LA CASA CANNA BIS
Peach Kush #2
LivWell - Central Park
Watermelon Sorbet
LivWell - Commerce City
Bordeaux #5, Divine Kush Breath
LivWell - Cortez
Bordeaux #5, Cherry Hills, Divine Kush Breath
LivWell - Evans
Watermelon Sorbet
LivWell - Federal Heights
Divine Kush Breath
LivWell - Mancos
Cherry Hills
LivWell - Peoria
Watermelon Sorbet
LivWell - Tower Road
Bordeaux #5, Cherry Hills, Divine Kush Breath
LivWell - Uptown
Divine Kush Breath
Livgreen
A-Bay Bay, Apples & Bananas, Bananaghani, Black Amber, FUBAR, Glitter Bomb, Grape Gasoline S1, PAY, Slurricane, Sour Rado, Triangle OG, Woosah, Yuk Mouth
Lucky Monkey Buds
FUBAR, First Class Funk, Grape Gasoline S1
Magnolia Rd
Cherry Hills
Magnolia Road
A-Bay Bay, Apples & Bananas, Black Amber, Bubba Berry, Cherry Hills, Divine Kush Breath, Durban Kush #8, FUBAR, First Class Funk, Glitter Bomb, Grape Gasoline S1, Muffinz Breath #1, Passionfruit, Platinum Kush Breath, Sour Rado, Tart Pops #4, Woosah, Yuk Mouth
Medicine Man
Apples & Bananas, Black Amber, FUBAR, First Class Funk
Mellow Harvest
Durban Kush #8, KPF, SNX, Sueno, Veritas Cookies
Native Roots
A-Bay Bay, Apples & Bananas, Bananaghani, Black Amber, Bordeaux #5, Cherry Diesel, Cherry Hills, Cherry Punch, Cookies N Cream, Divine Kush Breath, Durban Kush #8, El Chivo #4, FUBAR, First Class Funk, Forza San Souci #4, Frozen Dessert, Gelato 41, Glitter Bomb, Grape Gasoline S1, LCS, Marshmallow OG #9, Melonade #8, Muffinz Breath #1, OZ Kush, Orange Acai, PAY, Passionfruit, Peach Crescendo #2, Puzzle Juice, RUN, SNI, SNX, Slurricane, Sour Rado, Street Urchin, Sudz, Super Sour Lemon, Tart Pops #4, Triangle OG, WOF, WRZ, Watermelon Sorbet, Wedding Crasher, Woosah, Yuk Mouth
Nature's Kiss
Bordeaux #5, Cherry Hills, Durban Kush #8, Passionfruit, SNX
Peak North
Black Amber, Durban Kush #8, First Class Funk, Passionfruit, Triangle OG, Yuk Mouth
Police and Thieves
Durban Kush #8, LCS, SNI, Sherb Crasher, Triangle OG
RoadRunner
KPF, SNX, Veritas Cookies
Rocky Mountain
A-Bay Bay, Black Amber, Blueberry Lemonade, FUBAR, SNI, Slurricane, Sour Apple, Sour Rado, Tangidos, Woosah
Rocky Mountain Blaze
A-Bay Bay, Black Amber, Bordeaux #5, FUBAR, First Class Funk, Marshmallow OG #9, PAY, Woosah
Rocky Mountain Cannasol
Apples & Bananas, Cherry Hills, Passionfruit, SNI, Sudz
Rocky Road Remedies
Apples & Bananas, FUBAR, Glitter Bomb, Grape Gasoline S1, Medellin, Puzzle Juice, Sour Rado, Woosah
Roots Rx
Bananaghani, Blueberry Lemonade, Bordeaux #5, Bubba Berry, Cherry Hills, Divine Kush Breath, Durban Kush #8, El Chivo #4, Muffinz Breath #1, Passionfruit, SNX, Sour Apple, Sudz, Tart Pops #4, Triangle OG, Turnt, WOF, Wedding Crasher
SMOKEY'S
Cherry Hills, First Class Funk, Melonade #8, Muffinz Breath #1, SNI, SNX, Street Urchin, WOF, Watermelon Sorbet, Woosah
Skunked
A-Bay Bay, Apples & Bananas, Black Amber, FUBAR, Glitter Bomb, Grape Gasoline S1, Medellin, Sour Rado, Woosah
Solace Meds
Apples & Bananas, Divine Kush Breath, Durban Kush #8, El Chivo #4, First Class Funk, SNI, Slurricane, Street Urchin, Sudz, Yuk Mouth
Spark Dispensary
First Class Funk, Marshmallow OG #9, Sudz, Triangle OG, Wedding Crasher, Yuk Mouth
Standing Akimbo
Bordeaux #5, Cherry Hills, Divine Kush Breath, Durban Kush #8, First Class Funk, Forza San Souci #4, Marshmallow OG #9, Melonade #8, Muffinz Breath #1, OZ Kush, PAY, Passionfruit, SNI, Slurricane, Street Urchin, Sudz, Triangle OG, WOF, Watermelon Sorbet, Woosah, Yuk Mouth
Star Buds
Durban Kush #8, El Chivo #4, Peach Crescendo #2, Peach Kush #2, Slurricane, Triangle OG, Yuk Mouth
Starbuds
Durban Kush #8, El Chivo #4, Peach Crescendo #2, Peach Kush #2, Slurricane, Triangle OG, Yuk Mouth
TGS
