Proposal “HWYBrandRoadTripPoweredByDash“ (Closed)Back
Title: | HWY Brand Road Trip Powered By Dash |
Owner: | MarkHWYBrand |
One-time payment: | 260 DASH (10073 USD) |
Completed payments: | no payments occurred yet (1 month remaining) |
Payment start/end: | 2017-11-18 / 2017-12-18 (added on 2017-11-23) |
Final voting deadline: | in passed |
Votes: | 338 Yes / 273 No / 25 Abstain |
Proposal description
HWY Brand Road Trip Powered By Dash
Proposal Summary
The HWY Bar Road Trip project will promote the adoption of Dash in high-volume California cannabis retail locations. The project will coincide with the launch of the HWY Bar product line and the onset of recreational use laws in CA.
The proposed funds will help offset costs for the planning and execution of the “HWY Road Trip,” a 30-day journey in a HWY/Dash co-branded Airstream, which will visit approximately 90 high volume dispensaries (from San Diego to the Bay Area) over the course of the trip. At each stop, the HWY team will put on a 2-hour “customer appreciation” event, where patients, recreational consumers, and dispensaries will sample and be educated on the bars. Orders will be placed and fulfilled, and the fun will be documented and disseminated on numerous media sources.
HWY Bars will be sold exclusively through CannTrade, the wholesale cannabis marketplace which has a contract with Dash (whereby Dash is the only digital currency accepted on the platform). Businesses on CannTrade will be equipped with Dash-ready accounts and be incentivized to transact in Dash, while consumers will be motivated to download a Dash Wallet and purchase using Dash.
Dispensaries will receive a 2-for-1 deal on HWY Bar boxes if they pay using Dash. To make this as easy as possible, a Dash ATM will be transported on the Airstream to ensure the transactions can happen anywhere, and with ease. Additionally, any patient/consumer that downloads a Dash Wallet will receive a “buy 1 get 1” coupon to use when they make their purchase at the dispensary counter.
As a product, HWY Bars have unique advantages, from manufacturing capacity and production costs, to well established distribution companies signed on to carry them, to flavors and nutrition otherwise unavailable in a cannabis-infused product. (See the video of High Times Top Chef and HWY recipe designer Brandon Allen below to learn more about the bars).
The last crucial element of this proposal is the marketing and media exposure this project can bring. The Road Trip is a month long event that will require outreach and coverage via social and cannabis specific media, before, during, and after the event. This project will enlist the services of two of the most effective media companies in the Cannabis space, CFN Media (http://www.cfnmedia.com) and Cannabis Radio (http://www.cannabisradio.com), each who have wide reach in the B2B and B2C markets.
We expect the HWY Bar Road Trip to be highly successful in moving bars and increasing awareness and adoption of Dash at both a B2B and B2C level.
We are seeking a one-time payment of 358 Dash (~$158,000) to help fund this project. You can learn more about the HWY Partners Brandon Allen and Mark Restelli below (end of the proposal), and visit the HWY website here: https://www.hwybrand.com We look forward to hearing your thoughts and fielding any questions the network may have.
Disclosure: Mark Restelli, one of the partners at HWY, is also a co-founder of CannTrade, a business that has had a previous budget proposal approved by Dash. CannTrade is currently in the process of integrating with Alt Thirty Six to allow for the use of Dash for transactions on the CannTrade platform. That integration will be completed in January 2018. We assert that crossover is a positive, and that the convergence of three companies (Alt Thirty-Six, CannTrade, and HWY), each offering separate value and applying pressure from a different angle will help drive Dash adoption more effectively.
HWY Bar
Bar Concept and Design
Edibles are one of the fastest growing segments in the 7 billion dollar cannabis retail market, which is projected to hit 20 billion by 2021. Much of the projected growth is based on expanding recreational legalization, which will bring new waves of consumers to the market.
HWY is branded as an active lifestyle brand with mass appeal and is especially well positioned to capture the imagination of novice and experienced consumers alike. While the general population is becoming more curious about and aware of the health benefits found in compounds within cannabis, the industry has been producing edibles that pair beneficial cannabinoids with unhealthy ingredients. The central value proposition behind HWY is that the bars offer a high quality, popular class of product (Hemp-nut Granola bars) with healthy, whole ingredients that enhance (rather than detract from) the beneficial properties of cannabinoids.
As a bonus, HWY will be able to offer a superior product at a price point significantly lower than consumers are used to seeing on dispensary shelves.
