the year winds down, trend-spotters clamor for attention by declaring The Next Big Thing, be it augmented reality, urban agriculture, “cancel culture”, or mango lassi. This relates to a timely question for cannabis professionals: where should thought leaders look for inspiration outside the industry? Getting tracked into a myopic view of the industry is…

Four Rules To Marketing In The New Normal

Companies can make better decisions, consumers stand the benefit because they see that companies are talking to To gauge the impact of the COVID-19 crisis and accompanying wave of “stay at home” orders, numerous market analysts have authored assessments for the cannabis industry. Following an initial surge, when will spending level off? What will be…