A-Bay Bay, Apples & Bananas, Black Amber, Blueberry Lemonade, Bordeaux #5, Cherry Hills, Divine Kush Breath, Durban Kush #8, First Class Funk, Frozen Dessert, Glitter Bomb, Marshmallow OG #9, Muffinz Breath #1, OZ Kush, PAY, Passionfruit, SNI, SNX, Slurricane, Sour Rado, Street Urchin, Sudz, WOF, Woosah
THE GREEN SOLUTION LLC
Apples & Bananas
The 404 Dispensary
A-Bay Bay, Blueberry Lemonade, Cherry Hills, Durban Kush #8, Muffinz Breath #1, Slurricane, Triangle OG
The 64 Store
A-Bay Bay, Black Amber, Fubar, Marshmallow OG #9
The Dispo
A-Bay Bay, Black Amber, Blueberry Lemonade, Cherry Diesel, FUBAR, First Class Funk, Grape Gasoline S1, Marshmallow OG #9, Orange Acai, PAY, Puzzle Juice, SNI, Slurricane, Sour Apple, Sour Rado, Super Sour Lemon, Tangidos, Triangle OG, Turnt, WOF, Woosah
The Underground Station
Cherry Hills, El Chivo #4, Wedding Crasher
Top Crop
Cherry Hills, Durban Kush #8, KPF, SNX, Sueno, Veritas Cookies
Tumbleweed
Apples & Bananas, FUBAR, Marshmallow OG #9, OZ Kush, Passionfruit, Puzzle Juice, SNX, WOF
Twin Peaks
A-Bay Bay, Apples & Bananas, Blueberry Lemonade, Durban Kush #8, El Chivo #4, First Class Funk, Glitter Bomb, Grape Gasoline S1, SNI, Slurricane, Sour Apple
Backstage Grass
First Class Funk, Triangle OG
Best Budz
WOF, Yuk Mouth
Best High
Apples & Bananas, Cherry Hills, Marshmallow OG #9, PAY, Passionfruit, SNX, Slurricane
Blue Heron
A-Bay Bay, Apples & Bananas, Black Amber, Cherry Diesel, FUBAR, Glitter Bomb, Grape Gasoline S1, Medellin, Sour Rado
Bud Board
Cherry Hills, Durban Kush #8, KPF, SNX, Sueno, Veritas Cookies
COS Confidential
First Class Funk, Marshmallow OG #9, OZ Kush, Sudz, Triangle OG, WOF, Wedding Crasher, Yuk Mouth
Canna Cabinet
A-Bay Bay, Apples & Bananas, Bananaghani, Black Amber, Blueberry Lemonade, Durban Kush #8, FUBAR, First Class Funk, Gelato 41, Glitter Bomb, Grape Gasoline S1, Medellin, Orange Acai, PAY, Passionfruit, Puzzle Juice, SNI, SNX, Slurricane, Sour Apple, Sour Rado, Sudz, Super Sour Lemon, Tangidos, Turnt, WOF, WRZ, Watermelon Sorbet, Wedding Crasher, Woosah, Yuk Mouth
Cannabicare
First Class Funk, Glitter Bomb, Grape Gasoline S1, Medellin, Sour Rado, Sudz, WOF
Cherry Peak
A-Bay Bay, Apples & Bananas, Bananaghani, Blueberry Lemonade, Durban Kush #8, El Chivo #4, Frozen Dessert, Glitter Bomb, Grape Gasoline S1, Marshmallow OG #9, Medellin, Muffinz Breath #1, Orange Acai, PAY, SNI, SNX, Slurricane, Sour Apple, Sour Rado, Street Urchin, Sudz, Super Sour Lemon, Tangidos, Turnt
Chronic Therapy
A-Bay Bay, Black Amber, FUBAR, Sour Rado, Woosah
Colorado Harvest Company
Apples & Bananas, Bananaghani, Black Amber, Blueberry Lemonade, Divine Kush Breath, Durban Kush #8, El Chivo #4, FUBAR, First Class Funk, Frozen Dessert, Gelato 41, Glitter Bomb, Grape Gasoline S1, Marshmallow OG #9, Medellin, Melonade #8, Orange Acai, PAY, Passionfruit, Puzzle Juice, SNI, SNX, Sour Apple, Sour Rado, Sudz, Super Sour Lemon, Tangidos, Triangle OG, Turnt, WOF, WRZ, Watermelon Sorbet, Woosah
Dark Matter
Cherry Hills, Durban Kush #8, KPF, SNX, Sueno, Veritas Cookies
Elevated
Melonade #8, Muffinz Breath #1, Passionfruit, SNI, Sudz, Triangle OG, Woosah
Emerald Fields
Black Amber, Cherry Hills, Durban Kush #8, First Class Funk, Marshmallow OG #9, Melonade #8, Muffinz Breath #1, SNI, SNX, Sour Rado, Street Urchin, Sudz, WOF, Watermelon Sorbet, Woosah, Yuk Mouth
Emerald Fields Wash Park
First Class Funk, Street Urchin, Sudz, WOF, Watermelon Sorbet, Woosah
Fiddlers Green
A-Bay Bay, Blueberry Lemonade, SNI, Sour Apple, Turnt
Green World
A-Bay Bay, Black Amber, FUBAR, Sour Rado, Woosah
Green World Express
Peach Kush #2
High Class
Sueno, Veritas Cookies
Kind Care of Colorado
A-Bay Bay, Apples & Bananas, Bananaghani, Black Amber, Durban Kush #8, El Chivo #4, FUBAR, First Class Funk, Glitter Bomb, Grape Gasoline S1, Marshmallow OG #9, Medellin, PAY, Passionfruit, Slurricane, Sour Rado, Street Urchin, Sudz

