By: Bill McCool
I haven’t smoked weed since the early days of George W Bush’s administration, and even then it was just a handful of times marred by paranoia or intense fits of laughter that were definitely not shared by my friends. Usually, jazz or Chris Rock featured pretty heavily—sometimes it just made me sick. I don’t count the time my wife and I ate half a pot cookie for Tron: Legacy because nothing happened, and frankly, I don’t remember when I took a hit off a pal’s vape pen because I was covered head to toe with sunburn and my skin felt like a hot plate.
What happened was I have an elderly dog. She has bad hips, and most mornings my wife and I need to help her get up from the bed. We know we’re about one trip away from our final visit to the vet, but so long as she can hobble her way to the door and still go to the bathroom, then we’ve got a dog in this fight.
We heard some encouraging things about CBD oil for dogs, and I started seriously looking into it, researching various products and pouring through testimonials from pet owners who claimed they had a whole new, happier dog overnight.
But as I was checking out brand after brand, the packaging didn’t inspire confidence. Most of the CBD oils looked like the kind of supplement your ashwagandha-loving friend keeps trying to drop into your smoothie because CONCENTRATION and ENERGY.
Admittedly, I’m not immune to how packaging plays a role in how consumers make their purchasing decisions. Sure, I can scroll through Yelp reviews for a solid hour when it comes to the latest Taco Truck, but even the most authoritative of packaging designs will get their meathooks into me like no review can.
I found my white whale in VETCBD. It has a cold, pharmaceutical look that says, “this shit works.” I found the closest dispensary that was selling VETCBD, and I was on my way.
***
Before California’s legalization of recreational cannabis, I had considered getting a medical marijuana card, but I couldn’t be bothered to get in the car and spend fifty dollars on something I probably didn’t need. But there have been dinner parties where someone would casually mention they got their card and say something to the effect of how much more bearable it is to have your 2-year-old scream bloody murder in your face when you’re taking a CBD pill.
I guess I wanted a little of that fairy dust to rub off on me as I walked into the dispensary. The budtender gave me the VETCBD and asked if I wanted anything.
“I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe.”
“You want a joint, man?” he asked smiling.
I kind of wanted a joint. Two kids and steady freelance gigs mean you never really have a day off. Yeah, I really wanted a joint. I needed it.
But then I remembered high school and college, and all of the coughing. Smoking off of Coke cans, or doubling over from taking too large a hit from a bowl, knocking the burning embers of too little weed onto the floor.
I was a hard pass on a joint.
I was also incredibly overwhelmed, and I could sense that the budtender was growing impatient as there were ten other customers waiting to get inside the tiny space cluttered with display cases. Massive buds under black light, hundreds of vape pens and bag after bag of edibles were before me, and I didn’t have the foggiest notion about what I should get. I told the budtender I just wanted something I didn’t have to smoke, something that would calm me down.
He recommended a DomPen leaf. It was a vape pen, and I bought it because the packaging reminded me of a Stereolab album I love but, truthfully, I had no idea what I was doing or what I was buying, or why I was even buying it in the first place.
But, boy howdy, I sure did get high.
***
When you stop in at your local dispensary, packaging might be the furthest thing from your mind. You’re probably hoping to bury your nose in a jar of Blue Dream or Jack Herer and be on your merry way. And for some consumers, that’s very true, but packaging is a relatively new phenomenon when it comes to the cannabis industry. Whether you’re shopping for mayonnaise or weed, it doesn’t matter—consumers care about the things they buy and how it’s packaged.
My first dispensary experience was thoroughly lackluster, and aside from the VETCBD working its magic on my pooch— she wasn’t a whole new dog, but she was comfortable—I thought I could do better. I reached out to a contact in the industry, and he put me in touch with Michael Anthony, Head of Marketing and Design for Show Grow. Show Grow has three dispensaries in Santa Ana, Long Beach, Las Vegas, and soon they’ll be opening a 5,000 sq foot location in San Diego.
Walking into their Long Beach location, you feel like you’re going into the Apple store for weed. Product displays circle the showroom floor featuring brands like THC Design and Rove. The dispensary I had visited the week prior was dark as a dungeon, nor did they have as wide a variety of brands. It’s no wonder Show Grow has a high customer retention rate of 50%.
Rules differ from city to city and state to state, but in Long Beach, they can’t have cannabis on the main floor, and all of the product is handled by budtenders, whereas in San Diego customers can just take what they want, pay and leave.
Also, it’s really, really nice. Almost too nice. It’s sleek, modern and clean. The budtenders— all incredibly helpful—dote on the clientele while Tribe Called Quest plays on the showroom floor. There’s green, leafy wallpaper and several LCD screens advertising product, they even have a skill crane that first-time shoppers can use for free swag or eighths.
“Packaging had only been a thing for the last two years,” says Michael Anthony, Head of Marketing and Design for Show Grow. “Before that, It didn’t exist whatsoever. Growers would sell us pounds in plastic bags, and we would put them into jars and live-weigh however much you want. With the new legislation, everything had to come pre-packaged and sold pre-packaged.”
