Marketing Assets

Consistency in Execution

Previously, Grön often fell into the trap of allowing individual marketing campaigns or promotions to overtake and become the identities of its child brands or the mother brand as a whole. With our standards functionally deployed in Figma, and a prime deliverable established (eatgron.com), we were able to prevent these issues from arising for future campaigns, promotions, and collateral. The Grön Modern foundation allowed us to concentrate on marketing executions like never before — with targeted campaigns for specific product launches and seasonal promotions coming and going without overhauling the standards we had just fought so hard to establish.

Marketing cannabis products presents exceptional challenges. The industry is heavily regulated, and in many parts of the country, cannabis remains federally illegal. This reality restricts many traditional marketing efforts — particularly in the digital space, where major platforms like Meta prohibit promotional content.

But necessity is the mother of invention, and Grön has always been an innovative company.

01 — The Budtender

The Only Audience That Matters

I don't care what kind of cannabis your brand is selling at a dispensary — if the budtenders are not on your side, you're going to lose. You're going to lose to brands that are actively and aggressively seeking to win their hearts and minds. A brand is an abstract concept — a story told over and over in the hopes of achieving a positive narrative in a person's mind. The minds of the budtenders are the number one key demographic in cannabis. You want your brand to be held in the highest regard so they'll recommend it to any potential customer.

Believing this, Grön made winning the hearts and minds of budtenders a principal part of its marketing strategy — and now it had Grön Modern to help.

The Priority of Branded Education

Every budtender is a crucial ally (if not the most crucial ally) in the cannabis industry. If a customer asks for an edible recommendation, the first product they suggest has the best chance for conversion. If the product recommended is not Grön, our brand's opportunity to connect with that customer is substantially diminished, if not eliminated entirely. Our goal was to ensure that when a customer seeks an edible recommendation from a budtender, Grön is the first — and only — brand worthy of recommendation.

A Beautifully Branded Catalog

A beautifully branded catalog can be a powerful marketing tool for dispensaries. A blooming national brand like Grön needed to stand out again other national brands, budding local brands, and internal house brands of edibles.

Competing national brands often have substantial marketing budgets, allowing them to dominate visibility and consumer perception. A beautifully branded catalog acts as a counterbalance, showcasing the unique offerings of a dispensary. It provides an opportunity to highlight quality products, educate customers about their benefits, and establish a narrative that resonates with the local community in new markets.

A beautifully branded catalog does more than just showcase products—it enhances the overall customer experience. A well-organized, visually appealing catalog makes it easy for customers to navigate through offerings, find what they're looking for, and make informed decisions. These catalogs reflects the professionalism and care behind the Grön brand, building trust and loyalty among customers.

Adopting Industry Standards:
Seedtalent & Sparkplug

Tactically, from a brand educational perspective, whenever Grön debuted in a new dispensary or chain of dispensaries we used Seedtalent to provide on-brand education to budtenders. Seedtalent allowed us to quickly compile digital education presentations conveying Grön's story, how to say Grön correctly, our product categories, and (most importantly) the effects of our products tied directly to Grön's cannabinoid ratios. For instance, if a customer were seeking assistance with sleep, we recommend our 1:1:1 ratio formulation — available across all four child brands (Chocolate, Pearls, Mega, Pips) — making it essential for budtenders to have a thorough understanding of its effects so they can recommend the best product for that customer. To further enhance this product education, we developed retail-focused ring cards that serve as quick cheat sheets with concise versions of this information.

Additionally, we partnered with Sparkplug, a platform specifically designed to incentivize and interact directly with budtenders. Sparkplug empowered Grön to support our most valuable retailers and incentivize their teams effectively. This partnership provided us with valuable data and detailed insights into our bestselling budtenders, enhancing our understanding of sales dynamics. We also launched a Sparkplug educational training program aimed at increasing brand awareness among budtenders. Through this collaboration, we offered incentives such as commissions on every unit sold and established a leaderboard that rewards the top three best-selling budtenders at each location.

02 — Retail Displays

The Queen of Cannabis

In cannabis, if packaging is King, retail displays would have to be the Queen. A close second to an incentivized budtender is a well-designed retail presence. What dispensaries offer (or sell) in forms of dispensary real estate vary widely — from slat wall space, to counter tops, to full takeovers, to the coveted "jewelry" case displays. We leveraged Grön Modern to create a new Kit of Parts for every retail execution: utilizing shield treatments for signage, Bauhaus patterns for accent walls, and — whenever possible — flooding the world with Mother Green. We also focused on custom installations, lit signage, wall and shelf displays, slat wall buckets, and more.

Two consistent goals of messaging: Say the name. Find your effect. Going all the way back to the initial challenges, all family retail displays should always have a moment where we gently show how to say the name of the brand. We prioritize the effects over lifestyle, allowing anyone to engage with the brand and project their potential experiences onto our products.

