MJBizMag August 2022 - 50

DEFINE YOUR BRAND
The Evolution in Revolution
In 2021, Revolutionary Clinics was ranked No. 4
on Inc. magazine's list of America's fastest-growing
companies-and not just cannabis companies. The list
included businesses from all industries. Not bad for a
business founded only fi ve years earlier in Fitchburg,
Massachusetts.
While Revolutionary Clinics is vertically integrated
in Massachusetts and includes two dispensaries in
Cambridge plus one in Somerville, both bustling Boston
suburbs, it succeeded on the strength of its wholesale
business, which accounts for roughly 80% of the
company's revenue.
CEO Keith Cooper told MJBizMagazine that
Revolutionary Clinics started as a group of " renegades
and rebels. "
Ryan Ansin, " the co-founder of the company, really
admired Alexander Hamilton, " Cooper said. " He came
up with the theme of Revolutionary, because we're in
the Boston area and it's such an important part of our
history here. "
Edie Parker's foray into cannabis began with a line of accessories
meant to be displayed. Courtesy Photo
POINTS OF DIFFERENTIATION
Heyman also tries to differentiate the Flower by Edie brand
from its competitors with creative advertising and social
media content. Most cannabis brands focus on strains and
cultivators, which is not very original in Heyman's eyes.
" We come to cannabis as a fashion brand, where it's
always about what's new, what's exciting, what's interesting,
what's grabbing people's attention, " she said. " That's how
we approach our cannabis social media, just coming up
with things that feel really juicy and fun and playful. "
As examples, Heyman cited a Flower by Edie tag line, For
a Good Time, as well as its " Weed's Come A Long Way, Baby "
ads that recall famous Virginia Slims advertisements.
" While we are also excited about all the health and
wellness benefi ts around cannabis, and we believe that
there's obviously a lot of serious conversations to be had
about decriminalization and expungement ... we are also
unabashedly women who think it's fun to get high. So that's
a way we talk about cannabis, too. "
That approach has helped them counter marijuana snobs
who don't like the idea of a fashion icon entering the industry.
" We think there are a lot of people who are very
comfortable with why we're entering it and how, again, we
participate in the conversations around normalization, "
Heyman said. " The fact that we are a fresh fashion
brand, that we have a certain set of values that we've
demonstrated for 10-plus years, that we're all cannabis
lovers, we feel like these are enough credible reasons for
us to enter the space. "
50 August 2022 | MJBizMagazine
Revolutionary worked with an outside fi rm to come up
with its red, white and blue logo along with a branding
notion of doing something new and risky in an industry.
" That's evolved over time because, as we became more
popular, people started to refer to us as 'Rev Clinics,' and
then they started to talk about us as 'Rev C,' " Cooper
said. " Now, they're talking about (the company as
simply) 'Rev.' "
As consumer relationships with the brand have shifted,
the company has changed as well.
" We like the idea of more 'Rev,' like being revved-up
and jazzy and interesting, as opposed to historical
and traditional, " Cooper said. " We're evolving as our
customers are seeing us diff erently and talking about us
diff erently. "
- Omar Sacirbey
Revolutionary Clinics now brands its fl ower under the name
Rev Clinics. Courtesy Photo
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