Hollywood Loves Cannabis
Cannabis has always floated around Hollywood. Several of your top actors, executives, artists and even athletes have been known to consume marijuana over the years. However, due to its less than favorable legal status over the last few decades, these individuals have had to be a bit more reserved about their support of the plant and all its byproducts. Because of this, no brands really got the limelight that they deserve. In fact, hardly any legitimate brands existed solely because it was illegal. Fast forward to 2019 and things are a lot different.
With California going legal, Hollywood and its love for cannabis has quickly come out from the shadows. As a result, cannabis brands are hurriedly trying to figure out how they can get their product into the hands of these Hollywood elites, while still staying compliant with state and federal law. In this blog, Hollywood Branded presents four different options available to market your cannabis brand in Hollywood, by leveraging film, television, celebrities and events.
Why Hollywood Is Perfect for Cannabis
Hollywood is flooded with brands left and right. From beauty products to clothing and everything in between, all brands are looking to get their product, message or service into the crowds frequented by celebrities. Why? Celebrities have the ability to turn a brand from nothing to everything overnight. One simple photo of a celebrity with your product can make waves in today’s digital world.
So, in a new industry like the cannabis industry, where brands are doing anything and everything to establish themselves as an industry leader early on, a co sign from someone influential could do wonders for a bludgeoning cannabis startup.
In addition to Hollywood being the perfect platform to elevate a brand, many of the happenings that take place align perfectly with cannabis. Think about it… lots of parties, music, fashion, art, etc. Cannabis has always, whether legal or illegal, paired quite well with these things. Hollywood and the cannabis industry are truly a match made in heaven.
Now, you’re probably wondering what type of opportunities in Hollywood are available for cannabis brands? The short answer here is tons. Below, we’ve broken them down into distinct categories: Music, TV and film.
Music
Several music artists are avid cannabis supporters making music videos an excellent opportunity for cannabis brands to promote their products. Music videos provide brands with opportunities for logo exposure, product usage and product seeding. In addition, music videos give brands a nice piece of branded content that can be shared through their own channels.
Another good option for cannabis brands is tour sponsorships. Tons of artists consume cannabis while on tour and are always looking for cannabis partners to take care of their needs throughout the tour. With this partnership, cannabis brands will be able to ensure that their product is in the hands of top artists and will also be getting branded content to share.
TV
We’ve all seen TV shows where one of the characters consumes or talk about cannabis in one way or another. Imagine having your brand being the brand that’s consumed or talked about. Unlike clothing or something else that’s kinda blah, cannabis is something that perks viewer’s ears up making it more likely for them to remember that brand. The coolest thing about TV is that it presents brands with branding longevity. Because TV shows are split across multiple episodes, brands are able to appear multiple times throughout the season. This makes viewers have multiple touch points with your product thereby increasing the likelihood of them remembering your brand.
Film
Film is an excellent way for cannabis brands to promote their product, message or service to the masses. Everyone of us can think of a film that has cannabis related activities. Shoot, there and entire movies that are built around cannabis. Think Cheech and Chong or Pineapple Express. Both of these films built an entire movement based around cannabis. Now, imagine if your brand was the brand that was repeatedly referenced throughout a film like those two. It could instantly make your brand the most hyped brand in the industry.
In addition to the placement in the film, your brand has the opportunity to create branded materials the cross promote your brand and the film. For example, if you’re an edible company that was placed in Pineapple Express, you could make special edition pineapple express candies. When it comes to film, the opportunities are endless!
Events
Last but not least, Hollywood events present loads of opportunities for cannabis businesses. Let’s be real, a lot of the events in Hollywood involve some level of “letting loose” making them perfect for cannabis brands. With California’s legal status, cannabis brands are now able to have their brand smack dab, no pun intended, in the middle of the event. We’ve seen everything from bud bars (similar to an alcohol bar but all cannabis products) to budtenders walking around with samples for the guests to try. In Hollywood, anything in possible. Plus, we think this goes without saying but, cannabis is a product that is rather useful in comparison to some of the other products that sponsor various Hollywood events. Because of that, you can expect celebrities to take photos with your brand and post about it.
Welcome to Hollyweed Branded
The key to getting into Hollywood is connections. Not every agency has the connections needed to make things happen in this space. Luckily, here at Hollywood Branded, our team has been in this space for over 20 years and we work with every major player in town.
In recent months, we’ve seen a huge uptick in cannabis opportunities that have come across our desk. Because of that, we've built out a division within our agency that’s specifically deals with these cannabis brands. So, without further ado, we are here to officially announce our sister agency, Hollyweed Branded.
Our goal at Hollyweed Branded is to partner cannabis brands with targeted Hollywood content and influencers/celebrities. There are tons of opportunities out there and we’d hate for your brand to miss out. Please visit this link here to learn more about how we can make your brand one of Hollywood’s go-to cannabis partners.
The Next Steps
Want to learn more about how product placement and influencer marketing can affect your brand in this budding industry? Check out some other blog posts we've written on this green market.
- Cannabis Celebrity Influencer Marketing [Infographic]
- Cannabis and Product Placement Content Partnerships
- A Look At Snoop Dogg's Licensing And Endorsement Deals
Before considering what kind of product placement will best benefit your brand, do you need to learn a little more on the basics of how product placement works? Check out our Product Placement 101 ebook!