Learn about the concept, design, and flavors from the bars’ creator, High Times Top Chef Brandon Allen, in the video below:
The Competitive Advantage -- Why the Bars will Flourish in CA
The HWY Bar’s parent company (Plant 2 Products Collective) possesses a manufacturing facility in Mammoth Lakes, CA, and has secured both manufacturing and distribution licenses from the city. Because it is already fully licensed by the municipality and in good standing, HWY is positioned to be among the earliest businesses to secure state licensure once the state of California begins issuing licenses in 2018.
The HWY Manufacturing Facility is outfitted with a fully automated continuous bar production line with the capacity to produce 2000 bars per hour. Because of production volume and automation, HWY is able to produce a bar with high quality, whole ingredients while keeping production costs down.
In a B2B market where price is king, HWY will be able to sell boxes to dispensaries at the highly competitive price of 3 dollars per bar. The MSRP in stores will be set at $6, an inexpensive price for any product at a dispensary, as generally the only items for under $10 are hard candies, akin to jolly ranchers or lollipops.
Because the quality of the product is so high, the class of product (Infused Hemp-nut Granola Bars) is unique to the market, and the offer price is low, we expect retailers and consumers to be excited to make purchases. And we are not the only ones. After hearing the business specs, learning about the bars, and tasting the flavors for themselves, highly successful distributors (Highlanders Distribution, Cathedral Distribution, and Speedweed) have eagerly agreed to carry the HWY Bar products.
The Launch and Road Trip
But we want to introduce the state to HWY ourselves. We want to meet our customers face to face--and we want them to use Dash to buy.
To launch the product, HWY plans to embark on a 30 day road trip that will begin in March, 2018. The HWY team will travel the CA Coast in a wrapped and HWY/Dash co-branded Airstream (mock-ups below), from San Diego to the Bay Area, visiting an average of 3 dispensaries a day (~90 top-notch shops over the entirety of the trip).
The team will spend ~1 week in San Diego and Orange County, ~ 2 weeks in Greater Los Angeles, and ~9 days in the Bay Area. In all regions, the trip will target high volume dispensaries.
For each visit, HWY will coordinate a “Consumer Appreciation” event, where consumers and dispensary agents will sample and be educated on the bars, Dash, and how to purchase using the digital currency. All purchases that occur will be through CannTrade, the Wholesale Cannabis Marketplace which supports Dash currency.
All wholesale buyers will be rewarded with a 2 for 1 deal ONLY if they purchase using Dash. A Dash ATM will be available on-site to make paying using Dash extremely easy. We expect many purchasers to make their initial transaction in Dash, and the 2 for 1 promotion will continue beyond the duration of the month long journey as long as supplies last. That means that any dispensary that re-orders will be incentivized to pay using Dash again (and again).
We believe that once businesses begin to use Dash a few times to buy HWY bars, they will see the benefits of not having to deal in cash, and will begin making more and more purchases (for additional products beyond HWY Bars) through CannTrade using Dash currency.
On top of everything, we will also be inviting several other quality cannabis brands to join us at our Appreciation Events--and in order to participate, they will need to sell product through CannTrade. As always, buyers will be encouraged to make those payments digitally, with Dash.
This will be an excellent opportunity for brands to lock down new retail clients and reach consumers and to introduce brands to Dash.
Marketing and Media
HWY has enlisted the help of two of the most powerful cannabis specific media companies in the world, CFN Media and Cannabis Radio, to help ensure the project gets as much exposure as possible.
In addition to those channels, we will contract independent writers and social media influencers to penetrate target markets in both the B2B and B2C realms.
The marketing package will consist of the following and more:
Benefits to Dash Enumerated
What We’re Seeking
We are seeking a one-time payment of 333 Dash ($146,556.00) to offset the costs of the production of the bars and to funds the elements of the “roadtrip.”
