Category Archives: Trends

Obstacles Advertising Cannabis 1

Obstacles Advertising Cannabis

All industries have their lists of challenges and they can come in various ways. However, as far as the cannabis industry is concerned, its challenges can sometimes be a little too much. These challenges tend to come in areas related to advertising, especially raising awareness and we will be considering them in detail under this post. The discussion will try to cover all the manners that these advertising challenges tend to appear.

A highly regulated industry

To start with, the cannabis industry is a highly regulated one. That means to successfully establish a brand under the industry, a proper understanding of local and state laws is needed to stay out of trouble. The problem here is not these many local and state laws but something disadvantages that happens as a consequence of it. After all, the marijuana industry is not the only highly regulated industry around. The pharmaceutical, finance, insurance, gambling, and many more industries suffer the same fate.

The only major issue here is that the cannabis industry is still different from the ones above as it’s still illegal at the federal level. As such, the industry has to constantly battle marketing problems from the black market.

Advertising platforms have a culture of rejecting cannabis ads

For those actively immersed in the industry, this probably wouldn’t come as a shock. For those who are not aware, then note now that most of the big advertising platforms hardly accept marijuana ads. As much as counterintuitive this might be to the usual multi-channel approach of marketing it’s just the bitter reality.

While in the United States, some states such as California, Arizona, Washington among more have legalized marijuana in some form, this unfriendly attitude by the big advertising platforms is a huge challenge to the proper marketing of cannabis. As a matter of fact, with the changing political realities, Google, Facebook, Instagram and others have all resolved not to let cannabis brands run paid ads on their respective platforms for the time being.

Instagram and Facebook are shutting down cannabis accounts

The difficulty would have even a lot more bearable if it was just limited to banning paid ads. Sadly, it gets even uglier with Facebook and Instagram. These big tech giants of our time have a bad reputation of taking down accounts related to cannabis. This inability for cannabis brands to have an unchallenged presence in the platforms of these big tech giants is a big marketing challenge for the marijuana industry.

Black market peculiarities

As we have stated earlier, legit cannabis brands are forced to compete against black-market sellers. While the law-abiding brands tend to follow the rules related to marketing that seriously hinder their ability to promote their products and services the way they want, black-market competitors don’t follow these rules, putting the legit brands at a disadvantage.

In conclusion, these challenges are not insurmountable as there are strategies around to overcome them. Here at 420 Web Pros we are particularly dedicated towards this mission and are dedicated to being reliable and efficient when it comes to working around the various challenges that plague the marketing of cannabis.

Cannabis & Video Games: Is CBD the new gamer's companion? 2

Cannabis & Video Games: Is CBD the new gamer’s companion?

The existing connection between cannabis and its influence on your video gaming experience dates back to several decades as many video gamers have subscribed to the fact that marijuana has the potential effect to accentuate their entire gaming experience. Imagine a scenario where you are “high” as a result of marijuana intake, where you gravitate through the enormous Breath of the Wild world. In this case, it seems as if you are the real one launching attacks against the evil enemies in the Hyrule Land, sounds great?

Realistically, there is a minute supporting evidence from the science behind the notion that cannabis has the potentials to enhance the video gaming experience of cannabis users. Truly, video games help to enhance hand-eye coordination. And weed seems to provide antioxidants as well as anti-inflammatory benefits.

From the research studies conducted by the Groningen Mental Enhancement Department of the Netherlands on the effect or impact of weed and video games in the brains of patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, it was discovered there was a 43% increase in memory retention specifically in patients who consumed weed.

Could cannabis influence a better gaming experience? Can video gamers who consumes cannabis record a significant increase in their memory retention? Ride on

Could CBD Take the Place of THC as the Best Friend of Video Gamers?

When it comes to the best of video games, it comes down to the ones that drive your emotions into the world of fantasy. And of course, you won’t realize that you spend a considerable number of hours battling and fighting with computer programmed enemies. In order to succeed in this scenario, you need untapped concentration, rapid reflexes, and excellent situational awareness. Of course, your primary goal is to conquer these computer-generated enemies. However, after spending a significant number of hours battling with these games, some of these traits tend to dissipate and poses negative impacts on your overall performances.

Unlike THC, CBD is the most abundant non-intoxicating compound present in the cannabis sativa plant. Once CBD is consumed, it establishes a connection or linkage with the endocannabinoid system. Thus, stimulating the brain receptors.

How Does CBD Influence Your Gaming Experience?

Having the best of hand-eye coordination in the world alongside rapid reflexes is commendable, but if you cannot remain calm during the game, then all these do not count. Anyone that has played video games has run into a series of battles with computer-generated enemies at one point or another. In some scenarios, you’ll nurture the feelings to fling your controller over the screen.

CBD, as a mood regulator, helps you keep calm and prevent your emotions from outsmarting your gaming performance. In cases where your brain becomes overstimulated, CBD is alerted to the situation and sends signals to the endocannabinoid system to relax and calm down your cells.

CBD is a mood regulator that keeps your nerves calm. It is believed that once your body is relaxed, you’ll be more prepared to take the right steps that will favor you and your team.

