Kozminski Techblog

1 in 5 American adults has access to legal marijuana. Colorado processed one billion in sales in just the first eight months of 2017. In fact, by 2020, the marijuana market is estimated to reach 22 billion in revenue.

Marijuana users have historically been viewed as college dorm stoners or perhaps baby-boomer hippies. But what we’re seeing is a whole new range of products aimed at the enthusiastic and hip millennial audience. So why should marketers care about this too? Well, for one we’re seeing these products being positioned in a radically different way and it’s being coupled with increasing normalization among consumers. Nearly 2/3 of Americans supported legalization in 2017 so you have a wide range of support for this. This number has nearly doubled since the 2000s so you’re seeing rapidly changing perceptions. And with that said, marijuana is now being positioned as a tool, as a therapy and a multitude of new different spaces.

So for example, High Times is supporting moms who get high and using either CBS oil or smoking cannabis itself as a way to manage the challenges of motherhood. Recently, sublingual nano-sprays have been introduced where the effects don’t last all afternoon so you can still do the school run, in theory.

All of this is a part of this general shift where we’re actually seeing marijuana being pointed as a lifestyle vertical. We’re seeing this also coupled with a shift in media, from celebrities to pop culture, everyone is really starting to celebrate and normalize pot and all its iterations as a part of everyday life. Broad City is probably a good example of that, High Maintenance HBO, and of course Vice Media.

We’re also seeing a whole wave of new brands trying to luxify the use of cannabis-related products. In fact, it’s gone so far the Business of Fashion which is a leading luxury in fashion business network pitched marijuana as the luxury industry’s next big opportunity.

One of the big shifts that we’ve seen with this recent explosion of marijuana is this notion of “Women and Weed” culture. Entrepreneurs and celebrities like Whoopi Goldberg who has teamed with a partner to create Whoopi and Maya, a medical marijuana line of botanicals that help with menstrual cramps. We have Foria, a tampon brand that also includes weed.

All of this is a part of a massive wave of creativity generally. Aspects of cannabis are being appreciated for more tangential properties and benefits and we’re looking forward to seeing how this market flourishes to more innovation and more startups and more cannabis-infused moisturizers in the future.

The Inspection Chamber on BBC radio, a program that explores a new way of interacting and controlling the story, with a make-your-own decisions spin to it.

The voice assistant, which in this case is “The Inspection Chamber” tells the story of an alien who has been captivated and is being interrogated by a robot. Users play the alien part by answering the questions which are being asked and by doing so, determining the course of the story.

We can tell the inspiration came from immersive entertainment, or more so the interactive aspect of video games.

“We were trying to go for something between a full game and linear radio,” said Henry Cooke, senior producer at BBC Research and Development, in an interview with The Memo. “Rather than making choices about what happens next, like a director, it’s more like you’re a participant, talking directly to the characters.” The Stranger things story telling game is also another example of fun use of a home assistant by Google home.

“Voice is going to be a key way we interact with media, search for content, and find what we want,” said Tony Hall BBC director general.

In this article, I am doing to talk about the future of Women – or at least, changes and emerging trends in the world of women’s marketing and also the gender gap when it comes to products and how they’re being presented by brands. The changing attitude to culture, lifestyle verticals and what is driving this change.

Many female-founded brands are starting to disrupt traditional Women’s verticals, especially in the female health tech, with a fresh new tone of voice, product offer, and visual language.
What’s really exciting about this time, is that you have a wave of female founders who are singlehandedly reinventing categories based on this new criteria.

We’re seeing women create director consumer brands designed in an empathetic way with a more approachable tone of voice. They’re building ethics into their business model from sustainability to donating to important charities and women’s causes, and they’re reframing how these categories are integrated into women’s lives.

You would expect female-oriented brands to embrace women, well quite frankly this is not always the case. Women are sick of tired of what’s out there. But what’s out there?
The truth is the industry is quite fractured, you have these large brands that speak to you in this really hyper-masculine way and then you have these newer companies who are hyper-feminine and equally raunchy at times. There’s no space for comfort. You better pick pink or blue or black and gold.

Take condom companies, for example, the biggest problem with their marketing campaigns is that it looks like they’re trying to sell you sex. All these brands need to start setting the tone to a more educational and realistic approach as opposed to being explicit and talking about what you’re doing in the bedroom and after. It makes people feel guilty and uncomfortable. There’s a wide-open space for change.

Another thing these brands need to start doing is using culture and human insights to develop meaningful marketing. Disrupt and dismantle stigmas, put a spotlight on cultural discomfort with women’s bodies and the way that they function.

Take this advert for a change, it tackles a lot of subjects head-on.

This campaign was refreshingly honest and artful, they refused to use blue liquid to show how their product worked instead they used red liquid because HEY that’s what blood looks like.

So, in conclusion, there’s not a lot of campaigns that portray women the way they want. There’s the need for connection, the need for better products, the need to disrupt the taboos around women’s bodies. The industry should make space to talk about these issues in a way that doesn’t feel so medical and embarrassing, also maybe permission to laugh about it a little bit. It’s time to bridge this corporate hurdle.