While having a good name and logos to match is a great start, these elements are just the tip of the iceberg for having an effective dispensary branding strategy. Don’t be fooled into thinking your branding can be condensed into these two pieces alone.
Because the cannabis-based market continues to gain popularity across the globe, it’s essential to distinguish your brand from the others. Having a firm grasp of your branding, including organizing your thoughts and developing a brand strategy, will help give you a leg up on your competition before you even hit the market.
We’ve scoured the internet and compiled our findings to create a guide to dispensary branding. Here’s what we’ve found.
What is dispensary branding?
Dispensary branding is your story. Ultimately, your branding will portray your business’s who, what, and how to your prospective and existing customers. It is what will capture your target audience and keep them coming back for more.
There’s no denying the power of effective branding. With dispensaries being a part of such a highly competitive market, it’s no wonder dispensary branding is of utmost importance to a successful business.
What is the difference between dispensary branding and cannabis branding?
Dispensary branding is the branding of your cannabis retail store versus branding your cannabis product. While your dispensary branding can encompass your product, your product branding is not likely to include your physical retail space.
Part of the significance surrounding dispensary branding is the ability to develop the one-on-one customer experience. Having the retail store allows interactions between your staff and your prospective and existing customers and creates lasting relationships.
What should I consider when creating my dispensary brand?
When creating your dispensary branding, you can begin your research by thinking of a few of your favorite brands, cannabis industry-related or not. Most successful brands that will stand out to you should share a few of these common characteristics:
- Uniqueness
- Customer experience
- Value
- Quality
- Innovation
- Authenticity
That’s just the start of the list. Think of some characteristics that stand out to you personally. You want to aim to embody these qualities that you value in your company. Ultimately, you want to make your prospects and customers think of these characteristics when they think of your brand. This process is the very beginning of creating your dispensary branding.
Target market.
Having a target audience in mind is a great start, but that’s just the beginning. For example, if your ideal market is anyone from 20 to 60 years old, you’re not narrowing it down far enough. You want to hone in on a more specific audience group than this.
Why finding your target market is important.
The reason it’s so important to hone in on your target market is because you are looking to develop a unique voice for your brand. To be unique, you need to have a particular target audience that you are speaking to.
How to find your target market.
If you are having trouble getting specific, try creating individual personas for your target audience. When developing your personas, make sure you touch on details, including demographic, personal history, and expectation of each.
Demographic
Start with the demographic of your persona. You’ll want to be sure to include the person’s age, location, education, income, and any other factors you might think are significant.
Personal history
Moving forward, start developing a personal history for your individual. Think about some of their interests, goals, and needs as a consumer.
Expectation
Lastly, think about some of the expectations your person might have regarding your brand. For example, what type of expectations might they have about the customer experience and how they interact with your brand? Consider all of the different touching points throughout the sales cycle.
Your vibe or theme.
Your logo is just the start of your brand. While it is a crucial element, it’s just one piece of a much larger picture. Your visual identity is the whole part, which includes the entire vibe or theme of your brand.
Why your vibe is important.
Having an established visual identity is vital to the success of your branding because it will be how you communicate your personality and values visually through your branded elements. Each piece of your visual branding should help to reinforce the feelings you hope to evoke in your target audience anytime they find themselves engaging with your brand.
How to develop your vibe.
When it comes to developing your visual identity, you’ll want to make sure all of these elements are included:
- Logo
- Advertising
- Photography style
- Marketing materials
- Product packaging
- Fonts
- Store interior
What you stand for.
When it comes to portraying what you stand for as a business, you’ll want to rely on communicating your mission, vision, and values. First, start by breaking down the difference between your mission statement and your vision statement.
Mission statement vs. vision statement
Your mission statement is going to describe the now. It will explain the purpose of your business as it is right now. Alternatively, your vision statement speaks about the future. It will explain what you plan to do with your business to make a better future.
You don’t have to separate the two, but it is crucial that you capture the present and the future in your statements. Make sure your audience knows where you stand and where you plan to go. Both the mission statement and the vision statement, or a combination of the two, can be incredibly powerful in relaying what your business stands for.
Choosing your name.
You may or may not already have a name in mind for your dispensary, and that’s fine—if you don’t yet have a firm name in mind, you will need to convey that you are looking to rebrand or launch a new product or service. Whatever your situation, it’s important to understand the importance of carefully selecting your names.
Why names are important
Your brand’s name is a psychological trigger—your prospects and existing customers should associate positive feelings and experiences when they see or hear the name. You want to evoke positive associations and reactions as much as possible when naming your brand, product, and services.
How to create a new brand name
Whether you have a brand name in mind or not, you’ll want to ask yourself a few questions to make sure it will deliver a powerful message:
- Who is your target audience?
- What will you provide to your target audience?
- How will you address any current frustrations they may have?
- What makes your name different from competitors?
- Will your brand name evoke positive emotions?
- Does your brand name pique curiosity or any other emotions?
- Will your brand name be easy to remember?
- Can your brand name be inspiring to employees?
Interior design ideas.
It takes more than speed to stand out in such a competitive market, which is why capturing an effective interior design is yet another helpful tool in your dispensary branding strategy. Here’s how you can take your dispensary to the next level with your interior design ideas.
Stand out
We can’t say it enough—make sure your brand stands out. Don’t become just another dispensary in a sea of dispensaries. Be THE dispensary that everyone HAS to go to. Products will generally be the same, but what will set you apart from the others will be your branding and the customer experience.
Showcase your brand
Your visual identity should be seen all over your interior design. You can successfully achieve this by having a clear brand presence in your store and by remaining consistent.
Keep in mind some of your interior design elements that can add to your branding, like:
- Signage
- Millwork
- Feature walls
- Murals
Provide quality
The customer experience can make or break your business, so you need to provide quality experiences with every interaction. Having a physical retail space gives your brand the opportunity to create this connection with your customers.
Some of the most effective ways to provide a quality customer experience while connecting with your brand include:
- Establishing a community - hosting events that show appreciation to your customers
- Having knowledgeable staff - building relationships with customers through education
- Building in brand touchpoints - introducing your customers to your product lines
Plan ahead
Last but not least, remember that more technology and products are constantly entering the dispensary world, which means that you as a brand must continue to evolve. When designing your interior space, keep in mind that certain technical aspects might need to be changed, and make sure your room is versatile enough to handle that.
In the end, there is a lot to prepare when it comes to dispensary branding. It's a huge, important, and often overlooked part of the business that really shows your clientele who you are. The good news is, if done right, you can leave a lasting impression that will have people coming back for more.
Join us next week as we chat about how to implement all these design tips!
