Delta 9 is a cannabis company based in Winnipeg that produces and sells a range of cannabis products and services. As part of its own growing enterprise, Delta 9 developed Grow Pods — modular, scalable and stackable growing units made from shipping containers. Seeing a further opportunity, Delta 9 also manufactures and sells Grow Pods for micro-cultivators and licensed producers, and offers B2B support packages for micro-cultivators, including marketing support.
Understanding the Challenge
Delta 9 reached out to see if we could find a way to help their micro-cultivator clients with visual branding. Each would need a unique logo that could work on packaging and a website, colour palette, Google font and some templated collateral (a postcard, poster and stationery set). The budget was tight, so we had to figure out an efficient way to create a unique visual identity for several micro-cultivators.
Finding the Process
As an agency, our process can vary quite a bit from project to project — what works for one client won’t work for another. But to ensure this project of many projects wouldn’t strain our resources, a defined, streamlined process would be essential.
Knowing we had to focus our resources on designing the logo, colour palette and collateral, we proposed the micro-cultivators do the heavy lifting on research and brand identity by filling out a detailed creative brief. This would be followed by a kickoff meeting to discuss the brief, after which our designers would get to work. Only one set of logos and collateral would be produced, rather than giving each client multiple options to consider, and revisions would be limited.
What Happened Next?
Delta 9 was happy with this approach, and we soon began working directly with their micro-cultivators to produce a unique visual identity for each grower.
The anything-goes nature of the cannabis industry has really worked to our benefit for this project. Nothing is off the table, and growers can have wildly different ideas of how they want to represent their brand visually.
Since each client has a unique story and background, we’re able to apply a single framework to build out each brand and still end up with a cool individual identity for everyone
Marketing Tips for Working with a Tight Budget
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Set clear expectations and be transparent.
When you have limited resources, it’s important for everyone to be on the same page. Make sure everyone understands what the agency is responsible for, what the client is responsible for, and how much (or little) opportunity the client will have for input and revision. -
A framework can save a lot of time.
If you’re taking on a project where there’s a lot of repetition in production, establishing a streamlined framework will not only help you work efficiently, but it can also help you focus your energy and time on what’s most important. -
Involve the client early.
When a project budget is small, involving the client early on can help you find focus and clarity. Plus, a direct line to the person who is ultimately going to approve the final product can really cut down on revisions.
