Branding is a fine art. Achieving the right combination of personality traits, visual identity and value sets—and expressing them in an intentional way—can be confusing and overwhelming. Becoming a branding master usually is not high on a CEO’s to-do list, but there are some fundamentals in which company executives should be well versed.

In the past, we aimed to achieve a recognizable logo and a relatable personality when it comes to branding. This was usually enough to convey the brand message and create trust through familiarity. However, with the introduction of social media, which opened the lines of communication between consumers and brands, we are finding that most brand strategies are rather inflexible when it comes to fitting into the modern world. They lack the robust personality to engage in multiple conversations, both in text and visual design. Ultimately, they lack brand dynamics.

Brand dynamics is the ability of a brand to shift its persona in each situation using its range, spectrum, diversity, flexibility and adaptability—going from quiet to loud or big to small, for example, without losing the continuity and consistency of the brand message or the ability to act appropriately for any given situation. This is no easy task, but when you build your brand the right way, it is baked into your business’s DNA.

There are multiple layers to a brand identity: logos, color pallets, typography, brand voice and brand message—all of which make up the brand’s look and feel. Each element plays a different role in communicating your brand identity. When these elements are out of sync with one another, the brand can feel confusing—or worse, inauthentic. The message becomes lost, and the brand struggles for recognition.

The challenge for most non-branding professionals is creating an accurate representation of their brands using the elements listed above. In an attempt to come up with something, they often stage their brand, trying to make everything “look” right without knowing the brand’s true spirit.

This three-part branding series will explain what each of these components brings to the brand and how you can use them to build an authentic identity that stands out. Our goal is to help you move away from a staged brand and into one that is fluid and adaptable, and resonates with your audience. Here, in part I of this special series, we break down an integral part of your brand identity: typography.

More Than a Typeface

Typography, simply stated, is the technique of arranging type to make written words legible, readable and aesthetically pleasing.

Typography can be confused with typeface, the grouping of bold, light, medium and italic fonts that make up the typeface family. Fonts, on the other hand, are groups of characters. Comic Sans, Palatino and Papyrus are examples of typefaces. They are designed to have a very specific feeling, which can intrude on the message if improperly used. (To help clarify: Comic Sans is a typeface, and Comic Sans 12-pt Bold is a font.)

To simplify:

• Typography is the study of letters.
• Typefaces are font families.
• Fonts are the characters of the alphabet designed to have the same brush stroke.

As we have transitioned from hand-lettered type to the printing press and now to digital type, we have formed ideas culturally about what kind of voice typography has. We can identify what kind of feeling certain fonts or typefaces elicit. For example, Comic Sans is fun and casual, while Times New Roman is formal. Helvetica is popular because it is neutral, meaning it allows the words to speak on their own without intrusive graphic or design elements.

In the midst of such a well-versed visual culture, what are some things to think about when using type for branding?

Be Goal-Oriented

The first (essential) step is to identify your goals. Are you trying to be a national product that can scale? The more people you want to be palatable to, the more neutral your type should be. As noted, Helvetica is a good option because of its neutrality. If you want more options, and have the money to spend on fonts, then Univers, Frutiger and Trade Gothic are other neutral options. And if you want to go further, hire a reputable graphic designer, as type and font research can become convoluted and intensive. Designers will be able to navigate this process and ensure your typography remains appropriate while still standing out.

Are you trying to build a small, long-lasting craft dispensary? Niche and small audiences want a brand that is tailored to their needs, so you might need something more handmade (likely hand drawn and extremely custom). You will want a strong “voice” created by a designer or typographer who understands the micro-culture of your audience. Inside of that and beyond is a broad spectrum of possibilities old and new.

Beware the Competition

Next, do your homework. Who is the competition and what do they look like? Who already buys from them? What are the fashion trends in that community? What transcends fashion into ideals and principles? Who are their vendors? What do ancillary businesses look like? These questions will not only help you identify what is visually common in the marketplace, but also how to stand out and be visible in a crowded market. The idea behind analyzing your peers is to understand what is appropriate and what is not, and to know how to be appropriate while still being able to stand out. You don’t want your brand to be “average.”

