• Home
  • MJNews @PRNewswire
  • CBDNews @BusinessWire
  • MJChannelOne
  • MJBA.net
  • MJHeadlineNews
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • MJBA PR

MJNews Network

"The Voice of Legal Cannabis Since 2013"

  • Home
  • Business
  • MJNews By PRNewswire
  • CBDNews by BusinessWire
  • Legal
  • Events
  • BlPOC in Cannabis
You are here: Home / Business / The Wink In Weed: Woodstock Nation Goes to Pot

The Wink In Weed: Woodstock Nation Goes to Pot

February 6, 2017 by drheins 3 Comments

By David Rheins

It’s early for a Saturday in Seattle, but I’m German and so I am the first to arrive. Entering the swanky lobby of the downtown boutique hotel, the vibe is New York City chic, appropriate enough for my introduction to New Yorker Michael Lang – the once and still cherubic face behind Woodstock.

Michael is making the rounds of the cannabis business community, looking for partners for Woodstock-branded weed, and a mutual friend has arranged for us to have coffee.  It is our first meeting, and I’m happy to speak with a generational icon.  What I notice first is his smile – still boyish despite 72 years as a celebrity rock promoter – followed quickly by his still impressive head of hair.  I am reminded of the famous photos, Lang on stage, or riding his BSA Victor motorcycle.

Michael on his BSA

While I’m too young to have partied in the mud at Max Yasgur’s farm in upstate New York, the album, the Warner Brothers concert film, and the iconic photographs of the event were deeply influential to me growing up, and I tell him so.  There is no brand that resonates more solidly with baby boomers than Woodstock.

Unlike the appeal of Snoop Dogg, Willie Nelson and Tommy Chong – the Holy Trinity of stoner celebrity cannabis brands –Woodstock’s cache transcends mere pot celebrity. Not just an historical festival featuring all the hippie heavyweights, Woodstock was the first gathering of the rainbow nation. An “Aquarian Exposition,” a happening, and a coming-out party for America’s disenfranchised long hairs, who came together from all corners of the country to let their freak flags fly during 3 days of peace, music & pot smoke.

Woodstock branded weed is a no brainer – it is hard to imagine a brand with a more canna-friendly image, and initial consumer demand is likely to be high, particularly with the hoopla surrounding the planned 50th anniversary concert in 2019.

I was part of the 1994 Woodstock II celebration.  Spin magazine, where I served as associate publisher, was media sponsor, and we rented a large house next to the festival grounds.  We used our sponsorship as an occasion to demonstrate to our advertising partners the power of music and youth culture.  Woodstock was nostalgic even in 1994, and its mystique had less to do with the music of Jimi Hendrix and Country Joe than it did with the power of community. That experience transcends generations.  The masses of Generation X celebrants, covered in mud, crowd surfing and smoking pot to Metallica we felt the same spirit of tribal communion as the 1969 crowd did, and the photographs of both are almost indistinguishable.

woodstock1994

The Woodstock Nation is now in its 70s, and the quaint marijuana of the 1960s has grown up into a sophisticated consumer marketplace. Today’s cannabis comes in all shapes and sizes, flavors and forms.  Competing with a super market full of canna brands for shelf space and consumer mind share won’t be easy – even for an iconic brand.

Woodstock will likely feature old school strains, and Lang is leaning toward classic 60s strains like Panama Red and Acapulco Gold.  His task now is to find local farmers in each market whose product can live up to expectations for such a legendary brand. To succeed he must create consistent experience worthy of such a pedigreed name, a challenge made more difficult as each state will have its own growers, who’ll operate under unique rules and standards.

Uneven production can quickly diminish the value of an entire franchise.  Other licensees have seen that when you rely on third party producers, product quality and potency can be inconsistent from crop to crop, batch to batch, and certainly state to state.

Now more than ever, the key to success for cannabis producers and processors lies in brand differentiation, a topic I’ll be discussing at CannaCon on Friday, February 17th at 10am. We’ll be examining Marijuana Marketing, and how pot culture is quickly becoming pop culture.

Filed Under: Business, Homepage Tagged With: branding, cannabis branding, CannaCon, David Rheins, hippies, marketing, Marketing Thru Marijuana, Michael Lang, pot culture is pop culture, Spin Magazine, the business of cannabis, The wink in weed, Woodstock

About drheins

David Rheins is founder and executive director of the MJBA, a leading B2B trade organization, providing business intelligence, professional networking and opportunity for participants in the legal cannabis industry.

MJBA publishes the popular MJHeadline News on Facebook, MJNewsNetwork.com, Marijuana Green Pages and Marijuana Channel One on YouTube.

