Today we speak to Matt Shotwell of Native Tree Farms in California. Matt came to the cannabis business from notoriety as an actor (known for Weed Country (2013), I (Almost) Got Away with It (2010) and Campaignin': The Movie) and some related legal entanglements that were later dismissed. His Native Tree Farms brand has a real story (the pigs, the cows, the fallen native trees used for mulch, etc) and he says that’s what customers want in order to feel good about a product, something big corporate cannabis companies don’t have.

His use of the media (Instagram, etc) to communicate that story, and therefore having an influence on the market that most other growers don’t have makes his brand stronger. Matt used the “ask” method of marketing to determine that many customers’ main complaint was that budtenders didn’t know much about the products, and inserted representatives into stores to bridge the gap. He also used the data to divide customers into useful sub-groups so that products and marketing are tailored to appeal to each group.