This week MJ Biz Con will be in Las Vegas, and I will be attending – because everything is about marijuana including online advertising. Despite Billions being poured into the industry, there isn’t a lot of online advertising options and this interests me enormously.
Currently, none of the large advertising platforms like Facebook or Google allow anything about marijuana advertised, even where it’s legal or even where it’s just education about the product. According to Facebook’s policy, ads cannot promote the sale or use of illegal, prescription or recreational drugs. That includes images of recreational or medical marijuana – even in places where the drug is legal.
However, these are restrictions that advertisers themselves need to know, as in any product, and an advertising network shouldn’t be involved in the day-to-day compliance issues anymore than a newspaper taking classified ads. The Courts have long held that newspapers and the media can’t be held liable for the content of ads on their stations and papers.
Also, from an advertising perspective,there are no current regulations on a marijuana company’s ability to brand themselves. We’re talking more than a logo and color palette here. Nearly every major player in the marijuana investment space has a strong brand (and so do many private companies). Canopy Growth Corporation, Aurora Cannabis, Aphria, Emblem Corp, Organigram all have strong brand presences in everything they do.
From their basic press releases, to their product shots, product branding and ‘performance’ to all their digital assets. Having a strong, unified brand is essential to any business, and is currently one of the major focuses for successful all companies in this space.
So, let’s be honest here: there is millions of dollars ready to be spent RIGHT now in online marijuana advertising and you should want to know more.
If you’re going to be in Vegas tomorrow, send me a note at pesach@goldbrand.com
