Cannabis culture is quickly shedding its hippie stoner image for a luxury lifestyle makeover. According to data compiled by Imarc Group, the North American legal cannabis market was valued at more than USD 8 billion in 2017. The market is projected to reach USD 35 billion by 2023 as well as grow at a CAGR of 28% during the forecast period, from 2018 to 2023. This growth is pushing the evolution of a subculture to a mass industry with unprecedented growth, spawning a gold-rush mentality and a proliferation of CBD brand launches across categories.
“Consumer groups, like millennial moms, high-income baby boomers, and white-collar professionals are now purchasing through legal channels but expect the same level of quality and professionalism from their cannabis brands as they would their alcohol or other packaged goods.” said Bethany Gomez, Director of Research, Brightfield.
Anyone can put a CBD product on the market—the real opportunity lies in the brands that define a completely new category, culture, and expression for cannabis. Future Analysts Mariah Wright and Amy Sellers have determined three areas that brands need to explore to infiltrate the cannabis market:
- Engage with broadening audiences by rethinking category clichés, to reinvent and diversify how products are perceived.
- Support new occasions for use by looking beyond the brand and product by considering new occasions for social engagement.
- Shift the lexicon by reducing the use of slang and unintelligible scientific terminology. Develop new and ownable verbal and visual languages for the category.
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Photo: Slim Emcee via Unsplash
