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Pre-Proposal: HWY Brand Road Trip

Mark R

New member
Proposal Summary:

Original Document - Google Drive Link

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1iOkCCh5g4h0J8dTOhhzupoT8CYZsvQafd-sXKt1sPqU


The HWY Bar Road Trip project will promote the adoption of Dash in high-volume California cannabis retail locations. The project will coincide with the launch of the HWY Bar product line and the onset of recreational use laws in CA.

The proposed funds will help offset costs for the planning and execution of the “HWY Road Trip,” a 30-day journey in a HWY/Dash co-branded Airstream, which will visit approximately 90 high volume dispensaries (from San Diego to the Bay Area) over the course of the trip. At each stop, the HWY team will put on a 2 hour “customer appreciation” event, where patients, recreational consumers, and dispensaries will sample and be educated on the bars. Orders will be placed and fulfilled, and the fun will be documented and disseminated on numerous media sources.

HWY Bars will be sold exclusively through CannTrade, the wholesale cannabis marketplace which has a contract with Dash (whereby Dash is the only digital currency accepted on the platform). Businesses on CannTrade will be equipped with Dash-ready accounts and be incentivized to transact in Dash, while consumers will be motivated to download a Dash Wallet and purchase using Dash.

Dispensaries will receive a 2-for-1 deal on HWY Bar boxes if they pay using Dash. To make this as easy as possible, a Dash ATM will be transported on the Airstream to ensure the transactions can happen anywhere, and with ease. Additionally, any patient/consumer that downloads a Dash Wallet will receive a “buy 1 get 1” coupon to use when they make their purchase at the dispensary counter.

As a product, HWY Bars have unique advantages, from manufacturing capacity and production costs, to well established distribution companies signed on to carry them, to flavors and nutrition otherwise unavailable in a cannabis-infused product. (See the video of High Times Top Chef and HWY recipe designer Brandon Allen below to learn more about the bars).

The last crucial element of this proposal is the marketing and media exposure this project can bring. The Road Trip is a month long event that will require outreach and coverage via social and cannabis specific media, before, during, and after the event. This project will enlist the services of two of the most effective media companies in the Cannabis space, CFN Media (http://www.cfnmedia.com) and Cannabis Radio (http://www.cannabisradio.com), each who have wide reach in the B2B and B2C markets.

We expect the HWY Bar Road Trip to be highly successful in moving bars and increasing awareness and adoption of Dash at both a B2B and B2C level.

We are seeking a one time payment of 358 Dash (~$158,000) to help fund this project. You can learn more about the HWY Partners Brandon Allen and Mark Restelli below (end of the proposal), and visit the HWY website here: https://www.hwybrand.com We look forward to hearing your thoughts and fielding any questions the network may have.

Disclosure: Mark Restelli, one of the partners at HWY, is also a co-founder of CannTrade, a business that has had a previous budget proposal approved by Dash. CannTrade is currently in the process of integrating with Alt Thirty Six to allow for the use of Dash for transactions on the CannTrade platform. That integration will be completed in January 2018. We assert that crossover is a positive, and that the convergence of three companies (Alt Thirty-Six, CannTrade, and HWY), each offering separate value and applying pressure from a different angle will help drive Dash adoption more effectively.

HWY Bar
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Bar Concept and Design

Edibles are one of the fastest growing segments in the 7 billion dollar cannabis retail market, which is projected to hit 20 billion by 2021. Much of the projected growth is based on expanding recreational legalization, which will bring new waves of consumers to the market.

HWY is branded as an active lifestyle brand with mass appeal and is especially well positioned to capture the imagination of novice and experienced consumers alike. While the general population is becoming more curious about and aware of the health benefits found in compounds within cannabis, the industry has been producing edibles that pair beneficial cannabinoids with unhealthy ingredients. The central value proposition behind HWY is that the bars offer a high quality, popular class of product (Hemp-nut Granola bars) with healthy, whole ingredients that enhance (rather than detract from) the beneficial properties of cannabinoids.

As a bonus, HWY will be able to offer a superior product at a price point significantly lower than consumers are used to seeing on dispensary shelves.