Funding Breakdown
Expense: Amount
Pre Trip Logistics/Planning &
Promotion of Road Trip $3000.00
Airstream + Truck
Additional Staffing
Marketing & Media
Bar Production
4000 boxes + 270 Sample Boxes $37,576.00
(42,700 bars @ $0.88 per bar)
Total $146,556.00
Who We Are:
Brandon Allen - Chef, Product Designer
Brandon is a professionally trained Chef who studied at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh and apprenticed with an Olympic Culinary Team, Master Chef. Throughout his culinary education he competed in numerous competitions which eventually lead to his success in claiming the title as the first ever High Time’s Top Cannabis Chef Competition in the Spring of 2017. Chef Brandon Allen is a certified “interpener” (the art of interpreting cannabis terpenes), best described as a “sommelier” of cannabis and has the ability to identify cannabis quality and effects by visual and aromatic inspection. With a complete fascination for the Endocannabinoid System, Chef Brandon Allen has become an educational resource for the cannabis community. Ultimately, Chef Brandon Allen’s mission is to utilize cannabis as a vessel to education the world about food, while using food as a vessel to educate the world about cannabis.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-allen-71866643/
Mark Restelli - Partner
Mark is a former professional football player who sustained a career ending foot injury while playing for the Miami Dolphins. It took a total of 4 surgeries over a 3 year period to get his foot back into functional shape. Realizing cannabis was the only medication that could safely relieve the pain from 20 years of football injuries, he dove headlong into the cannabis industry at the close of his professional athletic career. He soon discovered that cannabis would be his lifelong passion.
Mark earned a degree in Agricultural Business with a minor in Viticulture from California Polytechnic State University. He worked in the wine industry during his 4-year professional football career and was responsible for the creation of his own small production distribution company called Glasshouse Wines. After leaving the wine industry and retiring from football, Mark spent the last 5 years working in the medical cannabis industry. He began by growing cannabis in his garage and used his skills in design and marking to develop medical cannabis products for several shops and brands. In 2014, Mark founded Plant 2 Products, a collective in California that is licensed to cultivate, extract, manufacture, and distribute cannabis products. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Restelli https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-restelli/
Original Document - Google Drive Link
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1iOkCCh5g4h0J8dTOhhzupoT8CYZsvQafd-sXKt1sPqU
Join HWY Brand as we revolutionize edible in the cannabis industry.
Proposal Summary
The HWY Bar Road Trip project will promote the adoption of Dash in high-volume California cannabis retail locations. The project will coincide with the launch of the HWY Bar product line and the onset of recreational use laws in CA.
The proposed funds will help offset costs for the planning and execution of the “HWY Road Trip,” a 30-day journey in a HWY/Dash co-branded Airstream, which will visit approximately 90 high volume dispensaries (from San Diego to the Bay Area) over the course of the trip. At each stop, the HWY team will put on a 2-hour “customer appreciation” event, where patients, recreational consumers, and dispensaries will sample and be educated on the bars. Orders will be placed and fulfilled, and the fun will be documented and disseminated on numerous media sources.
HWY Bars will be sold exclusively through CannTrade, the wholesale cannabis marketplace which has a contract with Dash (whereby Dash is the only digital currency accepted on the platform). Businesses on CannTrade will be equipped with Dash-ready accounts and be incentivized to transact in Dash, while consumers will be motivated to download a Dash Wallet and purchase using Dash.
Dispensaries will receive a 2-for-1 deal on HWY Bar boxes if they pay using Dash. To make this as easy as possible, a Dash ATM will be transported on the Airstream to ensure the transactions can happen anywhere, and with ease. Additionally, any patient/consumer that downloads a Dash Wallet will receive a “buy 1 get 1” coupon to use when they make their purchase at the dispensary counter.
As a product, HWY Bars have unique advantages, from manufacturing capacity and production costs, to well established distribution companies signed on to carry them, to flavors and nutrition otherwise unavailable in a cannabis-infused product. (See the video of High Times Top Chef and HWY recipe designer Brandon Allen below to learn more about the bars).
The last crucial element of this proposal is the marketing and media exposure this project can bring. The Road Trip is a month long event that will require outreach and coverage via social and cannabis specific media, before, during, and after the event. This project will enlist the services of two of the most effective media companies in the Cannabis space, CFN Media (http://www.cfnmedia.com) and Cannabis Radio (http://www.cannabisradio.com), each who have wide reach in the B2B and B2C markets.
We expect the HWY Bar Road Trip to be highly successful in moving bars and increasing awareness and adoption of Dash at both a B2B and B2C level.
We are seeking a one-time payment of 358 Dash (~$158,000) to help fund this project. You can learn more about the HWY Partners Brandon Allen and Mark Restelli below (end of the proposal), and visit the HWY website here: https://www.hwybrand.com We look forward to hearing your thoughts and fielding any questions the network may have.
Disclosure: Mark Restelli, one of the partners at HWY, is also a co-founder of CannTrade, a business that has had a previous budget proposal approved by Dash. CannTrade is currently in the process of integrating with Alt Thirty Six to allow for the use of Dash for transactions on the CannTrade platform. That integration will be completed in January 2018. We assert that crossover is a positive, and that the convergence of three companies (Alt Thirty-Six, CannTrade, and HWY), each offering separate value and applying pressure from a different angle will help drive Dash adoption more effectively.
