Keegan McClung is a marketer by trade. His product? Weed.
As a marketing director for Cinder, one of Eastern Washington's largest marijuana retailers, McClung's job is to tell stories about Cinder's products in a way that isn't so cliche. People who use marijuana are, for the most part, just normal people, he says.
McClung spoke with us a little more about his unique job and what it's like to work as a marijuana marketer.
His goal is to target 'normal' people
McClung's target audience are people who are looking for something new; people who are, otherwise, normal.
"One thing that I didn't like about cannabis was I didn't feel like the advertising represented who I was as a person. I'm not a hippie. I thought I could come in and market towards the 'normal' person.
"A lot of people are focused on the product, but not a lot of people are focused on letting people know about the product."
Social media and multimedia are the best tools
McClung's work relies primarily on multimedia, photos and videos, to get Cinder's products out there.
"My biggest job is trying to keep Cinder in people's mouths: Trying to manage the social media presence — it's hitting social media more and more. It's coming up with video ideas. Shooting the video and editing video. Video is sort of the thing that sets [Cinder] apart."
Most of the work is new... for everyone in the industry
The industry pulled in about $9 billion in 2017. But how much is spent to market the product? It's hard to tell. Much of McClung's work enters uncharted territory, he says.
"There's no roadmap to look at to make a successful cannabis brand since this is a brand new industry, so everyday I get to blaze my own path with the only limit being how creative I can be."
— QUINN WELSCH
