Boulder Daily Camera, September 25, 2019
Boulder-based Mandara has entered the growing CBD-product market, but the company is trying to set itself apart with an approach that focuses as much on consumer education as it does on sales.
Mandara recently launched full spectrum softgels, Zero THC Nighttime gummies and a variety of CBD oils, and a wellness coaching program, said Peri Shaplow, Mandara’s chief marketing officer. “Our products are tested by a third-party in a lab for consistency and quality. We have a first-of-its-kind certified wellness coaches program,” she said.
Coaches offer a personalized wellness approach to integrating CBD into individual lifestyles, Shaplow said.
“There’s a great deal of curiosity and a lot of confusion about using CBD products,” she said.
Mandara is partnering with professionals in several wellness areas, including acupuncture, chiropractic care, massage therapy, yoga, fitness and sports training who can provide guidance to the wellness pros’ clients about using Mandara products for appropriate mind and body support, she said.
Mandara aims to situate itself in premium retail market space, engaging with spas, yoga studios, meditation studios.
“We want to be in a more intimate atmosphere rather than a mass atmosphere,” Shaplow said.
Feedback from wellness coaches also will help the company develop additional products, she said. Mandara’s wellness coaches currently are in Colorado, Illinois and Florida.
“We are growing every day. We see wellness coaches as educators,” Shaplow said.
To focus on its CBD education mission, Mandara is working with Boulder company Giide to develop 52 educational modules. Coaches will be able to listen to customized, interactive, multimodal audio content to enhance their own understanding of CBD use and Mandara products , Shaplow said. Later, the company may make the content available to consumers as well.
The content goes beyond passive, linear learning, said Allison Kent-Smith, CEO and founder of Giide. The voice-guided experience is supported by on-screen content. “It’s the level of interaction people want to have for learning,” she said.
Since starting Giide one and a half years ago, she has worked with businesses, both large and small, across the United States to help them develop content for internal training and education, as well as to reach consumers. It’s exciting to work with a local company like Mandara, she said.
The Giide presentations on average run 25 minutes and are broken into several micro segments for listeners’ convenience, she said.