Takes on High Times' Top Brands of 2023, Pt 6: Pressure Pack

The look, feel and dank of Detroit.

Feb 14, 2024

From High Times:

“Based in Detroit, Michigan, Pressure Pack caught our eye for both their flowers and their concentrates. Their collaboration with North Coast brought wins in our Cannabis Cup Michigan: People’s Choice Edition 2023 competition for a Blue Zorbet hash rosin, a Lemon Rain infused donut pre-roll, and another pre-roll filled with one of our 2022 strains of the year, Permanent Marker. Pressure Pack has a few growing facilities and works hard to ensure its flowers are top-notch. Its Orange Bomb, exploding with bright tangerine citrus aromas, was awarded second place for sativa flower.

“We work really hard to try and get the best product because we only want to enjoy the best products,” cultivator Ian says. “I come from a medical background and so, for me, I use cannabis in a medical sense. I use the entourage effect to its full nature. I try to maximize the output that the plants will allow us.”

Look out for Pressure Pack newest offering which jumps in on a certified weed smoking trend, hand-rolled hash holes.”

Original post here.

Pressure Pack Retail Estimates*

MI 2023: $2,000,000-$3,000,000,
- 72.46% flower, 19.99% vape, 4.74% pre-roll, 2.68% concentrate
- Top selling SKU: Super Pure Runtz, 3.5g
MI 2024: Distributed in 333 retailers

BrandDOPE POV

Like many, we pull for Detroit. Great town, great people, great music, great pizza, great Coneys, great hoops, great story. So a Detroit/street-culture cannabis brand makes sense, obviously in MI but beyond as well.

Pressure Pack (PP) seems authentic along these lines.

Start with the name: Pressure Pack. Amongst other things, it’s slang for “exceptionally good weed.” Bit of a dog whistle there, and dog whistles are good. Not only do dog whistles telegraph focus on specific audiences, but they also show confidence about potentially alienating “outsiders.” It binds the right audiences closer.

Dog whistles can work for the uninitiated, too. “Insider” language, symbols, and myths give layers to brands, creating a sense of depth and inviting the uninitiated to explore. Of course, that assumes this layered, insider brand experience is built mindfully, so that “newbies” don’t get frustrated or confused, and then bail before they get down to buying.

Pressure Pack’s logo is a cursive wordmark made into a stamp by using the brand’s slogan — “Let the pack talk” — as a boundary. In all, the logo is rickety. Nowhere near as dynamic as its name. In and of itself, the mark doesn’t say much, and on-pack it recedes into the background like a signature — failing to hold the portfolio together.

The packaging — street art-inspired illustrations + in-your-grill tonality — jumps out at you. Excellent considering their strategy/target. There are some taste issues in execution here and there, but the work is generally impactful and feels of a whole. Better yet, PP seems to be committed to doing these really smart, distinct die-cut packs of late. Very smart.

PP reinforces its authenticity with limited-edition artist collabs.

Most notably, the brand worked with local artists Icewear Vezzo and Big Shifter/Lou Gram (two great names), and they grow/cultivate Future’s EVOL brand for MI.

PP leverages their partnerships with PR, on IG, and with some random YouTube videos, but they can go further. Cultural collabs (artists, apparel, venues, etc.) should serve the bulk of the marketing efforts for a brand like this; integrations in non-endemic content are the best hack available to the category.

Apparel in particular is a big miss for PP right now. A brand with such intense visuals should offer great fits. Again, running limited edition apparel drops with partners would provide better execution, more reach, more news, and less hassle. Think of merch first and foremost as a marketing channel, then diminished margins cease to be an issue.

PP’s website is surprisingly fit.

First, they hit you with a huge newsletter signup prompt upon hitting the homepage, which is key. CPG cannabrands need to make the most of their owned channels, especially email. We don’t see this sort of prioritization enough.

PP.com also shows off their awards early and prominently, another rarely followed best practice. But most importantly, the brand uses the site to emphasize its compelling, broad line of products, showcasing an arsenal of creative packaging. Somehow, this too is a huge win in the category. Considering the strength of black and grey markets, it’s amazing how many brands don’t make the effort to show precisely what can be purchased.

Naturally, the site could use some tweaking. The right/promo column looks messy and the product drill-downs need some/any/more information. Also, the “About” section is generic and storyless. The brand needs more substantiation. Why Pressure Pack? How Pressure Pack? Given the brand’s positioning, this is one of the rare occasions where a few long-form YouTube background videos might be useful.

Who knows? A prospect or a new consumer might be curious about who’s behind this intriguing operation. While brands should keep sites relatively lean and drive hard to retail, consumers know how the category works; if someone takes the time to visit a brand site they are usually up for some learning.

IG looks like a bit of a quagmire for Pressure Pack, as it is for many brands in our business.

While we were writing this post, their IG footprint went from three accounts with a cumulative ~14K followers to two with ~6.5k, and two more that are apparently disabled. We’ll get into the whole IG/cannabis mess in a future post, but in short: PP’s difficulties are unfair but predictable.

The brand’s IG approach is probably too aggressive, promoting product giveaways, showing flower in/next to packaging, and on a few occasions showing usage — which is a clear no bueno as far as community guidelines are concerned.

Hard to knock the hustle, though. PP puts a lot of effort into their accounts above and beyond posts that walk the (vague) IG guidelines. Naturally, they feature the usual slate of drop announcements, grow footage, etc, but they’ve also executed pack design contests, comedic skits (one netted 30k likes!), BTS looks, elaborate, animated product vids, and even a few thoughtful instructional clips such as, “How to Smoke a Hash Hole” (cannabis brands should do more content like this).

👍 👍👍 for showing agility on new product trends here; “innovation” is an important signal to send. Hash Holes are hot. PP should be sure to stay in line with all of the latest finishes, like 2g disposables, etc.

Despite all the IG effort, though, PP isn’t pulling much engagement. Still, they do appear to have some social resonance. For example: they do have a healthy comment footprint on Reddit, especially considering they’re just a one-state brand.

Overall, the Pressure Pack vibe is distinct but thin.

A brand like this is as good as its hot looks and hot product. Both can change — either optically, and/or in reality — quickly.

The foundation is there, but to create staying power, Pressure Pack needs to give people more than aesthetics and (categorical) promises of superior quality. They need to convey an idea, and then back it up. They need to provoke and perpetuate a conversation. Then, they need to punctuate it all by consistently and creatively demonstrating how they’re organic to — and how they deliver value within —their “world.”

Do you have additional thoughts on this brand? Have you seen more of their marketing? Please share your takes, questions, and/or examples.