Transit shelters were a key way to reach people in the geographic area of the Stok'd stores and the neighbouring businesses that we were advertising.

Cannabis sales in Canada have been legal for years. It's become as common as alcohol sales with literally stores on every corner. But cannabis advertising is highly regulated - to the point of being almost impossible.

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

Whatever the use case, cannabis in Canada is widely accepted and completely legal.

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 plan worked! The campaign was approved by OOH vendors, every social platform, and radio. All without technically breaking any laws, as the ads were officially promoting the neighbouring stores.

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

Results changed behaviour, 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

“We loved the playful and entrepreneurial approach as it’s a perfect brand fit for us. Our neighbouring businesses loved the idea too. After all, more traffic to our stores is good for everyone.” Lisa Bigioni, Co-founder of Stok’d.

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