HWY Bar
Bar Concept and Design
Edibles are one of the fastest growing segments in the 7 billion dollar cannabis retail market, which is projected to hit 20 billion by 2021. Much of the projected growth is based on expanding recreational legalization, which will bring new waves of consumers to the market.
HWY is branded as an active lifestyle brand with mass appeal and is especially well positioned to capture the imagination of novice and experienced consumers alike. While the general population is becoming more curious about and aware of the health benefits found in compounds within cannabis, the industry has been producing edibles that pair beneficial cannabinoids with unhealthy ingredients. The central value proposition behind HWY is that the bars offer a high quality, popular class of product (Hemp-nut Granola bars) with healthy, whole ingredients that enhance (rather than detract from) the beneficial properties of cannabinoids.
As a bonus, HWY will be able to offer a superior product at a price point significantly lower than consumers are used to seeing on dispensary shelves.
Learn about the concept, design, and flavors from the bars’ creator, High Times Top Chef Brandon Allen, in the video below:
The Competitive Advantage -- Why the Bars will Flourish in CA
The HWY Bar’s parent company (Plant 2 Products Collective) possesses a manufacturing facility in Mammoth Lakes, CA, and has secured both manufacturing and distribution licenses from the city. Because it is already fully licensed by the municipality and in good standing, HWY is positioned to be among the earliest businesses to secure state licensure once the state of California begins issuing licenses in 2018.
The HWY Manufacturing Facility is outfitted with a fully automated continuous bar production line with the capacity to produce 2000 bars per hour. Because of production volume and automation, HWY is able to produce a bar with high quality, whole ingredients while keeping production costs down.
In a B2B market where price is king, HWY will be able to sell boxes to dispensaries at the highly competitive price of 3 dollars per bar. The MSRP in stores will be set at $6, an inexpensive price for any product at a dispensary, as generally the only items for under $10 are hard candies, akin to jolly ranchers or lollipops.
Because the quality of the product is so high, the class of product (Infused Hemp-nut Granola Bars) is unique to the market, and the offer price is low, we expect retailers and consumers to be excited to make purchases. And we are not the only ones. After hearing the business specs, learning about the bars, and tasting the flavors for themselves, highly successful distributors (Highlanders Distribution, Cathedral Distribution, and Speedweed) have eagerly agreed to carry the HWY Bar products.
The Launch and Road Trip
But we want to introduce the state to HWY ourselves. We want to meet our customers face to face--and we want them to use Dash to buy.
To launch the product, HWY plans to embark on a 30 day road trip that will begin in March, 2018. The HWY team will travel the CA Coast in a wrapped and HWY/Dash co-branded Airstream (mock-ups below), from San Diego to the Bay Area, visiting an average of 3 dispensaries a day (~90 top-notch shops over the entirety of the trip).
The team will spend ~1 week in San Diego and Orange County, ~ 2 weeks in Greater Los Angeles, and ~9 days in the Bay Area. In all regions, the trip will target high volume dispensaries.
For each visit, HWY will coordinate a “Consumer Appreciation” event, where consumers and dispensary agents will sample and be educated on the bars, Dash, and how to purchase using the digital currency. All purchases that occur will be through CannTrade, the Wholesale Cannabis Marketplace which supports Dash currency.
All wholesale buyers will be rewarded with a 2 for 1 deal ONLY if they purchase using Dash. A Dash ATM will be available on-site to make paying using Dash extremely easy. We expect many purchasers to make their initial transaction in Dash, and the 2 for 1 promotion will continue beyond the duration of the month long journey as long as supplies last. That means that any dispensary that re-orders will be incentivized to pay using Dash again (and again).
We believe that once businesses begin to use Dash a few times to buy HWY bars, they will see the benefits of not having to deal in cash, and will begin making more and more purchases (for additional products beyond HWY Bars) through CannTrade using Dash currency.
On top of everything, we will also be inviting several other quality cannabis brands to join us at our Appreciation Events--and in order to participate, they will need to sell product through CannTrade. As always, buyers will be encouraged to make those payments digitally, with Dash.
This will be an excellent opportunity for brands to lock down new retail clients and reach consumers and to introduce brands to Dash.
Marketing and Media
HWY has enlisted the help of two of the most powerful cannabis specific media companies in the world, CFN Media and Cannabis Radio, to help ensure the project gets as much exposure as possible.
