The advertising sector of the marijuana industry is a crazy thing. Since the marijuana industry has been a cottage industry for so long, there really aren’t any huge advertising agencies that specifically deal with marijuana. Trust me, I have searched and searched for an ad agency to handle our advertising, and it has always led back to a small company or person that mainly specializes in creating websites – not advertising.
I know Ninjasmoker and I have long hoped for the day that someone would step up and take over our advertising, but it seems like everyone in the industry that we have dealt with thus far is either in over their heads, is not trustworthy and tries to steal our ad leads, or just doesn’t possess the skill set that it takes to properly monetize a marijuana site’s ad space. The amount of over-promising and under-delivering that goes on right now in marijuana advertising is unreal. I know my experience here at TWB isn’t an isolated thing. I’ve talked to many other marijuana website owners who are experiencing the same problem.
What the industry needs is for an established company to enter the market. I’m talking about a company that has been around for decades, has a lot of big non-marijuana clients that they are already working with that are wishing to capitalize on marijuana’s popularity. However, companies like that have traditionally stayed away from the marijuana industry because it’s been taboo. It appears that times are changing.
According to multiple media reports, ad executives are scrambling to try to get into the marijuana advertising game. “Mass-culture advertising of cannabis products ‘is going to happen quicker than you think,’ said Greg Wagner, a former long-time ad executive who is now a lecturer and internship director in the marketing department at the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business.” according to CBS News.
It’s going to revolutionize the marijuana world when real advertising experts get into the industry. Branding and marketing is something that I have always said is a sector of the industry that is largely untapped, mismanaged at best, and will make a lot of people rich when it finally gets done properly. The first company or person that steps up, and also truly understands the marijuana industry, will become one of the richest people in the marijuana industry almost overnight. And since advertising is a perfectly legal ancillary part of the marijuana industry, I expect that we will see that person or company rise to the top sooner than later.