According to Michael, pre-packaged bud had never been a big seller, but after January 1st, it didn’t matter—everything had to be pre-packaged. But that presented a challenge too because overall, customers want to see their bud, they want to smell it.
“The average consumer wasn’t aware of the new laws,” says Michael, “and they would come in and ask, ‘I can’t see it? I don’t get it.’ You had to trust it. It’s only recently that cannabis suppliers have given us bud to display.” All of the display weed and anything that can be opened or inspected by the customer must be thrown away.
However, Michael has begun to notice that customers are starting to ask if their bud comes packaged in glass. “At that point,” he says, “it does sway consumer behavior because they think they’re getting more value in what they spend. That’s correlative to any retail environment.”
Glass suggests a premium experience. “You want to appeal to a broader audience,” Michael says. “You don’t want to be considered a budget brand, so you package in glass.”
But lots of tiny packaging details can alter a consumer’s perception of a brand. Say the bud comes in a mylar bag, but the weed inside is dry. That alone will turn off a customer to an entire brand. But if its’ packaged in glass— and smells incredible— that brand will have a fan for life. If it’s packaged with a Boveda - a sort of patch that controls the humidity — even better.
As Michael lays out product, it’s hard not to gravitate towards anything packaged in glass, thought the more I glanced around, the more I was drawn to the Kiva Chocolates or Henry’s pre-rolls and their vintage apothecary-styled boxes.
Michael notes that sardine-style canisters are out and have been hard to market, but mylar bags have been successful, especially for brands, because there are endless variations. Like glass, it retains much of the smell, particularly if it has a double seal, but lots of consumers tend to avoid squished weed. It’s also cheap.
But aside from the smell, what really drives a typical customer’s behavior is the genetic strain of weed. If they’re hooked on, say, Skywalker OG, the dispensary can switch out the brands, and the customer could care less. Genetics drive sales.
However, Michael notes, they’re noticing that everything is becoming more brand-based, particularly as some of them continue to build their social media presence.
THC Design and Canndescent are some of their top-sellers— both sell an exceptional flower, but they also have some of the better packaging in the industry. While THC Design sells the strains that consumers know and love, Canndescent created their entire range of products based on how you wanted to feel. For a budtender, they have to sell the brand’s story, but because they’re packaging is top-shelf and premium, it’s not that hard a sell.
“They have the best packaging in the game right now,” Michael says. Canndescent is unique, and bringing one of their boxes to a party can be satisfying because your bringing this— much like a nice bottle of wine— and the conversation it sparks immediately validates your purchase.
“I call it the coffee table kit. You put it down, and everyone goes insane. They all want to know where they can get it.”
That said, Michael doesn’t really see more brands swinging for the fences by creating top shelf product. “The industry is big enough for everyone to get their market share,” he says. “In cultivation, you want to grow the best flower you can, but the industry is so big right now. If you want to sell a nice mid-shelf flower at a good price point, that’s what I’d do.”
But that doesn’t mean he thinks packaging will change all that much in the near future. “Everyone’s biggest priority is how to get my packaging done cheaper,” he says. “What can I get away with.” And it’s true. Many packaging regulations are still hazy to manufactures, and some brands are still scrambling to get their packaging up to code.
Still, packaging can be an intimidating thing— particularly for first-time customers like myself. And that’s where a good budtender comes in. They can cultivate your experience and serve not only as ambassadors of a brand or a product but as someone who can hold your hand throughout the journey.
“I liken it to not being a shaman per se,” Michael says, “but being a true budtender that cares.”
And if you don’t know what you’re doing, that alone can be as helpful as a well-designed product. As soon as you walk through the door, they can see your client profile, and what you took home last time. Maybe they’ll take you up a notch with an edible higher in THC, or they’ll refill that indica tincture you’ve been using before you go to sleep.
“The notion of what cannabis is to the public is becoming more commonplace and does the job for us with first-time patients,” Michael says. “They become second-time patients bc we curate your journey.”
****
I left empty-handed.
Michael didn’t need to sell me all that hard, but I managed to leave with my wallet intact because I still have my DomPen leaf vape pen, and there are roughly 250 hits. I can’t even imagine using all of this over the course of a year.
But you never know. In the parts of the country that have legalized recreational or medicinal cannabis, it’s an exciting time, even for square, overworked Dad’s pushing 40 who are looking to decompress at the end of the day. Your choices are seemingly endless, and you can just as easily dose yourself with a pill or a drop of oil beneath your tongue.
And right now my dog is happy, or at least she’s a little more relaxed and comfortable than she was before. And, you know, the night is young and maybe we’ll listen to some Ellington and Coltrane.
Bill McCool is a freelance writer and editor based out of Los Angeles. Though new to the world of design, he has always been a storyteller by trade and he seeks to inspire and cultivate a sense of awe with the work and artists he profiles. When he’s not winning over his daughters with the art of the Dad joke, he is usually working on a pilot, watching the Phillies, or cooking an elaborate meal for his wife.
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