Setup
Canada’s historic legalization of cannabis saw the birth of a new market and the instant arrival of several marquee brands into the public consciousness. It was a wild west gold rush — companies clamoured to seize market share and the regulations governing cannabis advertising were in constant flux.
This presented a serious challenge to every brand trying to establish a name for themselves. Canada’s largest producer, Aurora Cannabis needed to break through the noise to solidify its image as the biggest name in the industry to satisfy its broad and rapidly growing investor base.
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Strategy
Confidently sidestep the rest of the industry and appeal to mainstream sensibilities with family-friendly content. While other brands gambled with regulators and polarized audiences with risqué tactics, our campaign of surreal nature imagery rose above the chaos to reach a national audience in their most impressionable daily moments: Billboards and posters accompanied urbanites on their regular commute and a pre-roll commercial captivated cinemagoers on big screens across Canada.
BRAINSTORM FACILITATION
BRANDING STRATEGY
CAMPAIGN DEVELOPMENT
COPYWRITING
DESIGN
PHOTOGRAPHY
SCRIPTWRITING
VIDEO PRODUCTION
BRANDING STRATEGY
CAMPAIGN DEVELOPMENT
COPYWRITING
DESIGN
PHOTOGRAPHY
SCRIPTWRITING
VIDEO PRODUCTION
Brand Anthem
Cinema Pre-show Spot
Our national stop motion spot primed cinemagoers with scenes of rebirth in nature to position Aurora as a destigmatized and stable brand to lead the cannabis industry into a new era.
Bill C-45
Advertising Regulations
Regulations governing the promotion of cannabis producers were uniquely restrictive and in constant flux. Our creative needed to zig zag around a plethora of prohibitions; chief among them:
• do not show the product itself or describe its effects
• do not depict people, characters, or animals, whether real or fictional
• do not associate the brand with neither positive nor negative emotions
• do not associate the brand with a lifestyle, glamour, recreation, excitement, vitality risk, or daring
• do not depict people, characters, or animals, whether real or fictional
• do not associate the brand with neither positive nor negative emotions
• do not associate the brand with a lifestyle, glamour, recreation, excitement, vitality risk, or daring
Build-up to Legalization
Out-of-Home Advertising
As legalization (“10 / 17”) drew nearer, an ad war broke out on posters and billboards across major Canadian cities. Aurora maximized brand recognition by teasing passers-by with the Brand Anthem’s imagery: The commercial’s iconic scenes were translated into still-frame ads to emphasize Aurora’s ubiquity and dominance in the industry.