When it comes to typography decisions, many choose overly characterized fonts (i.e., Snap ITC or Al Fresco) they feel will help deliver the brand’s message. Going back to Papyrus, it has a specific, carved-in-rock design that makes it feel ancient when used correctly, and cheesy when it’s not.

Overly characterized fonts can overshadow your words and their meaning. Put another way, the font’s style and shape distract from or cloud the message you are trying to convey. It’s like a huge exclamation point on a simple statement. This will likely lead to the words appearing either a little too appropriate, which can make your brand seem like a poser, or they will miss the mark entirely. Remember: People are good at determining when someone is being insincere.

A long tradition exists for over-stylized logos and type that we should move away from. We have all seen the drippy, hyper-psychedelic cartoon-style logos and art that some of us liked when we were teenagers. These types of logos and fonts only further the stigmatizing “stoner” story.

Thankfully, that is changing. Companies like White Fox Medicinals, Bloom Farms, Potters Cannabis Co., PAX, dosist, Willie’s Reserve, Whoopi & Maya, and many more are broadening the spectrum and using a wide range of typography and an elevated brand voice. From White Fox, with its clean and ornate hand-drawn type, to Whoopi & Maya with its classic use of type, you can see type used incredibly well.

Write Your Ticket

Typography is a big part of the branding pie. It is especially exciting when cannabis brands get this component right because when they do, it allows them to express themselves more genuinely and even convey moods. The reason that you are putting the message out, after all, is to elicit a response.

Remember that the average consumer sees more than a thousand messages daily. If people like what they see, they’ll respond. If they don’t, they tune out. As consumers, we may not know why, specifically, we tuned out a message, but it can often be traced back to unsettling delivery through poor type choice.

Kyra Reed launched Markyr Cannabis, a digital marketing and social media strategy agency, in 2016. Reed’s cannabis clients include cultivators, manufacturers and software companies. Jesse Barney is a brand design freelancer in the cannabis industry and visual communications expert.

If your dispensary offers top-shelf products and friendly, well-informed budtenders, you’ve got what it takes to provide a great customer experience—but that experience usually ends when customers leave your shop. With home delivery, however, you can bring the best of your dispensary to your customers’ front doors.

Home delivery is an excellent option for your frequent customers who have memorized your menu. It is also an appealing option for many medical patients, who may be restricted in their ability to visit your shop in person. Here are six tips on how to launch and operate home delivery out of your dispensary.

1. Get acclimated with your state’s regulations surrounding home delivery.

You may be required to do additional paperwork to add home delivery to your general retailer license. Delivery sales may need to be recorded differently than in-store sales. In Oregon, there are specific forms to generate for each delivery, and they must be processed directly through the state tracking system. Oregon also requires a commercially insured vehicle outfitted with a lock box for products to be stored while driving. Sort through these details first, then conceptualize how your delivery service might run.

2. Consider online ordering platforms.

In many states, several platforms are available that offer online menu hosting and ordering services. This feature allows your customers to browse your stock at their leisure and track their orders as they progress. Here at Eugene OG, our online orders on average are also larger than our in-store orders, making this a prime opportunity to increase sales.

3. Build your team and procedures.

You’ll likely need someone to prep orders and complete paperwork in store, and someone to act as a delivery driver. Break the process of taking an order, prepping it and transporting it to the customer into small parts, and give each part a specific workflow to follow. Timing is an essential, uncompromising component of delivery. Efficient workflows allow you to get the product to your customer as quickly as possible, which boosts reviews and return shoppers. With at least two employees working on deliveries at all times, you can set up a consistent workflow so that you are always able to accept new orders and have them delivered in a timely manner.

4. Communicate often!

New orders came in while the driver was out? Send them a quick message. Driver is running late with an order? Call the customer and give him or her an updated ETA. A little communication goes a long way.

5. Double-checking is a virtue.

Make sure your drivers have everything they’ll need before they leave the store. In a rush, it can be easy to forget receipts, products, phones or paperwork. You only get one shot to take the correct products to the correct address in a timely manner the first time. If your driver has to double-back, suddenly that transaction costs that much more in labor and puts you off schedule.

