MJBizMag October 2021 - 16

FiveQuestions | with Jen Pike
Dipping Into Lessons from Tobacco
Former Altria executive says fractured cannabis marketplace
creates obstacles to brand recognition
By Kristen Nichols
N
o advertising on social media.
No marketing that might appeal
to children. No ads on TV
or radio.
Sound familiar? The challenges
faced by marijuana and hemp
companies are old hat for the tobacco
industry. In addition to legal barriers,
the tobacco industry faces social
stigma that is in some ways worse
than that faced by today's cannabis
operators.
So, when Jen Pike took charge
of brand management for Skoal
smokeless tobacco more than
10 years ago, she had her work cut
out for her. Pike led efforts to reinvent
a category that had stagnated for
100 years, rising to vice president for
consumer engagement and marketing
at Altria, Skoal's parent company.
Now Pike is taking the helm of
Boldt Runners, a hemp company in
Arcadia, California, that makes moist
smokeless hemp. The company's
Cannadips brand is already in 5,000
retail locations nationwide.
MJBizMagazine caught up with Pike
to find out what lessons cannabis
businesses can take from another
highly regulated industry and why
she believes there's real potential in
smokeless hemp.
What are tobacco companies
doing better than the cannabis
industry right now?
The real difference between the tobacco
industry and the cannabis industry is
that the tobacco industry is mature. So
you have fewer products in that space.
They're all national, and they've
been around for a while. You have
14 MJBizMagazine | October 2021
trusted, well-developed brands that are
available nearly everywhere.
In the cannabis space, it's just emerging.
You have lots of companies trying
things. From a consumer perspective,
that makes cannabis-CBD or otherwise-really
challenging to shop for and
difficult for some to understand.
How is that a challenge for
companies in the cannabis
industry?
A couple of years ago, retailers got
really excited about CBD brands that
were coming into convenience stores.
They thought, " Oh, wow, this is great.
This is the next big category. "
And I don't think they were wrong,
but consumers need to know: Which
products do I need for what, and when?
" If you're laserfocused
on who you
want to reach and
what matters to
those consumers,
there are absolutely
ways to create
relationships with
those consumers
and be relevant. "
- Jen Pike,
Boldt Runners
Because there's so much in the
market right now, consumers are
still trying to figure out, " Do I want
a tincture? Do I want a cream? Do I
want an edible? Do I want to ingest
(something) smokable, and when am
I going to use these products? And for
what reason? "
It makes for a very fractured landscape
in cannabis.
How can cannabis companies
build brands given the marketing
and advertising challenges?
To get the scale that tobacco companies
have achieved over the past
100 years or so, it's because we know
the consumer that we want to reach.
You have to position your products,
the context and how to use them.

MJBizMag October 2021

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