The Challenge
As the legal cannabis market rapidly expanded, meaningful consumer insight was scarce. The category was moving fast but operating largely in the dark – with little understanding of who was buying, why, and what distinct needs were driving behaviour. The market leader needed to change that. With ambitions to grow the category by recruiting new users, they needed a rigorous framework to map the demand landscape and identify the biggest opportunities.
The Work
We began with an exploratory qualitative phase to uncover the nuance and complexity of this nascent category – understanding motivations, occasions and attitudes in depth. This informed a large-scale quantitative Demand Spaces study, which defined the distinct consumer need states shaping the market. The resulting framework was directly integrated into the client’s brand strategy and innovation workstreams.
The Impact
Armed with the industry’s first comprehensive Demand Spaces framework for legal cannabis, the leadership team moved from instinct to evidence. The work created focus around the most lucrative growth opportunities in a fast-growing $26BN market – enabling a clear portfolio strategy to better serve a wider audience. The approach proved so effective it was subsequently replicated across additional markets.
