Month: July 2016

Cannabiz Consumer Group™ Debuts to Track the Growing Legal Marijuana Marketplace

CHICAGO IL (June 19, 2016) – Cannabiz Consumer Group™ announces launch of operations this week, providing research and tracking services to markets disrupted by legalization of marijuana. As Cannabiz launches, 25 states plus District of Columbia have legalized some variation of medical marijuana, four states plus D.C.  have legalized or are implementing recreational marijuana, and several more states will vote in on various referendums in November, with the number of referendums still in flux.

“When many of us think of disruption we often think of it being caused by technological change,” said CEO Leslie Townsend.  “But changes to regulation can have equally significant impacts.  Legalization of marijuana will be a market disruptor to many industries, product segments, and social institutions. It is changing the economies of state governments, agricultural land use, travel and tourism patterns, and how and where medical treatment is obtained, among other influences. Cannabis legalization has attracted major investor groups, and all of this without the benefits of the traditional banking industry.  Our team has identified several market segments that are particularly at risk for disruption.”

“The impact of legalized cannabis on everyday staple consumer products and services and retail establishments is without precedent,” said Rich Maturo, one of the founders of Cannabiz Consumer Group.  “Our CannaUse™ research shows that consumer purchase behavioral shifts will take billions of dollars from the revenue streams of some of the nation’s largest corporations and brand portfolios.   Most noteworthy is that we are seeing it is not only millennials or a small segment of the population taking part, but rather this is a much more substantial consumer movement.   Those businesses that proactively seek to understand the migration paths will be best prepared to deal with the change that is coming their way.    Given the pending ballot referendums, November 2016 is poised to be the date that future generations will point to as the genesis of this new disruptive industry.”

About Cannabiz Consumer Group

Cannabiz has assembled a team with expertise in market measurement and tracking, consumer and shopper segmentation and targeting, sales activation, trade area assessment, and predictive analytics.  When combined   with industry-leading data collection, data sciences, and data processing technologies; Cannabiz Consumer Group™ is unique in its ability to provide consumer goods and services industries and retailers guidance on how to manage their businesses within legalized markets.

For more information, contact [email protected] or visit www.cannabizconsumergroup.com

For press inquiries, please contact:

Leslie Townsend
[email protected]

Let’s Talk Cannabis with Leslie Townsend, CEO

At Cannabiz Consumer Group™, we’re excited to be at the forefront of marijuana market research. We bring to the table an experienced group of researchers. All of us look forward to sharing and growing our understanding how the marijuana industry influences and shapes our attitudes and spending on traditional products and services.

Marijuana is a leading growth industry.

As Cannabiz Consumer Group™ launches a set of research services, marijuana is promising growth and change to agriculture, medicine and pharmaceuticals, recreation and tourism.

Already our largest agricultural crop in several states, cannabis is poised to become the largest agricultural crop across the United States.

Additional potential comes from the medicinal marijuana movement, changing physician prescribing and patient decision making; impacting over-the-counter and prescription pharmaceutical utilization for pain, nausea, glaucoma, and other maladies.

Of course, it goes without saying that marijuana is increasingly available legally for recreational use. This latter category promotes growth in tourism, leisure, and convention-related business.

Consumer packaged goods, pharmaceuticals, and more...

Legalization: coming soon to your state.

Fifteen states will be voting on some aspect of  legalization on the coming November ballot, including California and Nevada, two states that are highly likely to add their numbers to the three states that already legalized marijuana for recreational use.  Even without these states, cannabis is the fastest growing industry in the US today.

Marijuana policy means choice of revenue or burden of enforcement

In addition to the impact on consumer markets, cannabis will play a significant role in determining the wealth of states, as it has recently in Colorado. It will play a role in determining which states benefit positively from increased tax revenue and decreased costs for law enforcement and incarceration. Conversely, states can experience counter-productive impacts as states around them legalize recreational and medicinal cannabis and place a greater burden on neighboring states to deal with costs of prohibition enforcement.

Rapid expansion with patchwork regulation  means challenges for business.

There remain many hurdles to bring the cannabis market to a mainstream industry. These include a complex regulatory patchwork impacted by municipal, state and federal rules. The banking infrastructure has been slow to process payments for the industry, stymied by federal scheduling of cannabis. Social stigma can hamper progression of the market. All of the aforementioned leading to a fractured approach to the growing, processing, storage, distribution and sale of cannabis.

Investors are aggressively entering this market.

According to Marijuana Business Daily, cannabis companies secured more than $215 million in venture capital funding last year, a year when only three states legalized recreational marijuana.

Consumer spending will be changing.

Cannabiz Consumer Group has been tracking this exciting new industry since 2012.  Our exploratory market research already demonstrates a significant impact on discretionary spending across a wide number of purchase categories, stimulating spending in some and curtailing it in others. It’s time for you to become part of that conversation. We look forward to starting a dialog with you and hearing your opinions. Join us in pioneering the path to cannabis consumers!

Send your comments to [email protected]