Are Canadian Cannabis Brands Really Growing?
Published March 17, 2020
Since before legalization in Canada, cannabis brands have been fighting for attention to secure a spot within the hearts and minds of Canadian consumers. Many medicinal cannabis brands were already available, but post-legalization an overwhelming surge of new entrants were announced. These brands were designed to appeal to the recreational consumer. As we’ve covered in our Cannabis Recession article, the belief was that this was the way to profits and sales as new consumers flocked to this newly-legalized category. Throughout 2018 (and prior), consultants, advertising agencies, design shops and packaging specialists were all charged with creating the future household names for Canadian cannabis.
Despite a highly regulated marketing environment, about 110 recreational cannabis brands are now available in Canada. In the coming months, consumers will have even more choice at shelf. More retail locations will open across the country and licensed producers stabilize their production capacity.
Creating Cannabis Brands in Canada
Over the past 24 months we have seen various approaches to marketing cannabis in Canada. The two most common could be classified as “those who spent a lot” and “those who spent nothing at all”. Certain brands, like Tweed, have taken an aggressive position, focusing on mass marketing, endorsements, event sponsorships and high visibility/reach partnerships (i.e. Cineplex VIP). Others have laid low and done only organic promotions of their brands and attended some trade shows, industry events, etc.
Since October 17th, 2018, there hasn't seemed to be a strong positive correlation between dollars spent and growth in brand awareness. Examining the top 5 Canadian brands in the first two months post-legalization shows that Canopy (Tweed, LBS, Spectrum), Aurora, and Canna Farms came out of the gate with high awareness. For Canopy and Aurora, this came at significant marketing expense.
Source: Cannatrack data, "Name a cannabis brand that you know", October - November 2018, n=1,502
| Unaided Awareness | Respondents |
| Tweed | 2.5% |
| Aurora | 1.7% |
| Solei | 0.5% |
| CannTrust | 0.4% |
| Spectrum | 0.3% |
Source: Cannatrack data, "Which of these cannabis brands have you ever heard of?", October - November 2018, n=1,502
| Unaided Awareness | Respondents | Aided Awareness | Respondents |
| Tweed | 2.5% | Aurora | 22.3% |
| Aurora | 1.7% | Tweed | 21.5% |
| Solei | 0.5% | Leafs by Snoop/LBS | 9.3% |
| CannTrust | 0.4% | Canna Farms | 8.8% |
| Spectrum | 0.3% | Spectrum | 7.5% |
The strongest correlation we have seen so far is in brands whose corporate name matches their brand name. These brands seem to score consistently higher on brand awareness metrics.
Unsurprisingly, consumers had low awareness of available brands in the two months following legalization. They were also generally unable to identify brands that they had tried or consumed in the past 4 weeks.
| Ever Tried | Respondents |
| Don’t Know | 58.1% |
| Aurora | 8.4% |
| Tweed | 7.7% |
| Spectrum | 3.5% |
| Leafs by Snoop/LBS | 3.3% |
Source: Cannatrack data, "Which of these cannabis brands have you ever tried?", October - November 2018, n=1,502
Which Brands Are Strongest After 16 Months?
Fast forward 16 months since legalization. The industry has been volatile, but the story as it comes to brands remains relatively unchanged. Despite a significant spend in marketing by Canadian LPs, the general brand health has stalled and in some cases declined.
Across 16 months since legalization, we still see the same top 4 brands in Canopy (Tweed, LBS), Aurora and Canna Farms. These brands have less than a 2% increase in terms of aided awareness vs. Oct/Nov of 2018. HEXO (formerly Hydropothecary) is a new entrant on the top brands list when we look at Q4 2019. HEXO launched in 2018 and was extremely aggressive in terms of marketing and promotions, with spend totaling 8-figures between 2018 & 2019.
Despite the time in market and significant marketing initiatives, Canadian consumers are only slightly more aware of legal brands than in October/November of 2018. Consumers who were completely unaware of brands they had tried or recently consumed have declined slightly. However, this only represents a 2% change since Oct/Nov 2018.
Are the Tides Changing?
It can’t be understated how monumental the undertaking of launching legalized cannabis was for Canada and its licensed producers. Illicit cannabis in Canada was and still is a multi-billion dollar industry with quality product and loyal consumers. With the current restrictions in place, promoting legal brands is incredibly difficult. However, it seems as though the industry as a whole is beginning to strengthen.
As we saw, most of the brands in Canada experienced nominal growth since legalization. In the past quarter with the introduction of Cannabis 2.0, mass retail openings and legal supply stabilizing, Canadians are slowly starting to wake up. We have seen a lift in brand health metrics across the board over the past 3 months. While we cannot attribute this to any one cause, it does seem that cannabis brands are beginning to grow with pace.
The one exclusion to this trend are cannabis giants Canopy and Aurora. Aurora’s declines have been the most pronounced at ~2% in both aided awareness and trial. Tweed has lost approximately half a percentage in both metrics, but Canopy as a whole has seen gains with strong performance from Tokyo Smoke. The success of Tokyo Smoke is likely driven by the brand's increased retail presence. With the exception of a few very small producers, all brands are strengthening compared to fall 2018. Some brands, specifically Tokyo Smoke, Edison and 7Acres have increased by almost 2% off relatively small base sizes.
Most notable for the industry in general is that consumers are beginning to recognize the products they’re consuming. "Unknown" trial numbers dropped from 60% in Oct/Nov of 2018 to 52% in the last quarter (Dec-Feb) alone.
So Now What Do I Do?
It remains to be seen whether this growth trend will continue and propel the Canadian legal cannabis market in terms of total sales and share stolen from the illicit market. However, this trend could signify that Canadian consumers are indeed starting to establish brand preference if only at a small scale.
As we mentioned in our post on the Canadian cannabis recession, there are a number of ways that the legal cannabis market and the brands within it can grow. Contact us to find out more about available Cannatrack data, custom media segments and custom research projects.
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