Brand Your Way Out of Price Wars

While branding isn’t a magic bullet for every challenge, it makes customers more inclined to choose your store, leading to more trust and increased sales over time.

So, in this blog, we’ll explore how strong branding empowers cannabis businesses to justify premium pricing and how they can rise above the race to the bottom.

But first, what is branding?

A brand is much more than its logo and brand colors. It’s the sum of various elements that shape customer perception—from visual elements and packaging to staff culture, customer experiences, and loyalty programs. Together, these aspects define how customers perceive a business and determine its value. 

And when done right, solid branding can position your company as a market leader, allowing you to charge higher prices without always relying on discounts to survive. 

8 Ways Branding Influences Customer Behavior

Quality Perception
A strong brand image can make a product appear of higher quality, even if it’s similar to lower-priced alternatives. This can be achieved through unique packaging, a polished website, a user-friendly shopping app, or a trustworthy online presence that fosters community.

Exclusivity and Desirability
Premium brands create a sense of exclusivity, making customers proud to own rare or coveted products. This applies to cannabis brands that position themselves as high-end, attracting consumers who value the prestige of paying a premium.

Brand Recognition
A recognizable brand builds trust, leading to repeat purchases and making consumers less likely to be swayed by lower-priced competitors.

Customer Loyalty
Loyal customers prioritize their preferred brands over others, even when alternatives are cheaper. Loyalty can be cultivated through engaging brand experiences, gamified loyalty programs, and seamless digital platforms that simplify shopping.

Aligning with Values and Lifestyle Aspirations
Brands that align with customers’ values or desired lifestyles can charge more. For example, a cannabis brand supporting diversity initiatives may attract customers willing to pay a premium to back those causes. Products with a cult following can command higher prices as customers feel drawn to them to fulfill their aspirations.

Creating Emotional Connections
A strong brand identity can evoke trust, nostalgia, or a sense of community, making customers feel more connected and understood –  encouraging them to stay loyal despite price differences.

Unique Differentiation
Dispensaries can stand out by emphasizing unique branding elements—such as custom mobile apps, gamified loyalty programs, or immersive in-store experiences. This shifts customers’ focus from finding the lowest price to appreciating the unique value their go-to stores offer.                                                                                                                                           Added Value
Well-branded products and shops often provide perceived value beyond their essential functions. For example, Cinder’s mobile app enhances the customer experience with in-app shopping, rewards, and educational content, making it easier for customers to justify paying a bit more.

Cinder's Success in Washington

Cinder, an award-winning dispensary in Washington, is a prime example of how investing in its brand through new mobile experiences can elevate its reputation, all while achieving profitable growth.

By partnering with Digital Awesome to create a custom mobile app, Cinder offered seamless in-app shopping, gamified loyalty programs, and on-the-go education. This branding effort led to:

-Higher Customer Satisfaction: Enhanced brand affinity increased purchase frequency.

-Larger Basket Sizes: Their average basket size rose by 33% compared to the state average, showing how an engaging mobile app experience can drive higher spending.

-Stronger Brand Loyalty: Over 40% of app users reached loyalty milestones within a week, highlighting the impact of a stand-out digital experience.

Partnering for Branding Success

Brands and dispensaries aiming to elevate their branding can also collaborate with PufCreativ, a trusted partner that helps cannabis brands redefine their identity and enhance positioning across multiple touchpoints.

From logo redesigns and packaging to website revamps and revenue-driving services, these efforts create a brand presence that commands higher prices and fosters long-term loyalty. Here are a few examples of their work:

The Gentlemen Smugglers

The Gentlemen Smugglers launched with a fresh brand book, logo, and packaging that captured their edgy and rebellious identity and established their top-shelf positioning in the cannabis space. Other branding and marketing services by Pufcreativ have delivered significant results, helping the brand expand into two new states.

The Firestation

The Firestation leveraged strategic content and website improvements to maintain a consistent brand experience across locations. Paired with effective SEO by Pufcreativ, this boosted their non-branded keyword rankings by a whopping 6,338%, driving more organic customer traffic to their dispensary site and increasing their store's online visibility.

In a tough and heavily regulated industry like cannabis, value-driven branding is essential for standing out and justifying higher prices. Remember, in any industry, it’s not just about what you sell and how much you sell it for; it’s really about how you sell it that makes all the difference.

By creating a compelling brand identity, you can leave a lasting impression that resonates with your customers, ultimately enabling you to charge what your products or services are truly worth.

To learn more about custom mobile apps and other on-demand marketing and branding services Digital Awesome and its partners can provide, contact us for more information.