September 12, 2022

Grasslands CMO Jesse Burns on Building Meaningful Cannabis Cultures

And why marketers in the space need to see restrictions as opportunities

Profile picture for user Tim Nudd

By Tim Nudd on Sep 08 2022 - 9:30am

Jesse Burns | Photo illustration by Ashley Epping

Jesse Burns | Photo illustration by Ashley Epping

Jesse Burns is a cannabis marketing veteran who served as the longtime marketing director for Sweet Grass—Colorado's leading edible in the baked goods category—before joining Grasslands, the cannabis marketing and public relations agency, as CMO in 2020.

Jesse believes product design and a deep understanding of the customer journey are the driving forces for exceptional brands, and that marketers must strive to understand what emotions customers experience in order to craft a meaningful brand narrative and build lasting relationships. 

Selected as a Clio Cannabis Awards juror in 2022, Jesse has received multiple accolades for marketing and product design, including Colorado's THC Classic and a Gold Clio. He also has served as a mentor for the CanopyBoulder cannabis startup incubator.

We spoke with Jesse for our Higher Calling series, where we chat with leaders in the cannabis space.


Jesse, tell us...

Where you grew up, and where you live now.

When you ask someone from West Virginia where they are from, they will often raise their left fist and extend their middle finger and thumb, which makes the shape of the state. They then point to the place on the back of their hand and that is technically "where they are from." I'm from outside the bottom knuckle of the thumb. Nowadays I live in Denver by way of a few other states, countries and Humboldt County.

Your current role in the cannabis industry.

I'm the chief marketing officer for Grasslands, a cannabis marketing and public relations agency based in Denver, Colorado. I work with our team on all of the agency's marketing, as well as the marketing products we offer our clients. We're a journalism-minded agency specializing in complicated business languages, and we work primarily with cannabis businesses. My favorite client work is when we create brand messaging and position brands to achieve their business goals. 

Your earliest cannabis memory.

My earliest cannabis memory is the "This Is Your Brain on Drugs"—egg in the frying pan—commercial that played during Saturday morning cartoons in the early '90s. While it never specifically addressed cannabis, I was taught that "weed" was a drug, and the commercial  haunted me for years, even after I started consuming cannabis. Years later I would find out that while my friends and I were sitting through D.A.R.E. lessons in public school learning how everyone who smoked weed was a dangerous drug dealer, many of my friends' parents were quietly growing cannabis at home.

A story about the positive impact cannabis has had on your life.

