How cannabis is allowed to be marketed and branded in Canada is going to be an important conversation in the coming months, says Brock University Associate Professor Michael Armstrong.

On Wednesday, a coalition of licensed Canadian cannabis producers released “Recommendations for Responsible Cannabis Branding and Marketing Guidelines,” where they urged the government to set looser guidelines than planned for advertising marijuana.

Armstrong, who teaches courses in quality improvement in Brock’s Goodman School of Business and has written opinion columns on this subject, says branding will play an important role in developing knowledge for customers of legal cannabis.

“Designing quality cannabis products involves many dimensions,” he said. “Because of these complexities, product branding will be important for providing consumers with good quality experiences.

“Recognizable brands help consumers find the best product for their needs.”

Further to that, Armstrong says branding also “helps build trust.”

“That’s one advantage legal cannabis could have over illegal. Consumers won’t need to risk unpredictable results buying on the street,” he said. “Conversely, without branding, producers have little incentive to pursue excellence. As generics, they’d logically aim to minimize costs — and quality.”