Case Study: Effectively Managed a Statewide Public Awareness Campaign on Legal Cannabis and the Dangers of of Illicit Cannabis

Challenge

When state regulators launched California’s legal marketplace in January 2018, medical cannabis dispensaries had to gain both local and state recreational permits. The vast majority – as many as 1,000 by industry estimates – simply closed, moved, or chose to remain unlicensed. Lack of access to legal cannabis retailers, and lack of knowledge on how to differentiate between licensed and unlicensed retailers resulted in many cannabis consumers frequenting illicit cannabis retailers. Purchasing from unlicensed retailers not only continued to support the illicit market but was also putting consumers at risk, who were buying unregulated products. State of California regulators needed a way to educate consumers about the licensed cannabis market and curb illegal activity of unlicensed retailers.

Strategic Approach

From March 2018 through July 2020, KP managed a statewide public awareness campaign that focused on encouraging:

1. Consumers aged 21 and over, to purchase cannabis from a legal retailer; and

2. Illegal retailers to get legal or risk getting shut down.

Through a comprehensive set of advertising and public relations tools, the campaign urged potential cannabis consumers and retailers to #Get Weedwise and direct audiences to use CApothceck.com, a licensing search feature already established on the Bureau of Cannabis Control website.

Results + Impacts

In less than six months, the campaign had achieved widespread awareness and recognition. Using targeted messaging in coordination with industry champions, KP recruited over 200 partners to share messages with their audiences and serve as credible ambassadors for the campaign. Further, KP worked with the client to promote the Get #Weedwise campaign and got over 47,000 clicks on the campaign website seeing educational information, 671 news articles that mentioned #Weedwise, 38 original stories describing Get #Weedwise andCApotcheck.com including major outlets like CNBC, SF Chronicle, LA Times, and Rolling Stone, television and radio news coverage in San Francisco, Sacramento, Long Beach, and Los Angeles, and a Univision story on Spanish television.