Homegrown
Launching Homegrown and building brand support
Goal: To establish Homegrown’s reputation as the leading cannabis dispensary in the Lansing market and first recreational store in the city.
Research:
After Michigan legalized recreational cannabis, companies were eager to get in the market of licensed adult-use cannabis. Homegrown Cannabis was on track to be the first dispensary to open its doors to adult-use/recreational customers in the city of Lansing. The Martin Waymire staff worked to assemble a plan that would help Homegrown capitalize on its market-leading status and build its reputation and brand affinity among potential customers.
Our team started our work by researching best practices from other cannabis provisioning center grand openings around the state. We then analyzed grand opening celebrations held by other similar industries, such as craft beer, and applied those lessons into our strategies and tactics. The team created a very specific and intentional opening day launch strategy that would leverage earned media, social media and customer experience to ensure Homegrown’s launch of adult-use sales was a success.
Action Plan & Communication Overview:
For launch day, the Martin Waymire team created and promoted organic social media posts leading up to and during the launch of adult-use sales. Posts were specifically targeted to the Lansing area utilizing demographics that fit Homegrown’s customer base. This effort allowed Martin Waymire to carry out a Facebook like building campaign to increase Homegrown’s following.
We also coordinated media outreach in the days ahead of the grand opening celebration and conducted on-site media tours with print and TV outlets and pitched radio interviews to local hosts. This ensured there would be media coverage promoting the grand opening as well as coverage the day of the event.
The day of the grand opening, Martin Waymire coordinated the printing of free Homegrown Cannabis t-shirts to be given away as door prizes for customers and worked with a local food truck to be on-site providing pizzas for every customer who made a purchase that day. Inside the lobby, Homegrown staff worked with a DJ to set a party atmosphere to keep customers entertained while waiting in line to make their purchase.
Evaluation:
The launch was a success both in terms of customers and the number of sales. Customers were engaged with what was offered on scene and were vocal on social media. Martin Waymire delivered earned media, landing over a dozen stories within just the first week, including print, television and radio stories. Notably, stories published by WILX News 10 had an estimated reach of more than 400,000 views and stories printed in the Lansing State Journal had an estimated reach of more than 270,000 reads.
