The holiday season is an important time for every CPG industry and cannabis is no exception. Data from trusted cannabis analytics company Headset shows that sales increase up to 53% in the week leading up to Christmas in legalized states. This year, several Canadian brands launched holiday cannabis marketing campaigns to hopefully capitalize on this reported increase in sales.
Give the Gift of PAX
One of the most popular cannabis vaporizer companies in the world, PAX Labs, created a simple yet effective digital display advertising campaign for the holidays. These ads feature wordplays about the holiday season and consuming cannabis – including “this year, give the gift of holiday baking”. PAX display advertisements can be found on a variety of cannabis-related and age-gated websites.
#AllIWantForChristmasIsWeed – TGOD
2019 ADCANN Award winner The Green Organic Dutchman launched their #AllIWantForChristmasIsWeed campaign for the 2020 winter season. TGOD dropped off “holiday boxes” at select retailers to encourage gifting of their products. They announced this on social media and told their followers to ask their local budtender about the special limited-time boxes. TGOD created a plethora of content showing how their wide assortment of products could be used to spread holiday cheer.
Holiday Recipes and #NaturesTrueCannabis – Simply Bare
Simply Bare, the flagship recreational brand of BC-based producer Rubicon Organics, helped keep their social media follower’s spirits high by teaching them how to make a variety of apple cider recipes. These recipes were prepared by The Nomad Cook and were inspired by the company’s indica-dominant BC Organic Apple Toffee strain. These drinks act as the perfect pairing for smoking or vaporizing their Apple Toffee. Simply Bare also posted a series of holiday-themed content and ran several days’ worth of contests where they teamed up with retailers and accessory producers to give back to their community.
High End Holiday and Give the Gift of Craft – 7ACRES
7ACRES continued their “High End Holiday” campaign this year along with introducing a new “Give the Gift of Craft” campaign. The brand showed thoughtful ways to combine their products with the holidays and edited several of their dried flower photos to look like Christmas trees. The “Give the Gift of Craft” campaign promoted 7ACRES Craft Collective, an initiative they launched this past year that helps bring small-batch craft-grown cannabis to market. When shopping for the “cannabis enthusiast” in your life, you can’t go wrong with craft cannabis. 7ACRES modified their “limited drops” logo mark to include a Christmas-style gift attached to the bottom. The brand also ran contests on their social media pages to give their follower’s a chance to win some branded swag.
#GiveTheBest – Top Leaf
Top Leaf invited cannabis consumers to “#GiveTheBest” to their loved ones this year. With the slogan “they say it’s better to give – we think it’s better to give the best”, Top Leaf outlined why their assortment of cannabis products make amazing presents. The brand showed off their variety of offerings including dried flower, vaporizer pens, and their newly launched bubble hash. Top Leaf also ran a Holiday Giveaway on Instagram where followers could win a Top Leaf “swag pack”.
12 Days of Giveaways – San Rafael ’71
The giveaway trend continues with San Rafael ‘71, one of Aurora’s most popular cannabis brands. San Raf arguably executed their holiday giveaway the best out of all of these examples, going above and beyond with customized merchandise and lucrative items up-for-grabs. These prizes included limited run tie-dye hoodies, cultivar-inspired candles, smell-proof bags, hoodies, toques, and more. Many of these giveaway posts received thousands of comments, helping SF71 grow their online community in the process.
Holiday Cannabis Marketing
The holidays will always continue to be an important time of year for cannabis sales and cannabis consumption. COVID-era restrictions have forced most communications to go fully digital. This year’s campaigns saw a lot of giveaways, as brands realize they can gain a large amount of followers and social media engagements by gifting branded swag through Instagram.
Producers are finding creative ways to integrate their products with holiday festivities and traditions. Most of these holiday cannabis marketing campaigns continue to be executed through non-paid social media content and email newsletters, with the occasional addition of age-gated display advertisements.
Last Updated on January 5, 2021 by ADCANN
