Branding Is Personal & Meaningful

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AUTHOR: Glenn JohnsonPUBLISHER: CANNABIS LAW REPORT
 
As is so often the case in the Cannabis and Hemp industry, to succeed you do what you have to, when you have to, you learn you adapt and you overcome challenges in the market all in real time—which also sounds a lot like parenting in the 21st Century.
EDUCATION IS KEY
Osiris Stephen and his wife Nina certainly weren’t expecting to become immersed in Cannabis, Hemp and CBD to the degree where they were teaching their doctors about dosing, but it happened. Osiris didn’t expect to one day start to teach his child sign language so they could communicate when the young boy was being bombarded by 100 seizures a day. But he did it. 
They didn’t know they’d confront epilepsy head on, since none of their family before them had been exposed to it. But they did after a particularly bad grand mal seizure that brought them to the emergency room. While it is one of the oldest neurologist conditions, its even in the Bible, treating it today they’ve learned is a shot in the dark.
Together they’ve been on a journey of on-going self education and discovery that’s brought them together and almost tore them apart, but today they stand poised to take their battle to the state house in Albany to pass their bill, which codify’s a child’s right to take their plant based medicine at school just as they would any other.
 
 
IT HAS BEEN A CHALLENGE TO GET THE RIGHT CBD
Both he and his wife are pioneers in the adoption of plant based medicine. They’re a family who’ve had to address challenges and find solutions when science failed them. They’ve had to find solutions and ask questions, seeking information in real time to educate themselves, then their doctors and now their community about the benefits plant based medicine has had in their own lives, and how its helped their child.
As parents they’ve had to learn to adapt, as parents they’ve learned you have to be able to take a risk, sometimes just making it up as they go—and to take the good days with the bad ones.
They’ve learned the importance of packaging and sourcing and dived deep into understanding test results. When they ran into issues they found solutions, when they realized that brands that used lecithin as an emulsifier in their CBD wouldn’t work for their son, they created their own formulations. 

PACKAGING MATTERS A GREAT DEAL TO THE CONSUMER
“Our son needs a specific strain,” Osiris states, “When shopping for CBD you may find a brand you favour, but we discovered it may be a different strain each time we bought a product and we saw different results—not every batch was the same strain, such that one wouldn’t work as well as another.”
“Every ingredient matters to us, our son is growing and his condition changes all the time. We have to layer his medications carefully for them to all work together, and have to always adjust it as he grows. In the future, medical will be truly customized to you, now science is working on DNA testing to match patients with a strain, for example.”
Happily they’ve seen remarkable results in their sons condition as they’ve researched the best strains for his condition and are working everyday to keep up with his evolving needs.
“Our neurologist is now asking us about it and referring clients to our Cannabis doctor. The plant has empowered us to do what we want to do.”
As a Business Development Specialist  for the Cannabis World Congress, a national and globally focused trade event that attracts attendee’s from all corners of the world set to open here in NYC on May 29th, I wanted to talk with Osiris to see his point of view on Branding to get his top-line thoughts on the industry today, and trends he sees in the near future.
TRENDS IN BRANDS & BRANDING

PERSONALIZATION IS IMPORTANT. People remember a brand by it’s look and feel…whether its an image or a feeling that people can connect to from a brand, people remember the design that they connect with, brands should work to ensure that consumers can relate to their brand, to their story.
PEOPLE WILL ASK: HOW DOES THIS BRAND RELATE TO ME and what condition I’m seeking to address, be it trouble eating / sleeping or if I just want to be happy.
READ LAB REPORTS: Make sure your brand has them, and if you’re looking for brands make sure you read them and learn the nuances of each. Customers will demand more from the market. Questions that need to be addressed include, shelf-life, how long has it been on the shelf, when was the last test done—be transparent: what’s your formulation process, how consistent are your strains and reveal your methodology including the use of specific strains.
People will look toward those brands that represents ME, whether that be a more discrete profile or simply over the top. Stay in peoples mind—do something different—you’ve got to get your name out there.

THE SEEDS ARE EVERYTHING. You’ll see more and more science behind this evolve.
You’ll also start seeing more MICRODOSING.
PERSONALIZATION is the future; Your DNA will be diagnosed with a specific STRAIN, that will be the future. The chemical compounds from plant based medicine will be most important. My own strain, my seeds—so I know what I’m getting.
RECREATIONAL will be wide open—it will drive the prices down—there will be no taboo anymore it will become more ubiquitous—loyalty will become more important. 
BLACK vs LEGIT MARKET — the cost and the inventories will continue to fluctuate.
RETENTION is important—address how are you going to KEEP your customer; customers won’t be loyal, there are a lot of choices.
BUDTENDERS are educators, they will evolve into a doctor role, the best will be more recognized.
For more on the Cannabis World Congress visit their website at https://www.cwcbexpo.com/
 
About Glenn Johnson
I am a Marketing, Branding and Communications Consultant w/ experience in high-touch luxury consumer marketing in the travel/hospitality, wine/spirits, fashion/beauty/grooming and Cannabis categories. My talents include Branding & Brand development, Business Building, Strategy and Brand Storytelling. I excel in working with Founders, funders, start-ups, and small brands.
CONTACT ME via email at: glenn.johnson@gmail.com
Connect with me on  LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenn-johnson-8018944/
Previously I was co-founder & moderator for the Creative Mind Salon series hosted at Soho House NY w/ industry innovators, creatives & decision makers from fashion, film, photography, music and digital industries which provided IRL intelligent discourse amongst highly-curated leading edge creatives.

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