In addition to those channels, we will contract independent writers and social media influencers to penetrate target markets in both the B2B and B2C realms.
The marketing package will consist of the following and more:
- 90 Day Campaign (Month before, during, and after the Road Trip)
- 6 original articles on the event, Dash, and brands involved. Each article includes images, call-to-action, and link to site
- each article published as top story on media site cannabisfn.com
- each article shared on our B2B social media
- each article is shared with publicist to get event covered by mainstream and national press (i.e. USA Today, Huffington Post, Forbes, etc.)
- Fully Produced, 10 minute Corporate Film on the event, brands, and Dash, with testimonials and interviews.
- Multiple Social Media Promotions and Channels -- Instagram, Linkedin, Facebook, Snapchat, etc.
- On-site reporters and influencers will produce daily content (text and video) to grow followers of the road trip and brands involved.
- The involvement of Guest Brands will expand marketing reach by co-opting their social media channels and followers.
- Marketing Collateral
- With the help of Alt 36 and CannTrade, marketing collateral will be created and disseminated to promote HWY and Dash.
Benefits to Dash Enumerated
- Exposure -- We will be in the biggest cannabis market in the world, and plenty of eyeballs will see our Airstream all over the cities. We will be talking to everyone we see, and be able to give out unmedicated samples to pedestrians and walk ups. This is essentially a MONTH long event with 3 new audiences (and a growing media audience) every day.
- Each Dispensary will be heavily incentivized to 1) Sign up with CannTrade if they haven’t already 2) Download a Dash Wallet 3) Purchase HWY Bars using Dash. 4) Re-purchase using Dash on future orders
- Multiple quality Brands/Vendors will experience cashless transactions using Dash.
- Consumers will be encouraged and walked through the process of downloading a Dash wallet, educated on the benefits of paying in Dash.
- Another piece to the cannabis industry puzzle...HWY combines with Alt Thirty Six and CannTrade to increase Dash awareness and adoption.
What We’re Seeking
We are seeking a one-time payment of 333 Dash ($146,556.00) to offset the costs of the production of the bars and to funds the elements of the “roadtrip.”
Funding Breakdown
Expense: Amount
Pre Trip Logistics/Planning &
Promotion of Road Trip $3000.00
Airstream + Truck
- Rent $7500.00
- Wrap $5250.00
- Est. Fuel $1150.00
- Driver/setup (750/wk) $3215.00
- Rent $5500.00
- Est. Fuel $1150.00
- Driver (750/wk) $3215.00
Additional Staffing
- 2 HWY evangelists ($3500 ea.) $7000.00
- 2 assistants ($2500 ea) $5000.00
- Food & lodging (when necessary) $16,500.00
Marketing & Media
- 90 day Campaign Package + Film $29,000.00
- On Site Reporters/Influencers $12,000.00
- HWY & Dash educational and marketing material $3500.00
- Additional Media Production & Editing $6000.00
Bar Production
4000 boxes + 270 Sample Boxes $37,576.00
(42,700 bars @ $0.88 per bar)
Total $146,556.00
Who We Are:
Brandon Allen - Chef, Product Designer
Brandon is a professionally trained Chef who studied at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh and apprenticed with an Olympic Culinary Team, Master Chef. Throughout his culinary education he competed in numerous competitions which eventually lead to his success in claiming the title as the first ever High Time’s Top Cannabis Chef Competition in the Spring of 2017. Chef Brandon Allen is a certified “interpener” (the art of interpreting cannabis terpenes), best described as a “sommelier” of cannabis and has the ability to identify cannabis quality and effects by visual and aromatic inspection. With a complete fascination for the Endocannabinoid System, Chef Brandon Allen has become an educational resource for the cannabis community. Ultimately, Chef Brandon Allen’s mission is to utilize cannabis as a vessel to education the world about food, while using food as a vessel to educate the world about cannabis.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-allen-71866643/
Mark Restelli - Partner
Mark is a former professional football player who sustained a career ending foot injury while playing for the Miami Dolphins. It took a total of 4 surgeries over a 3 year period to get his foot back into functional shape. Realizing cannabis was the only medication that could safely relieve the pain from 20 years of football injuries, he dove headlong into the cannabis industry at the close of his professional athletic career. He soon discovered that cannabis would be his lifelong passion.
