The single biggest challenge for the legal cannabis industry is surely LPs’ inability to brand their products, such that consumers seek out BRAND X, rather than strain Y or THC value Z.

The Health Canada restrictions are so intense that the logo of the brand is just a small part of a medicinal label, barely visible.

Think about cigarette packaging, and how the health warnings have slowly usurped the branding (and, the package is now hidden behind a screen in the convenience store.)

Well, the authorities are trying to close down the cigarette industry. Conversely, cannabis has only recently been legalised! The authorities are saying

“It’s now ok to consume this product where before it was not.”

Cue industry bamboozlement. Handcuffed by the restrictive branding guidelines, the legal department has outsize power in the decision-making process of the brand marketers.

So, no surprise, consumers can barely note any brands – see Mugglehead article. And this spells trouble for the producers, who will likely be driven towards value brands for market share rather than brand awareness for deepened customer relationships.

Sad, and frustrating.

This Much We Know.