Brightfield Group

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president and CEO of Veritas Farms. We grow, extract, and manufacture full-spectrum CBD products.

What challenge were you trying to address with Brightfield Group?

We hired them to conduct market research.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Brightfield Group started by going into their data and pulling all of the information that they had on our company. They then shared some of that information with us, evaluating our stand in relation to our competitors in terms of large-chain and e-commerce sales.

Their team also surveyed over 5,000 clients to glean what consumers look for in CBD products. When they returned to us with those findings, we informed them that we would be doing a branding exercise. We provided them with a list of questions, which they answered using the data that they had collected during the survey. For example, what vehicle do consumers prefer when they buy CBD? Is it in the form of carbonated beverages, gummies, or tinctures? 

What is the team composition?

We interacted with around 2–3 people, including the project lead. There were probably around 5–6 more members behind the scenes doing the grunt work and the data mining. 

How did you come to work with Brightfield Group?

We searched on Google for data insight agencies, but we were already aware of Brightfield Group since they send out quarterly reports in our industry and often speak at trade shows and conventions. 

We included them in our evaluation based on their reputation and ultimately engaged them because of their focus and existing data on the cannabis industry. Another deciding factor was how Brightfield Group made a clear distinction between hemp and marijuana, whereas other agencies didn’t differentiate between the two cannabis industries. This was important for us since we exclusively deal in hemp.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our contract ran from July–October 2021.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

It’s still too early to tell of any impact as a result of Brigthfield Group’s work. With their help, however, we’ve been able to start the process of rolling out our branding. They gave us valuable insight into our company, the industry, and our consumers. 

Their research has opened our eyes to opportunities that we didn’t realize were there, and as a result, we’ve decided to focus on our CBD product line that’s targeted at pets. We’ve also discovered that Gen Xers and Baby Boomers preferred gummies over capsules. 

Further, we’ve found that only 18% of people buy CBD products for general health and wellness, while the majority buy CBD products for specific purposes, such as to mitigate pain, stress, anxiety, sleep problems, and the like. Thanks to Brightfield Group’s research and data, we’re now launching a functional product line that specifically targets these conditions.

How did Brightfield Group perform from a project management standpoint?

They were a very professional team. Communication was excellent, and the services they provided were well worth the cost we paid. They delivered what they promised they would and within the timeframe we agreed on. When we needed to change course, they adjusted their timelines accordingly. It was very interactive, and they got us exactly what we requested even when we slightly changed direction midway through the project. 

We communicated through Slack and collaborated through Google Docs.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was really impressed by the amount of detail in their data. We weren’t expecting to get that, which was a pleasant surprise. They had so much information, not just on the industry as a whole, but on our company specifically. For instance, they found that we were the market leader when it came to sports creams and lip balms, and we had no idea. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t have any constructive feedback. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Spend a lot of time figuring out and understanding what kind of data you’re looking for. This will help Brightfield Group determine whether they can simply pull that data or if they need to conduct surveys to gather it. It will also be more cost-effective for you in the long run.