There’s been plenty of talk about how cannabis has gone mainstream. With the majority of states legalizing some form of cannabis use and last year’s Farm Bill permitting industrial hemp growth in the U.S. again, cannabis advocates are now turning their attention towards the end of federal prohibition.
The fallout of cannabis transforming from the pinnacle of the counterculture to something over 6-in-10 Americans support legalizing presents a new problem for cannabis retailers. For decades, the illicit nature of pot created its own mythos, whose flames were fanned by music legends and cult movie classics. Now, the rug has been pulled out from retailers who are looking to discover what makes people buy pot once it is legal.
Or, as Brendan Bures wrote for the Observer: “Cannabis clearly doesn’t have the burden of being ‘cool’ anymore.”
Cannabis has arrived.
As the cannabis market broadens to include the minivan segment of the population, luxury brands like Barneys— the first major department store to sell weed accessories through a new department called “The High End”— are hoping to take up the mantle of cool in the cannabis space. These luxury items are a far cry from what cannabis companies could do through their marketing just two or three years ago, let alone back in 1996 when California became the first state to approve medical marijuana.
Not only are cannabis brands able to flex real marketing power these days, but they’re helping to break through the stigmatized stereotypes of cannabis users by marketing to an upscale, largely female audience. Gone are the days of scoring a dimebag in a back alley.
Cannabis has gone full Instagram-influencer. Post-legalization trends reveal why brands are appealing to affluent, female consumers. Recent polling suggests that the demographics most likely to increase their cannabis use after it becomes legal are: 1) women, 2) baby boomers, and 3) people making over $50k/ year.
I spoke extensively with entrepreneurs and marketers in the cannabis space to learn how they’re positioning their products to meet the shifting demographics and the demand for luxury cannabis goods. Many of these brands have been around since before polls and studies showed how popular cannabis was among women, so one of the things that most interested me was why people began targeting female consumers.
Marketing to the female cannabis consumer
For Jonathan Mafrice, president of Kalas Ware, he recognized that the industry was failing to serve female consumers when he tried to buy a cannabis-inspired gift for a friend in Colorado. “We searched for days for a nice feminine pipe, we found one, and when we purchased it the salesperson handed it to us in a brown paper bag. We quickly realized the lack of female-centric products in the market and how neglected the buying experience was.” A few years later, and Mafrice’s company is designing handcrafted glassware that is striking and delicate in equal measure, in an Instagram-ready color pallet of gold and pink.
When Tommy Kelly began developing jewelry made from real cannabis leaves, he didn’t realize how the market would play out. His company, CannaCentrix, ended up filling a niche in the high-end cannabis jewelry market, which he felt was overrun with tacky pot leaf-shaped jewelry. “It didn’t reflect the lifestyle and beliefs of this new sub-culture of female activists and entrepreneurs who played a big role in transforming cannabis’ negative social stigma.” Each uniquely crafted necklace or set of earrings from CannaCentrix is helping proud female cannabis advocates and entrepreneurs stand out in style.
But marketing luxury products to a female demographic is not simple— making everything pink won’t make it sell, and the diversity of women in this country means a high-level of care is needed for every marketing plan. Cannabis appeals to women of every age, race, and income bracket, but that doesn’t mean they’re all buying for the same reasons or that they’re buying the same things.
In 2018, women bought almost twice as much cannabis as the year before, making them responsible for 38% of the market. But like other consumers, they’re buying cannabis to help ease anxiety, treat insomnia, and manage chronic pain. Even still, the stigma around cannabis use for women leads 66% of them to hide their cannabis use.
Luxury brands are hoping to help reverse that trend by bringing women to the forefront of their branding. One company that is spearheading this movement is SAKA Wine, the company behind alcohol-free rosé and sparkling brut rosé infused with THC and CBD is not letting the rosé do the work for them— they’re building a brand around an ethos of strong women through their logo, a female Scythian warrior. “Women are strong,” Cynthia Salarizadeh, the brand's co-founder told me. “The SAKA visual graphic/line drawing symbolizes the beauty of all women - worldwide. Their beauty is celebrated with this complex, unusual visual.”
Saka's product launch took place nestled deep in the valleys and woods of Napa, California, where the product experience lent itself closely with the brand's female-emboldened theme. Rigid table angles met bottle curves and glass clarity, and the nosegay of floral bouquets gave hint to the wine itself. Paired with fine, yet approachable international cuisine, organizers made a point to complement the avant-garde bubbly with the culinary variations it can be enjoyed with.
"Every aspect of the event spoke to comfortable luxury – from the curated guest list to the selection of the comfortable yet upscale event space to the food and of course to the highlight of the night, House of Saka Sparkling Rose," Terry Wheatley, president of Vintage Wine Estates, board of directors at Cannacraft, board of advisors at House of Saka, told me at the event. Another attendee I met walked away having noticed those kinds of details, sharing that the launch event pairing "set the bar" for others he's frequently attended.
Luxury goods
“As the old saying goes, ‘the devil is in the details,’” Mafrice wrote of Kalas luxury glassware and accessories, “What most people don’t realize is that not all glass is created equally. We use borosilicate glass for all of our glassware, and our pieces are hand blown by master glass blowers. Our Jayne Grinder, while absolutely adorable, takes a 7-step process to look that good. Everything we create is custom crafted and we are excited about integrating more exotic sustainable materials.”
Sustainability and exclusivity are two common themes running through the cannabis luxury market for women. I spoke with Kathleen Briceno of Functional China, a cannabis accessory brand focused on vintage-styled bongs that are part handcrafted art piece, part functional product. “The most important element to deliver a high-end luxury, female-focused cannabis smoking accessories is bringing original, limited edition or limited quantity, true vintage, or new handcrafted boutique style items.”
For Briceno, this brand ethos was personal, as there were never any products she wanted to buy. “I have been a cannabis user for 15 years and never owned a bong. All the ones at the smoke shop were so ugly to me. They just looked like an ugly kitchen appliance or piece of hardware. So I trusted in my eye for beauty and started collecting china bud vases, unique vintage decanters, and perfume bottles and learned to skillfully craft them into bongs and pipes.”
Quality products will only take you so far in today’s world, which is why CannaCentrix’s Tommy Kelly emphasizes the role of an Instagram-aesthetic for marketing luxury items. “To attract a female audience to your page you want it to have an overall clean and organized look. I chose black & gold as my main color scheme to convey mystery & luxury. Bright colors attract female attention, especially if your brand’s page can stay on a certain color theme. Every color has its own personality that will give a first impression on what your brand stands for.”
According to McKinsey, over half of luxury item purchases are influenced by things consumers people see and hear online. Luxury cannabis items will likely be even more reliant on the online model, since many traditional forms of advertising are prohibited to minimize the industry's influence on children.
While not every cannabis luxury brand will find their place in the niche, the push to innovate and meet the needs of more diverse, upscale consumers will hopefully create better products for all, and a more inclusive environment where women can be proud about their cannabis use.
And if that means wrapping a cannabis leaf in platinum and donning it at a ball, then, by all means, as Aziz Ansari says, treat yo’ self.
--
Disclosure: I have no financial interest or positions in the aforementioned companies. This information is for educational purposes and does not constitute financial and/or legal advice.