Mark earned a degree in Agricultural Business with a minor in Viticulture from California Polytechnic State University. He worked in the wine industry during his 4-year professional football career and was responsible for the creation of his own small production distribution company called Glasshouse Wines. After leaving the wine industry and retiring from football, Mark spent the last 5 years working in the medical cannabis industry. He began by growing cannabis in his garage and used his skills in design and marking to develop medical cannabis products for several shops and brands. In 2014, Mark founded Plant 2 Products, a collective in California that is licensed to cultivate, extract, manufacture, and distribute cannabis products. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Restelli https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-restelli/
Original Document - Google Drive Link
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1iOkCCh5g4h0J8dTOhhzupoT8CYZsvQafd-sXKt1sPqU
Join HWY Brand as we revolutionize edible in the cannabis industry.
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Discussion: Should we fund this proposal?
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Make it so, masternodes!!
- Mark
But I don't forecast much success for a second and unrelated promotional product -- a digital currency.
This is different from Alt36's strategy, in my opinion, in that their software comes with Dash built-in. Whereas, your bars do not.
Due to the over-broadness of scope, will be voting 'no,' but would be open to partnering with you in the future if you come up with a way in which Dash is likely to see a return on investment.
Yes, HWY Bar and Dash (Product36) are 2 very different product and I mention the difference in the sale process in the above post to paragon. What is highly underestimated is how easy it is for an inexpensive product to make its way into shops vs a software/merchant processing system. I have sold both types of products in hundreds of shops over the past 5 years.
HWY has been pitched over 20 payment processing companies so we had our guard up when meeting Alt 36. After several meetings, it was clear that Alt 36 was the only one that made senses so we have chosen to support and adopt it. They still had to break down the barrier that had been previously created. These other companies have muddied the water with retailers so Dash is going to have to get past the gatekeepers before having a chance to demo the product. This is exactly what we are doing with HWY Brand road trip.
Selling HWY Bars is super simple and this is why we already have several distributors lines up. We give retailers a sample box of bars to hand around the shop and let them know they can purchase it anytime through CannTrade. The bars taste great and sell themselves because of the price and quality. The other option is to give a dispensary 10 boxes on consignment and they can pay us when we drop off the next order. None of these options cost the dispensary any time or resources to get started. On the other hand with Dash, a dispensary is going to have to spend money training their staff, getting set up on new software, and 100% believe in Dash before the owners of directors will say Yes to implementing it. HWY Brand is trying to speed up that process. Although we are going to use Dash (Product36) this is irrelevant if the shops are not using it. Someone is going to have to do sales so if not a collaboration with HWY Brand then a similar cost will fall to other sale teams in the future.
Yes Alt36's Software comes with Dash build in and the bars do not but these shops have to be able to purchase something with Dash to actually adopt it. Shops are far more likely to experiment with purchasing a product from a vendor using dash then opening this up to their patients during early inception period.
Thanks,
Mark
How much are you or your company contributing financially towards this campaign? I think some masternodes may feel you are asking them to bear too much of the financial burden of this marketing initiative that will first and foremost promote your product while secondarily promoting Dash. Also, do you not think it will be tough to sell dispensary owners on two products at one time? I don't particularly like salesman who cold approach me, especially those pushing two unrelated products on me at once. Also will the dispensary owners most likely only get to hear about Dash if they are interested in your bar?
If the use of your product directly (and not indirectly) benefited Dash as is the case with Alt 36's Product36, I think masternodes would have a lot more incentive to support this with the current ask. However, as is, I think masternodes would like to see you request less funding and share at least half the burden of the total campaign's cost.
The proposal outlines the funding for the road trip and marketing alone but not everything related to the business requirements of the trip. HWY Brand has to add additional staff in to support the trip. This includes adding sales and director of marketing positions along with the extensive legal fees to make sure the road trip is fully legal and well insured. We have estimated that overall added expenses for HWY on the business end will be roughly $100,000. Once again this includes the added salaries of the employees needed to support the road trip, legal fees, some modest build-out costs (i.e., vehicles and drivers), and getting the distribution license that will be required for HWY to deliver products directly to shops.
I believe that some of the hesitation with supporting this proposal comes down to the question, "Why is Dash funding the launch of HWY Brand?". The answer is that this is just as much a launch for Dash as it is for HWY Brand. HWY Brand, however, is utilizing its teams, licenses, and several years worth of credibility and contacts to make this happen. If HWY was removed from this proposal and it was only a Dash launch, but everything else stayed the same related to the opportunity for Dash adoption, would this proposal be worth the cost? To answer this question we have to look into how each product is sold.
