Will Big Tobacco Become Big Marijuana?

 

 

 

Many in the marijuana industry are talking... and worrying. Will the big tobacco companies enter, and then dominate that cannabis industry? Whispers can be heard throughout trade shows across the nation, "When will the big tobacco companies come into our industry, and what will that mean to our businesses?"

 

Angel Stanz, CEO of Bud Genius says the corporate giants are inevitable and it will change the landscape of the industry. The key to survival, he says, is information. 

 

“The one thing that the big tobacco companies will need is data, which they do not have and currently cannot collect. Multinational corporations base their marketing, brand positioning, and product management on data. This includes detailed demographics of their consumers and how attributes of each product appeal to them,” he said.

 

Accordingly, if you are a company with hordes of data (like Bud Genius), you may be in the driver's seat.

 

Stanz thinks the competition will be good for the cannabis industry and will keep businesses innovating.

 

“Big tobacco will cause a catastrophic thinning of the herd. Smart companies are acting now to position themselves with unique intellectual property."

 

He said that the tobacco industry's current brands, like the Marlboro Cowboy, will not work in the cannabis industry.

 

“We view the eventual competition from the tobacco industry as building immense value in our data and stimulating the value of name brands," he said. 

 

Bud Genius recently made a major brand name announcement and is jockeying for position as the three leading contenders, Tommy Chong, Bob Marley, and Willie Nelson, all compete for market share. 

 

If some companies are running scared of big tobacco, Bud Genius is not one of them. 

 

“As the company with the largest combination of quantitative and qualitative data regarding cannabis strain composition and specific consumer interests, I believe that the day the tobacco companies enter the cannabis market is the day that our valuation soars,” Stanz confidently stated.