The Future of Cannabis Can Be Brighter Than Its Past and Present
By: Ron Gibori
Tags: Startup, Marketing, Innovation, Cannabis, Business

If you go back in time, you’ll find the companies that now dominate their respective industries — Walmart, FedEx, Apple, Google — are not the companies that invented those industries.

They’re the ones that reinvented them.

These companies took something that was already established, something that was already “working,” and found a way to do it better, building on to existing platforms or foundations in new ways.

They saw things differently — and made moves to where everyone should be, not where everyone already was. That’s the upside of working in an emerging industry. You have the chance to learn from the pioneers who came before you. They already made the mistakes, so you can come in and make things better, easier, faster, stronger.

The cannabis industry is a perfect example of this.

There have been plenty of pioneers, and their work over the years primed the industry for reinvention. In fact, it is now crying out for innovation and change, and key players are delivering. As a result, the future of cannabis looks far brighter than it did in the past. Today’s innovation-focused cannabis entrepreneurs can more easily accelerate business in a rapidly evolving marketplace, and the possibilities are still vast and largely untapped.

Building a cannabis company — or any — startup is no simple task for any founder. The marketplace is littered with ambiguities and filled with added challenges. We’ve learned that first hand working with Michigan-based cannabis company Six Labs to reshape the future of the cannabis industry. From designing products to building brands and thought leadership, we have partnered with Six Labs to harness change in an emerging market.

It’s been exciting because the cannabis industry is still relatively new, and we’ve barely scratched the surface of what’s possible. As more consumers turn to cannabis, the industry has to innovate to mature. So, we help Six Labs — and all of our clients — to pivot, to educate, and to illustrate how, why, and in what valuable ways they can touch the market, and the consumer.

Here are a few trends and some of the rapid changes we look forward to meeting in the cannabis industry:

It will become mainstream. If you start with the basics, it is crucial to bring products to market with high-quality concept designs that align with more mainstream, easily recognizable brands. The cannabis companies of the future will build brands that not only feel modern, they will develop innovative products that consumers can use as part of their daily lives. It will build brands. Savvy cannabis companies will build a powerful and alluring brand from the beginning. An effective brand has the power to shape an entire industry. As the cannabis landscape grows rapidly around the world, the brands that will rise to the top will invoke consumer trust, establish consumer loyalty, and demonstrate authentic and translatable brand values. To make that happen, these brands will have to know themselves inside and out before customers can get to know them. It will simplify. Providing consumers with more simplicity and ease of choices that are tailor-made for their everyday lives is how you appeal to and differentiate your company within, the marketplace. Winning cannabis companies will allow consumers to make purchasing decisions based on the sensation they’re trying to achieve without the hassle of researching various cannabis products, going through trial and error, or relying on “budtenders” to be mindreaders. It will go direct. Delivery is a hot market right now where cannabis is legal because consumers don’t want to touch cash or interact with their over-the-counter ‘budtenders’ in the same close proximity as they did pre-COVID. Further, the at-home economy has accelerated our obsession with on-demand convenience. We no longer go hunting for things — they come to us. The future of cannabis retail should be no different. It will collect and leverage data. Digital and e-commerce driven strategies provide an immediate opportunity to steal a game-changing march on your competition. If companies merge tech culture with cannabis and close the data loop, it will allow them to see more clearly who is their actual customer, and then anticipate their needs, habits, and desires. It is repeatable. Consumers want to feel safe, confident, and smart. They want the brands they choose to deliver desired results and make them look and feel good, too. Emotional reassurance is the key to winning today’s cannabis — or any — consumers. It is personalized. The future of cannabis products is bespoke and personalized. People crave products and experiences that are unique to their needs. Every product created in the future will need to be made-to-measure or made-to-expectation(s). It is half-banked. The joke is that the cannabis industry is half-banked instead of half-baked, and in many cases, it’s both! Look towards the ever-evolving neo banks as inspiration for innovation in how to manage consumer transactions until the industry becomes deregulated and the SAFE Banking Act is enacted.

For those persevering entrepreneurs who are passionate about reinventing this industry, the possibilities are still vast and largely untapped for cannabis. These shifts are creating new opportunities — and new challenges.

However, we can say one thing for certain: The future of cannabis is going to be big — mostly because companies like Six Labs will make it so.