Hasta La Creative!

April 20, or 4/20 — the unofficial cannabis culture holiday — is here, meaning that plenty of pot jokes will surely fill social media. But weed wisecracks aside, it’s becoming clear that cannabis industry marketing is finally growing up.

As it navigates state-specific regulations and varying degrees of state market maturity, not only is much of the industry dedicated to raising the bar for branding, it is recognizing the need to educate consumers, and cater to demographic groups such as baby boomers or seniors interested in cannabis as a sleep aid, or yoga enthusiasts looking for a mental enhancement to their physical practice.

When Washington’s Mirth Provisions licensed its Drift product — which delivers cannabanoids directly into the bloodstream via an under-the-tongue spray — in Arizona, the distributor there began throwing parties to promote the brand. Mirth and its agency, Sockeye, were less than thrilled. The party vibe was not how they wanted the brand positioned. Mirth is not alone in its efforts to hoist the legal cannabis industry out of its “let’s get wasted” illegal past.

Continue reading at AdAge.com