Learn about the concept, design, and flavors from the bars’ creator, High Times Top Chef Brandon Allen, in the video below:



The Competitive Advantage -- Why the Bars will Flourish in CA

The HWY Bar’s parent company (Plant 2 Products Collective) possesses a manufacturing facility in Mammoth Lakes, CA, and has secured both manufacturing and distribution licenses from the city. Because it is already fully licensed by the municipality and in good standing, HWY is positioned to be among the earliest businesses to secure state licensure once the state of California begins issuing licenses in 2018.

The HWY Manufacturing Facility is outfitted with a fully automated continuous bar production line with the capacity to produce 2000 bars per hour. Because of production volume and automation, HWY is able to produce a bar with high quality, whole ingredients while keeping production costs down (between $0.79 - $0.88 per bar).

In a B2B market where price is king, HWY will be able to sell boxes to dispensaries at the highly competitive price of 3 dollars per bar. The MSRP in stores will be set at $6, an inexpensive price for any product at a dispensary, as generally the only items for under $10 are hard candies, akin to jolly ranchers or lollipops.

Because the quality of the product is so high, the class of product (Infused Hemp-nut Granola Bars) is unique to the market, and the offer price is low, we expect retailers and consumers to be excited to make purchases. And we are not the only ones. After hearing the business specs, learning about the bars, and tasting the flavors for themselves, highly successful distributors (Highlanders Distribution, Cathedral Distribution, and Speedweed) have eagerly agreed to carry the HWY Bar products.

The Launch and Road Trip

But we want to introduce the state to HWY ourselves. We want to meet our customers face to face--and we want them to use Dash to buy.

To launch the product, HWY plans to embark on a 30 day road trip that will begin in March, 2018. The HWY team will travel the CA Coast in a wrapped and HWY/Dash co-branded Airstream (mock-ups below), from San Diego to the Bay Area, visiting an average of 3 dispensaries a day (~90 top-notch shops over the entirety of the trip).


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The team will spend ~1 week in San Diego and Orange County, ~ 2 weeks in Greater Los Angeles, and ~9 days in the Bay Area. In all regions, the trip will target high volume dispensaries.

For each visit, HWY will coordinate a “Consumer Appreciation” event, where consumers and dispensary agents will sample and be educated on the bars, Dash, and how to purchase using the digital currency. All purchases that occur will be through CannTrade, the Wholesale Cannabis Marketplace which supports Dash currency.
 
Incentives to Promote Dash


All wholesale buyers will be rewarded with a 2 for 1 deal ONLY if they purchase using Dash. A Dash ATM will be available on-site to make paying using Dash extremely easy. We expect many purchasers to make their initial transaction in Dash, and the 2 for 1 promotion will continue beyond the duration of the month long journey as long as supplies last. That means that any dispensary that re-orders will be incentivized to pay using Dash again (and again).


We believe that once businesses begin to use Dash a few times to buy HWY bars, they will see the benefits of not having to deal in cash, and will begin making more and more purchases (for additional products beyond HWY Bars) through CannTrade using Dash currency.


On top of everything, we will also be inviting several other quality cannabis brands to join us at our Appreciation Events--and in order to participate, they will need to sell product through CannTrade. As always, buyers will be encouraged to make those payments digitally, with Dash.


This will be an excellent opportunity for brands to lock down new retail clients and reach consumers and to introduce brands to Dash.


Marketing and Media

HWY has enlisted the help of two of the most powerful cannabis specific media companies in the world, CFN Media and Cannabis Radio, to help ensure the project gets as much exposure as possible.


In addition to those channels, we will contract independent writers and social media influencers to penetrate target markets in both the B2B and B2C realms.

The marketing package will consist of the following and more:

  • 90 Day Campaign (Month before, during, and after the Road Trip)
    • 6 original articles on the event, Dash, and brands involved. Each article includes images, call-to-action, and link to site
  • each article published as top story on media site cannabisfn.com
  • each article shared on our B2B social media
  • each article is shared with publicist to get event covered by mainstream and national press (i.e. USA Today, Huffington Post, Forbes, etc.)
  • Fully Produced, 10 minute Corporate Film on the event, brands, and Dash, with testimonials and interviews.
  • Multiple Social Media Promotions and Channels -- Instagram, Linkedin, Facebook, Snapchat, etc.
  • On-site reporters and influencers will produce daily content (text and video) to grow followers of the road trip and brands involved.

