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 Building the leading Mid-Western craft cannabis retail brand & portfolio.

Pleasantrees is one of the original vertically integrated operators in Michigan and had just expanded to Massachusetts in Q4, 2021. As CMO after a period of initial insights gathering, I created a plan with two main objectives, firstly to expand the retail business through opening new stores, customer acquisition, and retention. Secondly, to grow the wholesale portfolio through a “good, better, best” approach. To assist in the implementation, the marketing team was re-structured with accountability for revenue and provided with KPIs to clarify expectations, roles and responsibilities. Data and analytics are at the core to the plan with regular sessions on results, including KPIs, CAC, ROAS, lessons learned, and industry best practices. 4 new REC/21+ storefronts were opened in 2022. Pleasantrees was named one of the top 5 brands to watch in Michigan by BDSA in May 2022. It was also #3 Hottest Cannabis brand in the US, in the Pioneer Heat Index. The portfolio of brands is the leading craft cannabis portfolio in Michigan and includes Pleasantrees (#1 solventless brand), Gud Nuff (top value brand) 8th by White Boy Rick (leading social equity brand), Clout King/Terdz (#1 hype brand).

 Scaling a Vertically Integrated Retailer in Michigan’s $1.2B Market

Cloud Cannabis Company started in 2020 with a curbside only store in Muskegon and the tagline “Live Higher”. My assignment was to guide growth to vertical integration and 10+ stores by early 2022. Our initial approach was digital first, ensuring we aligned our positioning with a differentiated and personalized customer experience online that we called “Find Your Cloud”. We extended this into offline as we opened retail, bought traditional media and launched delivery. I don’t believe in ‘build it and they will come’ so acquiring customers and giving them reasons to come back time and time again is key. To do this, I recruited an in-house marketing team, relevant agency partners and used the latest mar-tech solutions to scale effectively based on data and customer insights.  As of Q4, 2021, Cloud is one the fastest-growing retailers in the state with enviable store locations, a loyal customer base, and a marketing team primed for growth.

Leading Provider of Quality Cannabis Brands

 Brand Labs is the manufacturing and distribution arm of Cloud Cannabis Co with a mission to become the leading provider of quality cannabis brands in Michigan. Mitten Extracts is one of the best-selling vape brands in the state. With Mitten at the core, we built a portfolio of brands targeted to consumer needs using a mix of licensed and house brands. Licenses included gourmet edible brand Kaneh Co. created by a San Diego-based pastry chef, Rachel King, and the legendary California genetics brand WonderBrett. House brands were developed from scratch and included Fourth Coast Flower and Rezii. Duties included portfolio planning, BDSA data reviews, go-to-market planning, and ongoing marketing optimization across trade, consumer, on and offline channels.

Repositioning a Leading Californian Vape Brand For Growth

 Himalaya Vapor is a Sacramento-based company focused on producing high-quality cartridges at an affordable price. By the end of 2018, the vape market had become increasingly competitive and marketing help was needed for growth. We combined the founders’ vision with market and consumer insight, really digging deep to understand the needs and wants of the target audience. Lastly, we mapped out the future trajectory of the vape market. As a result, we re-positioned the brand from “vapor distilled” to “naturally potent”. To achieve our goals, we created a marketing and product plan to maximize the growth opportunity. This encompassed collateral, launch event, website, social media, PR, new SKUs, trade marketing, and consumer events. From Q2 2018 to Q2 2019, Himalaya market share increased from 1% to 2% of the California vape market with monthly retail sales over $1.2 million per BDS Analytics.

Leading Sublingual Cannabis

Kin Slips launched infused sublingual strips and was immediately recognized for its innovative format and its beautifully designed packaging. With the arrival of Adult Use in California in January 2018, the challenge was how to communicate the benefits of sublingual cannabis to the new consumer. The first step was to identify our customers, look at industry trends and create a marketing plan focused on leading the sublingual category using education, endorsement and community. Implementing the plan involved recruiting brand ambassadors in key cities and expanding the marketing team in house. Our focus was trade marketing, creating stunning content and reaching the right people, at the right time, with the right message. Kin Slips tripled sales in 2018 and has been recognized for its marketing innovation by The NCIA and Entrepreneur Magazine.

The Future of Cannabis With a Unique Format and a Mission to Own Experiences

My first assignment in the cannabis industry, in April 2016, was to create “the future of cannabis”. Using consumer research, we identified some key problems to solve and this informed our brand hypothesis. Brand development was next including naming, design, and brand architecture. The most expensive and time-consuming part was the product development of a unique format, an infused oral thin film. This involved hiring a product manager, a third-party product developer, and relevant consultants to help build out a Type 6 licensed facility in Richmond, CA. Business planning and legal were constant throughout the process as was constantly tweaking the go-to-market plan. The end product is a fast-acting cannabis-infused strip that delivers 4 specific experiences. Go to www.getolo.com for more information. OLO started in New York and I moved from Brooklyn to Berkeley as Managing Director (combining CMO & COO role).  

Creating a Cult Lifestyle Brand in North America

Havaianas is a Brazilian Fashion Footwear brand launched in the US in 2006. In 2009 revenue growth had stalled and the value proposition had become unclear. I joined the company in New York to run marketing and E-commerce and my first step was to gather insights to inform the brand and marketing plan. We wanted to understand who our consumers were, how the brand was perceived and identify our future sources of revenue growth. We repositioned the brand to focus on color, fashion and fun. We redefined the marketing mix across multiple consumer channels including social media, PR, events, online & offline advertising, e-commerce and retail. We opened the first Havaianas store in Huntington Beach and the learnings were used to open another 11 stores around the country. Revenue grew by 59%, e-commerce by 95% and brand awareness from 22% to 33% (per Millward Brown brand tracking). In 2012 Fast Company named Havaianas as one of the top 100 creative brands.

Slideshow - Examples of Work (scroll down for more detail)

including cannabis, lifestyle, CPG and retail brands