Catalyst Conversations | 2.21.23 | Gain an Edge and Make an Impact – Community Benefit Agreements
NCIA’s #IndustryEssentials webinar series is our premier digital educational series featuring a variety of interactive programs allowing us to provide you timely, engaging and essential education when you need it most.
NCIA’s Catalyst Conversations series is an advanced webinar series curated to give enrollees in our Social Equity Scholarship program the opportunity to network and gain access to valuable knowledge that will help them excel in the cannabis industry.
In this edition of our Catalyst Conversations series originally aired on Tuesday, February 21, we hosted a dynamic and practical conversation with members of NCIA’s Retail Committee, alongside cannabis industry leaders based in Chicago – Doug and Gary – surrounding the importance of businesses collaborating with community members, and how to create mutually beneficial partnerships between communities & businesses through community benefit agreements.
Going through the licensing or permitting process? Trying to figure out how to launch your business model in a municipality that isn’t set up for it yet? Are you operating already, and looking for insights as to how to keep your license or strengthen your business model?
You’re in luck as you’ll leave this conversation with a better understanding of what Community Benefit Agreements (CBA) are, and how they are a necessary component of the licensing and license retention process.
On top of gaining insights into how to develop a CBA that works for your business’ bottom line while also creating community impact you’ll also learn about existing CBA’s and the success we’ve already seen in these early stages.
Panelists:
Mike Lomuto
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Manager
NCIA
NCIA Best of 420 CLIO Cannabis Award Returns for 2023
The cannabis industry’s most accessible award program returns in 2023. A coveted award by brands and creatives alike, NCIA Best of 420 Award sets the standard for top creative work highlighting this important holiday and the biggest day in cannabis.
When launched in 2021, the NCIA Best of 420 Awards was a digital event for NCIA members highlighting each brands marketing efforts in a very challenging year. In 2022, the Best of 420 Awards partnered with the prestigious Clio Cannabis Awards – live in Las Vegas. What a thrill to showcase the NCIA Best of 420 winners alongside the industry’s most prestigious creative work.
For the cannabis community, by the cannabis community, the award program, wholly conceived and executed by the NCIA’s Marketing and Advertising Committee volunteers, is a labor of love that celebrates the most impactful 420 marketing work in the industry.
seen at Clio Cannabis Awards at Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022, in Las Vegas. (Photo by David Becker/Invision for Clio Cannabis Awards/AP Images)
“The Clio Cannabis Awards presentation during MJ Unpacked was a 2022 highlight for Claybourne Co., it made the sweet success of our 420 campaign even more special. The award brought the internal team together, made our external partnerships stronger, and created free awareness! It’s a great cannabis industry event, and we’re proud to be a recipient.” said Jonathan Griffith, VP of Marketing for Claybourne Co.
Any brand with a 2023 420 campaign is eligible, so now is a great time to start planning for success! Entries will be judged on the following criteria:
Community Impact: How did your campaign bring your community together? How did it highlight the best of the cannabis community to others? Did it support an advocacy campaign such as DEI, or sustainability?
Creativity: How creative was your overall 420 campaign?
Results: Was it an effective campaign for your own goals and KPIs?
It’s never too early to start planning your 420 campaign! Stay tuned for more information about how to enter the NCIA Best of 420 Award program!
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Cannabis Community Marketers – as you form your Best of 420 Campaigns, the NCIA Marketing & Advertising Committee provides these: 10 Tips for Winning Campaigns.
Tip #1: Build campaigns with end goals and metrics in mind. What gets measured gets done. Be ready to report on metrics for your submissions even before you start your campaign.
Tip#2: Be authentic and personable. The most successful cannabis brands show their authenticity and personality. Campaigns celebrating the audience /community as much as they do the brand tend to resonate best!
Tip #3: Collaborate and be creative. Campaigns are great opportunities to collaborate within or outside the cannabis community and gain exposure in each other’s networks.
Tip #4: Think beyond the campaign date. You can start a campaign anytime they can be tied to the 4/20 event, before or after.
Tip #5: Apply a 360-degree approach. Where possible and where budget allows, include as many channels and assets as possible for the best ROI and impact.
Tip #6: Engage your community. Great cannabis brands are constantly looking forat ways to engage in deep, lasting relationships with their communities.
Tip #7: Success at all budgets. A campaign does not have to have a big budget, and often the best campaigns are executed on smaller budgets. Focus on 1-2 applications of your campaigns that are better for your KPIs.
Tip #8: Tap into customer passions. Don’t be myopic and see this as an opportunity to tap into the full range of your customers’ interests and what is meaningful to them. This is about relationship building, and you want to see the customer’s lifetime value improve year after year.
