Expanding without the Giants

              Big Business. A phrase that often gives young business entrepreneurs and small business owners the chills. Large corporations have continued to dominate our market economy. Big business is not an inherently negative thing at all. But with it come a lot of issues. In essence, large companies are able to under price other businesses and have the resources to be more successful and competitive than smaller “mom-and-pop” shops can afford to be. Wal-Mart is an obvious example here. They are a company that is able to provide better prices than almost any competitor due to their size and buying capabilities. Because they have such buying power, they can work out deals for superior pricing or quantities than any smaller independent store would be able to accomplish. This is good for the consumer, who gets cheaper priced products, but then local businesses are wiped out and lose out on their regional and local impact on their communities. Quality is also a subject matter here. Often these large businesses focus solely on pleasing shareholders and increasing overall profits, opposed to delivering the highest quality product to the market. 

For the marijuana industry and its “grass-roots” community, a term used by a commenter on my first blog post, quality and details are often held to the highest standards. Similar to the wine enthusiast community, the allure and passion is in the product itself. While cost and affordability are important to many people, the fine detailing in the cultivation of the plant is held supreme. A true marijuana enthusiast would spend the extra dollars at the dispensary to obtain, per se, a well-groomed sampling from a Pre-‘98 Bubba Kush plant opposed to a cheaper, inferior product. Because the marijuana industry revolves around a living plant, the possibility for inorganic growing and use of chemicals is immense. There should be a big focus on making sure that the quality and authenticity of each strain and variation is upheld and not sacrificed to large companies that may start mass-producing marijuana. 

Within the marijuana industry, there is a proclivity towards innovation. Master cultivators and grow specialists constantly cross mix strains and engineer them to treat specific issues and function in a certain way. I would be afraid that should a Wal-Mart esque company step into marijuana, this innovation might be stifled to accommodate lower overhead costs. There is also a lot of pride taken with wear certain strains are sourced from and the personalized feeling associated with that. Let us use the community delicatessen vs. Wal-Mart supermarket example to explain. I can go to Wrights Deli here in Tampa, FL and get a phenomenal turkey and roast beef sandwich on pumpernickel bread with Thousand Island dressing. All the ingredients are made in house and nothing is out-sourced. They bake the bread daily, mix the sauces in the back kitchen, and slice their own oven-baked meats every morning. I can go across the street to the Wal-Mart neighborhood market and get the same type of sandwich from their deli counter. While on paper the ingredients may be the same, Wal-Mart is all about supplying that every day low price. Due to this, their materials and products and of a lower standard than Wrights Deli, who does not identify their prices with a low cost agenda. Bringing home the point here is the desire within the grass roots marijuana industry to preserve the artistry and efforts that come with mastering the growing craft. The fear, is that what many people love about the marijuana community will be lost through the commercialization of marijuana by larger corporations. The future may not hold the plethora of carefully trimmed buds and local crossbreeds, but rather standardized versions of a single strain that are mass-produced and produced for their low cost instead of their high potential for medicinal use and recreational benefits. 

Conflicting Message? I Don’t Think So

             Last week on my blog post, “Removing the Stigma Starts with its Name”, I mentioned how the television channel VICELAND was making strides towards positive marijuana programming. While they do produce some of the best original programming on television geared towards millennials, they potentially have a conflicting branding strategy. That is, of course, unless this is exactly what they are going for. VICELAND has shows like “Weediquette”, which follows Vice correspondent, Krishna Andayolu, as he explores the culture, economics, and scientific aspects of the marijuana industry. Andayolu successfully normalizes the culture of marijuana through his ability to connect on a personal level with the people he interviews. Whether it is the small-business dispensary owner in Colorado or a family living out of an RV in Arizona to receive medical marijuana for their child suffering from Crohn's disease, the real life stories of the impacts of marijuana resonate with the viewer. Not only does this elevate the encouragement from existing supporters, but it also can act as an eye-opening experience for those who viewed marijuana in a negative light prior.

Then, on the other end of the spectrum, you have “Action Bronson Watches Ancient Aliens”. Here, rapper Action Bronson combines smoking marijuana and hash oil with watching History Channel’s “Ancient Aliens”. This absurdly unique program is not only hilarious, but the epitome of what one might want to accomplish in a smoking session with a celebrity. It is here, that this show succeeds. “Ancient Aliens” has already taken the Internet by storm with the popular Internet memes based upon one of their main characters. When you overlay the best scenes from “Ancient Aliens” on a green screen behind a couch supporting Action Bronson and guests smoking marijuana, you will result with a cult classic. The appeal to this show, however, may be the exact reason why people are not fully supportive of the marijuana progression in this country. While the show may be hilarious to teenaged marijuana smokers and fans of Action Bronson, this laid back programming does not allure the same newcomer support like “Weediquette” might do.

