November 13, 2018

Brand Joint Heads to MJBiz Con

Jennifer Culpepper, Brand Joint's Founder and Creative Director is heading to Las Vegas this week for MJBizCon, Marijuana Business Daily's three day conference and expo. Each year, Jennifer joins thousands of cannabis entrepreneurs and business leaders to network and hear from an incredible line-up of knowledgeable speakers.

MJBizCon is a great opportunity for our east-coast cannabis branding firm to catch up with industry professionals on the west coast. Jenn looks forward to meeting the masterminds behind some amazing nationwide brands and having face-to-face conversations about your branding needs and goals. If you'd like to schedule some time to chat with Jenn while she's in Las Vegas, send us an email at hi@brandjoint.com. She'd love to to discuss how to take your brand to the next level, stand apart on crowded shelves and gain loyal fans.

See you in Vegas! Follow us on Instagram and Twitter to keep up with us at the conference!

November 12, 2018

Prime Extracts Named Best Brand By LeafLink

 

LeafLink, a sales platform for cannabis brands, distributors, and retailers, has chosen Prime Extracts, one of our cannabis clients, for having the Best Branding in their 2018 LeafLink List! Each year the LeafLink List recognizes the best-selling and fastest-growing brands and products on their platform. We are incredibly honored to see our work among some of the most well-known brands in the cannabis industry!

Over the past year, the Brand Joint team worked with Prime Extracts to develop the name, logo, packaging design and overall brand strategy for their line of refined cannabis concentrates. To set a strong brand foundation for their product line, we worked with the Maryland-based company to determine what their brand stood for and how to best differentiate their products from others across the state. Together, we focused on three core brand values to communicate to their target audience through marketing and design: quality, transparency, and responsibility.

Quality 

Choosing a name for your cannabis company can be one of the most challenging and important parts of developing your brand identity. It’s important that your cannabusiness name conveys your brand essence to consumers. The name “Prime Extracts” reflects the purity of the concentrated cannabis. Using an organic, food-grade ethanol extraction process, plant material is distilled to its prime components, resulting in clean, consistent products comprised only of cannabis-derived ingredients. Reflective of that brand promise, we designed a minimalist logo using prime shapes and numbers. Additionally, the packaging incorporates bold, bright patterns, complimenting the robust and flavorful terpene and cannabinoid profiles for which Prime Extracts is known.

 

 

Transparency 

Prior to Prime Extracts' release in the Maryland market, we noticed that other brands attached a generic, unformatted label listing the state-required lab results and ingredients to their products. That label often covers up packaging design and is difficult to read due to its small print.

The Brand Joint team took Maryland's packaging regulations and incorporated them into a design feature that benefits consumers. Our unique label highlights Prime's terpene and cannabinoid profile in a simplified, educational design. This allows patients to quickly identify ingredients, allowing for educated purchasing decisions based on their desired experience. Additionally, when new products and strains are released, our social media team posts the third-party test results as another way to educate consumers through transparency.


Responsibility

One of the biggest problems our team identified with concentrate packaging is the difficulty of identifying a strain type once it has been removed from the original packaging. How can a consumer choose the appropriate strain type without any identifying marker on the cartridge? The brightly color-coded system we created for all Prime products is especially effective on the mouthpieces for vape pens. Sativa-dominate distillate, for example, will always be packaged in orange, while hybrids are marked as purple. Not only does the packaging stand apart on shelves, but it goes above and beyond in terms of patient safety. Packaging inserts and strain information are often discarded upon initial use, but patients will be able to medicate responsibility and appropriately based on their desired experience.

While this overall brand strategy and design is unique to Prime Extracts, the Brand Joint process is applied to each and everyone of our clients. Whether designing a logo, website, or social media content, we always start by building a brand's foundation — establishing the brand story and core values — before releasing products into the market.

We are grateful to LeafLink for recognizing our brand strategy and design for Prime Extracts on their 2018 List! We look forward to developing new products with the Prime team in the near future. Follow Brand Joint on Instagram to see what we're up to with out other cannabis clients!

October 10, 2017

Designing the Perfect Dispensary Experience: The First Impression

On October 5, Jenn had the pleasure of speaking at the Philadelphia Chapter of Women Grow. Hosted by the law firm Offit Kurman, the event brought together a diverse group of cannabis enthusiasts and entrepreneurs. As Philadelphia's medical marijuana program is ramping up, Jenn's talk focused on designing the perfect brand dispensary experience.

At Brand Joint, we emphasize to our clients that a brand is more than just a catchy name and your logo on the wall. A brand should provide a particular experience that evokes emotion (hopefully positive!) from customers. That's why it's so important for dispensaries to spend time and energy branding and designing their entire patient experience. Before you even step into a dispensary, your customers will likely visit your website or social media pages. Your digital outreach is just one aspect of your branded experience, but we'll save that for another blog!

During her discussion, Jenn explained how dispensary owners should ask themselves, "What experience do I want to provide for my patients? What do I want them to feel the moment they step in the door?" You only get one first impression, so it's important to properly communicate your message. Keep in mind that experiences will be different for states with medical programs versus adult-use dispensaries.

