Legitimizing pot products through package design

Seattle startup Db3 strategically designs packaging for its Zoots cannabis-infused edibles that positions the brand as safe, consistent, and fun, while appealing to a wider consumer base.

Db3 chose a carton with a larger footprint for its ZootBites cannabis-infused brownies to help the product stand out in a retail environment where products can be hard to access.
Db3 chose a carton with a larger footprint for its ZootBites cannabis-infused brownies to help the product stand out in a retail environment where products can be hard to access.

A new brand in a new industry might seem somewhat analogous to being the new kid at a new school in a new city. With a new brand, however, fitting in isn’t what you’re after. The goal is to establish a market presence you can claim as your own. And when the new industry is marijuana-based products, how you define and position your brand says as much about you as it does the industry.

For Seattle-based Db3 Corporation, a new company just getting established in the expanding marijuana market, the challenge was how to design the packaging for its Zoots brand of cannabis-infused products to capture market share while also overcoming stereotypes in the legal marijuana market.

Db3 approached the market strategically with a large investment to determine how they could position Zoots in a way that would best support the new reality that marijuana is a legitimate business enterprise and would appeal to a wider target audience.

“There were some preconceived notions about how marijuana products would be presented in this new legal recreational marijuana market,” says Lindsay Short, Operations Manager for Db3. “I think people had visions of plastic bags and laser-printed labels. Our products, Zoots Premium Cannabis Infused Edibles, are safe and consistent products consumers can trust for a controlled, pleasantly elevated experience.

“We designed our packaging to convey these messages of trust, safety, and consistency. The idea is to help normalize marijuana products in the eyes of a skeptical public that was used to equating marijuana with black markets and the ‘stoner’ culture. While it’s true you won’t find Zoots in a Starbucks, there’s no reason they can’t look like they belong there.”

Safe, yet fun message
For Zoots, packaging is a key component differentiating the brand from competitors. “From the very beginning our focus was not only on the product itself, but also to present Zoots in a way consumers could easily recognize as a normal consumer packaged good—one they might buy at Costco or at a liquor store,” says Short. “Zoots is a fun product, and that’s how we want it to be perceived.”

Whether a product is new or established, its packaging has to enhance the brand image and deliver shelf impact. It’s about building product attractiveness and creating consumer affinity through packaging that engages the consumer. Explains Short,“This is really the case in the recreational marijuana market, where most consumers have zero familiarity with these brands or even legal recreational marijuana products in general when they walk into a marijuana retail store for the first time. We want that introduction to be exciting and playful, because this is an intoxicant, and most people are buying these products for recreational purposes. But we also want to inspire confidence that we can deliver an experience that is safe and reliable.”

Short adds that Db3 knew the market would be crowded with a lot of new products, all jockeying for attention when consumers walk in the door. “But for us, it was a priority to make sure Zoots was clearly visible and instantly recognizable across the room. We accomplished that with clean, bright packaging and the bold Zoots banner that appears on all of our products. Zoots products stand out, whether they are lying flat within a glass display case, standing upright on a shelf, or hanging on a slatwall.”

Sophisticated, board-approved packaging
The Zoots product line includes ZootBites premium cannabis-infused brownies; ZootBlast energy shots, which contain THC blended with caffeine; ZootDrops liquid concentrates, available in a high-energy blend and a relaxation blend; and ZootRocks Chili Cinnamon and Lemongrass hard candy-like nuggets.

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