Takes on High Times' Top Brands of 2023, Pt 3: Gotti
Canny pop culture IP play on the come up
High Times:
“A legendary New York name that’s begun to ring out again in the streets. This year GOAT Global in Los Angeles helped launch the California dispensary line for Gotti, the cannabis brand built by the family of iconic mob figure John Gotti.
This team came onto the scene last year and, since then, has created lasting relationships with West Coast figures like Deep East, Greendawg, and Blueprint. They’ve built a lot of traction through releases of their Blue Sapphire, Zattie, and Seabiscuit. This last example is one that helped them win a coveted spot in the Transbay Challenge qualifying event in Los Angeles. The story of this strain is pretty incredible.
Originally this Zkittlez x Zoap was bred by Deep East for Greendawg. They ended up keeping two phenotypes from that batch but the rest were going to get chucked out the window. The team at Gotti were on the hunt for new cuts when they heard about this #25 pheno that was up for grabs if they wanted to save it. This special strain which also took honors as a part of the recent Zalympics box, was the jump off point for the relationship between Deep East and Gotti.”
Original post here.
BrandDOPE POV
“Gotti.”
Sinister on the surface, but ultimately just fun (in the context of the category). And it’s a whole world.
All conveyed with the name alone. That’s the power of the right IP1.
Now add awesome product strategy and package design for instant bag appeal.
Then top it all with a handful of enthusiastically received strains, and you have a monster in the making.
Gotti’s IG shows they know what they could have on their hands. While the brand still doesn’t have a website, the work they put into social makes up for it.
Their main IG feed (private, 13.6K followers; there’s a backup with +2K) is heavy in video/Reels, including the best, glossiest product vids we’ve seen in cannaland.
They make a point of supporting retail partners (Sky Club, Cookies, Goat Global, House of Piff, The Cannabis Shop).
They merchandise press, appearances, competitions, and UGC reviews.
They showcase experiments with product collabs/content partners (Proper Doinks). They even tried driving to Telegram, though they seem to have throttled back on the channel.
In all, the IG feels vibrant. Rich. Professional.
And while the follower/engagement results so far are mid, that’s not the point at this stage in the game — though their social would benefit from more frequent posting as well as content designed to spark dialogue and build out the myth.
Obv, social doesn’t yet yield the return in cannabis as it does in less regulated categories. Regardless, for brands with bandwidth and confidence, it’s great to build marking muscle and habits for the long haul.
Further, there’s immediate value in the time/energy they funnel into the feed. The message — “We’re real CPG and we get marketing” — has meaning with consumers. It says they’re strong, skilled, ambitious and dependable. Those are good notions for people to consider as they’re staring bleary-eyed at a dispo display. Remember: most retailers don’t look like Planet 13, The Woods, or Union Square Travel Agency.
It’s hard to quantify sales or buzz around the brand without licensed tools.2 That said, there must be some real momentum here given all the knockoffs of Gotti’s “Blue Sapphire” alone. (BTW, here’s an idea to help mitigate brand/sales damage from bootlegging: a website where all of the official packaging can be found, not to mention store locators, etc.. Just saying.)
Some reviews in the ether echo High Times’ glowing opinions, but not a lot of press. Given the brand’s big hook and its personable founder, Gotti should be netting more earned media.
The merch collab with Cookies is A+. Speaking of Cookies, we’re curious about how deep the relationship between them and Gotti goes. Hard to tell. Berner is featured early in and is all over the brand’s IG. And Berner did release a “Gotti” album in 2021. Then there’s all of the Gotti/Cookies retail activity. And the brand does feel a bit “Cookies-ish,” no?
Who knows, though? If there is a deeper tie, why not make it explicit? Don’t see the angle there.
No big finale here, other than to say that we’re looking forward to seeing this brand’s evolution. There’s a ton of rich territory to mine. (For example, Gotti seems like a perfect match for artist partnerships and non-endemic collabs.) If Gotti plans to go big, they have an opportunity to do some interesting work.
Do you have additional thoughts on this brand? Have you seen more of their marketing? Please share your takes, questions, and/or examples.
Shoutout to Kaelan Donadio and Wesley Donahoe at The 9th Block for contributing to this post. They know their cannabis marketing cold.
https://the9thblock.com/
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BrandDOPE is a running collection, analysis, and dialogue around cannabis brands and cannabis marketing.
Analysis is based on findings from publicly available desk research.
BrandDOPE is led by Todd Lowe, a veteran brand strategist and digital marketer. Todd is a Senior Advisor at Tuatara Capital, one of the cannabis industry's leading private investment managers -- currently overseeing over $390 million in cannabis-focused assets. Tuatara’s portfolio companies include Kiva Brands, Willie’s Reserve/Remedy, Green Dot Labs, Hana, GreenFlower, Demetrix, and many more.
BrandDOPE’s opinions are its own and do not reflect the perspectives of Tuatara Capital, or any of its portfolio companies.
Would love to learn more about the backstory here. In particular, how did the IP rights get secured, and/or what the laws are around it? Anyone?
Feel free to raise your hand if you have access to good research platforms