Power Puff Girls
Ever heard that cringe-worthy marketing adage about how you make products for women? You know, just take the guy’s version, then “shrink it and pink it”?
Well, these five words raced through my head as I sat in the audience of a recent Women Grow event in San Francisco.
As we talked about big topics like inclusion, diversity, and building the industry through female entrepreneurism and conscious consumption — about cannabis products for women by women — I was struck by a comment made by Aundre Speciale, co-founder of the Cannabis Buyers Club of Berkeley.
She mentioned that strains called Cinderella 99, Sweet Island Skunk, and anything involving “pineapple” are popular with women, and that “it comes from being not so savvy with the strains and looking for something that feels comfortable.”
My reaction was twofold: 1. Maybe not everyone cares to geek out on strains, and 2. Fanciful names might make some women feel “comfortable,” but let’s not take this as an invitation to revert to sparkles, sprinkles, and “shrink it and pink it” marketing. Just because it’s working doesn’t means it’s right.
Before I get into ideas about how we might design for women better, let’s first address why cannabis entrepreneurs and investors should even care about us in the first place.
It’s simple — women control the purse strings. As Nielsen points out, women are the dominant retail shoppers, and as Cindy Gallop explained at the 3% Conference, they are key purchasing influencers in every sector, even traditionally male-dominated ones.
Furthermore, if you consider the market opportunity for cannabis by comparing it to other categories — and believe that it might steal share from beer, wine, and spirits — you quickly get to a compelling business opportunity around women. The wine category alone is worth about $30B, and according to The Beverage Information Group, women account for more than half of those sales. Will women socialize, relax, and celebrate with cannabis instead of cabernet?
My guess is yes, especially if we break away from the bikini-clad babes and AK-47s that continue to cast a seedy shadow over cannabis. If we start with real women, and their unmet needs, desires, aspirations, and lifestyles, we can design relevant cannabis offerings that don’t regress to infantilized caricatures of femininity.
If you’re a cannabis entrepreneur, start with some design research.
Forget everything you learned about “marketing to women.” Then get to know your target consumers. Build empathy for them by understanding their day-to-day lives and frames of reference beyond cannabis.
The reality is that consumers don’t think of categories in a vacuum, they compare their experiences across categories. This means that your brand, product, or service will be compared to other brands, products, or services in their lives (and judged accordingly).
For example, if you’re at an edibles company, spend time understanding what else your consumers are eating. Check out their pantries and fridges, shop with them at their favorite grocery stores, and understand how they make tradeoffs about what they’re buying. What are they looking for in the products they buy and why? What does wellness mean to them, and how does that overlap with food? How do occasions influence their decisions? Get inspired by their unique food philosophies.
Once you’re grounded in all of that, go beyond grocery and immerse yourself in the rest of the consumer’s context, such as restaurants, bars, gyms, and other retail experiences. Look for analogies — what might you learn from the cosmetics counter about packaging? What might you learn from third wave coffee bars about education and storytelling?
Many people today are buying cannabis products in spite of their design, not because of their design. By immersing ourselves in the lives of the people we’re designing for — in this case women — we can close the gap between what’s available in the market and what they actually want. We can make cannabis offerings that break down barriers and stereotypes, and empower consumers with choices that better reflect them as individuals. That’s not only good design, it’s good business.
