The Marketing Specialist
The concept of rebranding an industry or social cause is not new to 48North CEO Alison Gordon.
Prior to getting involved in the cannabis industry, she founded Rethink Breast Cancer, a nonprofit organization that worked to involve more young women by getting away from the traditional images and tropes surrounding the issue, like pink ribbons. Instead, the organization tried to reach a younger demographic by doing things like creating an app to remind women to do self-exams. To Gordon, it just made sense to for such an important cause to reach a wider audience.
“This should be no different than any other brand,” she says.
About 10 years ago, however, Gordon had close family member who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and used cannabis from Canada’s medical marijuana program to treat her symptoms. It was an eye-opener for Gordon, who says she didn’t even know the country had a medical program at that time.
After that, she started following the industry and saw the cannabis space as needing to be rebranded away from the stoner culture with which it had long been associated. In 2013, she took a job as chief marketing officer with a California cultivation company and has never looked back.
“Once I got started working in this industry, well, it hasn’t stopped,” she says.
Gordon got involved with 48North in January 2017 and has pushed the company to focus on the female market, which she says is different from simply offering a product “for women.” Gordon describes 48North as a publicly traded, vertically integrated cannabis company focused on what women want. The company aims to be a market leader as Canada transitions toward adult-use legalization on Oct. 17. DelShen Therapeutics, a wholly owned subsidiary of 48North, is one of 58 companies licensed for cultivation and sale under Canada’s current medical regulations.
Gordon views her product like any other consumer packaged good that needs to be marketed and sold.
She says market research has shown that women are less comfortable coming out as cannabis users, so there can be a larger information gap. 48North has also launched an online platform called “Latitudes” as a place for women to share their stories and engage with each other over cannabis.
As one of the few female CEOs in the space, Gordon says it has helped her stand out and get her company noticed.
“Being a woman is a huge differentiator for me,” she says. “I’m proud to be a female veteran of this industry.’
And as such, she sees it as “critical” to help other women find their place in the industry, particularly in finding capital investments to be successful in a new, large and fast-growing marketplace.
“I would hate to see women be scared away from that,” she says.