When we look at the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) landscape, we see nothing short of incessant shelf warfare. And few weapons are as critical to victory as package design. What catches whose eye? Is the reaction positive, negative, indifferent? In the olden days, we’d wander alongside a typical shopper in...
The marketing industry has been bombarding itself for years with ways to “manage” or “harness” the “disruption” brought upon us by artificial intelligence, machine learning, and the like. What do we mean by “disruption?” We mean “OMG, scary, out-there science that’s escaped from the lab and now everyone has to wear...
Let’s take a geek’s-eye look around the AI treasure house. Oh, here’s a cool tool - Latent Effects Modeling. Latent variables, as opposed to observable variables, are variables that are not directly observed but are rather inferred (through a mathematical model) from other variables that are observed (directly measured). In short, Latent Effects Modeling takes what you...
Content marketing is made up of two parts: content and marketing. Once you have developed original content and optimized it for search, it’s time to start thinking beyond inbound traffic to promotion and outreach for that content. Not everyone uses the internet the same way, and so while many people may be finding your...
There’s a fascinating emerging set of literature on true leadership (versus management) of crises. One of the signal books in this genre is Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen by Dan Heath. The author explains that true leaders are people whose names you don’t know. Why is that?...
The great thing about content is that it can always be revisited, refined, and re-purposed for multiple business and content objectives. In this blog post, we’ll take you through three steps for making sure you’re getting the most out of your cannabis content. Modifying Content for Additional Mediums Not all content...
Advertising cannabis and CBD brands presents its own unique set of challenges, and we blogged about this some here and here. But if you’re beginning to think about advertising your product/service, let’s talk a bit about what a brand should consider first. Or, put another way, let’s have at least thought...
LinkedIn is the platform we get the most questions about from our B2B clients focused on lead generation. At Canna Con in Seattle this weekend, most companies with booth space were companies marketing their services and products to Cannabis producers and processors. Including all types of businesses, from soil and seed...
There are a host of challenges for cannabis companies with regard to compliance. But let’s go ahead and add one more to the list—your website. In California for example, cannabis businesses are prohibited from making any false or misleading advertising claims, which extends to the content on your website. This includes...
Being in business, especially one that’s as unpredictable as the cannabis space or even digital media (data breach anyone?), requires planning for the inevitable – a crisis. Regardless of what the actual crisis is, having a plan in place helps you get organized and ready for reacting even if, at the...
Here’s a case where AI rolled into the ongoing rollout of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). To avoid getting lost in the weeds, let’s just recall that there were big-money battles involving healthcare providers, the Federal government, and the confused, newly ACA-insured and wanted-to-be insured. Problem: Two very large healthcare providers urgently...
A Marijuana culture enjoys a history of slang and alternative word usage, which will assuredly come into play once advertising really ramps up on the new industry. If you’d like a quick primer, here is an excellent place to begin. blazin’ a trail with marijuana slang If asked to create a list of...
The great thing about content is that it can always be revisited, refined, and re-purposed for multiple business and content objectives. In this blog post, we’ll take you through three steps for making sure you’re getting the most out of your cannabis content. modifying content for additional mediums Not all content...
Company Seeking Long Term Relationship with Talented Agency Finding “the one” is hard, especially if you’ve never worked with an agency before. And hey, maybe working with an agency isn’t for you and your business. That’s okay. We just hope this blog post can help answer some of the more common questions...
So you’re trying to run AdWords ads for your cannabis brand and want to know how to do that? I won’t lie. It isn’t easy. And as consultants who have been running ads on Google AdWords starting back when those were in cuneiform on clay tablets (it feels that long ago)...
Successful series of studies on the Cannabis Consumer results in pioneering strategic partnership to deliver Fortune-500-caliber market insights. SEATTLE, WA March 20, 2018 – Seattle-based Matters Group and Cascade Strategies, Inc., have formalized a partnership to deliver advanced data science, sophisticated analytics and market research services to the emerging cannabis industry....
One of the most important aspects of a Content Playbook is the Content Calendar. The Content Calendar is really the meat of the content strategy which is developed from the Content Audit. A Content Calendar typically includes format, topics, target keyword phrases, due dates, etc. We’ve found that more effective programs have calendars that...
Advertising cannabis and CBD brands present their own unique set of challenges, and we blogged about this some here and here. But if you’re beginning to think about advertising your product/service, let’s talk a bit about what a brand should consider first. Or, put another way, let’s have at least thought about the factors...
Many traditional forms of advertising are unavailable or too costly for many cannabis businesses today. This is perhaps why so many of them have turned to social media to engage with their customers and expand their overall reach. However, many of these businesses are also realizing that just being on social media isn’t enough....
A solid content marketing approach usually includes these three general components: Content StrategyContent Marketing PlanContent Performance Analytics Content Strategy Starting with the content strategy, it’s important to first define what your content needs and goals are. If you’re not sure what your content needs and goals are, we recommend conducting a...