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Setting a Design “North Star” in a Fragmented, Emerging Market

Cristin Rudolph, VP of Consumer Products at Green Thumb Industries (GTI), discusses the intersection between classic packaging design and fast-changing cannabis industry packaging design.

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This Q&A is just a small portion of a longer cannabis packaging discussion with GTI, Green Thumb Industries, covering logistics, regulations, packaging equipment acquisition, and a lot more. Visit this link to watch.

PW: How do you approach a packaging design project?

Rudolph: We’re really thinking about three critical things as we kick off any packaging design project. First, what does the brand stand for, and how can we visually communicate that through the lens of packaging? Second, what does the consumer actually want? That can range from truly functional to aesthetic, but really we want to be putting that consumer mindset at the forefront. The last part, which is arguably the most important part, is what the business actually needs. Combining all of those things helps to really set the North Star for what we’re looking for, because there’s obviously lots of trade-offs that need to occur as we’re trying to think about the right balance.

PW: Do consumer interests vary, or can you lump them all into one consumer?

Rudolph: One of the interesting yet complex parts of cannabis is everything is state by state. The regulations in Pennsylvania are different from the regulations in Florida. So, while consumers may to some extent approach that category similarly, each state is in a different phase of development in terms of consumer acceptance, and each regulating body in the state thinks about cannabis differently. While we like to come to the table as a unified brand, we constantly have to push and pull to understand, how do we approach this state relative to where the state is? Is cannabis still nascent? Is it a little bit more mature, but then, also, what does the regulating body allow to make sure that we’re compliant with what’s going on in that particular state?

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