Retail Brand Health FAQ

Answers to common questions about the US Cannabis Retail Brand Health portal.

Are the sample sizes significant?  

• At a national level, our cannabis consumer surveys have over 5,000 respondents a quarter and are larger than those carried out by large market research agencies and larger even than national presidential election polls (e.g. Ipsos Mori, YouGov).  
• At a state level, our sample sizes are selected to provide at least a confidence level of 95% and a margin of error of 3%, taking into account the population of cannabis consumers in each state. As the study progresses each quarter, this confidence only increases - enabling our clients to aggregate across quarters or compare differences as they arise.  
• We are very proud of our sample sizes. With 18% incidence in the category and quarterly fielding, it is unlikely you will find a stronger study and more robust sample. If you do, please let us know, we aim to be the best on the market!  

Why does the portal have a force select on state?  

• Because the brands listed and displayed to respondents were determined by which states they reside in, you don’t want to aggregate the study.  

Why does the Retail Brand Health dashboard display a different total sample size than 5000?  

• The comprehensive study includes our cannabis consumer dashboard which has over 5000 respondents a quarter. Our retail brand health dashboard only displays certain states to which you have subscribed. 

Why do sample sizes typically fluctuate wave over wave? 

• The sample size will fluctuate in order to obtain quotas. Some quotas are hard to fill and will require that we go over some quotas to open our survey up enough to fill those tougher quotas. We then normalize the data to eliminate any skews from the over quotas. 
• As the study expands to new states, the overall sample size will also increase. 

During our quarterly surveys, how long is the survey typically in the field? 

• All our syndicated studies have different fielding lengths. US Cannabis is typically in field for 6-7 weeks.  
• The first collection for Retail Brand Health was from May 19 to June 30, 2022. 

How do we screen for fraudulent responses/how do we track that people aren't clicking through blindly "just to get it over with"? 

• We have many fraud alert responses in place. They range from red herring questions, attention checks, timed responses, straight-lining analysis, response analysis, improbable responses, etc. 
• For more detail on our approaches to fraudulent responses and data quality see this doc.  

What’s the difference between brand health and brand sales comparisons? Why might the two conflict?  

• Many times Brand Health and Sales data may give what appears to be diverging stories of a brand’s current market situation. The reality is that they’re measuring two different aspects of your brand’s performance, so they may be different for various reasons. It’s best to look at them both as two pieces of the brand performance puzzle that can help guide business-critical decisions. 

Reasons why they often look different 

1. Lagging metrics: Brand perceptions shift slowly unless something catastrophic or epic has happened to your brand, especially brands that have been around for a while. They are often more predictive of where your brand is going vs. where it has been. 
2. Big brands defy gravity: Large, well-known brand metrics fall much more slowly than smaller brands. Big brands will have strong metrics just from longevity, it will take longer for them to see negative sentiment even if their sales are falling. Mainly because the feelings about the brand aren’t always increasingly negative, consumers have just put their attention to other places for a change.  
3. Sentiment alone doesn’t move sales: Many forces beyond sentiment can cause sales to fluctuate-promotions, distribution, media impact, etc.—these tend to move short-term sales more than hearts and minds 
4. People vs. Dollars: Sales metrics generally do not tie each individual purchase to an individual. Instead, it’s a record of the dollars spent on products by all consumers combined. Each consumer is then counted multiple times in sales data, so their impact is amplified. Thus, high-volume consumers are heavily weighted in this data. In Brand Health, each individual’s sentiment is counted once, regardless of how much or how often they purchase the brand or category. Thus they measure different things; Brand health is measuring people and POS is measuring $ spent.  
5. Awareness vs. Purchase: Consumers aren’t always aware of the brand name they purchased. This is particularly an issue within saturated markets, brands where there are similarly named brands, and/or where package design is key to awareness. Brand Health measures the awareness of the brand name in its first funnel metric. If consumers don’t remember what they purchased they will not enter the purchase funnel.  

Why Brand Health is important: 

1. What vs. Why: Sales data tell you what is happening at the shelf at any given time. Brand Health trackers can tell you why this is happening. Who are you gaining/losing share from? How have your user groups changed or shifted? What habits do your users have that provide information as to why you’re seeing what you’re seeing in the market?
2. Competitive knowledge & benchmarking: Sales data can show you your volume in comparison to other brands in the market. However, understanding the overlap of buyers across the competitive landscape isn’t possible. Brand Health shows you what brands your consumers are also purchasing and helps you better understand the shelf dynamics that may be hidden behind pure sales data.
3. Brand Buyers: Who is actually buying my brand? What can I figure out about them to help me better cater to their needs? 
4. Trend watching: Brand Health data can show smaller brands making movements that may not yet be seen in sales volumes. This can help you keep an eye on brands that you might otherwise discount until it’s too late to see they’ve taken a bite out of your sales. 
5. SWOT Analysis: Are there some aspects of your brand that are starting to show weakness or vulnerability? You can catch them before they become derailers. 
6. Saliency: If your sales are great but your measured awareness is weak, it may mean you have a brand saliency issue. Consumers can’t recall your brand name when asked, meaning their overall connection to your brand is tenuous and easily broken by a competitor that can stand out to them.