6. Be safe out there.

Your best defense is to avoid attracting attention. Stick with a discreet, unmarked vehicle for deliveries. Carry products in a larger bag without branding or labeling. Drivers should carry a minimal amount of cash on hand. At OG we also provide the driver with a delivery-only phone so they can call customers without fear of giving out their personal number.

Ash Stewart is the delivery services specialist at Eugene OG in Eugene, Ore.

Winning a coveted dispensary license is your golden ticket into the competitive cannabis market. The license application process is more demanding than ever, and it can be tricky to navigate all the nuances—especially if you’ve never done it before. But there are a few secrets to creating an application that stands out.

Cannabis Dispensary spoke with five licensing consultants, attorneys and operators who have secured licenses in competitive cannabis markets:

Jonathan Havens, co-chair of the Cannabis Law Practice at Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP, resident in the firm’s Baltimore and Washington, D.C., offices.

Erin Alexander, associate general counsel for Cresco Labs, a Chicago-based cannabis grower, processor and retailer operating in seven states.

Sara Gullickson, CEO of Item 9 Labs Corp., a publicly traded cannabis company specializing in the development of cannabis products and proprietary delivery platforms. Gullickson also owns the Strive Life of North Dakota dispensary, and Strive Wellness of Nevada LLC, a medical cannabis cultivation and processing facility with distribution rights. Gullickson previously served as the CEO and founder of Dispensary Permits, a nationally recognized cannabis consulting firm that won multiple cannabis licenses across more than a dozen competitive state markets.

John Darwin, founder and president of ONE Cannabis Group, a vertically integrated cannabis operator and franchisor based in Denver.

Armen Yemenidjian, co-founder and CEO of Integral Associates LLC, a retail and wholesale cannabis operator that has been awarded licenses in Nevada and California. Integral Associates operates Essence Cannabis Dispensary on the Las Vegas strip, as well as Desert Grown Farms and Cannabiotix NV, its cultivation and processing facilities.

Here are their tips on how to create a winning dispensary license application.

1. Understand your state’s application quirks.

Sara Gullickson: “This industry, specifically the licensing process, is still very new. Each state has its idiosyncrasies, and the application process in Pennsylvania was much different than in Hawaii or Arizona. In some states, specifically California and Michigan, you have to get local jurisdiction support in addition to the state’s blessing. In those situations, the municipality’s application process is more rigorous than the state’s.”

2. Secure real estate with the appropriate zoning.

Erin Alexander: “The first step is looking at the regulations to figure out the setback requirements—where can you be, where can’t you be: 1,000 feet from a church, 500 feet from a school? Finding real estate is the most difficult and challenging part of the process; finding places that meet the setback requirements, but also meet your requirements to be able to operate the business. Have Plan A, Plan B and Plan C, because everything ends up being more complicated than you anticipated.”

Jonathan Havens: “Make sure you can put your dispensary where you want to put it. In some states, the siting process is part of the application process, but sometimes you’ll get a pre-award from the state and then you need to go to the town, and that’s where people get tripped up. Having zoning approval from the local [municipality] is critical.”

3. Establish security protocols.

Havens: “Remember that the product you’re dealing with is federally illegal, so security is very important. Even though these states say you can sell it in a dispensary, they want to make sure you have a very tight control over what you’re selling. If you can’t control your product and it’s getting into people’s hands who are underage or don’t have a medical card, that’s the quickest way to lose your license. States are very focused on that, so you can’t overlook having a strong plan in your application to address security.”

4. Build a strong team with experience.

John Darwin: “Assemble a great team. Licenses are getting more and more competitive, so someone with a strong pharmaceutical background [for medical dispensaries] or a good government relations background is a great addition to your team. Make sure your team has operating experience. A lot of these licenses are merit-based, so being able to reference a track record of compliance and operational excellence in another state is huge. Also do background checks on all of your team members, because there are key items that can come up and derail the whole process.”

Havens: “Having an accountant who has worked with clients in the cannabis space is critical. You don’t want to be their guinea pig while they learn the accounting and tax rules. Also have strong legal support, whether that’s an in-house attorney and/or an outside law firm with experience, because questions are going to come up that need quick answers, and you want to have them in your contact list when those questions come up.”

