Brand Persona & Website Development (for a Cannabis Food Scientist)
When Dr. Alan McClure first reached out to me about his cannabis-consulting website project I had to stop and pinch myself.
An opportunity to enter the cannabis industry without even having to try? Impossible! This was already one of my secret business goals for 2022 — which I thought would involve a grueling slog through chossy cannabis websites and a withering campaign of cold-emailing.
And the more he told me about his PhD in flavor chemistry and how he applies food science to help cannabusinesses make better edibles — the more excited I got.
This was more than just strains, doses, flavors, effects, and sales. This was something much deeper, offering endless interest for my top values of quality, science, and creativity.
Transitioning a brand vs branding from scratch
Dr Alan McClure was a chocolate maker before shifting into food-science consulting, and he was hoping to ride that brand recognition into his new foray into cannabis edibles.
He had a bookmark website in place for Patric Consulting — but wanted his new brand to come alive and get found by his specific audience through brand voice copywriting.
Here’s the DIY version:
Big Ideas in brand story development
As Dr Alan told me more about his background, experience, and what he does for people, I was increasingly certain that his ticket to Big Idea success was some connection with alchemy. After all, edibles used to be called “magic” right?
But I had to tread lightly.
What he does is serious science, so any connection with alchemy had to be tongue-in-cheek. A touch of humorous mystique, but not woo-woo. There are reputations at stake here.
More importantly it’s the audience we had to keep in mind. Small businesses trying to make the best products possible for their own customers, recreational as well as medical. They don’t have time or interest for flowery concepts and gimmicky treatment.
Whatever we created had to be playful enough to put them at ease, but self-aware and serious enough to keep their attention and build trust. Fortunately Dr Alan has plenty of experience, accolades, high-value testimonials, and other proof of expertise to back up a little humor—so he’s free to create a brand persona that matches his own.
But like many scientists and other experts in interesting fields, Dr Alan has one grea