Tip #9: Remember those regulations. A reminder that it is not just the general cannabis federal and state regulations but also the marketing and communications regulations in states and across the country that provide guidelines. Be creative within the legal boundaries.
Tip #10: Have fun!
Claybourne Co. Takes Home the NCIA’s Best of 420 Award Live at the Clio Cannabis Awards Ceremony in Las Vegas
Just two short weeks ago, the NCIA’s Marketing & Advertising committee proudly announced Claybourne Co. as the winner of the second annual Best of 420 Award for the brand’s “Rolling with Claybourne Road to 420” campaign live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas during MJ Unpacked.
During a wonderful evening hosted by Michael Kauffman, MAC member and Executive Director of the Clio Music and Clio Cannabis programs,Kary Radestock, MAC committee chair, presented the Claybourne Co. team with a Clio trophy recognizing the brand’s creativity, community impact, and the overall success of their “Stash and Grab” merch drops spread throughout California highlighting the launch of the brand’s statewide delivery program.
Claybourne Co. celebrated California locations which have very few dispensaries, also known as “Pot Deserts,” and gave the cannabis community an opportunity to come together.
Photo by David Becker/Invision for Clio Cannabis Awards/AP Images)
The MAC committee had many in attendance including Vice Chair Eric Becker of MadisonJay Solutions, Chair Kary Radestock of Hippo Premium Packaging, committee member and Clio Cannabis Executive Director Michael Kauffman, Committee Organizer Allison Disney of Receptor Brands, Best of 420 subcommittee lead Tara Coomans of Avaans PR and member Vanessa Valdovinos of HUSH.
Congratulations to all the nominees and we look forward to celebrating the “Best of 4/20” again in 2023! Stay tuned for more details to be announced in the coming months as we’re excited to continue providing this platform to elevate the industry’s most successful, creative, and community-focused campaigns next year.
If you’re interested in contributing to these efforts (and other special projects like it) then we invite you to join the association and apply to participate on one of our 14 member-led committees this coming term. Complete details will be released later month and applications to apply for the 2022-2023 term will open up in early December for all annual NCIA members in good standing.
Don’t forget! Blooming and Evergreen members are automatically guaranteed a seat (single or multiple) on one of our 14 sector committees. If you want to take your industry involvement to the next level, now is the time. Don’t pass up this opportunity to enhance your team’s leadership skills and expand their professional networks all while providing the opportunity to effect change and develop best practices to shape the future of our industry.
Photo by David Becker/Invision for Clio Cannabis Awards/AP Images)
What happens in Vegas certainly stays in Vegas but if you’re really looking to relive the magic then you can view the full album of 2022 Clio Cannabis Award winners here. Plus learn more about the other 2022 Speciality Award recipients honored at the event including NCIA’s Best of 4/20 marketing campaign contest here.
Committee Blog: Announcing The NCIA Best of 420 Clio Cannabis Award
The Clio Cannabis Awards, September 29, 2022 in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand
During the winter of 2021, when vaccines were not yet widely available, and many people were still in lockdown, the NCIA Marketing and Advertising Committee was determined to shine a light on those in our community who were fueling opportunity and growth during a difficult time for many businesses.
MAC Chair Kary Radestock of Hippo Packaging assembled a subcommittee tasked to amplify top member marketing efforts and thus the Best of 420 Award program was born. The 2021 event received dozens of submissions from all over the U.S. across all business sectors and budget sizes and was conducted and presented virtually. See last year’s winners here.
For 2022, NCIA and the Marketing and Advertising Committee are bringing it back and this year, it’s going to hit differently.
Through the guidance of our subcommittee co-chaired by Melinda Adamec of Gabriel Marketing and myself, Tara Coomans of Avaans Media, we’ve also enlisted Michael Kauffman of the Clio Awards, Angela Wong of The People’s Ecosystem, and Vanessa Valdovinos of Hush Chicago to provide support to this year’s process and expand this award.
The winning honoree will be presented live at the 2022 Clio Cannabis Awards to be held on September 29th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
What’s Staying The Same:
NCIA invites all cannabis companies and brands, both B2B and B2C to submit their 420 campaigns—NCIA membership is not required. Budgets of all sizes and companies of all types, B2B and B2C, are encouraged to apply.
It’s still FREE
A jury of NCIA members and peers who will evaluate submissions and recognize the top entry.
What’s Changing:
Winners: There will be one winner and this winner will be chosen based on three criteria.
Judging Criteria
Criteria: Judges will evaluate entrants in three ways: Community Impact, Creativity, and Results.
Community Impact: How did your campaign bring your community together? How did it highlight the best of the cannabis community to others? Did it support an advocacy campaign such as DEI, sustainability?
