Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Jason
Speaker 1: Kelly on Bloomberg Radio. So, as we were talking earlier,
Speaker 1: among the Bloomberg Fifty, which will be in the current
Speaker 1: magazine's hitting news stands on Thursday, is executive chairman of
Speaker 1: one of the big cannabis companies. And you know, we
Speaker 1: talk a lot about the industry. We did, Jason last year,
Speaker 1: we certainly did this year, and we will, no doubt
Speaker 1: about it continue into So we want to find out
Speaker 1: a little bit about what's to come the importance of branding.
Speaker 1: D Simms is with us CEO of the cannabis brand
Speaker 1: consultancy company BRN Group, joining us in our Bloomberg Interactive
Speaker 1: Broker studio right here in New York. Welcome to Bloomberg Radio. Hello,
Speaker 1: glad to be here. So tell us a little about
Speaker 1: the cannabis industry, because I feel like there's been some
Speaker 1: highs and lows, no puns intended, but I do think
Speaker 1: like we've talked to a lot of the CEOs of
Speaker 1: various companies, and you know, we still need to get
Speaker 1: the regulations figured out so that there's federal regulation the US,
Speaker 1: so it's not a state by state cases, we're still
Speaker 1: trying to figure out the financial aspect of it. So
Speaker 1: tell us abe about your thoughts on what's to come
Speaker 1: and and and how it's moving along incredibly early days, Um,
Speaker 1: when we're excited to be a part of it. I
Speaker 1: mean at the Burn Group, our focuses and rooted in
Speaker 1: three pillars and tech distribution and brands. Sorry, I SBRN
Speaker 1: Bird Group, Burn Baby Baby exactly, So I don't want
Speaker 1: to get in the weeds. But okay, So so the
Speaker 1: reality is, Um, you know this is an industry, right,
Speaker 1: I've I've worked in everything from fashion, fragrance, TV celebrity
Speaker 1: spirits where you kind of had to build and determine
Speaker 1: what segment you're going after. This is interesting, right you
Speaker 1: have like a you have a plan that is centuries old,
Speaker 1: Like this is like how do you take this? Is
Speaker 1: like cinnamon? Right? So you have an existing proposition, um
Speaker 1: that essentially needs to be rebranded and destigmatized, which is
Speaker 1: which would be you and primarily by I think actually
Speaker 1: a step before marketing is really in my education. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, as a person who has built a gazillion brands,
Speaker 1: there's a huge gap in the basics of like nomaclature
Speaker 1: and what is CBD, what is tc H, what does
Speaker 1: cannabis even mean? Where does the plant come from? Is
Speaker 1: this new as a novel? Um? So I think for
Speaker 1: us at the Burn group, we look at the brands
Speaker 1: that we're building. We've put together kind of a crack
Speaker 1: team of UM people who deeply understand how to build
Speaker 1: cannabis brands, but at the intersection of commerce and culture,
Speaker 1: which we feel like don't exist right now. UM. I
Speaker 1: think on top of that, when you look at what
Speaker 1: the futurist and fashion or is it like alcohol you've
Speaker 1: worked with, you know certainly getting a lot of you know,
Speaker 1: spirit brands out there. Is it the same thing? And
Speaker 1: that's important responsibly, um, But there are lots of rules
Speaker 1: and regulations when it comes to the alcohol industry. So
Speaker 1: is it the same thing? Can we make the comparison
Speaker 1: a hundred percent? I mean, when I was looking at
Speaker 1: the industry, UM, somewhat longingly from the outside, there's a
Speaker 1: ton I think of some hilarities, um, you know, in
Speaker 1: terms of in the spirits business, in terms of building
Speaker 1: premium brands, in the opportunity to connect with consumers. The
Speaker 1: gap though, is in an industry where in spirits where
Speaker 1: it is heavily self regulated, right, um, which is which
Speaker 1: is really the really the way to go when you
Speaker 1: think about the future of potential. Um, what regulation looks like.
Speaker 1: My hope is that regulators understand it can be done
Speaker 1: in isolation. It has to be legitimate private public collaboration,
Speaker 1: just because the information is so disparate. Um, so we
Speaker 1: kind of have to also at the same table share
Speaker 1: information to determine what regulations make sense from a guidance
Speaker 1: counsel standpoint, not a whole mon understandpoint. And you talked
Speaker 1: about the intersection of commerce and culture, which is so fascinating,
Speaker 1: and you probably sat at one of the most fascinating
Speaker 1: next side of that, which is working for Daddy brother
Speaker 1: Love Combs. Yeah. So, I mean, and very few people
Speaker 1: candidly in the modern era have done that as well
Speaker 1: as he has obviously, as you did in many ways
Speaker 1: across a variety of brands and really understanding an audience,
Speaker 1: really understanding marketing. What do you bring from that experience
Speaker 1: to this Yeah, like fourteen years um work, they're building
Speaker 1: everything from you know, from from fragrance as I mentioned,
Speaker 1: and you know, my favorite story from Rock Vodka, which
Speaker 1: was horrible, terrible story negative five years Kager the spreadsheet
Speaker 1: you woquy at too. You know what is now considered
Speaker 1: to be like a two bion dollar retail value brand. Um,
Speaker 1: but the science I think of what of what Sean
Speaker 1: brought to the table, whether it was and then you know,
Speaker 1: a new biggie song, or whether it was building the
Speaker 1: second most popular ultra premium baca in the world is
Speaker 1: really around. You can't like, you can't fake a conversation
Speaker 1: with your audience. And this was true thirty years ago,
Speaker 1: but today is hyper true and it's incredibly missing right
Speaker 1: now in the cannabis space. I um, you know, my
Speaker 1: newest parlor trick right now is ask anybody to name
Speaker 1: three CBD brands outside this building, and no one can
Speaker 1: get to If you can get to, like you're in
Speaker 1: an audience that's probably an analyst and I know, but
Speaker 1: I have to say, you're overwhelmed. And I have felt
Speaker 1: the same way, Like I'm curious, but I feel like
Speaker 1: what are the standards and there's just an array of
Speaker 1: products and I don't I don't have a brand connection
Speaker 1: yet with any Yeah, you need someone and something to
Speaker 1: trust and believe in. If you're just to your point,
Speaker 1: kind of candy curious, which you know, we're. The cool
Speaker 1: thing about the industry is it is literally like one
Speaker 1: of the true nonpermose issues. Right over six percent of
Speaker 1: Americans are pro federal regulation, and it's definitely an interesting frontier.
Speaker 1: So you're gonna have to come back. Wait, Thanks for
Speaker 1: having Sims is the CEO of Burn Group. Here in
Speaker 1: our Bloomberg Interactive broker's studios, spending your time between New
Speaker 1: York and Toronto, watch this space for sure. Noted