Much of the emerging technology in the cannabis market is about connecting people in a culture that is still a little afraid to be publicly social. Besides running his company Link Labs, which operates other platforms and verticals in his native land of Brazil, Mr Perroud is determined to take the emerging U.S. markets by storm with WEEDUP, a technology which allows businesses like dispensaries and head shops to connect with their clients and offer compelling content to keep them engaged. He’s pretty revolutionary, as you’ll see. His background in Cannabusiness dates way back to the first head shop in Brazil, and now it is his dream to move to Colorado and merge technology with the cannabis community.
Mr. Perroud and I connected on Skype for a conversation about WEEDUP and the future of technology in Emerging Cannabis Markets.
“It’s a direct line to the customer.”
CCC: So, Mr. Perroud. I just tried the demo of Weedups iBeacon wallet and started a little campaign for myself using Pass Suite. Walk me through it. What is the iBeacon wallet and what did I just do?
Andre: iBeacon is the best solution to drive traffic to a dispensary. If a person has the pass installed on their phone they'll receive a notification when they're close to a dispensary. It's a direct line to the customer. It’s cool because clients don’t have to install any apps, just the pass, and you can distribute notifications through Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Essentially you are sending them coupons, and they can download the it to their phone. With iBeacon dispensaries can trigger the messages even while clients are in the store. They can be notified by stating, “We carry AK-47 the strongest bud in the galaxy!”
NOTIFICATIONS SCREEN SHOT
“It’s two platforms, correct. The iBeacon platform and then another service that we do called ActionsFeed.”
CCC: And you’re streamlining and coordinating all the social media connections for the business?
Andre: It’s two platforms, correct. The iBeacon platform and then another service that we do called ActionsFeed. We collect all the images, video, gifs and put them in the same feed on our dashboard. You can approve and moderate all the interactions and display whatever you want on your website, or your mobile site and you can re-direct customers to the checkout page and process payments. It is cool because the customer can find the Instagram post they saw on your web site. We merge the right images with the right links, then you add buttons “I want”, “I want now!” or “I wanna buy!”. And you can display only the best content around your brand inside the dispensary on a monitor from the images and video we collect, and use the TV for marketing.
ACTIONSFEED SCREEN SHOT
CCC: So where is WeedUp based, and why did you choose to base it there?
Andre: I want to move to Colorado and work with dispensaries. It’s difficult for me because we just started, so right now we are based in Brazil. If I can choose one place to live and work, it would be California or Colorado.
“With iBeacon dispensaries can trigger the messages even while clients are in the store.”
CCC: What specific businesses are you targeting with WeedUp? Who do you want your clients to be, and are you only operating in the U.S. market?
Andre: Yes, it’s only U.S. market, because in Brazil I have a company Link Labs, we operate other verticals, which involves things other than WeedUp. If we had some brand in Brazil, like a head shop or smoking accessories, we use Link Labs. WeedUp is for the Cannabis industry in the U.S. and only dispensaries for now. We have plans to expand to verticals for all the cannabusinesses, like head shops, weed stores and T-shirts, because the best solution, the social hub solution, is where we can use our verticals.
“It’s two platforms, correct. The iBeacon platform and then another service that we do called ActionsFeed.”
CCC: So it can be adjusted or modified to serve other markets besides dispensary storefronts?
Andre: Yes. When I was at the last Cannabis Cup in Denver. I went to the dispensaries and I saw they have the TV, the website, but the content and the digital experience is not good. When you go to the store it is so cool because you have some beautiful people talking with you and working in the dispensary but there is lots to expand on online like for delivery and apps. Leafly and WeedMaps are cool but you can’t push a button and buy weed. We have an app here in Brazil, just push for pizza and we want to update that for cannabis, like push for weed.
CCC: (laughs) Sounds like heaven.
Andre: Yea, like on a watch you just have one button, you have your favorite weed and your favorite dispensary and you know what type you want to buy. So you just have to press the button on the watch and with the app you can switch dispensaries and switch strains and I think this is going to be huge. I want to simplify it so you find the good weed and you’re buying with just one tap.
“you can display only the best content around your brand inside the dispensary on a monitor”
CCC: I do agree, that people working in dispensaries do seem very happy to be doing what they are doing. But you think the experience at a dispensary can be made better by adding the digital content? You have the happy people and the digital content…
Andre: Yes, because sometimes you have more than one client in the dispensary and you have many jars with different strains. With our platform the customer can just scan the barcode of say Blue Dream with their phone and find out the good and bad things, like leafly has, but right there in the store. And when the customer is in the area, to trigger messages like “Yo, your Blue Dream is fresh!” And they think, “Oh, my weed is finishing, I better buy now!”
CCC: What are the obstacles you face with Weedup?
Andre: The worst barrier for Weedup is the need for new innovations and tricks to use. If you just offer the platform sometimes clients don’t know how to use it. I offer a lot of services so if I have to tell them to keep the hashtag campaigns and share your content many times. It takes a lot of time. I have three other companies and since my English is not so good I’m like, “Oh man, I have to do Weedup, I need to find somebody who lives in U.S. and knows all the facts and loves weed and the digital things!”