  • The involvement of Guest Brands will expand marketing reach by co-opting their social media channels and followers.

  • Marketing Collateral

  • With the help of Alt 36 and CannTrade, marketing collateral will be created and disseminated to promote HWY and Dash.

Benefits to Dash Enumerated

  1. Exposure -- We will be in the biggest cannabis market in the world, and plenty of eyeballs will see our Airstream all over the cities. We will be talking to everyone we see, and be able to give out unmedicated samples to pedestrians and walk ups. This is essentially a MONTH long event with 3 new audiences (and a growing media audience) every day.

  2. Each Dispensary will be heavily incentivized to 1) Sign up with CannTrade if they haven’t already 2) Download a Dash Wallet 3) Purchase HWY Bars using Dash. 4) Re-purchase using Dash on future orders

  3. Multiple quality Brands/Vendors will experience cashless transactions using Dash.

  4. Consumers will be encouraged and walked through the process of downloading a Dash wallet, educated on the benefits of paying in Dash.

  5. Another piece to the cannabis industry puzzle...HWY combines with Alt Thirty Six and CannTrade to increase Dash awareness and adoption.

What We’re Seeking

We are seeking a one-time payment of 333 Dash ($146,556.00) to offset the costs of the production of the bars and to funds the elements of the “roadtrip.”


Funding Breakdown
Expense: Amount
Pre Trip Logistics/Planning &
Promotion of Road Trip $3000.00


Airstream + Truck
  • Rent $7500.00
  • Wrap $5250.00
  • Est. Fuel $1150.00
  • Driver/setup (750/wk) $3215.00
Additional Cargo Truck (Carrying Product)
  • Rent $5500.00
  • Est. Fuel $1150.00
  • Driver (750/wk) $3215.00

Additional Staffing
  • 2 HWY evangelists ($3500 ea.) $7000.00
  • 2 assistants ($2500 ea) $5000.00
  • Food & lodging (when necessary) $16,500.00

Marketing & Media
  • 90 day Campaign Package + Film $29,000.00
  • On Site Reporters/Influencers $12,000.00
  • HWY & Dash educational and marketing material $3500.00
  • Additional Media Production & Editing $6000.00

Bar Production
4000 boxes + 270 Sample Boxes $37,576.00
(42,700 bars @ $0.88 per bar)



Total $146,556.00


Who We Are:


Brandon Allen - Chef, Product Designer

Brandon is a professionally trained Chef who studied at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh and apprenticed with an Olympic Culinary Team, Master Chef. Throughout his culinary education he competed in numerous competitions which eventually lead to his success in claiming the title as the first ever High Time’s Top Cannabis Chef Competition in the Spring of 2017. Chef Brandon Allen is a certified “interpener” (the art of interpreting cannabis terpenes), best described as a “sommelier” of cannabis and has the ability to identify cannabis quality and effects by visual and aromatic inspection. With a complete fascination for the Endocannabinoid System, Chef Brandon Allen has become an educational resource for the cannabis community. Ultimately, Chef Brandon Allen’s mission is to utilize cannabis as a vessel to education the world about food, while using food as a vessel to educate the world about cannabis.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-allen-71866643/

Mark Restelli - Partner


Mark is a former professional football player who sustained a career ending foot injury while playing for the Miami Dolphins. It took a total of 4 surgeries over a 3 year period to get his foot back into functional shape. Realizing cannabis was the only medication that could safely relieve the pain from 20 years of football injuries, he dove headlong into the cannabis industry at the close of his professional athletic career. He soon discovered that cannabis would be his lifelong passion.

Mark earned a degree in Agricultural Business with a minor in Viticulture from California Polytechnic State University. He worked in the wine industry during his 4-year professional football career and was responsible for the creation of his own small production distribution company called Glasshouse Wines. After leaving the wine industry and retiring from football, Mark spent the last 5 years working in the medical cannabis industry. He began by growing cannabis in his garage and used his skills in design and marking to develop medical cannabis products for several shops and brands. In 2014, Mark founded Plant 2 Products, a collective in California that is licensed to cultivate, extract, manufacture, and distribute cannabis products. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Restelli https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-restelli/
 
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