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CANNABIS VARIATIONS ARE STRAIN NAMES USEFUL?
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n last month’s issue of Tahoe Cannabis, Digipath Labs’ editorial, “What’s in a Name?,” discussed the myriad of confusion that has resulted from the thousands of cannabis strain names swirling around and how to start up a new classification scheme. This month we are delving further into this topic with the continuing observation that strain naming has just about worn out its usefulness. In particular for recreational cannabis where marketing is king and differentiating one’s products takes creativity and yet importantly demands a reproducible experience for the end user, enter the new marketing trend known as “effects-based” classification, where strains go unnamed in place of words imbuing an anticipated, reproducible outcome for the end user. And for established medicinal cannabis companies, where shrouding behind proprietary monikers may just work through rebranding with a polished tag in the vain of BigPharma. At this rousing time where the distinction between recreational
and medicinal cannabis has high stakes for the entire industry, I present an example of rebranding from both camps. Leading the wave in “effects-based” cannabis classification is Southern California’s Canndescent. Since you can’t really create any distinction, excitement or proprietary protection on a product made from any given Blue Dream or say an OG Kush strain extract, one could create a marketing campaign based on the effects they might reliably result in. Canndescent is a fully integrated cannabis cultivation and production company aimed at the adult market who hopes to differentiate itself through marketing its premium cannabis-based products much as premium wines are and aimed as recreational consumers who may be naïve when they enter a dispensary. For Canndescent those “effects-based” classifications are called pillars, and there are five: CALM, CRUISE, CREATE, CONNECT or CHARGE. These terms obviously relate to how the products make users feel. I suppose there will be proprietary recipes created through combining various cannabis extracts and perhaps other disclosed or undisclosed chemicals to reach these states of effect. Were the words describing the effects chosen first? Why five? Were trials/tastings held to determine what constitutes a CHARGE vs. a CRUISE effect? Are there product specs to be met? Seeing recognizable singular words on bright packaging may prove to be a smart, distinctive approach to cannabis marketing in the same mode as tried and true generic wine terms: crisp, dry, fruity, full-bodied, oaky or mineral. Flip the cannabis coin to Bedrocan, the Dutch company with a 20 year heritage in
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