 It is here that one may question the branding and image strategy of VICELAND. Do they want to appeal to more mature audiences seeking marijuana programming, or do they want to appeal to the younger audience who is interested in the marijuana comedy based programming. Some may argue that by having both of these shows, their message is muddied; for VICELAND to attempt to move beyond the stigma with their progressive programming, to only be brought back down to the stigma with others. I disagree. Their branding is in their sense of community. While it may be a result of a lack of sponsors, all of the commercials featured on VICELAND are for the channel itself or one of its shows. This repetition makes it seem like the casts from the different shows are all intertwined and part of one bigger set. There are shows available for people who are sitting back and relaxing with friends and then there are the shows to watch when you want to learn more about the next massive industry in this country. The real way to make progression is to expose all sides of the community. VICELAND can normalize the culture by exposing everyone to all of it. People who are more aware of the nuances of a new industry and culture can make informed opinions on matters opposed to operating purely off of precedent and stubborn ideals.

Removing the Stigma Starts with its Name

Right now in the United States, there are four states that have legalized marijuana for recreational use and twenty-five states that have passed medical marijuana legislation. Washington D.C also falls into the mix, which has adopted a legalized atmosphere, yet prohibits the commercialization of marijuana through the ban of sales and distribution. According to Leafly, an industry leading marijuana strain review and informational website, there are currently 2079 recognized strains of marijuana. With different strains, come different names. The availability for branding in this industry is almost unlike any other. The names currently associated with marijuana strains are essentially irrelevant to anything about the plant or its medicinal/recreational capabilities.

Do you think the average American would feel comfortable inhaling or digesting something with the name Alaskan Thunder Fuck, Harlequin, or Mob Boss? It is here, that I sense the biggest flaw with the efforts by many to normalize the marijuana culture and shed the stigma associated, thus appealing to more people nationwide. What adds to this dilemma is the fact that marijuana is not yet legalized on a national scale and although there are more medical marijuana states than recreational, the culture and industry is dominated by the “underground recreational” community. To a lot of people, this is not an issue, however, this “stoner branding” may be acting as the catalyst to many anti-marijuana campaigns. 

As an outsider looking in, it can be easy to maintain that negative stigma with marijuana by looking at its depiction through mass media. While these depictions though media are starting to change to accommodate a more universal appeal to marijuana, specifically with the TV channel VICELAND, the overall branding does not reflect an industry that is rapidly expanding. The real disservice here is to the strains themselves. Alaskan Thunder Fuck is a highly effective sativa strain that uplifts the person and alleviates symptoms found with depression and enhances appetite in those struggling to eat. With that said, it may be hard to convince someone who has never taken or smoked marijuana to make Alaskan Thunder Fuck his or her go to medication. And this makes sense; no one could be faulted with going with what his or her doctor prescribed when the alternative was named something so bizarre or even frightening like Mob Boss or AK-47. A reasonable person would probably choose not to go with the medication that shared the same name with an automatic, Russian machine gun.

So this is my call to action. Let us re-brand the industry. There is no question that this would not be easy. There is no question that this new vision would take time and convincing. People are stuck in their ways. We see that in every facet of life from religion, to politics, to educational curriculums, and now here, with marijuana. This is an industry that has been the underdog the entire time. With that said, this “weed campaign” has now overtaken half of the United States and is a core issue found in many political campaigns and on ballots across the nation. This would not be the first time that an entire industry made a massive shift either. If you look at the fats and oils industry, lard was at one point the go to product for deep-frying foods. Through social campaigns and health awareness, the industry shifted towards vegetable based oils before it pivoted again towards lower saturated fat options. This is not to relate marijuana with fats and oils, but only to say that these industry shifts are not impossible.

The answer may be in the most obvious place: the benefits of marijuana. If growers and the emerging marijuana companies start to brand their strains through associations with their benefits, the viability of this plant will start to shed through. I don’t admit to knowing better names to use, but I do know that a name associated with its ability to curb insomnia or reduce the number of seizures per day will resonate with the user more than a name like “Green Crack”.