States continue to roll out legalization: currently a total of 37 states allow medical use and 18 have legalized adult recreational use with major markets like New Jersey allowing sales this week.
Similar to adult industries like alcohol or gambling, cannabis marketing has an extensive set of restrictions; however, the difference is that without a centralized set of regulations, those rules can be vastly different from state to state.
“You would think that it would be easy for us to take that brand and move it to all the rest of our states,” explained Finnerty.
Let’s talk about it.” The spot was part of a larger stunt in which the brand inquired into advertising at the Big Game alongside beer and betting ads, but was denied.
With so many obstacles between a cannabis brand and new consumers, building an identity can seem like an insurmountable task.
“We are experimenting with paid ads that are compliant that don’t show the product, but talk about its feeling and then go to a landing page,” said Anderson.
Last year, Cann launched a holiday campaign on its owned social channels featuring celebrities Baron Davis, Darren Criss and Kate Hudson.
But as the economy surges in the cannabis industry, it’s also important to make sure an endorser or celebrity entrepreneur aligns their wallet with purpose.
“The first question I asked them is what’s their connection to the industry, what’s their connection to the plant or to the work that we find important as we are helping to shape the industry,” said Datcher.
“Have a brand identity that connects with people, not necessarily the pharmaceutical route, which is more transaction-based” said Flores, noting that mindset can be common in newly legalized states.
Many may jump to the idea that federal cannabis legalization is the final hurdle to solving these issues, especially as the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act was approved in the House of Representatives earlier this month and progresses to a vote in the Senate.
“Bureaucracies are always going to get in the way, but there are organizations—and I’ll give you an example: the National Cannabis Industry Association, where I sit on the state regulations committee.
Many political conversations around cannabis legalization center around racial justice.
“We had the opportunity to see what other states did and how they succeeded or failed, and especially as they tried to implement what they call equity programs, which is really that effort to get licenses into the hands of those impacted by the disproportionate enforcement,” said Freeman Klopott, a representative from New York State’s Office of Cannabis Management.
He said that brands outside of the cannabis industry have taken a large role in providing a financial avenue for “social equity applicants to get into the industry without having to be plant-touching.
Last year, Monogram posted a series of out-of-home ads pointing out the hypocrisy of cannabis laws in the U.S.
A series of videos on Monogram’s YouTube channel is an example of the brand’s efforts to spark discussions around social equity.