5. Get involved with the local community.

Alexander: “I think the best piece of advice is: Be connected to the community where you want to locate. That can be the secret sauce to winning an application. A lot of people know how to run a dispensary, but you have to spend the time attending city council meetings and engaging with local elected officials so they trust you and so they understand what you can bring to the community. Part of that is also engaging with civic and charitable organizations, finding out what the local priorities are, so you can be a good neighbor and a good steward of the community values.”

Havens: “A lot of people overlook an aspect of the application that I'm always quick to tell clients to focus on, which is community engagement and education. You can understand the opposition if you take the time to get out and have educational events that show that you’re not just trying to make money, but you really do care about the community. If you have events that are open to the community, not just people who are purchasing your product, you might win people over and you might ward off potential opposition down the road.”

Gullickson: “Research the specific town or jurisdiction and figure out: ‘Is it red or blue? What are the pain points in the community; are they environmental or are they opiate-related?’ Then pull in some community leaders who focus on those pain points, to make sure you’re hyper-focused on the community. We put together sophisticated community benefits programs that address how we’re going to give back. We build parks, we build sidewalks, we’ve funded little league teams and hosted clothing drives—whatever the area needs. When you contribute to your communities, they’re so much more welcoming.”

6. Budget more capital than you think you’ll need.

Alexander: “It can get expensive. You’re obviously going to need application fees and license fees, which can range from a $500 application fee to a $30,000 license fee that you might get refunded if you don’t win. But then you’ve got property hold fees. You’re going to be paying attorneys to review documents. You’re going to be paying planners and architects to design your site. You might be paying both a planner and a zoning attorney to help you through the zoning process. From soup to nuts, I think a fair budget for a good-quality application is probably half a million dollars—which is crazy, but that’s what it takes. There’s a lot of moving pieces to making this successful.”

Darwin: “We advise clients to have the available liquid funds to cover capital expenses over the course of a year. You want to be making money by the end of that year, but if there’s a rainy day, you want to be well-capitalized to survive.”

Armen Yemenidjian: “Understand it is a highly competitive market. Because there are so many competing applicants, it’s imperative to have a clear, concise plan with a budget and a path to victory. Applicants need to demonstrate they will be successful if awarded the license. You need to not only have the budget to pay for the application, but also show regulators you have the capital to [operate the business successfully].”

7. Get a head start before applications are released.

Gullickson: “When you’re proactive in putting a business plan together and engaging in the state’s programming before the rules and regulations are even finalized, you’re going to position yourself light-years ahead of somebody that just gets the idea to throw an application in when it’s published. My most recent successes are the clients that we’ve spent eight months or a year with, building their team and making sure they had a solid foundation on which to apply.”

Havens: “The No. 1 thing is to not wait until the last minute. The application timeline is going to be shorter than you want, so look for business partners prior to the application coming out. Attend meetings of medical cannabis commissions to understand what’s coming down the pike and when that next round of licenses is going to be dropped. Get your plans in order. The more elements you have to populate your application before they’re even dropped publicly is going to give you a leg up.”

8. Impose internal deadlines.

Havens: “Submission day always goes quicker than you think. It would be nice if everyone on the team could operate with the assumption that this is really due the day before it’s due, because there are always unforeseen circumstances.

“A lot of states require hand-delivery, so you can’t be finalizing things the day of. Have a single point person who’s the final arbiter of [deadlines, who determines,] ‘What time do we need to stop editing and head over to the state agency to make sure it gets in on time?’

“Some states have electronic submissions now, and to the extent they allow you to do a test submission, absolutely do that. If it’s due at 5:00, I wouldn’t start trying at 4:30 to upload a 700-page document. Start late morning at the latest, because there are always issues, and sometimes you can’t get the regulators on the phone to say, ‘What do I do now?’”

