Fast Company – May 2019

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28 FASTCOMPANY.COM MAY 2019


Marijuana has come a long way from the
days of plastic baggies and glass jars filled
with OG Kush and Sticky Icky Icky. Today’s
cannabis (née weed) is sold in posh retail
outlets, which stock dozens of different
products, from medicinal-style vaporizers
to THC-infused candies, aimed at veteran
users and neophytes alike. In the past year,
$2.2 billion of venture capital has flowed
into 324 cannabis deals globally, according
to research firm CB Insights. In the United
States, many of the deals are rooted in Cali-
fornia, the largest legal market, where rec-
reational use has been legal since 2018 and


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N Trendspotting

IN THE


WEEDS


TO STAND OUT IN THE CROWD,


CANNABIS COMPANIES ARE


GETTING CREATIVE WITH THEIR


LIFESTYLE BRANDING.
BY RUTH READER


consumer-facing companies are scrambling
to turn what is essentially a commodity
product into something more distinctive.
“There’s a chance to create a Levi’s, Coca-
Cola, or a Kleenex of a new industry,” says
Sean Black, cofounder of Santa Barbara’s Low-
ell Herb Co. His two-year-old business special-
izes in prerolled joints packed in vintage-style
boxes, complete with letterpress inking, foil
stamps, and a set of green-tipped matches.
For that throwback vibe, users pay roughly
$70 for 14 joints. The company also sells
bucolic $300 bouquets of marijuana flowers
and eucalyptus stems. San Francisco–based

Defoncé (“high” in French) similarly uses
design to elevate its chocolates from the ed-
ible masses. CEO Eric Eslao, a former Apple
producer, says that the signature origami-like
pattern on his chocolate bars ($20) is based on
a quilted Burberry jacket that he once wore,
while the company’s elegant packaging owes
a debt to Apple’s industrial design.
Brands in the crowded vaporizer space,
meanwhile, are jostling for attention by
appealing to different demographics. The
fashion-forward Beboe, cofounded by L.A.
tattoo artist Scott Campbell and Clement
Kwan, a former Yoox and Dolce & Gabbana

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