As the cannabis industry rapidly expands across North America, many brands are building a national presence, but it’s a thorny path that requires unconventional, creative approaches to public relations and marketing. Marketing authority AdCann recently recognized the leaders in this niche, naming Grasslands Founder and CEO Ricardo Baca Marketer of the Year in the 2018 AdCann Advertising Awards.
As a lifelong journalist who covered this era of historic legalization for years, I value and respect the important work of public relations and marketing in this conversation,” Mr. Baca said. “My past two years building Grasslands into a dynamic, full-service agency that supports businesses in all aspects of marketing and communications have been extremely challenging, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. And I’m so psyched about where we’re headed as this company continues to grow.”
The inaugural AdCann Advertising Awards sought to honor the worthy, celebrate the phenomenal and educate the community. The Toronto-based organization selected North America’s top brands, campaigns and executives who are innovators in cannabis communications.
Marketing and advertisingin the cannabis industry is unique from any other sector due to the layers of regulations and restrictions in mainstream advertising platforms, including social media. The agencies that support cannabis-related companies must be creative and flexible in solving for these challenges and connecting with consumers.
“Ricardo has paved the way for creative cannabis professionals across the globe,” said Colin Bambury, Founder of AdCann. “He is truly an admirable journalist and one of the top thought leaders in the cannabis space. His work has been an inspiration to us at AdCann and we are so proud that he has been voted people’s choice for Marketer Of The Year.”
Prior to launching Grasslands, Mr. Baca founded and served as the original Editor-in-Chief for groundbreaking news site The Cannabist, a vertical of Colorado’s largest news organization, The Denver Post. Mr. Baca understands the crucial role media plays in any industry, and after spending more than two decades as a reporter, editor and critic, he saw a need to help businesses navigate the complexities of communicating with the media and the mainstream public.
“The continued expansion of cannabis legalization in North America, along with America’s long-overdue hemp revival, are putting industry PR needs front and center,” Mr. Baca said. “I am so appreciative of my strategic, hardworking team at Grasslands and could not have achieved this honor without them.”
The experienced staff at Grasslands: A Journalism-Minded Agency provides an array of services, including strategic media outreach; PR and marketing support; crisis management; thought leadership development that covers writing and speaking engagements; website content creation; social media; and event production.