Lisa Buffo, Founder and CEO of the Cannabis Marketing Association – Interview Series

For nearly a decade, Lisa Buffo has been serving as the Founder and CEO of the Cannabis Marketing Association, an organization dedicated to strengthening, educating and informing cannabis professionals as well as networking across all fields of work in cannabis, although with a special focus on cannabis marketers. As of recently, the CMA has assisted an estimated 3,000 cannabis professionals and has hosted numerous informative summits and seminars on the facets of the cannabis industry. Buffo also serves as an Advisory Board Member for Companies Doing Good, an agency dedicated to helping businesses promote non-profit/philanthropy involvement and social equity-related causes within their operations.

How did you first join the cannabis industry and what were the first few positions you held in the industry?

I moved to Boulder in 2014 from my hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, to join the cannabis industry. I didn’t know anyone, but knew I wanted to be involved in the business from the first year of adult-use legalization. My very first position was a trimmer at a local grow which gave me a lot of respect for the cultivation process. I then joined a cannabis business accelerator as a program coordinator and shortly thereafter joined one of their portfolio companies as Chief Marketing Officer.

Because your resume is obviously so extensive in cannabis marketing/advertising, what were the first jobs you worked specifically in that still very new field?

I worked in marketing prior to joining the cannabis industry doing social media for a non-profit and consulting on go-to-market strategy and public relations for early stage startups. So when I became a cannabis CMO, I took a lot of the lessons learned in those roles and applied them to this industry. However, there were many more restrictions and a lot of my tried and true strategies didn’t work in cannabis, which led me to found Cannabis Marketing Association.

During those initial years in cannabis marketing, what were the most common marketing/advertising issues that cultivators and dispensaries dealt with?

In the early days, the regulations were changing and updating as frequently as every couple of months. There was a lot of confusion as both industry and government figured out how the whole system was going to work. For marketers, there was a lot of frustration with these changes as well as a lack of clarity around what the regulations meant in practice. Social media platforms were heavily censoring and deleting wholly compliant cannabis content, so marketers felt lost.

What would you say were the defining moments that led to the creation of the Cannabis Marketing Association? When it comes to proper and compliant marketing/advertising avenues in cannabis and overall operations, how does the CMA assist their members?

Early into my CMO job when I was crafting our strategy, I was consulting with my peers more frequently than I would have in prior roles. I realized they had the same questions that I had. And none of us had good answers. Later, I was at a local advocacy event where the organizers updated the attendees on what was happening from a regulatory perspective and kept everyone informed. I thought to myself, we should do this for marketers. So we started having meetings after work to share best practices with each other. They were an instant hit and that’s how CMA started.

Today, CMA serves its members with an online portal filled with over 100 videos, downloadables, tools, and guides to help marketers get their questions answered in the different practice areas. We use a mix of mediums to match different learning styles. We also host webinars and networking events to connect the community.

From an organizational standpoint, how is the CMA staying true to the mission statement of “bringing a positive perception to, and authentic understanding of, cannabis and its consumers around the world”?

Our belief is that if we help the marketers working for licensed cannabis businesses — the brands and dispensaries on the front lines — if we help those marketers do their jobs better, we accomplish our mission. They are responsible for creating the messaging and educational material that the public sees directly. If those communicators can be thoughtful, effective, and have a guiding star of best practices as well as a community to answer to, the quality of that content will be better than if we didn’t exist. If the quality of content is better, the trust with the public should increase. Increased trust leads to better communication and better communication should lead to more authentic understanding and positive associations between the industry, the plant, and the people.

Since you’ve been serving as Founder and CEO of the CMA for nearly a decade now, what have been some of the top highlights or most momentous occasions that you’ve had with the organization?

Thank you for this question. There are so many. Prior to COVID, we were a heavily events-based business operating chapters in 9 cities. So surviving COVID was a difficult, but big accomplishment for us. Launching the Cannabis Marketing Summit in our first in-person year in 2022 to over 400 attendees and 100 speakers over 3 days was the most incredible thing to be a part of and the hardest I’ve ever worked. Overall, the day to day of helping our members and making a difference in their careers has been extremely rewarding.

What is your role with Companies Doing Good and how would you describe the importance of the work of the organization?

I started as an advisor to CDG in 2020 and joined them earlier this year as a fractional CMO. I advise on marketing strategy for them and their clients. They’re building an amazing initiative called The Giveback Program that helps businesses give back to non-profits that align with their values, and then tell that story to their customers. They also do social impact consulting. I’ve learned so much from their leadership and continue to advocate for the work that they do. It makes marketing easy. Their program is one of those few win-win-win scenarios — it’s rewarding, has demonstrable impact, and makes business sense.

When it comes to the eventual federal rescheduling from Schedule I to Schedule III, how do you see cannabis marketing/advertising changing as a whole? Would a federal rescheduling to be on par with pharmaceuticals increase marketing opportunities for cannabis companies or would it become somehow even more restrictive?

There are pros and cons to this. The big pro is that 280E would go away, finally allowing businesses to deduct their marketing expenses which improve the economics of the business. This should allow for budgets to increase. It also is a clear sign from the federal government that things are moving in the right direction. However, other issues come into play like a changed regulatory environment, increased competition, and a limited scope of reform.

Thank you for joining us Lisa! To stay updated on the many events and actions of the Cannabis Marketing Association, please follow their website or social media pages.