MJBizMag September 2020 - 88

Virtual
Reality
referring to people having to purchase
alcohol and other ingredients. " There
was a payoff there to making it an
engaging piece. There was a little more
buildup and a little more seriousness
around it. "
What Didn't Work: It's difficult to
account for everything that can go
wrong, so it's good to do a test run before
the actual event, which Drew Martin did.
But because the test run did not happen
at precisely the time the event was
scheduled, event producers didn't realize
the angle of the video equipment would
be problematic when the sun set.
" It's really important to dedicate
someone to manage that tech side of
it, " Freeman said. " If you're leading
the event, you can't be managing the
community or the waiting room. If
you've dedicated someone to managing
that tech side, it can save a lot of
heartache and trouble. "
Best Piece of Advice: " To create an
experience that will leave people excited
about your brand, you have to create an
engaging experience for them, " Freeman
said. " For us, the key has been to make
something that's interactive. You're not
talking about your brand for 60 minutes;
you're showing who your brand is. "
Company: Papa & Barkley
Headquarters: Eureka, California
Line of Business: Tincture and topical
manufacturer
What Happened: As COVID-19 started
spreading across the United States,
Papa & Barkley pivoted from in-store
customer education about its medical
cannabis products to virtual training
sessions for budtenders as well as brand
promotion-all done via Zoom.
" It's more challenging than setting
an appointment and going into the
dispensary, " said Adam Grossman,
Papa & Barkley's CEO. " It's an ongoing
necessity of the business to make sure
Virtual trainings and events allow participants to hear from experts such as Papa & Barkley
co-founder and Chief Product Officer Guy Rocourt. Courtesy Photo
Because some cannabis retailers are
Adam
Grossman
working with a skeleton crew, it's often
difficult to schedule the Zoom training. So
Papa & Barkley is creating a five-module
video series on the ExpertVoice platform.
The training series also gives Papa &
Barkley the opportunity to standardize the
information it provides budtenders.
Budtenders watch a video and then
must pass a quiz before moving to the
next module. The first video module
provides information about Papa &
Barkley's story, brand and core values.
Other modules are more product specific.
" It's the medicinal attributes of our
product mix that require a higher degree
of education, " Grossman said. " Because
we have multiple ratios, it requires a lot
of education. "
What Didn't Work: Replicating the
patient-education days that were primarily
we're good partners and communicators
and training their people. "
What Worked: There isn't any extra cost
associated with training budtenders via
Zoom because the number of hours
invested in virtual training is the same as
it would be if Papa & Barkley employees
were doing the training in person,
Grossman said.
88 Marijuana Business Magazine | September 2020
conducted in stores has been difficult.
" Our demographic is generally
utilizing the products in ways that
require more education, " Grossman
said. " There's just less human touch,
which is such a core part of the
experience as a cannabis company. I
wouldn't say it hasn't been working
well, but it's hard to articulate our value
proposition online. "

MJBizMag September 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of MJBizMag September 2020