Exterior: The exterior of a dispensary is just as important as the interior. To implement a branded experience for your dispensary, it's best to walk through the entire process through the eyes of your patients. Is your building in an area with lots of walking traffic or is there a parking lot? Depending on your location, having ample parking close to your building might be an important factor, especially for patients with ailments that make it difficult to walk or use stairs.

Photo Credit: Lightshade

As your customer moves toward the doorway, what do they see? In states like Maryland and Pennsylvania, where the medical cannabis program is on the brink of going live, it's likely that patients may feel apprehensive about visiting a dispensary for the first time. Do they feel safe approaching the building? Is the area well lit? Do you have on-site security guard? And if so, will an armed guard make them feel safe and secure or more nervous?

Photo Credit: Silverpeak Apothecary

Entering the Dispensary: As the customer enters the dispensary, they'll typically approach an entrance area or waiting room. While this area is typical used for security purposes, while you check IDs or wait for a dispensary agent to become available, you can use this an opportunity to add value to the patient's experience. While they're waiting, perhaps you have educational materials or videos playing. Maybe you have a lovely retail display?

Think about the sensory experiences: What do they see? Is there someone that opens the door with a friendly greeting? What do they smell? What music is playing, if any? Are the wall colors bright and vivid or natural and calming? There's not a right or wrong answer to designing the sensory experience for your brand, as long as it remains intentional and consistent throughout.

Before you even begin to design a beautiful dispensary experience, you need to know what will make that experience perfect for your customers. Learning what your specific customers value is the key. Do they value a relaxing, spa-like shopping environment? Are they looking for a more guided educational approach? Or are they generally in a hurry and value a quick, tech-supported experience?

Once you determine your target audience, you can consider the various shopping experiences you can create for your customers. Sign up for our newsletter to read Part 2 of Designing the Perfect Dispensary Experience: Different Retail Experiences.

September 28, 2017

Branding Pennsylvania Dispensaries

Brand Joint is headed to Philly! Our Creative Director, Jennifer Culpepper will be the Featured Speaker at the Women Grow: Philadelphia Networking Event on October 5th. With 52 dispensaries opening in the Keystone State in 2018, having a well-designed dispensary brand is more important than ever. If the industry as a whole makes an effort to become more accessible and approachable to a broader audience, dispensaries will become more easily accepted by their communities. 

A well-branded dispensary experience requires more than putting a logo on the wall, your products and apparel — it's the total sum of all the little details. Design details inside the dispensary like the music playing in the waiting room, the art on the walls, staff uniforms and product packaging must be consistent with the exterior design elements, such as your like website and 
social media presence. Together, these details create an overall brand experience that leaves patients with a positive lasting impression.
 
Jenn will explain how dispensary owners can create a loyal following by finding their key differentiators, determining the proper target audience and designing a memorable retail experience. Don't miss out — get your tickets here

July 20, 2017

Cannabis Branding Internship Opportunity

Summer isn't quite over yet, but we’re already thinking ahead to fall. We're not just looking forward to a break from the Maryland heat, but we're excited to welcome our fall intern! Each semester, Brand Joint and our sister company, Peppermill Projects, seeks out an aspiring Graphic Designer who is passionate about design and looking for real-world branding experience. 

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June 29, 2017

Brand Joint Featured in MG Magazine

We are excited to announce that Brand Joint was featured in June's issue of MG Magazine! In the article, "Profiles in Marketing: People, Firms, Brands & Stories," our Founder Jennifer Culpepper shared insight to common mistakes cannabis companies make regarding their branding and design. You can find the full article in MG Magazine or read it online!

June 1, 2017

Marketing Mentor Podcast

This week, Brand Joint's Founder, Jennifer Culpepper was featured on The Marketing Mentor Podcast. The Marketing Mentor, Ilise Benun, covers a wide variety of topics. Each episode is a "no-fluff chat about the nuts and bolts of how designers, copywriters, photographers and other creatives are doing to grow their business to get better clients with bigger budgets."

In the latest episode, "Experienced Newbie: Entering the Brand New Cannabis Market," Jenn shares insight to seeking out a niche and helping the cannabis industry find value in strong brand strategy and quality design. You can listen to the full episode here!

May 10, 2017

Where Should You Open Your Dispensary?

With several dispensaries opening in a small state, those who develop smart brand strategy and sophisticated design will have a much-needed competitive edge. A good dispensary doesn’t just provide a product, but an entire patient experience. The location and physical space of the dispensary is a crucial segment of the entire branded experience.

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April 19, 2017

Summer Intern: Richy Arthurs

The Brand Joint office has gone international! Originally from Dublin, Ireland, Richy Arthurs joined the Brand Joint and Peppermill Projects team for an internship to learn what goes on behind the scenes of a cannabis branding and design studio. Richy studied Web Development at Maynooth University and was formerly employed at IBM in Dublin.

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March 20, 2017

Summer Internship Program

The east coast’s premier cannabis branding and graphic design agency Brand Joint (and its sister company, Peppermill Projects) is looking for an aspiring Graphic Designer to join our team for a summer internship!

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