Kiva Sales & Service
Over the last 10 years, Kiva Confections rose to become the #1 edibles brand in the country, but their success is fueled by more than just premium ingredients and packaging. Creating a high-quality product was the first step, but Kiva knew that they couldn’t build brand loyalty if consumers couldn’t find their edibles at local dispensaries.
So they decided to forge a better path between points A and B.
The client
Kiva Sales & Service (KSS) is the B2B arm of the Kiva cannabis family. Known for being an industry innovator, Kiva added KSS to its portfolio as a way to ensure consistent distribution for its own range of products. Today, it has become a leading distributor of a variety of California’s best cannabis brands for 600+ legal storefronts across the state.
The challenge
KSS’s success resulted in an exciting challenge: their rapid growth in California had outpaced their brand development. Kiva’s hardworking sales team, impressive portfolio, and parent-company credibility accelerated KSS to the forefront of the distribution industry without an identifiable B2B brand, core message, or even a website.
With their sights set on emerging legal markets across the country, KSS needed a partner to help them put a face to the successful sales and service business they’d built behind the scenes.
The job of the website
The new site had three priority goals that informed our approach to story, design, and development:
- Provide a digital sales platform that reinforces the elite status of the KSS brand
- Persuade prospective brands and retailers to reach out and secure distribution partnerships
- Facilitate a low-lift, streamlined reorder process for customers and internal sales staff
The solution
Instead of treating other cannabis brands as competitors, Kiva took the high road by becoming a resource for consumers, suppliers, and retailers. With their vast network of partner dispensaries and elite roster of brands, KSS is the VIP club of California’s cannabis marketplace, and their site is your golden ticket inside.
The proof is in the porfolio. We utilized the premium look and feel of KSS’ impressive inventory to create a beautifully branded B2B experience that invites potential partners to rise to Kiva’s level and share in their success.
On the map
In the cannabis industry, we know that change is a constant reality. As KSS’s list of partners continued to grow rapidly, we needed to keep their vast dispensary network up-to-date at all times. We collaborated on a modern API and implemented a Google maps integration that makes it easy to add new retailers on the fly, without sacrificing design flourishes.
Product photography
Premium packaging has become the gold standard of cannabis branding, so we decided to use these appealing assets to our advantage. Highlighting the quality of KSS’s offering through stylized product photography gave us an opportunity to project authority and infuse beauty in every section of the site.
This approach to art direction elevates the status of KSS’s product portfolio, while enticing more manufacturers to pursue a partnership and enjoy the same top-shelf treatment as their competitors.
Illustration education
Finally, we found a compelling way to avoid the stock imagery trap as we explained KSS’s partnership process. Instead of relying on uninspiring shots of cannabis plants and sterile scientists in the lab, we created hand-drawn illustrations inspired by Kiva’s rich history to bring some beauty to the business side of cannabis.
The conclusion
Our experience with B2B innovators like Amplitude and Pandora informed our strategy of reinforcing KSS’s role as an established distributor, incubator, and industry-wide team player. As newcomers struggle to break into the complex cannabis marketplace, we are proud to help leaders like Kiva Sales & Service build on their success to blaze a better trail for all.
Ready to partner up and boost your B2B brand?
Schedule a chat with Justin to get started.