The avenue may be more available to deep-pocketed, multi-state operators, who seem to be getting more seamless customer service, per anecdotal evidence. But it’s less attractive to smaller, independent companies in the current economy, according to execs.
“Every cannabis brand I speak with is working with limited marketing funds right now, and we all know there is a lot of work still to do at the trade level, in stores and physically in-market,” Bohb Blair, chief brand officer of the Mary Jones Cannabis Co. and CMO of Jones Soda, told Adweek. “I don’t see a huge portion of brand marketing dollars going in this [Twitter] direction first.”
Ragovin agreed, citing channels like programmatic, connected TV, out of home and experiential as better bets.
“We need more ways to target and convert consumers,” Ragovin said. “It’s still too early for Twitter to be that.”
Courting cannabis
Twitter lifting its prohibition on weed ads, followed by an expansion of its initial policy, comes as the green wave continues to sweep the country. Medical sales are currently allowed in 37 U.S. states, recreational in 22.
Public support for legalization is growing, per BDSA, with 56% of the population backing sales for medical or adult-use purposes. And for a CPG comparison figure, Americans spend more on legal weed than on chocolate, per a recent MJBizDaily study, which pegs 2022 cannabis sales at $30 billion versus $20 billion for cocoa-based sweets.
Twitter, meanwhile, has suffered a mass defection of top-tier advertisers under new owner Elon Musk. Looking to make up some of the shortfall, the platform has turned to cannabis, where weed execs quickly called it out as a mercenary but potentially precedent-setting move.
Alianiello even showed up in person, a rarity for Twitter execs in the Musk era, to court the weed industry at a recent Benzinga investor conference in Miami.
Yet Blair sees a harsh truth to the site that he can’t overlook when deciding where to spend his ad dollars.
“They have consistently been one of the most problematic platforms for ad safety and overall content quality and trustworthiness,” Blair said. “So my scrutiny for cannabis being handled responsibly would be high.”
Awareness builder
Not everyone’s a naysayer, with Curaleaf finding Twitter buys useful to bolster its bona fides as “a thought leader in the industry” and to “build out appropriate yet effective awareness ads,” per executive vice president of marketing Kate Lynch.