“From soup to nuts, I think a fair budget for a good-quality application is probably half a million dollars—which is crazy, but that’s what it takes.” –Erin Alexander, associate general counsel, Cresco Labs

9. Turn a boring application into a creative story.

Darwin: “Some companies have full teams of technical writers that have graded these types of applications before. That’s who you’re competing against, so it’s important to have a strong technical writing team.”

Alexander: “Write it in such a way that it’s easy to follow. These end up being massive legal writing projects, so taking the time to put together a very well-written piece will help you stand out. [That requires] ... good writers and good subject-matter experts. We have a couple attorneys that work on applications, and we have technical writers that have some operational expertise and can write about our operational practice [so it’s] readable to somebody who may or may not be familiar with how a dispensary operates.”

Gullickson: “You can hire a technical writer to put your application together, but if you don’t have style and grace and an overarching theme throughout your application, it’s not going to stick out. Who wants to read 100 security plans? Nobody. So how can you create a theme or a story and be really creative in your presentation?”

10. Partner with industry consultants who have done this before.

Yemenidjian: “If you’ve never operated a dispensary before, you probably could have gotten away with writing your own application five or six years ago. Now, the process has become so advanced, applicants must have an understanding of technical writing and standard operating procedures to be successful—especially because there are more criteria now, such as community engagement, corporate responsibility and social citizenship, that are being taken into consideration.”

Havens: “If you go at this alone and don’t involve consultants who know the cannabis business, it’s an uphill climb. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but one of the reasons you see a lot of national or multi-state operators is, obviously they want economies of scale and they want to broaden their footprint, but local interests need their help. It’s hard to populate an operational plan, a clinical plan and a security plan if you haven’t done it before.”

Gullickson: “I don’t urge working with an expert because I want clients; I urge working with an expert because ... you’re just not going to win if you don’t know all these idiosyncrasies, no matter how much you research on the internet. The devil’s in the details with the application, so you need that industry expertise; it’s mandatory. States don’t feel comfortable anymore giving licenses to somebody that doesn’t have the experience.”

I opened my first medical marijuana dispensary, Berkeley Patients Group (BPG), in 1999. Right from the start, my charismatic co-founder Jim McClelland pushed one clear goal: to provide members with the best cannabis. It helped that Jim was a cultivator, producing particularly delicious and dependable cultivars of Romulan and Bubbleberry from his Oakland warehouse.

This simple mission drove our team to create a menu full of potent and pure flowers and to seek out the finest hashes and ingestible forms of cannabis for our patient members. It was in a race to the top, but we never scrimped on quality. We stringently avoided any rush to commercialize the cannabis market or to homogenize the products.

The goal was also to help people enjoy life, with cannabis acting as both social and physical lubricants. In fact, all dispensaries back then had active event calendars, filled with activities to attract vibrant memberships. Dispensaries also provided direct assistance to patients. California law back then even mandated that dispensaries act as “caregivers,” providing for the “health, safety and housing” of their members.

When Jim passed away a year into the project, the importance of dispensaries really hit home for me. They were far more than retail shops; the social club aspect was equally important, providing an outlet for people who were critically and terminally ill to enjoy themselves. Dispensaries acted as sorely missing homes-away-from-homes for people, when they needed it most.

I left BPG after 10 years, and took over leadership of Magnolia Wellness, a newer dispensary in Oakland, Calif., in 2014. This scrappy city, with its diverse population and thriving social scene, suited my desire to prove that dispensaries were far more than simply retail outlets. After all, Magnolia’s founder, Dave Spradlin, had modeled the dispensary on BPG, which made it an easy transition for me. Today, Magnolia has a social calendar filled with exciting events, a menu of exceptional products and a vape lounge where clients can hang out and consume cannabis. And, it’s renowned for social responsibility and cutting-edge politics, often leading local regulatory changes that improve dispensary rules.

It’s not easy running a socially responsible, politically active, fiscally sound dispensary; on the contrary, it’s nearly impossible. Few will reach this goal, especially without guidance from industry experts willing to share knowledge and to coach and mentor entrepreneurial, like-minded people. With that in mind, I offer this list of my top operational challenges, and solutions that make them easier to manage.

