With the popularity cannabis has started enjoying, the market has seen a tremendous boom, much larger than was even expected. This has led to the concentration of certain luxury brands on alternative cannabis-based products. These range from high-end edibles, touted to be the purest form of the same and beauty skin care products.
It’s thought that in the next few years, the cannabis landscape will have taken a completely unfamiliar form. Here are the many ways the modern pot market has changed in its early days and the revolutions that are expected to take center stage by as soon as 2021.
Luxury Cannabis Boutiques
The High End
One of the latest players to step up the game has been Barneys, an American luxury store based in New York City. They first announced they would launch a department, aptly named ‘The High End,’ to take advantage of the average weed-consuming demographic: wealthy and white.
Expect to see the classiest bongs you’ll ever come across inside The High End’s fifth-floor boutique in Beverly Hills. If its predecessors are anything to go by, expect these to be made, at least in part, of diamond and other emeralds. Ashtrays made of exquisite metals and gold rolling papers are a few other items that they are expected to produce.
Silver Peak
If subverting expectations is the name of the game, walking into Silver Peak’s boutique in Aspen, Colorado, is definitely an experience you’d never expect. If you think the lazy stoner mentality is all there is to cannabis, this woodsy store is something you have to see to believe centers its focus around cannabis.
The brand has dedicated its image around high-end ski lodge looking designs, or more like a greenhouse where cannabis is normally grown. The design aesthetics are so high end, they may as well have been done for Prada or Calvin Klein, and there would be very little difference.
Extravagant Accessories
Designer bongs with Higher Standards
Boutiques aside, accessories are expected to be the real money maker for the budding industry. For instance, another entrant to the luxury cannabis market that’s expected to be dominant is Higher Standards. They are a relatively new player, selling designer bongs, touted be engineered to the millimeter and quality glass from German glass blower RooR.
Designer cannabis homes
To top it all off, various designers are said to be behind the development of mansions in LA that are targeted at luxury cannabis lovers. These will be sold to the tune of $30 million each and will be composed of indoor gardens (inclusive of a lifetime of gardening services) where marijuana and other vegetables will be tended to.
When the whole process is done, the plants can be harvested and processed right within the home, ready for consumption.
Affluent Feminine-Centric Products
The growing importance of the feminine market
Cannabis has been able to penetrate the US market because of all the unique intuitive uses it has been able to gain in the market today. These are as unique as medicinal, and more importantly, cosmetically. Traditionally, men have almost always been at the center stage of most marketing campaigns, but new data suggests that’s changing dramatically.
In 2018, for instance, women consumed almost double the amount of cannabis as the year before, despite still being 38% of the overall market. Keep in mind, however, that the stigma around cannabis means as much as 66% of women hide their cannabis use.
Women-first brands entering the spotlight
If you haven’t heard of SAKA Wine, they are a luxury brand that made it to the spotlight for being one of the first luxury brands to start selling non-alcoholic rosé infused with THC and CBD. Most other brands have shied away from THC because of the regulatory grey area food infused with the chemical have been embroiled in. SAKA Wine, on the other hand, has seen moderate success with its newest brand.
Part of the appeal, perhaps is the fact that the product has a woman-first appeal. The brand is inspired by the Amazonian women, often referred to as the Saka and markets itself as ‘bringing the past into the present. Founded and run by a team of kick-ass women for the warrior in us all.’ This seems to resonate throughout their design, too with their logo featuring a female warrior, supposedly Amazonian.
Sustainability and exclusivity
In a market traditionally surrounded by harmful stereotypes of lazy, violent people and shady dealing going on in dark alleyways, some companies have managed to usurp expectations and bring about much-needed change.
It’s been suggested that the three next largest markets for cannabis, once it’s use grows even further are: women, older generations and high-salaried people. In other words, affluent markets are the real target demographic in emerging markets. This is further strengthened by polls carried out by companies before the existence of liberal cannabis laws. The case for sustainability in a market that’s constantly available has grown ever stronger.
An aesthetic appeal for all
Perhaps the biggest appeal of the brands on top of everything else for luxury cannabis is the aesthetic appeal that they bring. Most bongs people use are made of low-grade plastic, and, as a matter of fact, most people don’t realize there are even different grades of plastic, to begin with. That’s part of the attraction of having their market concentrate so much on women, who are known to have a keener eye for beauty than most men.
In a business such as legal cannabis, quality can only do so much. The online presence and marketability of various products greatly influence how easy they are to market on sites like Instagram.
Most luxury sales come from what people hear and see online, so being Instagram-ready with either a minimalist, clean design, or flashy look is key. The design must convey a sense of luxury with a mix of bright colors or easy enough to connect to the brand.
