In the Forbes article titled, Cannabis Branding Battle Ahead,
https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultalbot/2018/07/13/the-cannabis-branding-battle-ahead/#2eae30ac7857
The author opines, “where is the source of the Brand Value” as the main question around cannabis branding? Newly introduced Fireball Cannabis Gummies, https://www.fireballcannabis.com/, has developed an outstanding marketing strategy, that includes packaging and labeling from Color Label Solutions.
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| Fireball Cannabis Gummies |
Let me tell you about the work Fireball Cannabis did to bring this exciting new brand to market; and our work with them.
Some time ago, Kevin Forde and Mike Sandrin of Fireball Cannabis, contacted us about our containers, MPACKS. MPACKS are the first new pharmacy vial since the 50’s. This package is child resistant and tamper evident as well as offers 5X more label real estate than the traditional vial. According to Mike Sandrin, “we needed a tested and approved child resistant package for our gummies. We found the MPACK was a good choice for our brand.” In addition, Kevin Forde added, “the MPACKS travel well; and do not crush in pant pockets. Plus the MPACK is almost water and air tight.”
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| MPACK Colors |
In the past, I’ve written about our MPACK package for cannabis. You may remember this post covering District Edibles and their use of the MPACK.
Based on the benefits, Mike, Kevin and the team at Fireball Brand selected the Silver MPACK for their package. The silver color worked well with the Fireball brand.
Once the MPACK was selected, we then turned our attention to labels. To label the MPACK, we suggested two options: 1, 8” label that wrapped the entire package and included the test data. Or 2 labels, one 6.38” brand label and a 1.5” secondary white label for the test data. Both options include a perforation to act as a “tamper evident” seal.
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| Fireball Gummies Label Artwork |
To create the label artwork, Mike and his graphic artist created several iterations to create the best possible look and feel. As the brand label had only 1 version, Fireball Cannabis decided to purchase preprinted labels. To make sure the colors and text were correct, we produced “press proofs for Fireball Cannabis to approve.
And I just happened to be in the plant when we were slitting and rewinding the labels after production.
For the secondary, lab test data, we recommended a traditional thermal transfer printer to produce the black only text.
When asked, what was the most difficult part of bringing the Fireball brand to market, Mike said, “the blister packs. We purchased a custom machine and had to tune the viscosity of the materials in order to fill the blister packs correctly. This process took time and a lot of work.”
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| Fireball Blister Packs |
As I’m not from the packaging world, I can only imagine the work this process took; and the risk involved to get the packaging correct.
After getting the blister packs and MPACKS, Fireball Cannabis had to apply labels; correctly. With the requirement to place the label perforation correctly over the seam between the top and bottom of the MPACK, they elect to use a Take-A-Label applicator with a custom-made jig to hold the package in place. The affordable label applicator insures the labels are placed in the correct position every time. Watch the operator use this applicator to apply the labels:
With the product ready, Fireball launched their gummies, to great success. At a recent Fireball Pop-Up event (find an event near you here):
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| Fireball Gummies Pop Up Event |
I asked Kevin about the success of the launch. “We’ve had great success with our gummies, both in terms of sales and market share. Instead of large-scale advertising, we’re spending our time in dispensaries like this pop-up event today, demonstrating to Budtenders, how to sale our product. Our brand ambassadors work with budtenders to recommend and sell the gummies. So far, this training strategy has worked well”.
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| Fireball Gummies Marketing Efforts |
In the article “Cannabis Branding Battle Ahead”, the author states, “Many of the branding tenets and practices that have served marketing savvy brewers, distillers, and vintners so well will take root in the cannabis industry.” The success of Fireball Cannabis demonstrates this statement as very true.
As for next steps, Mike says, “we’re currently working to launch our product into several new states. California, Michigan and several other states are in our plans”.
I believe that Fireball Cannabis has done an outstanding job not only with the branding, but also with getting this complex product to market. I admire their work; and their efforts to make this brand a success. Given the success of their brand, as well as their product and marketing strategies, I had hoped to nominate them for the MJBIZDAILY’s Cannabis Industry awards:
But alas, I can’t as I don’t have the confidential data to submit the application. So please visit the Fireball Cannabis website or purchase their gummies the next time you visit a Nevada Dispensary to show your support for their branding and marketing efforts.
If you need labeling and branding support, contact Color Label Solutions. We’ll help you build your brands as well.
Guy Mikel
855-962-7670