BCW (Burson Cohn & Wolfe), a leading global communications agency, introduced a strategic consulting unit that will help companies in the emerging cannabis and hemp space gain market entry, navigate policy and regulation challenges, identify and engage the cannabis consumer and communicate product benefits, all on a global scale. BCW’s end-to-end holistic offering includes experts in research, data and analytics, federal policy and grassroots engagement.
The launch of BCW’s cannabis consulting unit comes as the global legal marijuana market is expected to reach USD $146.4 billion by end of 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The U.S. legal marijuana market size was estimated at USD $7.06 billion in 2016 and is expected to develop at a compound annual growth rate of 24.9 percent from 2017 to 2025. Estimates from New Frontier Data’s Hemp Business Journal suggest the hemp derived CBD market will triple from a $390 million market in 2018 to a $1.3 billion market by 2022.
“While the cannabis industry is significant, it is really at the nascent stage of market development,” said Donna Imperato, Global CEO, BCW. “Companies entering the space must navigate policy, operations, consumer education, marketing, and finance and capital markets – which is no easy feat. Our cannabis consulting unit has the talent and deep expertise to help clients overcome these challenges, take their products into this emerging market and build them into category leaders.
“The growth potential for the cannabis industry is extraordinary,” added Imperato. “We are excited to partner with our clients as first movers in this incredible new market.”
BCW’s cannabis consulting unit currently advises PAX Labs, a leader in the design, development and sale of premium cannabis vaporization technologies and devices; Pyxus International, Inc., a global value-added agricultural company; and Criticality, LLC, a North Carolina-based industrial hemp company that takes a science-based approach to the extraction, refinement and formulation of high-quality cannabidiol (CBD) products; among other clients
In late 2018, Canada legalized recreational use of cannabis at the federal level. BCW’s colleagues in Canada worked to introduce FIGR, Inc., a vertically integrated legal cannabis company, to that market.
“According to BCW’s 2018 Fall Cannabis Culture Poll, developed in conjunction with PSB and Civilized Life, support in North America for legalized cannabis in some form, is strong, and a majority believes it has a positive impact on the economy,” said Chris Foster, President, North America, BCW. “So, there is a tremendous amount of opportunity as the global cannabis market evolves and grows, but this is punctuated by regulatory uncertainty in some markets and highly regulated environments in others. The U.S. is a prime example with its incongruity between federal and state laws. Our team has the expertise to help clients navigate these challenges – from influencing public policy to building brands and establishing new categories – and achieve success in the cannabis and hemp industry.”
About BCW
BCW is one of the world’s largest full-service global communications agencies. Founded by the merger of Burson-Marsteller and Cohn & Wolfe, BCW delivers digitally and data-driven creative content and integrated communications programs grounded in earned media and scaled across all channels for clients in the B2B, consumer, corporate, crisis management, CSR, healthcare, public affairs and technology sectors. BCW is a part of WPP (NYSE:WPP), a creative transformation company. For more information, visit www.bcw-global.com.
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