The sales cycles of HWY Bar and Dash (Product36) are very different. I also hate having to deal with salesman but luckily when we have a product such as HWY Bar at $3 wholesale (without incentives) it is a much easier sell than changing the fundamental way a shop handles cash. The purchasing cycle of HWY bar is as simple as a shop's purchasing manager saying, "Yes, we would like to put your products on our shelves". For a shop to say, "Yes, I would like to use Dash", the decision is going to have to go much higher than a store manager. It will most likely have to go to the owners, corporate, or even the board of directors to get approval. Due to the nature of the products and the requirements to get started, I would expect that the average amount of time and resources to make a sale would be 10-20x greater than HWY Bar. Last, it will be incredibly hard to get access to a retailer's patients in-store without a cannabis product because Dash won't be able to do customer appreciation.
The quick answer to your question regarding the sale of 2 products: Allow HWY to get in the door with a simple and awesome product so Dash (Product36) can be introduced and the sales process can begin. HWY Brand currently has 3 years of relationships in the industry and the bars will have 2 months of traction as they are getting released in January. Approaching retailers without HWY bars will be the equivalent to a salesman cold calling shops. This is similar to how CannTrade works. The brands that use their software get them access to shop because shops do their purchaisng through CannTrades wholesale portal.
This proposal will benefit both HWY Brand and Dash and my team is ready for the challenge. As I mentioned in a previous comment, we are committed to using Dash regardless of funding this proposal. Unfortunately, without the Dash funding, we will not be able to outfit our teams with what they need to sell Dash. Both HWY and Dash will miss out on the opportunity that would be generated from the road trip. We cannot do this without Dash as we just don't have the resources to devote to a launch of this magnitude. After looking at many of the past proposals, I believe that this one truly has the most potential when it comes to increasing the Dash adoption with businesses and customers. Roughly 90 retailers and their employees are going to have their first introduction to Dash. Furthermore, through these retailers, we have the potential of reaching an enormous number of customers because it is not uncommon for a shop to service upwards of 20,000 patients per month.
I strongly urge the Masternodes to consider the true potential of this project and how a partnership with HWY Brand is the first step to a long-lasting relationship. New currency and software adoption are going to take time but we are here to help beyond the HWY Road Trip to make sure that Dash becomes the go-to currency in cannabis.
Thanks,
Mark
Out of the roughly 90 retailers you plan on approaching with your bar and Dash, what do you expect your success rate selling each will be? 150K USD/90 stores = 1,666USD to approach each store. That seems a little high in my lay opinion, but if you expect your success rate to be above say 25% which implies we could gain over 20 stores each with several thousands of customers per month incentivized to use Dash by the discount Dash purchases permit, this could easily be worth it. Estimating the cost we're paying roughly per store we are likely to acquire and estimating the potential Dash userbase per store would go a long way to making your proposal's cost seem more reasonable.
Also, could Ken or you elaborate exactly on how good of an incentive we can provide in-store customers to use Dash? I believe this is an area the Dash community is willing to highly subsidize in the beginning to generate significant customer interest and adoption.
Could the Alt36 CEO Mr Ramirez, who, correct me if I'm wrong, has no conflict of interest such as holding a stake in your company, weigh in on what he thinks of the cost efficiency of this marketing campaign compared with those which he intends to carry out to promote Product36?
Thanks and we appreciate your work Ken and Mark ;-)
Alt Thirty Six will provide marketing suggestions to dispensary locations that will use Product36 to process DASH transactions. In this marketing packet we will provide suggested incentives to encourage consumer adoption such as; large percentage discount on the initial purchase, continued discount on all purchases with DASH, or double loyalty points on all DASH transactions, allowing consumers to achieve discounts faster on purchases as opposed to when using cash. We are in the process of integrating one of the top loyalty programs in the industry to support the double loyalty points for all DASH paying customers. This loyalty system will also enable online transactions for dispensaries. HWY Bar will have an incentive plan as well to encourage dispensaries & consumers to purchase their product using DASH.
Alt Thirty Six executives and company do not have a stake in HWY Bar or CannTrade. We have a strategic partnership in place that we believe will help increase the adoption of DASH within this industry. This is a great marketing campaign to push the adoption of DASH. We will be enabling merchants to sign up on CannTrade, Product36 and use HWY Bar as a great example for how easy it is to use and accept DASH. This road trip is a fantastic opportunity to meet with dispensaries & consumers in person and build real excitement around DASH.
I hope I have answered your questions!
