Cannabis Brands Are Banned From Many Advertising Channels. This Partnership Offers a Different Playbook
Weedmaps can’t rely on the advertising playbook most brands use. Its Rolling Loud partnership shows how a restricted industry can earn attention through experiences.
EXPERT OPINION BY DANIEL ROBBINS, CEO AND FOUNDER OF IBH MEDIA AND HOST OF FOUNDER’S STORY
Weedmaps, a cannabis directory and marketplace, is partnering with international hip-hop festival Rolling Loud. Today, the two brands are announcing a year-round lineup of artist-driven experiences, starting September 10 in Brooklyn with the Kickback New York Lit by Rolling Loud festival.
I got an exclusive first look
I got an exclusive first look at the partnership, and it’s a useful playbook for how cannabis brands can market when traditional advertising channels–from mainstream television ads to billboards–are closed to them. For most industries, that would be a death sentence. Jonathan “JJ” Jones, SVP of markets and culture at Weedmaps, sees it differently.
“Restrictions are certainly part of operating in cannabis, but we don’t look at experiences simply as a workaround,” he told me. “When you’re operating in a regulated industry, you’re forced to be more thoughtful about how you connect with people, and that can actually make you a better marketer. You can’t always rely on buying attention. You have to earn it.”
How to Earn Attention.
The Rolling Loud partnership structure reflects Jones’s philosophy. Weedmaps leads the vision, creative direction, and cannabis integration. Rolling Loud brings its artist relationships, production expertise, and the credibility of running the what it calls the world’s largest hip-hop festival. The events themselves are intentionally small.
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You’re not one of tens of thousands
“You’re not one of tens of thousands of people at a festival, and you’re not walking into a dispensary for a traditional brand experience,” Jones said. “It’s a space where cannabis, music and community can actually come together. That intimacy is what makes Kickback special.”
For Rolling Loud founder and CEO Matt Zingler, who built the festival from a South Florida concert series into a global brand spanning four continents, the filter for any partnership is simple.
“Our community knows immediately when something feels forced, so the partnership has to feel real,” he told me. “Weedmaps already has credibility in a world that naturally overlaps with ours, and they wanted to actually build something together, not just put their logo on Rolling Loud.”
Source: www.inc.com