Trackbacks

  1. The Wink in Weed: How Redmond, Washington’s First Legal Pot Shop Will Forever Change The City That Bill Gates Built says:
    March 1, 2017 at 10:57 AM

    […] By David Rheins […]

    Reply
  2. NW Cannabis Zone » The Wink in Weed: How Redmond, Washington’s First Legal Pot Shop Will Forever Change The City That Bill Gates Built says:
    March 8, 2017 at 5:07 PM

    […] MARCH 1, 2017 | David Rheins […]

    Reply
  3. David Rheins Keynote Address At Indiana Cannabis Chat 1.0 says:
    June 12, 2017 at 12:37 PM

    […] I spent my professional career at the intersection of popular culture, technology and commerce at places like Rolling Stone, SPIN and AOL Time Warner.  My work with the MJBA is a natural part of that continuum.  Pot Culture is Pop Culture. […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Connect with Us!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • Vimeo
  • YouTube

Top Stories

New York Governor Hochul Announces Major Progress Toward Advancing Equity in Cannabis

Minority-Led Investment Team Chosen to Manage $200 Million Fund to Support Social Equity in Cannabis Industry Entity Headed by NBA Hall of Famer Chris Webber, Noted Entrepreneur Lavetta Willis, Financial Leader Suzanne Shank, and Former City Comptroller William Thompson Governor Also Announces Appointment of New York’s Cannabis Advisory Board Which Will Disburse Community Grants, Support Development of Read the full article…

Are You A Woman in Cannabis? CANNECTEDTV Wants to Share Your Story

The deadline for submissions is June 29th, 2022 ARIZONA:  The cannabis industry, much like other industries, has been historically dominated by men. 420MEDIA and CANNECTEDTV want to change that by giving women an outlet for their voices to be heard. “Chronicles Of Women In Cannabis” is a series for women to share their stories and Read the full article…

New York State Debuts Nation’s First Broadcast Cannabis Advertisement Focused on Social Equity

Public Service Advertisement Highlights Comprehensive Approach Being Taken by the State to Ensure Diversity in the New Industry Raises Awareness on Historical Disproportionate Enforcement as New York Builds Adult Use Industry Centered on Addressing Harms Caused by Prohibition   NEW YORK: The New York State Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) has released a public service Read the full article…

Colorado Department of Revenue Released Average Market Rates for Retail Marijuana Effective July 1, 2022

COLORADO: The Colorado Department of Revenue (CDOR) released the Average Market Rates (AMR) for retail marijuana effective July 1, 2022 until September 30, 2022. Two of the seven AMR categories increased this quarter, specifically bud allocated for extraction ($275) and immature plant ($12). Four of the seven rates decreased, including bud ($709), trim ($228), trim Read the full article…

Oregon Legislators, Law Enforcement, Licensees Tell OLCC “Illegal Cannabis Threatens All of Us”

Southern Oregon Hospitality and Wine Industry provide feedback OREGON:  Illegal marijuana activity has not only disrupted the legal cannabis industry, but it’s also jeopardizing southern Oregon’s wine industry, according to testimony the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission (OLCC) heard this week. That was one of many issues that came to light during the Commission’s two-day Read the full article…

Are You A Woman in Cannabis? CANNECTEDTV Wants to Share Your Story

New York State Debuts Nation’s First Broadcast Cannabis Advertisement Focused on Social Equity

Colorado Department of Revenue Released Average Market Rates for Retail Marijuana Effective July 1, 2022

Tags

CA California Canada cannabis cannabis news CBD changing attitudes CO Colorado DC decriminalization dispensary District of Columbia end failed war on drugs end of failed war on drugs failed war on drugs Hemp I-502 legal cannabis legalization legal marijuana legal pot shop marijuana marijuana business medical cannabis medical marijuana mjlegal mjnews MJNews Network mjnewsnetwork.com mmj New York NORML NY OH Ohio OR Oregon politicians on pot recreational marijuana the business of cannabis the business of marijuana WA Washington WSLCB

Search By State:

  • Alabama
  • Alaska
  • Arizona
  • Arkansas
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Hawaii
  • Idaho
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Maine
  • Maryland
  • Massachusetts
  • Michigan
  • Minnesota
  • Mississippi
  • Missouri
  • Montana
  • Nebraska
  • Nevada
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New Mexico
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • North Dakota
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon
  • Pennsylvania
  • Rhode Island
  • South Carolina
  • South Dakota
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Utah
  • Vermont
  • Virginia
  • Washington
  • West Virginia
  • Wisconsin
  • Wyoming

© Copyright 2014 MJBA Publishing · MJ News Network · All Rights Reserved ·