Both our partners in the cannabis industry (Alt-36 and CannTrade) are in favor it. CannTrade also makes up part of the team. If we were a little further along in our development of legal structures, it would be fun to negotiate Dash owning 10 or 15% of the company in return for our support at this critical time in their business roll out.
But, we're not quite ready for that yet. And I'm pretty sure the Masternode community is going to do ok without having an ownership stake in this particular company at this time. Thus, I am happy to fund their proposal just to insure that we take the west coast cannabis industry by storm. Why not stack the deck in our favor? Dash is admittedly pretty foreign to consumers. I'm not opposed to giving out some discounted or free product in return for both the consumer and the dispensary actually using Dash for the first time.
Stated differently, I'm not opposed to spending 260 Dash today, to take a bigger/faster bite out of a 7 billion dollar industry that could rapidly double in size.
I would be interested to know how much Mark and partners have invested to get the product and the facility this far along. I bet you a cheeseburger it is not a trivial amount. So, they have skin in the game too.
solarguy
After this initial investment will you be able to continue driving on your own?
ps. I personally recommend raw vegan paleo :)
Thanks,
Mark
Regards, Paul
As someone who is immersed in it every day, I know firsthand that the cannabis industry can be insular and aloof. Relationship building is enormously important. Client testimonials--especially video testimonials showing that Dash REALLY WORKS as a great alternative to cash--are paramount for significant adoption and to provide inertia for a snowball effect.
This project will go a long way in eroding some of the barriers to adoption and will furnish more than just the instant impressions that media typically provides. I believe this project will make a big splash, and continue to resonate with a lasting effect.
Also, there is hardly any co-relation between marketing your bars and dash. Getting a few people to buy your bars with dash isn't ROI. There certainly isn't enough for us to pay you $150,000.
If you came back asking $30k-$35k,I would consider supporting this, but otherwise I would have to stick to No.
Wixam
That some great points, I did not even give it that much thought, but your absolutely right, he has its own business, and we should pay for everything, we could but would should get like 30% ownership stack in his company in return.
With this proposal, HWY Brand is opening the doors to hundreds of shops so we can close the deal with Dash. During this trip, we are also working for Dash as a sales team. This required that our entire team is trained in selling Dash / Alt 36 payment solutions to dispensaries. We also have to have the ATMs for on the spot store installations. Last, this is a joint marketing campaign that will get covered by several of the major cannabis media outlets.
The primary objective of all Dash proposals should be introducing dash to a larger market of businesses and customers to increase adoption and overall value of the currency. I believe that this proposal does exactly that but in a hands-on way with a highly credible company leading the way. The market cap of the shops that we plan on visiting on this road trip is roughly $1 billion.
Thanks,
Mark
The ultimate goal of the HWY Brand road trip is to get retail dispensaries signed up and using dash while introducing patients to how the purchasing process works. The best way to get shops using dash is to show them in person how to purchase the HWY Bars sold during the patient appreciations. I have personally walked into hundreds of shops and done many patient appreciations. They love it when brands spend time giving out samples and educating their patients. HWY Brand will have no problem filling road trip with dispensaries excited to try our product. Coupling with us really is the easiest to get in front of the people that will truly be selling Dash in the future, The Budtenders. A Budtender recommendation is extremely powerful as they are currently like the pharmacist of cannabis. Without Dash, HWY Bars will still launch with distributors but the road trip would have to be postponed until a later date or we add additional sponsors. I strongly believe that the adoption rate of Dash will be slower in shops without having a product to lead the way in. Regardless of Dash's involvement with this project HWY Brand is committed to use and promote Dash whenever possible.
Last, I assure you that my team and I are fully committed and although it is not outlined in the proposal we have given everything to make HWY Brand a reality. It has taken over 3 years just to get to a launch and I sold my house to make sure we could do it. We are looking for a partner on the project and realize that it would not have the same impact without Dash involved.
Thank you,
Mark
This is primarily an activity to promote your own businesses, is it not?
I appreciate the struggle but unloading all of your bills on us is highly unreasonable.
Cant support this..
Wixam
The primary purpose of this proposal is to promote both HWY and Dash because the sum of them together will be greater than the parts. This promotion is as much about Dash as it is about HWY. It is unfortunate that you are so strongly against our proposal but thank you for you for your input.
Mark
- Mark
solarguy
Thank you for the input,
Mark
Thanks,
Mark
Thank you for the question,
Mark
Thanks,
Mark
I'm sure Alt36 can shed some light on this.
Anyway, glad you have a healthy edible that will further incentivize shops to accept Product 36 and Dash!
Voting yes.