Humacology chief creation officer and co-founder Sam Saunders says we only get one chance to persuade patients of the benefits of medicinal cannabis – and too often we blow it.
Before co-founding Humacology I spent 20-plus years as an advertising creative in New York. And, yes, the irony of this past and my present is not lost on me. It’s like being a Michelin-starred sushi chef who’s not allowed to use knives.
Despite the handcuffs, I still approach every problem in our industry the same way I always did, by respecting the ‘consumer mindset’. But, of course, in our world it’s ‘patient mindset’.
Mindset is a complex, yet potent, driver in commerce.

At its simplest, a food brand – with the Superbowl coming up – might expect the consumer mindset to be thus: “I want to host a great party,” or “I want to bring great snacks to the party I’m going to,” and advertise their snacks and Superbowl discounts accordingly.
Diving deeper into mindset, a savvy marketer might uncover certain emotional and rational triggers at play. For example, hosts might want their food to look and taste like they made it themselves. The emotional driver is the acknowledgement from guests (their little secret) of the ‘effort’ put in, while the rational driver is the enjoyment of the taste and quality of the food.
Every company, from a budget frozen food brand to the highest level caterer, will benefit from understanding these triggers as the big day approaches, and leverage them accordingly, manifested in their messaging and product offerings to make that consumer’s experience more than they’d hoped for.
I cite this simple example because we are at something of a crisis, I believe, in medicinal cannabis. We have wholeheartedly ignored the patient mindset – at the expense of pure greed. I know this sounds alarmist, so let me explain.
In order for this category to really succeed, to become bullet-proof to pharma lobbyists (who are sharpening their weapons and about to pounce), we need to acquire new patients.
We need this in order to grow to the point of being mainstream and not just some unproven alternative medicine. As an industry, it’s more crucial than ever. Grow or die? No. Acquire or die. Growth will come.
In the Mad Men land of New York, customer acquisition is the ball-ache no ad agency wants to hear about – and that we all moaned about. Why not create a great idea and cross our fingers? And then cross our toes it hits to the point we acquire a participant in the brand.
If you own a Nike t-shirt with a visible swoosh on it, then you’re a participant in Nike. It’s part of your DNA. Think about how incredible that is. A brand’s values align with yours so powerfully you’ll wear it. Pay to wear it. Apple sticker on your car? Same. Gucci handbag? Same.
We are all but a collection of highly curated (by us) brands that help to say something about us that we probably couldn’t articulate otherwise.
The brands we participate in are the brands who have won us. Have seduced us. As an ad man, this is the moment when you tell the client: job done. And then go out for martinis.
Now replace brand with industry.
Like anything new, it takes time to seduce. I might not believe New Balance is ‘on brand’ for me right now, but ask me again when I’m 80 and their shoes are the only ones which acknowledge my unique feet and walking style and allow me to keep walking, unencumbered. I’ll tell everyone within earshot, or whatever digital megaphone exists then.
People know about medicinal cannabis now, but may not be ‘there’ yet, at least not enough to dip their toes into the proverbial pool. We operate in a weird world. Medicinal cannabis is seen as alternative. Special access. Naughty. Even illegal to many potential patients.
They often come to us kicking and screaming. Their pre-conceived notions of dreadlocks and joints, reinforced by the ridiculous, cliché-enforcing names of flower varieties (forbidden ghost kush haze, anyone?) and the non-reimbursable costs involved in both the consult and the medicine, conspire to form a brick wall that already has them standing on the edge of a big fat ‘No’.
“We operate in a weird world. Medicinal cannabis is seen as alternative. Special access. Naughty. Even illegal to many potential patients.”
Their mindset towards medicinal cannabis and their potential participation in it is fragile. They’re at the point where they have already decided this probably ain’t gonna work.
And this mindset is their reality. No point fighting it: we need to nourish it. Accept this is where they’re at and that we ain’t gonna change that mindset right now.
Unpacking the emotional and rational triggers here is not hard. Rational triggers involve cost and pre-conceived scepticism around the efficacy of a natural medicine (especially non-THC or low-THC medicines like Humacology’s).
Emotional triggers involve the shame, or embarrassment, one might feel from crossing over to the ‘dark side’. How do you tell your relatives (let alone your GP) you’re now a ‘stoner’?
When you combine doubt with shame and add cost into the equation, you have a massive mountain to climb. At any stage of the customer acquisition funnel, the patient could fall away. Too hard, too dodgy, too expensive, won’t work.
And if it doesn’t, they’re pissed. Pissed they compromised their personal values – not to mention cash – to give this alternative option a go. And they will tell everyone they know that medicinal cannabis sucks, just as they’d expected. (See many, many Reddit threads on this topic.)
While we might be lucky enough to get that first date, we need to follow that up with the best second, third, fourth and fifth dates of their lives.
Here’s where we come in as an industry. I’m concerned that many new patients are prescribed CBD isolate – a good idea to get their feet wet so to speak.
This is their first foray into medicinal cannabis – we won them! Holy shit, that’s amazing. A miracle. Now, the tenuous and fragile relationship is born. First impressions are vital to turn a patient into an advocate.
So what can we do? We gotta bring the heat, with a medicine that blows them away and dissolves their doubts.

The problem begins with CBD isolate. We need to talk about the quality of medicine we are offering to these fragile new recruits to medicinal cannabis. We need to hook them, not just dangle the bait.
And many are doing our industry a massive disservice on this front. Like flower (with almost as many incredible variants as stupid names and the myriad benefits each offers), not all medicine is created equal in the CBD space.
Many labels say 0:100 CBD isolate. And to be honest, 95% of 0:100s are the same. Because most are made by the same three or four, profit-focused companies who appear to have an allergy to terpenes.
My phytochemist calls a CBD isolate without terpenes ‘salad dressing’. I think that’s an insult to salad dressing. We believe terpenes mimic the entourage effect and actually make our CBD isolates effective for our patients.
Bigger picture: imagine the fragility of the new acquisition funnel. The hard work we have all done to break down stereotypes. To change the driving laws. To try to make medicinal cannabis mainstream, working so hard to break through the barriers of cost, of shame, of hassle… only to prescribe an oil that is literally going to do nothing to help the patient get better and a lot to lighten their wallet.
It’s like getting to the 98-metre mark of a 100-metre race and tripping on your own shoelaces. If we’re very, very lucky they’ll come back for a second bite at the apple.
But most patients we win – who are given ‘salad dressing’ – will fall away and write the medicine off immediately, given their mindset going in.
Many of you will recall ‘subgate‘, where a pharmacy swapped out a Humacology 0:100 for another brand and was called out by a prescriber keenly aware of the difference terpenes can make. As an industry, we need that kind of vigilance.
It’s our responsibility to put our best foot forward and showcase what this incredible plant species has to offer as a medicine.
Then the patients will scream its praises to anyone who will listen.
Good piece thanks Sam
Thanks @sam, this is such an overlooked part of marketing the MC category – growing the whole pie by understanding the deep psychological barriers and drivers of the end-patient. There’s too much focus on performance advertising and too little on really understanding what sort of value propositions patients want and need. A great article.