If you are going to become an established player in hemp products you need to strategize and build a brand identity Hemp.
As you can see, there is still a lot of confusion about industrial hemp and products derived from it. Call it bad luck, but cannabis is unfortunately linked to THC and altered states of mind by most people.
As a responsible brand and seller, your job is to create a niche and inform the audience as well.
How do you go about it? I draw from my own experience and summarize the highlights for you.
What is brand identity, anyway?
Unless you have an MBA in Marketing, this is a difficult term for you to understand.
What do we mean when we say that President Obama has a nice personality?
Are we talking about his politics? An instantly recognizable baritone?
Is it about him being a highly educated African American – the first black president of Harvard Law Review?
Is it kind of weird (if such a term applies to a human being)? Born to a white mother (of Swiss, German and English ancestry) and a Kenyan father who met in Honolulu while studying Russian?
Or is it the whole package – the general impression a man makes when he steps on stage and gives a scathing speech?
The same is true of brand identity.
Determines:
…and other similar items.
The perfect example is Mercedes-Benz.
The German automaker stands for:
- Engineering excellence
- Luxury
- Accuracy
- Prestige
- High performance
- Design innovation
Why is brand identity necessary?
Good question.
You can’t sell hemp t-shirt On the basis of its quality and without the need to build a brand identity Hemp?
Of course you can, but with a caveat – you have to advertise again and again.
Every time you find a lead, you have to convince them of your product.
Why is Starbucks, Apple and BMW famous?
They are big brand names. But look behind it and you will find confidence.
Starbucks will serve you the best coffee in an attractive setting. They will not skimp on the cost of cream by buying bulk milk powder.
Apple technology is the best in the world.
BMW is all about innovative technology and exceptional performance.
Once you try these products, there is little chance that you will migrate to a competitor.
Repeat sales mean a lot to companies because it costs a huge amount to find a new customer.
You need a Brand Identity for:
- Differentiation
By its brand identity, BMW separates itself from Kia (at one end of the scale) and Bentley (at the other). The same for Kia. Brand identity is not for luxury products alone, but for all categories.
- Contact
Almost every famous brand is associated with a famous logo. Every time you encounter it, an association is renewed. This process is subconscious, but it does happen.
- Expertise
Brand identity translates a product (from a car to a latte) into an experience. A cohesive cannabis brand identity is essential to a high sales volume.
How to create a brand identity for your cannabis products
- Looking for buyers
Most people in the cannabis business have a fairly short view of their clients.
Their approach can be roughly defined as:
Create a cannabis product (shirt, face masketc.) and wait for the eco-friendly customer to buy it.
Since the environment and climate change are hot topics, they expect that marketing an alternative to cotton is all that is needed.
Nothing is clearer than the truth.
Customers love to know why they buy a particular product. They want reliable data on cannabis and why it is the better alternative.
You need to know:
- Age group
- education
- Location
- gender
Before, you can target them with information.
Gain your insights through market surveys and focus group research.
Offering a huge discount to those who are going to participate in a market survey is a great tactic to use.
- Valuable site
Why are you the best that your business offers and others don’t?
Unless the customer knows the answer to that, they are likely to one day move away from your competitor.
Successful brand identity requires that the brand tell a story. Your brand may be more authentic, more reliable, or any of the ten factors that make one brand better than another.
Perhaps the quality of the cannabis you use is exceptional and justifies you charging double the price compared to the market.
Whatever – state it clearly.
- Write a mission statement
It seems plasty. Let me assure you that it is not.
Customers love to compare your performance against the mission statement.
A mission statement is not a collection of gross and noble words. This looks fake and sales-like.
How do you feel when you think of hemp products?
How do you want to serve your customers?
What makes you different?
Your mission statement should address these issues clearly and concisely.
- SWOT out
SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.
The first two factors focus on the functional and dysfunctional aspects of your business.
The other two have to do with how it thrives and what can cause it to falter.
Ideally, this task is best done by a management consultant. You may not have the business skills to select items.
Also, one needs to be impartial to perform this task. You are biased towards your concept and may not be able to understand the threats you face.
- Create a logo
Why the logo doesn’t need an answer in this day and age.
One can recognize a Coca-Cola bottle from a mile away due to the lettering marked in white on a bright red background.
A logo can speak what words cannot.
It is exceptional in evoking the positive vibes associated with the brand.
Furthermore, posting the logo requires little space, and serves as a constant reminder to the customer.
In short, marketers summarize it as a recall. The logo is the foundation upon which your brand identity is built.
Unless you have a well-designed logo, your product will not be remembered and will likely end up in a pile of messes too.
Pay attention to color and design when creating a logo. You can do without an expensive advertising agency and create one yourself using software like Canva.
- Post your identity
Identity formation is one thing. Letting others know is another thing entirely.
How do you post what you intend?
- Social media
As I have no doubt read on more than one blog, Facebook has 1.9 billion active users. Instagram has a billion or a little more.
Without playing around with that tired statistic, which is nonetheless very valuable, use the channel as much as possible.
Write as much as you can about what you make and why you do it.
Most small businesses use social media to post frivolous images and lame slogans.
Be different and educate customers. Tell everyone why hemp is better and why hemp is better.
Make behind-the-scenes videos and share them on YouTube. You don’t need a professional. A smartphone or GoPro is more than enough.
Go on Reddit and post it. Of course, you can’t advertise your products but find questions about cannabis and add a response. Make sure what you write isn’t off-the-shelf because Redditors can be fierce.
- booklet
When you sell a product, include a brochure that tells the customer why your product is better.
To make the sale, you may have offered a 50% discount. So, make it important.
If the brochure is attractive enough, you can be sure that more than a few family and friends will browse through it.
Is it sufficient to return the product? It totally depends on how easy it is to remember your business name.
- Website launch
Of course, you have a website but does it offer an e-commerce service? You should explore this option to expand sales.
The site is not only a place where you can fill in as much information as you want, but carefully chosen templates and beautiful fonts can add to the uniqueness surrounding your brand.
Add a blog section and report why your products are superior.
Monitor your brand progress
This is difficult. How do you know if your brand identity is growing?
The main ways are:
- Focus group and informal discussions
- Social media listens by searching for keywords for public conversations
- Use Google Analytics to measure traffic and time spent on your site
Sometimes you have a feeling that your brand identity is working well. Email conversations with your customers and comments about your products are other important signals.
Keeping it, saving it
Brand building is an endless exercise.
That’s why the world’s leading companies continue to invest millions in market research and updating their brand identity.
Discover what works for your cannabis brand and communicate authentically. You will definitely follow a positive brand identity.
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/359809
https://hbr.org/2019/01/what-does-your-corporate-brand-stand-for
https://www.managementstudyguide.com/brand-identity.htm
https://sendpulse.com/support/glossary/brand-identity
https://www.columnfivemedia.com/how-to-create-a-brand-identity/
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