There you have it! Perhaps the potential influence of CBD on the video gaming experience. With the few illustrations we’ve made, we believe gamers can now turn to CBD to improve their cognitive responses. This will help them win, win, and win their contenders as a gamer, thus making their gaming experience more pleasurable.

Branding Cannabis 3

Branding Cannabis

Over the past few years, the Cannabis industry has witnessed lots of deciding moments and this is mostly due to the changes in all the regulations and laws on cannabis in a lot of countries. Some of these countries legalized it totally while some just made the already existing regulations concerning Cannabis usage more liberal. Consequent to these new laws and regulations, the Cannabis market has continued to become busier by the day, which means it is bound to be one of the biggest ministries in years to come. Besides, this means more efforts will be dedicated to Cannabis marketing and branding than before. However, the industry is still in early development, so certain challenges are inevitable.

Strategies and tactics

Strategies are very important in the Cannabis industry but not easy to get. A good amount of companies in the industry have exhausted a lot of money on marketing, but most of the effort has resulted in nothing but failure. What this indicates is that Cannabis branding demands beyond being different. It comes with certain challenges that are not present in other industries. Brand building requires consistency.

The successful Cannabis brands are the ones that are clear about their audience and they deliver to them accordingly. For instance, the brands make use of a sophisticated luxury concept and leverage on their quality product and image. On the other hand, others focus more or an artisan narrative by making use of experiences and tours in their dispensaries.

The importance of partnerships and influencers in the overall strategy can also not be overemphasized. By running influencer marketing campaigns through certain platforms, Cannabis companies can easily get around stringent advertising regulations of social media. In like manner, some brands have been partnering successfully with popular personalities to achieve the same result.

Establishing your brand in the marketplace

It is good to consider how to present your brand to the public. You must be conscious of your consumers and their view about your brand but this is a thing quite hard to achieve in the Cannabis industry. There are lots of misconceptions about the industry and its products so it is often quite tough for a cannabis brand to market itself to the public. Due to the fact that Cannabis is not legal in all places and is illegal by federal law, promoting it is sometimes still frowned upon.

For example, some of the most popular promoting channels such as Facebook and Google prohibit advertising services or products connected to the Cannabis industry. Thus, you don’t have the privilege of using the regular channels that you would if you were selling a different product or service. Therefore, you must contemplate the way to enter the market as well as the effective ways to promote your products or services within the existing restrictions.

The important thing to note here is that there are still certain ways through which your brand can be introduced and marketed to people. The channels to use include publications, websites that belong to the Cannabis industry as well as events, trade shows and social media pages of the industry.

Latest Trends in Cannabis Packaging 4

Latest Trends in Cannabis Packaging

Cannabis packaging is such a big part of the cannabis industry as it plays an important role in the use and safety of the products. Therefore, it is not surprising that there are various trends that cannabis packaging witnesses from time to time. Currently, here are the latest trends in cannabis packaging:

Green packaging

The trend about green packaging is all about ensuring the packaging of cannabis in compostable, recyclable and biodegradable materials. Generally, cannabis is often packaged with different kinds of materials. These materials usually include boxes, plastic jars, vials, bags, metals, paperboard, tubes, hinge-top containers and other materials that are not environmentally friendly.

However, this seems to be changing as more cannabis brands are pushing for green packaging. Although green packaging is still at its infantile stage, there are promises that this trend will bring significant changes to the industry.

Bureau of Cannabis Control’s packaging regulations

In California and other states, the recreational use of cannabis was only approved a few years ago. Nevertheless, this comes with tons of regulations that affect all areas including packaging. Bureau of Cannabis Control (BCC) and a few other regulatory bodies have created various regulations that affect cannabis packaging. By January 2020, the cannabis packaging trend in the state will require that all cannabis packages should be child-resistant. Any plastic packaging must have a minimum of 4 mils thick and should be appropriately sealed with heat.
Another important packaging trend for cannabis companies is the labeling of the product containers and outermost packaging. In case the outermost packaging is different from the product container, then the new regulation requires that each of them should be labeled differently.

Child-resistant packaging

One of the latest trends that deserve special mention is child-resistant packaging. This packaging regulation is mainly established to make sure that the container of cannabis is appropriately child-resistant. This packaging can discourage its use by children who can be affected by unsafe exposure to the products.

As the regulation concerning child-resistant packaging takes effect in 2020, lots of cannabis companies will have to make changes to their packaging. These changes will be targeted at ensuring that they comply with the new rules. This trend requires that the packaging should be opaque so that no one can see the products inside it.

It is also essential that the federal government test and certify the packaging to be child-resistant before using it for packaging the products. Similarly, the packaging must re-sealable to ensure that it can be used for packaging several products. The package must also carry a liable that indicates that it is no more child-resistant once it is opened. If you need help with the rebranding your cannabis company to suit the changes that child-resistant packaging will be bringing into the industry, do not hesitate to speak to experts at 420 Web Pros.

In a nutshell, all cannabis companies should keep themselves abreast of the latest trends in cannabis packaging. This will help them avoid going against the regulations and also make sure that they do not lag behind in the latest development in the industry.