Holistic Industries Hires Kyle Barich as CMO and Expands Marketing Capabilities for National Brands
Former CEO of CDM, one of the largest healthcare advertising agencies in the world, moves into cannabis
NEW YORK, Oct. 21, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Holistic Industries, one of the largest, private multi-state operators in cannabis, today announced that Kyle Barich, former head of CDM, one of the largest healthcare advertising agencies in the world, has joined the company as Chief Marketing Officer. In this role, Barich will help lead the company's rapid expansion as well as grow and nurture Holistic's emerging Greenhouse of Brands. He will also oversee the creation of national brands across customer types and form factors leveraging his expertise and background in healthcare marketing.
"I believe that the cannabis industry is ripe for brands that speak to the millions of people who could benefit from the plant's increasingly evidenced-based properties that help people heal and enjoy their lives," said Barich. "I can't think of a more exciting opportunity for someone with my background than to help shape the fast-emerging health and wellness category that is just beginning to embrace cannabis."
Earlier this month, Holistic Industries announced that it closed a $55 million round of funding to enable expansion in states, dispensaries, and operations for greater patient and consumer access to high-quality cannabis products. The company's dispensary chain and flagship brand, Liberty, is designed to welcome new people into cannabis through a system of icons, colors, and familiar terms. Additional Holistic brands being introduced across the country include Strane for cannabis connoisseurs, a unique edibles offering, and a medical-forward product line backed by evidence.
"We built a senior leadership team of best-in-class experts in cultivation, research, extraction, regulatory compliance, sales, patient outreach, security, retail, and now marketing with Kyle on board," said Josh Genderson, CEO of Holistic Industries. "Kyle's decades of experience creating science-backed brands for consumers and doctors is a perfect fit for Holistic. In collaboration with our PhD-filled R&D and Lab team, he will help Holistic lead in the expanding cannabis health and wellness category."
Prior to joining Holistic, Barich was leading teams, brands, clients, and advertising agencies for more than 25 years. Most recently, he was CEO of CDM which has offices around the globe and services major pharmaceutical clients like Pfizer, Biogen, Amgen, and Novartis as well as many emerging biotech companies. CDM is a $100M+ annual revenue company and is owned by the publicly traded advertising holding company Omnicom.
In his agency roles, Barich led the launch of dozens of market-changing healthcare brands including the global launch of Pfizer's Viagra. The team's efforts changed the conversation about impotence from stigmatized and secretive to one that was credible, medical, and acceptable. Barich plans to leverage that same approach to help destigmatize and normalize cannabis. Barich is a graduate of the University of Michigan and lives in Pennington, NJ.
About Holistic Industries
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., Holistic Industries is one of the largest private cannabis multi-state operators (MSO) in the U.S. and runs vertical operations in California, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Washington D.C. Holistic is fiercely dedicated to customer service and individualized patient care developing and selling the most innovative, highest quality cannabis medicine in various form factors.
SOURCE Holistic Industries
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