Marijuana marketing needs to be ready if measure approved, Portland Advertising Federation ...

The hors d’oeuvres plate stacked with Taco Bell munchies was among the first indications this would not be a typical panel discussion.

The 4:20 start time was another.

And the name tags that just said “High!” were another.

The Portland Advertising Federation clearly wanted to inject some creativity and levity into its “Burning Issues” panel discussion Wednesday night of the marketing potential in the legal marijuana industry.

The event, in the planning stage since early June, had a timely boost last week when the Oregon Secretary of State’s office declared an initiative petition circulated by a group called New Approach Oregon had enough valid signatures to qualify for the November ballot. Oregon voters will get a chance in November to decide whether marijuana should be legal for those 21 years and older.

Oregon can potentially join Washington and Colorado as states where people at least 21 years of age can buy marijuana for recreational use. As a result, several players in Oregon’s existing medical marijuana industry are recognizing the potential for growth, panelists agreed.

Generally, though, medicinal marijuana growers and retailers are wary, said Alexa Divett, partner and marketing director for Canna Marketing & Design, a Portland agency incorporated last November to serve the cannabis industry

“Mind your intentions,” Divett advised an audience of about 50 people gathered in at Polara Studio, 614 S.E. Hawthorne St.

“Right now this industry is family,” she said. “It involves people who over the last 15 to 20 years have risked their lives and freedom to stay in it. They can smell the people who are attracted to it because of the income from across the room.”

Divett was joined on the panel by Wes Abney, publisher of the magazines Northwest Leaf and Oregon Leaf; Anthony Johnson, executive director of the Oregon Cannabis Industry Association; and Ryan Mclean, founder of Bridge City Collective, one of Portland’s multiple location medical marijuana dispensaries. Advertising federation board member Doug Zanger, social and marketing director for Advertising Week, moderated the panel.

If Oregon voters approve the measure, Abney, the publisher, said he would be interested in whether the state adopts advertising rules that are less restrictive than those in Washington state.

Washington state prohibits marijuana advertising on radio, television, billboards and in publications available to minors, said Abney, whose business is based in Seattle.

While he would like to see some loosening of restrictions, some he understands.

“I have little daughters,” he said. “I don’t want to see somebody on a billboard getting a bong hit.”

The display ads in the August issue of Oregon Leaf (“The Patient’s Voice Since 2010″) appear to be mostly targeting growers and the service industry around growing, not users.

One exception, on page 13 of the glossy magazine, is a full-page ad for Mclean’s Bridge City Collective that looks spare and chic enough to be mistaken for a European furniture dealer.

That’s just the tone that Mclean sought, he said. “Clean, modern and bright,” Mclean said of the approach, declining to speculate about how legalization in Oregon could affect his business.

Divett said marijuana-themed advertising should alter its tone and shift its demographic, especially for recreational use. For too long, in print publications and elsewhere, the target audience has been young males with a corresponding use of women in provocative pose.

“We need to get away from these sexually driven ads,” Divett said. “How do we market to your mom? How do we market to my mom who’s never use marijuana in her entire life, but she believes in it?”

Divett also told the audience to prepare for clients who do not have deep pockets and who may, for the first time in their lives, be considering a marketing budget.

Educating clients about how advertising can help grow their business will be important, said Divett, whose agency client list includes the Oregon Cannabis Industry Association, Pure Green medical marijuana dispensary, D&L Securities (which provides security for dispensaries), and Bud Rub Topical Medicinal Salve.

If voters approve the legalization measure, a marketer’s message to clients in the industry would be simple, Divett said: “You need to grow this budget as your revenue grows because the competition is going to get fierce.”

– Allan Brettman

Source

Marijuana marketing needs to be ready if measure approved, Portland Advertising Federation ...