1. Inventory Management

Challenge: Creating a stand-out menu

Solution: Doing competitive analysis is key; you have to know what other dispensaries have on offer and at what price. Use this intelligence to create a menu that has a mix of standard products, like Kiva Confections Blueberries, and items that are exclusive and available only at your shop. Making strong connections with suppliers is key, as you will have to convince them that your dispensary is the best place to feature their products.

Challenge: Keeping stock consistent

Solution: Watch sales closely and know what products move consistently. Clients will expect these to be available every time they shop, and they will be disappointed if you don’t have them in stock. They may even go somewhere else next time. Make sure to order more of these items than needed each week, so shelves don’t go bare. Keep good relations with distributors, so you can get special orders if you unexpectedly run short.

Challenge: Buying wholesale cannabis

Solution: Dispensaries buy cannabis on net terms, on consignment and cash on delivery. Maintain good relationships with wholesalers, so your inventory manager/purchasing agent can stock a large range of products without having to go out-of-pocket for everything at time of purchase. You will have a larger inventory and access to more unique products by maintaining a variety of payment terms with vendors.

2. Staffing the Dispensary

Challenge: Finding excellent employees

Solution: Start with clear job descriptions, detailing the knowledge, skills and abilities each position requires, and post these listings in places that people with these skills will see them. Do ranked phone interviews, and select only clearly experienced people for in-person interviews. Ask tough questions at the in-person interview, so you can get a feel for each candidate’s personality. When you find the right person, give them a written job offer outlining pay, benefits and performance expectations.

Challenge: Training staff

Solution: Provide each new employee with a staff manual that clearly explains all company rules and expectations of job performance. Create department-specific training programs, so that each staff member knows exactly how to do their job. Identify staff mentors to work with new employees during a 60-day to 90-day probationary period. Unskilled, unprofessional people make other employees uncomfortable and will reduce overall productivity—so be discerning, and terminate those who either can’t do the job or are not a good fit during probation.

Challenge: Retaining the best people

Solution: Once you find great people, work hard to keep them. Talented, satisfied workers are the key to driving sales and maintaining excellent customer service. Pay and benefits are a big part of this, so make sure to offer competitive wages with raises, regular bonuses and good benefits. The best employees will stick around if you offer health insurance, paid vacations, sick pay and, eventually, a retirement plan. You will also need to create a vibrant workplace, or the best pay and benefits won’t matter. Use your team’s talents to the maximum. Create space for innovation, help implement great ideas generated by staff, and demonstrate again and again that each individual person on the team is essential to the whole.

3. Marketing the Facility

Challenge: Standing out from the crowd

Solution: Know the competition, and always strive to be better. Take time to research and create a marketing and brand management plan, and spend your budget strategically. Design a beautiful logo, develop a style guide and create a physical space that will blow people’s minds. Hire the best possible inventory management team to seek out and secure amazing cannabis products. After all, your clients expect the best, and each brand on the shelf is a potential marketing partner. Geo-target your marketing efforts to attract locals, and draw them in with a mix of connoisseur products, loss leaders and great deals. Differentiate yourself from the crowd by looking better, being more efficient and having the best cannabis, always.

Challenge: Finding places to advertise

Solution: Dispensaries violate the terms of use on every social media site, so this is ultimately an undependable way to market your company. Many of us have felt the pain of losing our Facebook, Instagram and YouTube pages without notice—made especially painful to those with large and dedicated followings. With that in mind, use your social media to drive traffic to your website, and make sure it’s dynamic and interesting so people visit it again and again. Make sure your real-time menu is there, with use an online express ordering cart. Dispensaries also can’t advertise on social media, so local print media is the best place for this, and billboards are a fun way to promote dispensaries, if allowed in your municipality. Make sure you collect your client’s emails, as blasts and newsletters are a great way to drive traffic.

Challenge: Getting earned media

Solution: Television, print and online media are all interested in the marijuana market, and you can become the go-to expert. Host events and invite the media, give interviews on 4/20 and Black Friday and proactively reach out to comment on important topics. Media outlets are all looking for an interesting setting for their story, and your dispensary can be it (pending your local/state regulations, especially in medical markets). You have to be visible to get coverage, though, so get out there and start making waves.