This campaign of online videos ran fully as promoted posts on Facebook, Instragram and Youtube.

Cannabis sales in Canada have been legal for years. It's become as common as alcohol sales with literally stores on every corner.

While many purchase it for recreational use, a significant amount of Canadians use cannabis for health and wellness benefits to treat things like: chronic (back) pain, sleeping problems, anxiety, depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Whichever the reason, cannabis in Canada is widely accepted for sales, use and completely legal.

First off, these are real businesses that are actually Next to Stok'd or the real electrical company that did the wiring there.

Nail Salon -

The 'spokesperson' invites viewers to come visit her store while selling different types of nail experiences that parallel cannabis. Then concludes by noting they are located next to the Stok'd Cannabis store.

Bookstore-

The 'spokesperson' invites viewers to come visit his store to escape with their minds and get inspiration, which parallel cannabis. Then concludes by noting they are located next to the Stok'd Cannabis store.

Electrician -

The 'electrician' invites viewers to come see his 'electrical' work that he did at Stok'd.

Situation:

Cannabis sales are legal in Canada and have been for years. Cannabis advertising? Not so much. In fact, the entire industry is highly regulated. Furthermore, social platforms (such as Meta and Google) and other media channels (OOH/radio) have sophisticated filters in place to screen out any advertising that promotes cannabis.

So how does a regional cannabis chain promote their stores?

Objective:

Drive traffic to the Stok'd site and in-store, as well as the neighbouring stores, and at the same time create a brand personality that connects with consumers to choose Stok'd over other cannabis retailers.

Impact:

The films were approved on every social platform. All without technically breaking any laws, as the ads were officially promoting the neighbouring stores.

Reach/Engagement:

Through geo-targeted (within 5km of each store), adult gated (21+) media, Stok'd reached 40,000+ viewers on social platforms.

Results: Definitely changed behaviour by getting new customers to try Stok'd -

Compared to the same period last year:

26% increase in-store customers

29% increase in new online customers

12% increase in revenue

In the next question, please see a selection of quotes from the many top cannabis publications (who helped reach the target as they are constantly researching and reading up on cannabis news). This, as planned, really extended the reach, campaign length and overall effectiveness.

Cannabis, while legal for years to consume in Canada, it's illegal to advertise. Plus social platforms like (meta and google) have sophisticated filters that screen out cannabis advertising.

Therefore there is really no advertising a cannabis retailer can do, other than some owned channel posts that likely get auto-removed from those platforms anyway.

This campaign changed all that. By definition, it was something that had never been done. The cannabis industry has celebrated this market disruption as a first of its kind.

Here are a few from top cannabis publications:

"The most creative marketing I've ever seen" - Cannabis Marketing

"Masterstroke Campaign" - Aggressive Organics

"Brilliant" - One World Cannabis

"Genius workaround" - Hobby Grower

"Unmatched ingenuity" - Joint Craft

"Revolutionizing Cannabis Marketing" - Business News Network