From a messaging perspective, we distilled our effects into three categories: daytime, nighttime, and anytime. Additionally, for each product, we provided two adjectives that described its specific effects, along with elegantly designed infographics that quickly conveyed the general effects customers could expect.

Visually, we can see the beauty of brand continuity of Grön Modern — with beautiful clean edibles on white juxtaposed with vibrant colors and perfectly set typography. The harmony from these elements conveys that most coveted sense for any brand: a sense of expertise, quality, and consistency.

03 — Digital Marketing

Adopting Industry-Standard Partners

Digital advertising in cannabis is in a world of its own. Just as you can't sell your products directly on an e-commerce website, you similarly cannot advertise directly on platforms like Meta — unless you use Superdank. Through Superdank, Grön is able to place ads on Meta social platforms and drive traffic directly to local retailers — our partners. Just like a retail display, these ads aim to accomplish the same goals: be visually interesting, communicate effectively, and convert to a purchase.

For "standard" digital ad campaigning, we utilized Surfside; an end-to-end marketing technology that aggregates party data across all customer touchpoints. Programmatic ad units are place on mainstream media sites. These programmatic campaigns were most successful when used for large, multi-door retailers. With this platform, we were effectively able to run digital ad campaigns like a "traditional" mainstream brand — a real luxury, when the standard is usually the opposite. Doing so allowed us to drive traffic and increase revenue, and help drive foot traffic to our retail partners. Being able to tell retailers about this capability was often a significant selling point for bringing Grön into their stores in the first place.

For ordering online, IHeartJane and Dutchie are industry standard the online menu platforms where people can shop for cannabis products and order online. In both instances, Grön Modern banners became regular content, featuring category brands, promotions, and featured products.

04 — Email & Social

Grön Modern Comes to Email & Social

Our social media strategy inherited the brand standards too, resulting in posts that looked better than ever. Posting on Meta and Instagram has to be done tactfully — typically cutting any mention of cannabis at all. Outright statements about cannabis can lead to bans, making effective marketing in this space particularly tricky. We chose our words carefully, and only showed photos that focused on the confections side rather than the cannabis-effect side, or promoted upcoming events. It's always a delicate dance with social, as it feels like you're always one post away from the dreaded shadow ban.

We also adjusted our email platforms so they inherited the brand standards' look and feel. A special shout-out goes to Jesse, who played a key role in managing these emails. For each new state launch, Jesse helped craft state-specific emails — no small task.

05 — Promotional Swag

Stuff We All Get

In the competitive landscape of the cannabis industry, compelling SWAG is essential for building a strong brand presence and loyalty. At Grön, we embraced the Grön Modern aesthetic across our SWAG, focusing on high-quality items that not only enhance brand recognition but also serve as tangible representations of the brand. When someone receives a premium item, it reflects positively on the brand, fostering trust and loyalty. Using SWAG as prizes, gift-with-purchase items, and enter-to-win giveaways created excitement that encouraged consumers to engage with our products and incentivized purchases.

By incorporating SWAG into our interactive activations, we created memorable experiences that resonated deeply with our audience — enhancing consumer engagement and encouraging social sharing, expanding our reach organically. When budtenders receive items they can use or showcase, they are more likely to advocate for the brand, amplifying our message within their communities.

06 — Supporting Sales

Effective Marketing Collateral

Among all the departments I had the pleasure to collaborate with, the sales team stood out as my favorite. Grön's sales team is the driving force behind the brand's presence in each state's market. They're the frontline warriors — and often the first impression makers — opening doors for Grön and its products which ultimately pay the bills. They engage directly with budtenders, retail owners, and the broader cannabis community, and I demanded that any collateral in their possession be executed at the highest standard to make their jobs easier.

You only get one chance to make a first impression, and EVERYTHING COMMUNICATES.

I often told the brand and sales team, "We do two things here: we make beautiful branding, and we make tools for sales people." Whenever sales requested state-specific materials, event support, or digital educational resources, we were quick to respond. A Missouri sales person, for instance, would understand their state's consumers and community far better than the brand team based in Portland, Oregon. Sales collateral was always held to the high standards set by Grön Modern — ensuring that every execution communicated the brand's values of quality, community, and authenticity.

07 — Events

In-store Activations & Special Moments

Interacting in real life is still the best way to connect with our community and budtenders. These ranged from two-hour activations with our friendly brand ambassadors, to larger "all-day" activations with deals, gifts with purchase, and food trucks. We also promoted two or three sponsorship parking-lot parties called "Budtender Balls." Aside from thanking the budtenders for their continued support, this typically became a way for us to mingle with the cannabis community. These parties are exactly what you think they are. If you ever get a ticket or an invite to one — be sure to attend.