When Coloradans voted on Amendment 64 in 2012, I was living up in the hills of Humboldt County, California. I received my absentee ballot via general delivery at a small rural post office, where I checked the "yes" box and sent it back to Colorado before heading back up the hill. 

I deeply appreciate the medicinal and therapeutic relationship many people have with cannabis. I also deeply appreciate the recreational relationship consumers have with the plant. Yet, for me personally, the impact is different. 

I have always had a deep passion for the culture, or counterculture, that cannabis has influenced and often defined. The ability to vote to legalize an industry that has enabled me to channel my focus and passion into the business world; to be on the forefront of this brand-new industry; and to be a marketer who is shaping the future of the industry—it's truly the cumulative opportunity of a lifetime. My career mission and throughline is to empower people to create their own cannabis cultures, and to make meaningful culture in ways they want to experience it. 

A favorite flower, edible, product, or brand.

For six years I was the director of marketing for Sweet Grass (acquired by LivWell Enlightened Health in 2020), a legacy Colorado edibles brand that specialized in cannabutter baked goods. The cannabutter we made is how cannabis is supposed to be eaten. There's no "nano" or "fast-acting" or "innovative" extraction technology out there that can give you the full-body effect you can get from a full-flower cannabutter product. While I was at Sweet Grass, we designed an actual stick of butter to sell in dispensaries—a product that ended up winning a Gold Clio in the inaugural year of the Clio Cannabis Awards. There is nothing better than a dosed stick of butter sitting on your kitchen counter. 

The biggest challenge cannabis marketers face today.

I honestly believe that the biggest challenges cannabis marketers face today are self-manifested. So often we hear about shutdowns and restrictive regulations, and how they get in the way of marketing. Yet I am a firm believer that by flipping the lens, we can use these regulations, challenges and hardships to spur creativity and create truly groundbreaking work. I encourage all cannabis marketers to color outside the lines and set the textbooks on fire; to go out there and use these perceived handcuffs as a source of inspiration and power. 

A cannabis trade/social justice organization that you support.

Business is the most significant force for change in our current world; it's the power we as entrepreneurs and employees have to create and move towards the world we want to live in.

Cannabis Doing Good helps businesses understand and guide that, and I am a big fan of their work. Here at Grasslands, our Diversity-In-Marketing Internship Program helps diversify our own perspectives on public relations and marketing, and it is one way we are contributing to the world and industry we want to see.

A recent project you're proud of.

Every year Grasslands designs and prints a physical, poster-size annual calendar as a part of a direct mail campaign. We work with local artists, designers and an in-house writing team to make one of the coolest pieces of swag out there. I have a passion for the analog, and breathing new life into a medium that is often regarded as outdated and turning that into art is a truly gratifying exercise. And then to see our friends and clients hang the calendar on their walls is remarkably rewarding.

Someone else's project you admired recently.

I always admire brands that are good at building community—especially anytime a brand focuses on building a community around their products, their values, and the way they see the world. Some examples in cannabis include Cookies—the way people tattoo themselves and are so proud to associate themselves with Berner—and Veritas Fine Cannabis—the way they host events at Red Rocks and partner with lifestyle brands like Icelantic and Oskar Blues. My absolute favorite, non-cannabis brand: Liquid Death. It's bold, audacious, unbelievably over-the-top, yet accessible. A heavy metal water brand in a can—it doesn't get much better than that. 

Someone you admire in cannabis who's doing great things.

Ben Walters at Pioneer Index is doing really great work around measuring the performance of cannabis brands' marketing programs. His group is expanding access to marketing metrics that goes so far beyond the more readily available point-of-sale data. I am thrilled to see how the Pioneer Index continues to establish itself as a gold standard for understanding cannabis brand salience. 

A movie, TV show, music or food you most enjoy pairing with cannabis.

Without a doubt, it has to be Friendsgiving. Having friends and the community come together while eating delicious food is something I love. One of the reasons behind my love for Friendsgiving is the THC pumpkin pie we made at Sweet Grass. Pro tip—eat the pie before dinner to encourage the munchies, so you and your guests don't fall asleep immediately after dessert.

What you'd be doing if you weren't in the cannabis industry.

Cannabis marketing is a passion of mine, and I have always been fortunate enough to find a place for myself in industries that are interesting and that I'm passionate about. If I wasn't in the cannabis industry, I would be working in marketing for another industry that I love, likely outdoors or fashion, telling folks why that's the best industry to work in. That said, if the job and lifestyle were sustainable—and less disappointing to my mother—I would go back to whitewater raft guiding without hesitation.

Donate to Last Prisoner Project

$