“ I hung out with Mix Master Mike from Beastie Boys, and with the members of Cypress Hill. Even in the 90s we were making 420 songs in Brazil. ”
CCC: You’ve said that out of all the verticals your companies offers WeedUp is your favorite project. Why?
Andre: Because it’s got a lot of potential to help people discover. I can engage the audience with the best innovations around in 2015. It’s my favorite project because of the possibility to make money with delivery and use these tools to monetize for business owners. You can put something cool with the people.
CCC: Have you always been involved in the Cannabis Industry? How did you start?
Andre: One day in 1994, I couldn’t find my bong and I looked all over. A month later I come home and my brother had it and I saw his room was filled with hundreds of other bongs. So we decided to open a store. We also brought the first clear rolling papers to Brazil. I hung out with Mix Master Mike from Beastie Boys, and with the members of Cypress Hill. Even in the 90s we were making 420 songs in Brazil. My brother has a company, www.ultra420.com.br, and everybody knows me as his brother, so I have to be very careful about marijuana because the laws are still very strict here.
CCC: What was the inspiration for WeedUp?
Andre: It’s the customers. If I go to a dispensary and I don’t have time, it’s my first time in Colorado, and I don’t speak the English well, and I’m shy. I don’t want to waste this time, this precious time.
CCC: Sounds like you used your own personal experience in Denver, and you want to connect the business with the customer in a way that makes them comfortable, and a way that introduces them.
Andre: Yes, man, that’s it, that’s it. More comfortable.
CCC: How did you start it? When did you launch it?
Andre: April 2015. Three months ago. But I started before that. One day I woke up, and said “I want to go to Denver. I want to see the dispensaries”. I made a WeedUp business card then went to the Cannabis Cup and investigated the scene. I said to myself maybe this is worth my while. After Cannabis Cup I was excited about WeedUp and my other company Link Labs. I had a few big projects here in Brazil so I decided to use the technology I developed for WeedUp. So I combined technology from my two platforms, Link Labs and Pass Suite to create WeedUp.
CCC: What’s your favorite part of being involved in the cannabis industry?
Andre: When you can survive with something you like, you know that you’re right. In the Cannabusiness I can smoke and make good friends with honest people. We have our own language. I know marijuana can be good for you and it’s cool. This makes me happy because I can’t work with guns, with sex, with prostitution. Here I can apply my start-up to the topics I love with the friends I work with. If you have something to contribute, why not do it?
CCC: What are some specific struggles and challenges of working in the cannabis tech industry?
Andre: That there are people who are only in here to make money. Like some dispensaries, stores and certain publications. There are liars who are always trying to find a way to make more money. Sometimes I struggle with the amount of work and how to make people collaborate. It’s people who think they are too big and don’t want to listen to what you have to offer and say “why do I have to spend money with technology, I don’t want to sell discounts, I am making enough money, I don’t want to offer anything”. There’s a lot of arrogance, like “I’m the best vaporizer pen in the galaxy, I don’t need this”. Then there’s WeedMaps, they don’t have much competition so they don’t yet see the advantages of Weedup. On the other hand there are smaller companies that don’t have money and can’t participate just yet.
CCC: What are your goals for WeedUp?
Andre: I need to find somebody to help spread Weedup in U.S., get salespeople in Colorado and California, my dream is to live there myself, and I hope this cannabusiness can help me achieve that dream. After coming back from Cannabis Cup, I was so excited, me and my wife started putting some things in the box to move to U.S.
CCC: You said “for Weedup, You see a great potential in the coming years.” Please elaborate.
Andre: In the coming years dispensaries and brands will be adding competition. When the US decides to legalize in other states, the newly legalized states will be watching. So the potential is with more competitors who will need a stronger digital presence. Therefore, the market is going to get better and better for the service I offer.
CCC: What are your plans for expansion?
Andre: If I could choose one region to live in and one business to run, it would be Weedup in Colorado. I need to get WeedUp used by dispensaries in California and Colorado and I will use salespeople to help me do that. In the future I want to make an app like “Push for Weed” where you just tap a button on your phone or watch and weed comes to you. The next level is delivery. Most services are cash on delivery, so the question is how to make money using the credit card and processing. But right now, focus will be with sales. I have the service running but I don’t have people to visit clients, follow up and shake hands.
CCC: If you could do it all again what would you do differently?
Andre: I would launch my own full service single application. One app with all the services and it would be easy to use. And start it up before weedmaps. (laughs)
CCC: (Laughs) Well, I want to Thank You for taking the time to answer our questions. I hope it brings WeedUp some publicity and gets people to understand what you offer and be interested in what you have to offer. Good Luck!
DISCLAIMER: The professionals and companies described are not associated or affiliated with Cash Cow Cannabis, and they may not endorse Cash Cow Cannabis or the information provided. The names of other companies, products and services are the property of their respective owners.
No comments:
Post a Comment