Classix: Building a California Brand for National Retail

Executive Summary

From separate products to one recognizable brand

As Marketing Director and Art Director, I helped turn a heritage-strain concept into a brand people could recognize, understand, and merchandise.

The work connected packaging, product navigation, customer education, retail merchandising, campaign content, and brand standards. It gave the organization one clear system instead of a collection of disconnected product ideas.

Classix was developed inside Project Cannabis, a California operator with four retail locations and wholesale distribution reaching more than 100 dispensaries. The opportunity was to create a product family that customers could recognize, retailers could merchandise, and the business could expand.

The Commercial Problem

Familiar products, but no clear family

Customers recognized strains such as OG Kush, White Widow, Granddaddy Purple, Jack Herer, and Blue Dream. But familiar names alone did not create a coherent portfolio.

The business needed a brand that could organize multiple products, stand out at retail, support fast customer and budtender understanding, meet production and compliance requirements, and remain recognizable as the portfolio expanded.

The Intervention

Giving Classix a world of its own

We used the shared language of twentieth-century audio culture—cassettes, boomboxes, speakers, vinyl, and mixtapes—to give “classic” products an immediate visual and cultural meaning.

I led the revised packaging concept and art direction for the 3.5-gram flower package and multiple pre-roll tins, completed most of the graphic design, and worked with a small creative team to resolve hierarchy, color coding, strain labeling, tamper seals, regulatory information, and print production.

How the System Worked

Making the idea useful at retail

The packaging established the master language. Color-coded J-cards extended it into strain education. Photography, retail displays, digital merchandising, Spotify content, social media, and approved retailer assets carried the same story into market.

A scalable brand book gave internal teams and external retail partners a shared foundation. The system could accommodate changing strains, formats, regulations, supply chains, and local market requirements without rebuilding the brand each time.

These historical artifacts document the original education system; legacy product language is not presented as current medical guidance.

Transfer and Scale

From California to six markets

After approximately 14 months in California, Classix entered Columbia Care’s national portfolio. Columbia Care subsequently launched it in Arizona, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, and New Jersey—six documented markets including California.

The larger organization extended the platform through social, merchandising, field marketing, brand ambassadors, company dispensaries, and third-party retailers. The original system remained recognizable as new teams adapted it to local products and operating conditions.

I was retained through the acquisition and moved into regional retail marketing leadership across California, Colorado, Arizona, and Utah.

Why It Matters

A strong brand gives everyone something to work with

Classix shows how one clear idea can connect product, packaging, sales, retail, education, and regional marketing without losing what made the brand memorable.

The same challenge appears in any consumer business trying to turn a good product into a brand that customers recognize and teams can grow.