In a sign of the growing acceptance of the legal cannabis industry — and an ever-widening array of platforms allowing cannabis companies to advertise — Sunnyside became the first cannabis brand to place an ad on Spotify, the world’s largest audio streaming service with more than 220 million subscribers and more than 551 million users.
The ad campaign for Sunnyside, the retail arm of Cresco Labs, includes a 30-second audio clip and in-app digital ads that link to the retailer’s e-commerce platform. The ad campaign is the first of its kind for both Spotify and Cresco Labs, which operates more than 60 Sunnyside dispensaries in seven states.
“Audio streaming services represent a major opportunity for brands to reach large audiences in a targeted manner, and we’re excited to collaborate with Spotify to launch the first-ever cannabis ads from our Sunnyside national retail brand,” Cresco Labs national retail president Cory Rothschild said in a press release. “Our Sunnyside advertising strategy is built on a data ecosystem enabling best-in-class targeting and measurement. Spotify’s platform will enable our marketing team to target our ads compliantly and profitably to our core shoppers in Illinois where we have a leading share in retail. This important partnership is not only a step in normalizing cannabis, but it also showcases the sophistication and quality of marketing that we have unlocked at Cresco Labs.”
— Garrett Rudolph