The cannabis industry is showing the world how an industry-aligned can create positive change. How does your campaign positively impact either the cannabis industry, your customers, the environment, underserved or unrecognized cannabis users, or businesses?
Creativity: How creative was your overall 420 campaign? How creative are you in getting out your message and implementing the campaign?
Results: Was it an effective campaign by your own goals and KPIs?
This category is one of the most important because our judges will judge the results based on your goals. Regardless of budget size or market size, show us your results. Results are those KPIs that are important to YOU. Make sure you grab those baselines so we can see your progress!
Judges:
Selected from a diverse slate of NCIA members, including past winners and NCIA committee members from a cross-section of perspectives, including the Sustainability Committee, the Diversity and Equity Committee and the Marketing and Advertising Committee.
Submission Process and Deadline
Submit your company’s campaign today by following the link below! Act fast as entries will be collected over the following six weeks, with a deadline to submit by Friday, Jul 22, 2022.
Good luck to everyone and have a fantastic 420! Submissions are being accepted now! We look forward to seeing your exceptional campaigns!
About Clio Clio is the premier international awards competition for the creative business. Founded in 1959 to celebrate creative excellence in advertising, Clio today honors the work and talent at the forefront of the industry in a variety of specialized fields, including: sports, fashion, music, entertainment, cannabis, and health. As a leading authority on the diverse and ever-changing creative landscape, Clio celebrates creativity 365-days-a-year via its global ad database Ads of The World and its content platform Muse by Clio. https://clios.com/ https://musebycl.io/ https://www.adsoftheworld.com/
About Clio Cannabis Expanding on Clio’s enduring reputation for establishing best-in-class programs honoring creative ideas in a variety of specialized verticals, Clio Cannabis celebrates the creators at the forefront of cannabis marketing and communications. Launched in 2019, Clio Cannabis sets the bar for creative work in a rapidly growing industry, builds a greater understanding of a developing category, and elevates creative contributions from top talent and agencies. https://www.cliocannabisawards.com/
Media Partner
For hints and tips on winning award programs, with hints and tips from the entire Marketing and Advertising Committee, listen to the replay of our recent webinar:
The Top Four Reasons to Attend NCIA’s Industry Socials
Expand your network, meaningfully.
As the industry grows, it’s increasingly important for you to harness only the most efficient opportunities to expand your business’ reach. NCIA’s new Industry Socials were designed to meet the demand for more meaningful, quality networking opportunities in new cities and emerging markets nationwide. Touring the East Coast in April, Industry Socials are the premier opportunity for cannabis professionals to harness NCIA’s extensive national network by creating meaningful connections with each other in a fun, relaxed cocktail-hour setting.
Registration is complimentary for members and 25% off for non-members (until March 19)
One of the many benefits of NCIA membership is complimentary access to all 35 of our regional networking events, including the new Industry Socials. Even better, depending on your membership level, you can grant up to five of your colleagues complimentary access as well.
If you’re an NCIA member and you aren’t taking the opportunity to attend these events, it’s money left on the table.
If you’re not yet an NCIA member, you can take 25% off your registration by registering between March 12-19 or join NCIA today and get complimentary registration!
Connect and learn from other industry professionals
Across the board, experts agree that people with the most connections are the most successful. In our industry, connections can help you stay current on the latest industry trends, gain insights into market forecasts, find solutions to shared challenges, and stay motivated.
As the largest industry trade association, representing nearly 2,000 business-members, NCIA serves as the networking nexus for the industry. We know that 70 percent of the individuals who attend NCIA events have executive level decision-making authority and 30 percent have heavy decision-making influence. This means that the caliber of the meaningful connections you will make have the potential to benefit your business in very real ways, and quickly. You never know what you might learn from other professionals in your area: find out new solutions to shared challenges, learn about deals that haven’t been publicized, get the latest tips, trends and techniques and build your shared-knowledge community.
Strengthen your business and our industry
This April, NCIA is thrilled to be cultivating community in Portland, ME, Jersey City, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Miami. After all, we know that your business and our industry are only as strong as the connections we make.
In fact, all event revenues support the work NCIA is doing to lobby on behalf of your business on Capitol Hill and to build public support for the cannabis industry. This makes NCIA events uniquely positioned as delivering both B2B connectivity and political influence at the same time.
Lastly, but certainly not least, at Industry Socials you can expect hors d’oeuvres, live local music, classic games like giant Jenga, Connect Four, and drinks at a cash bar all in a relaxed, cocktail-hour setting.
Join us to cultivate community in your city – registration for the East Coast Tour is now open! Non-members take 25% off between March 12 – 19. (Discount automatically applied).
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