Content Hub

Session Spotlight: Competitive Advantage Through Chemical Differentiation: Translating the Scientific Explanation to the Marketing Message

by MarketingCannabis | Jun 2, 2021 | Event News | 0 comments

featuring Dasheeda Dawson, Razia Hayden, Maggie DiSantis, and Dr. Sandra Carrillo, M.D.

From June 8 to June 10, 2021, Cannabis Marketing Association will host the second annual virtual Cannabis Marketing Summit. The Cannabis Marketing Summit is the premier online event for senior-level marketers responsible for the marketing budgets of licensed brands in the cannabis industry. However, all are welcome and can benefit from the Summit’s content and networking! The Summit will evaluate the current state of cannabis marketing and teach about the practical tools, tactics, and data that produce effective strategies and campaigns for cannabis brands across the country. Register today!

Competitive Advantage Through Chemical Differentiation: Translating the Scientific Explanation to the Marketing Message with Dasheeda Dawson, Founder & Author at The WeedHead™ & Company, Razia Hayden, Director of Marketing at Extractioneering, Maggie DiSantis, Strategic Growth Marketing, Cannabis/Nutraceuticals at bioMérieux and Dr. Sandra Carrillo, M.D., Co-Founder and Medical Director at Medicann IPS Cannabis Clinics Colombia will be featured at the Summit on June 10 from 11:00 am – 12:00 pm MT. Learn more about their session below: The below answers were written by Dasheeda.

Why is what you are discussing at the event interesting and important?

In consumer marketing, regardless of category, much of what the consumer learns about a new product or innovation originates with the manufacturer. This has been and will be the same for cannabis products. In fact, consumer education may be even more important as cannabis makes a tremendous shift from taboo and demonized to a mainstream and acceptable product ingredient in the health, wellness, and personal care segments with the adult-use market. This panel will address ways that marketers can infuse scientific knowledge into strategic differentiation and how to use educational content to overcome current industry challenges.

What does this group bring to the cannabis marketing space that sets you apart?

This is a dynamic panel with diverse leadership experiences across marketing, from mainstream CPG to cannabis marketing innovations.

Our mission is to bring a positive perception to cannabis and its consumers. What is your favorite consumption method and why? Tell us a little about your relationship with cannabis.

I am first and foremost a cannabis patient, consuming daily as a regimen to combat autoimmune issues, insomnia, urban-trauma PTSD, and type A-driven anxiety. My overwhelming preferred method of consumption is micro-dosing cannabis flower using a statement glass pipe best for the perfect one hit. On special occasions, I will bust out the Chill bong or a flower vaporizer — been struggling to find one I really love. I take pride in mixing flowers into what I call my customized “Cannabis Cocktails” — these are low-THC or hemp strains (cultivars) mixed with high-THC or marijuana cultivars to make highly customized 1:1 THC-to-CBD mixtures designed for a particular impact or effect. The cocktail I consume in the morning is not the same as at night and the biggest differences are in the terpene-mix, not the THC level. And depending on the day — weather, intended activities, etc — the cocktails will change. Therefore, access to a variety of genetics in the market definitely impacts my overall well-being. This is also why I am such a proponent of home grow availability in all legalized jurisdictions and why I am constantly reminding people that cannabis is not a monolithic, one-size-fits-all thing!

In addition to flower, I use a variety of full-spectrum tinctures, especially hemp-derived CB+ products. Oil-based tinctures I use liberally as an ingestible and personal care topical, especially for my exceptionally dry scalp, cuticles, and elbows. I consume edibles less frequently and usually strategically aligned with being in places where I can’t smoke or vape flower. Personally, I need cannabis to live my best life physically, mentally, and spiritually — and the results of my intentional efforts to find cocktails that work best for my endocannabinoid system are evident in my productivity working in this industry. I like to say that I’m the best of both worlds in cannabis, I am for the science and for the culture too! I always aim to represent both responsibly as I sit at the intersection of cannabis policy, business and education.

The goal of the Summit is to evaluate the current state of cannabis marketing and learn about the practical tools, tactics, and data that produce effective strategies and campaigns for cannabis brands across the country. Why is this is important?

As we are in the beginning stages of this nascent industry, marketing is still generally varied in quality and often representing glaring “Don’ts” in consumer marketing, from trademark infringement to misinformation. Additionally, cannabis it’s a highly segmented industry from consumer needs to regulatory policies. As we get more best practices within the industry, we have an opportunity to collectively raise the bar for creative and innovative standards for this budding industry.

What is the future of cannabis marketing? What are your predictions for the next year?

Cannabis marketing will help influence the future of the industry’s lexicon, which is rapidly changing as we learn globally about cannabis. As the largest legacy, unregulated market in the United States, New York state, rolls out a legalized, adult-use regulatory framework — we will start to intentionally lay to rest words like “Black Market” and “Recreational” and any other misinformed marketable statements like “CBD is non-psychoactive”. With equity centered in most cannabis-related conversations, we are on the forefront of seeing legitimate government attempts to actually integrate what was once shunned and denied access to the legal market. For that reason and more, cannabis marketing will need to start to strategically integrate accordingly to include the best of both mainstream corporate parity with underground cultural authenticity.

Buy your Early Bird ticket before prices go up at midnight on May 25 MT to hear marketing pros like the above speak at the Cannabis Marketing Summit, here!

Join our community and become a Cannabis Marketing Association member, today!

Get Involved

Contact Us »