How Cannabis Brands Are Preparing for a Christmas Green Rush

Green Wednesday, a nascent holiday in the cannabis universe, came out with buds blazing in 2020, showing triple-digit sales spikes around the country on Nov. 25 and setting the weed industry up for a holly, jolly year-end. Statistics from that long weekend are fairly eye-popping, with cannabis tech company Akerna estimating that consumers spent $238 million on flower, tinctures, edibles and infused drinks during those four days, with Green Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, becoming the single biggest sales day of the year so far. The recent rush (see sidebar for data) follows a record-breaking year where the industry was declared an essential business during the Covid-19 pandemic and five new states voted to legalize weed for medical and recreational sales. Given the tailwinds, and the learnings from Thanksgiving, cannabis execs are heading into Christmas and New Year’s Eve in full throttle mode, bulking up their digital and e-commerce presence, targeting the cannacurious and other “addressable audiences” like soccer moms and older folks, focusing on wellness messages and creating first-time gift cards and goodie bundles. The digital shift, the marketing dance Many cannabis consumers have proven in 2020 that they’re buying weed much the same way they’re shopping for fast food, household items and other packaged goods: via online, mobile, click and collect, curbside pick-up and delivery. The industry, mostly cemented in the brick-and-mortar dispensary model, had to shift almost overnight to meet the demand as lockdowns hit in early 2020. “Having the right digital ecosystem is key,” said Cory Rothschild, senior vp of brand marketing, Cresco Labs, a multi-state cannabis operator and the largest weed wholesaler in the U.S. “Optimizing the online experience is critical when so many people are making decisions before they ever get to the store, or they’re bypassing the in-store visit all together.” 2020 became the year that cannabis “modernized its thinking and shifted with consumer purchasing behavior,” said Chris Lane, CMO of Airfield Supply Company, a San Francisco-area dispensary. “We don’t see those hours-long lines to get into dispensaries anymore. People are aggressively shopping online.” Smart marketers are putting their money toward digital marketing, investing in targeting and new data segments to reach consumers at home and maximize their holiday campaigns. —Fyllo CMO Conrad Lisco The method of buying, coupled with the stresses of quarantine, have made for record-busting basket sizes, according to canna-tech firm Fyllo, with companies meeting consumers where they are to take advantage of the boom. “Smart marketers are putting their money toward digital marketing, investing in targeting and new data segments to reach consumers at home and maximize their holiday campaigns,” said Fyllo’s CMO Conrad Lisco. “They are also using consumer insights to better advise their future campaigns.” Federal regulations continue to stymie the industry, which can’t buy media on major platforms like Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, so marketers this holiday are leaning in even more on email, SMS, original content and owned channels, Lane said. The canna-curious population This holiday season, it will also be more clear than ever that cannabis brands are trying to speak to new and broader audiences, which includes a mix of approachability tactics and moving beyond negative preconceptions about the category. At Skymint, a popular dispensary chain in Michigan, every new customer receives a package of free THC-infused gummies, worth about $30. That just-launched giveaway joins a “best buds” program that doles out discounts to an existing consumer and his or her first-time-buyer referral. “It’s important to us that the brand feels very accessible to a new customer base,” said Laurie Gregory, chief product officer at Skymint, where its female buyers have increased from 30% to 40% of total consumers in the last three months. “The challenge is to market to both the connoisseurs and the newbies without alienating one or the other.” We’re removing that feeling that dispensaries are clubs and you have to be a member to enter. We want people to know that’s not true.— Chris Lane, CMO, Airfield Supply Company The brand also has enlisted influencers, such as photojournalist and entrepreneur Jessica Golich, and testimonials (notably, from a 77-year-old man who’d suffered from chronic pain) to appeal to a range of demographics. After the recent five-state sweep of support for cannabis legalization and, in some areas, drug decriminalization, marketers are planning this holiday to broaden their messages even further and continue distancing themselves from old-school stoner jargon. “We’re trying to speak in very clear, human terms that anyone would understand,” Lane said. “And we’re removing that feeling that dispensaries are clubs and you have to be a member to enter. We want people to know that’s not true.” In keeping with the trend, Cresco Labs recently announced a new brand called Wonder Wellness, “created to take the guesswork out of cannabis,” with low-dose products and streamlined packaging that’s designed to be inviting to newcomers. The holistic approach After a year of overindulgence—carb-heavy comfort food and alcohol have seen a renaissance in American homes—cannabis brands plan to push concepts like resetting and refocusing, with an emphasis on mental and physical health messages over the coming weeks. Airfield, for instance, is already previewing its upcoming collaboration with edibles brand Kiva that will “double down on the idea of wellness and where virtue can find a balance with vice,” Lane said. The program, which will roll out soon at retailers in California, will tie in with a breast cancer nonprofit group and emphasize “self-care, self-checkups and proactivity,” said Lane. There are advantages to the nonjudgemental wellness positioning, according to Ben Woo, cofounder of Oasis Intelligence, because it enables brands “to do marketing that differentiates them” in a crowded space and “reach beyond the hard-core consumer of the past” as many of today’s shoppers turn to cannabis “out of necessity and not indulgence.” The gift of ganja Most retailers are kicking off gift guides and holiday-specific promotions, with chains like The Green Solution in Colorado keeping its stores open on Christmas Day, offering complimentary ornaments with minimum purchases throughout the season. And Airfield has created what may be an industry first: a gift card in $25, $50, $100 and $200 denominations. “This is a way to leverage best practices from other brands and retail industries and try to figure out how to appropriately apply them to cannabis,” Lane said. “And in a really trying year, this is a seamless and painless way to bring the gift of lift to people.” Dispensaries say they’ll be dedicating more real estate to gift bundles and curated sets (like the one at Skymint named “Mama Needs A Joint” and Airfield’s creativity, sleep and wellness-centric kits) that are easy grab-and-go purchases. Some limited-time packages contain CBD, bath bombs, tinctures and other “starter” products aimed at new cannabis users. Cannabis makes a great gift because “it can provide relief, the end to a stressful day or a medically effective alternative,” said Matt Janz, director of THC marketing for The Source in Nevada, who noted an uptick in consumers buying cannabis for people on their holiday lists. Accessories that might’ve passed as presents years ago—think bongs with a Deadhead vibe—are outdated, said Laura Albers, cofounder of Oasis Intelligence, and the industry is catching on to “the need for beautiful things.” Expect more "upscale, elevated products, like a rolling tray or a stash box that you’d be happy putting out in plain sight,” she said. “Those kinds of products are especially appealing to women.” A record-breaking Green Wednesday, by the numbers: Green Wednesday 2020 bested perennial sales champ 4/20, a decades-old celebration in the weed canon. And though promotions and discounts proliferated on the holiday, which has grown from organic movement to marketing event, researcher Ben Woo from Oasis Intelligence called it “a real sales boost that’s not cannibalizing sales for other times of the year.” The California-based shopping and delivery service Ganja Goddess reported a 130% jump in sales on Green Wednesday 2020 over 2019, and Michigan dispensary chain Gage Cannabis Co. cited a 356% sales increase over the previous year’s Green Wednesday. Jane Technologies, which partners with 1,600 dispensaries in 33 states, saw an average 241% leap in online sales compared to 2019, with Black Friday also making its mark via a 271% bump from last year. Lantern, a delivery service and e-commerce marketplace, logged a 343% surge in sales and an 87% climb in basket size compared to the prior Wednesday.