NYC is the most diverse city in the United States between its 8.5 million residents and the 66 million tourists who visit from all parts of the world.

Not only will brands have access to a large audience base in NYC, but it is also the gateway to the world and presents a unique opportunity for CPG brands to begin building global brand awareness with the many tourists flocking the city. Once cannabis legalizes globally, brands that launch in NYC will be ahead of the US competition.

NYC is a fast-paced social town where people enjoy all sorts of entertainment, cultural institutions, restaurants, and just having fun.

Let’s explore the NYC cannabis consumer…

Who Are The Archetypes?

• Professionals from young to old crowd the streets as NYC is home to many industries and corporate headquarters.
• Cannamom/dad’s faced the serious risk of losing their children if caught consuming cannabis. The stigma is still there and may not be accepted in parenting circles even though it’s legal. In addition, urban living provides few private spaces for parents to consume. Edibles may be the perfect method of consumption for this group.
• Tourists are eager to consume while in town and curious to experience the cannabis culture NYers are creating on multiple levels to reach a wide variety of people.
• Legacy consumers who are used to buying weed on a street corner for many years may be happy to purchase from a storefront instead of slinking around town.
• College Students are plentiful all over NYC and need a discreet way to consume on campus. They tend to favor delivery apps for all sorts of things and will most likely prefer purchasing weed through an app.
• Millennials come to NYC to attend college or kick off their careers and love to have fun with friends. Most of them live in the Bed Stuyvesant, Bushwick, GreenPoint, and Williamsburg section of Brooklyn because of its affordable housing.
• GenXers are in full swing juggling their professional lives and raising families. They are prime candidates for discreet edibles or tinctures to keep everything on the down-low in front of their children and parents of their children’s friends.
• Boomers are either former pot-heads or the canna-curious looking to plant-based medicine to deal with age-related health issues, stress, and anxiety.

What Are They Like?

New Yorkers are known for being a bit ADD and always in a big rush. Their collective personality traits make up the city’s unique fabric and add to the city’s infamous energy level:

*hyper *motivated *hustlers *life-long learners *networkers *resourceful *doers *creators *innovators *entrepreneurs *professionals *well-educated *hard-working *diverse *movers & shakers *curious *politically left-leaning *high achievers *tech-savvy *on the go *jugglers of parenting and careers *eclectic *health-conscious *competitive *foodies *physically fit *makers *determined

Meet them Where They Are

You can find clusters of similar archetypes in the same neighborhoods sprinkled with other folks that make up the five boroughs of NYC.

While this is not an exhaustive description of everyone living in the different neighborhoods, it will give you an idea of where to geo-target niche groups to optimize your marketing efforts. Many tend to live and play in their communities.

Manhattan:

• Chelsea & West Village is a predominantly gay community. Heading east, you will find college students who gather in Washington Square Park to watch entertainers, cop weed, protest, and hang out.
• Hells Kitchen is home to many aspiring actors and struggling artists.
• Upper West Side: Here, you will find an elderly group, yuppies, seasoned professionals, and entertainer types.
• Upper East Side: There are wealthy pockets of people in the Park Avenue and Carnegie Hill area, along with the working middle class. This group tends to be more conservative, whereas the Upper West Side is more liberal-leaning.
• East Village & Lower East Side: Struggling artists, creatives, millennials, and the bohemian type settle here. In this neighborhood, you will find tattoo parlors, vinyl record shops, and vintage shops. It was also a famous stomping ground for the punk rock scene back in the day.
• Harlem is home to a rich black culture, a tight-knit community, and loads of history.
• Tribeca and the Finacial District was where fine artists rented cheap lofts back when the neighborhood was undeveloped. Today, it is the wealthiest neighborhood in the city, bustling with young families and nannies. You will also find hoards of tourists visiting the 9/11 memorial and walking the Brooklyn Bridge to get a spectacular view of the city.

Bronx: Unfortunately, the Bronx has been a poor high-crime area for a long time and can’t seem to emerge from the blight. Although, the sprawling campus of Fordham University boasts a large population of students from around the country.

Queens neighborhoods tend to have concentrated pockets of ethnic groups and generations of immigrant families, including Asians, African Americans, Latino & Hispanics, and the white European population.

Brooklyn

• Williamsburg, Bushwick, and Bedford Stuyvesant: This is the area where hipster Millenials can find affordable housing and tend to live and play.
• Park Slope, Carrol Gardens, Clinton Hill, Fort Greene, Red Hook: These neighborhoods are filled with young professional parents and kids in strollers.
• Dyker Heights, Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Canarsie are residential-style neighborhoods where Italian families have lived for generations.
• Brighton Beach boasts a large Russian community.
• Coney Island is a poorer area of the city but attracts people from around the city because of its infamous Mermaid Parade and amusement park.

Staten Island is a predominantly white population of blue-collar workers where 50% of the people are over 35 years old. Unlike the other boroughs, Staten Island is a politically conservative community. And it is somewhat secluded, given buses and ferries are the only way to get there.

6 Ways To Market to NYC Cannabis Consumers

• Many New Yorkers have an entrepreneurial spirit and tend to be loyal and supportive of small businesses. Loyalty programs and authentic brand stories will work well with this group.
• The work hard, play hard mentality needs ways to decompress and relax. Appeal to their pain points.
• Walking, biking, or mass transportation are how people get around the city. Unfortunately, cannabis advertising on subways and buses is prohibited, but they are a tech-savvy group glued to digital devices. Mobile advertising is a way to reach this group.
• New Yorkers like to party, socialize and have fun. Smoking lounges with entertainment, food trucks, or the popular shuffleboard activity, coupled with craft cannabis cocktails, would win them over.
• They are foodies and would likely embrace a cannabis and food pairing experiential event. Food halls were popular and still are to an extent; imagine a food hall-style setup for brands to sell their craft cannabis flower and call it Hall of Flowers.
• Tourists are a big part of the cannabis consumer population. On tour buses, you will find them visiting landmark locations like Times Square, The Empire State Building, and the Statue of Liberty. But, they also want to experience NY like the locals, as many do when visiting another city or country.

New York City will be a key player in the re-emergence of the cannabis industry, and if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.