Snoop Gave Up Smoke and Then Solo Stove Gave Up Their CEO
Even though the campaign had everyone talking, it apparently didn't have enough people buying. What lessons can we draw from this high profile failure?
Aloha!
Welcome back for this week’s edition of CannabisCMO, your go-to source for cannabis industry marketing news and insights.
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Headlines:
Here are some of the headlines that I’ve been following over the last week that I think you should be paying attention to as well.
#1: Solo Brands Names New CEO After Snoop Marketing Miss
Solo Brands, the company behind products like Solo Stove, recently faced a setback despite its ambitious marketing efforts, including a widely discussed campaign featuring rapper Snoop Dogg. The campaign, which created a buzz with Snoop Dogg hinting at "giving up smoke" only to reveal it as a promotion for Solo's smokeless fire pits, did not translate into the expected revenue increase. Despite the campaign's viral success and gaining a notable spot on Ad Age's best ads list, it fell short in boosting sales. Interim CFO Andrea Tarbox acknowledged that while these creative marketing strategies elevated brand awareness, they did not correspondingly lift sales. This scenario underscores the challenges companies face when innovative marketing does not necessarily equate to financial success.
My thoughts:
First off, shout out to Bart Schaneman formerly of MJBizDaily for breaking this exclusive story for The Daily.
If you were living under a rock at the end of last year, then you might have missed this viral campaign that had the cannabis industry buzzing for a few days in November where Snoop posted an image on his Instagram that said he was “giving up smoke” and to “respect his privacy”.
My social feeds were flooded with hot takes about the need for moderation in the industry or speculation that Snoop was rolling out a vape line.
I think this story really highlights the difference between marketing vs branding and why companies and organizations must be in complete alignment about KPI’s (key performance indicators) before investing in any marketing or advertising campaign.
From a branding perspective, the Snoop campaign crushed. The outgoing CEO said they gained 60,000 followers to their social channels after that ad. Unfortunately, the board didn’t care about followers if they didn’t turn into direct sales and they didn’t — at least in the time frame they were tracking.
My guess is on a much longer time horizon, a not insignificant portion of those new followers will end up purchasing a Solo Stove at some point — but they aren’t exactly cheap, impulse buys.
It’s also important that despite the headlines that folks understand that this wasn’t the only marketing campaign that flopped for Solo Brands. Apparently they also invested in a float at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade that may have helped with brand awareness but also did not lead to a sizable lift in sales.
If you’re a marketer, you better make sure you understand and can influence the sales in a way that is measurable.
If you’re a business owner, you better make sure that sales and marketing are always in alignment.
#2: New flavors, formats driving cannabis-infused food and beverage products: Mary Jones
Jones Soda Co. is venturing into the cannabis industry with its new line of THC-infused beverages, tapping into a market that's gaining traction among younger consumers shifting away from alcohol. The sector, valued at $1 billion in 2022, is projected to grow to $3.9 billion by 2030. Utilizing its expertise in unique soda flavors, Jones Soda's subsidiary, Mary Jones, has introduced THC-infused sodas and plans to expand its product range with items like Fizzy Tab, a THC-infused candy. This strategic move comes as the cannabis beverage market is increasingly seen as a promising alternative to traditional alcoholic drinks.
My thoughts:
This was an interesting headline to see because so much of the focus is typically on alcohol beverage companies getting into the cannabis industry but the first time I had seen a popular soda company get involved.
I don’t know if I’ve said it in this newsletter before or not, but I firmly believe that the seltzer craze is the best thing that ever happened to the trajectory of the cannabis infused drinks market.
Before the white claw became a staple at every sunny day hang out, cannabis beverages were having a hard time gaining traction.
Now every alcohol (and many non-alcohol) beverage company has a seltzer and according to one poll from 2021, 1 in 5 Americans drink hard seltzers.
Most recently Headset estimated that starting in 2021, market share of cannabis beverages in the U.S. and Canada have jumped nearly 40%.
The one thing I have to wonder about Jones Soda entering the marketplace, is how will regulators deal with these larger brands that do actually have a history of appealing to kids and young adults?
#3: Adobe Study: 40% of Americans use TikTok as a search engine now
Over two-fifths of Americans now use TikTok as a search engine, with nearly 10% of Gen Zers favoring it over Google, according to a comprehensive study involving 808 consumers and 251 business owners. The study found that TikTok's appeal lies in its short, informative videos, personalized content, and storytelling format. Popular search topics on TikTok include recipes, music, DIY tips, and fashion advice. Business owners are increasingly recognizing TikTok's potential, with over half using it for promotion and a quarter leveraging TikTok influencers. Despite challenges like engagement rates and content creation, businesses are adapting, with 53% planning to increase investment in TikTok affiliate marketing. The shift to using TikTok for search presents a significant opportunity for businesses, particularly smaller ones, to engage with a platform that resonates with a younger audience.
My thoughts:
This is a BFD. It may not be something that cannabis marketers can fully take advantage of yet (at least under brand accounts), but it does give us a preview into the future of Gen Z’s search habits and something we should be planning for.
If you haven’t figured out that TikTok isn’t just a place for silly dances or lip syncing to your favorite movie lines, let this be your wake up call.
The reason TikTok is so powerful is because unlike other social media algorithms that are based on serving you content your friends and family also liked, TikTok’s algorithm is honed in to serve up content based on your specific interests. This ensures that viewers are only seeing content that is most relevant to them and therefore increases the odds of engagement.
In the same way that people have been using YouTube to teach themselves skills they otherwise would not figure out on their own (I just had to use it this weekend to search info on my thermostat), TikTok is a video library teeming with all sorts of tips, tricks, useful hacks and educational stories.
Unfortunately, TikTok is not very cannabis friendly at this moment. Even searching “cannabis” will turn up this buzzkill notification:
However, searching cannabis specific terms like “cannabinoid”, “terpenes” or “edible” bring up individual videos with hundreds of thousands of views as well as accounts like @cannabinoidconnect with 52,000 followers.
Even though it’s still risky now, it’s time that you and your team start understanding TikTok because the TikTokfication age we’re living in isn’t just changing how other platforms prioritize content in their feeds, it’s apparently changing how/where we will search for information on the internet.
Who’s Hiring?:
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LinkedIN Update:
Last week, we covered a post from Alice Moon about how LinkedIN had pulled another post that featured a photo of a legal THC beverage. Here is an update from her LinkedIn.
I made a post about a THC beverage brand I was excited about. Within minutes, the post vanished.
I received no email or notification that the post was removed.
I tagged LinkedIn Help and the editor in chief in a new post.
Within a day, I received a well written email that said my photo (not text copy) went against their guidelines. But the specific guideline could not be expressed.
Feeling defeated, I let it go.
Then the next day, I received an additional email with an apology from LinkedIn and clarification of their policies.
They reinstated my post, apologized for the confusion, and offered to get on the phone with me.
Here's what I've learned: you can post about cannabis but you can not include links to a brands website. You can not include links where someone can make a direct purchase.
LinkedIn is still a cannabis friendly platform & their customer service is way above any other social network.
Be careful on how you word things but don't give up on LinkedIn!!
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