The Takeaway
Blue Dream Industries wanted partners and clients in two markets to know its name. It ran two campaigns across six digital billboards in Los Angeles and Atlanta, using a design that carried the company name, its web address, and one line describing what it does. The boards delivered 9,172 blips and 18,187 estimated impressions. The Atlanta campaign brought 1,000 additional website hits, and the Los Angeles campaign led to a major industry partnership.
Why Blue Dream Industries Turned to Billboard Advertising
Blue Dream Industries is a 100% minority-owned cannabis company with several subsidiaries and satellite offices around the world. In 2018 it acquired Green Thumb Dynasties. Together the two businesses now focus on cannabis business development, consulting, and branding.
Its customers are not walk-in shoppers. They are operators, partners, and brands looking for someone to help them build a cannabis business. Winning that work depends on being a name people already recognize when the conversation starts.
Cannabis companies also face limits that most industries do not. Several large platforms restrict cannabis advertising, which narrows the options fast. That is a common reason cannabis billboards come up in the first place, and it is worth reading up on cannabis billboard advertising rules and checking with each board owner before you plan a campaign.
How Blue Dream Industries Built Its Billboard Campaign
- Boards selected: Six digital billboards across two markets: boards in Atlanta, the company’s home base, and boards in Los Angeles, chosen to reach potential partners and clients.
- Campaigns run: Two campaigns across the two markets, so each city’s results could be read on its own.
- Creative approach: Three elements only. The company name, the web address, and the value line “Global Cannabis Consulting and Branding.”
- Duration: The plan was one month and then a review. The team kept going and was still seeing good results at close to two months.
Splitting the spend across two cities is the part worth copying. It meant Blue Dream could see which market produced website traffic and which produced conversations, instead of averaging the two together and learning nothing.
The Creative
The design carried three things: the company name, bluedreamindustriesllc.com, and the line “Global Cannabis Consulting and Branding.”
For a business-to-business brand, that is the right amount. The name builds familiarity, the line answers what the company does, and the web address gives anyone interested somewhere to go. Blip’s billboard design guidelines explain how to keep artwork readable at speed.
What Blue Dream Industries’ Billboard Campaign Delivered
Across two campaigns and six digital billboards, the ads delivered 9,172 blips. A blip is one eight-second play, so the company name appeared more than nine thousand times across the two markets.
Those plays produced 18,187 estimated impressions. The campaigns ran side by side, which let the team see the two markets doing different jobs.
From the Atlanta boards, bluedreamindustriesllc.com received 1,000 additional website hits. From the Los Angeles boards, Blue Dream landed a partnership with one of the most recognized names in its industry. CEO Aubrey R. Logan-Holland told Blip the team had planned to advertise for a month and reassess, then decided to keep expanding. At nearly two months in, results were still coming.
Two markets, two different outcomes, from the same message. That is the usual argument for running digital billboard advertising market by market rather than as one large buy.
We see these billboard campaigns as an extension of us and as a way to further establish our name and brand. I’m happy with the results we’ve seen so far - our website traffic and our new partnership that resulted from this campaign are proof that billboards do work. Blip helps companies of any size get their message out there so that they can become well-known in different markets without some of the restrictions and frustrations that can happen with other types of broadcast advertising.
Aubrey R. Logan-Holland, CEO and Founder, Blue Dream Industries
Why This Billboard Campaign Worked
- Two markets, two jobs: Atlanta built home-market recognition. Los Angeles put the name in front of potential partners and clients. Neither goal got in the way of the other.
- A value line, not a slogan: “Global Cannabis Consulting and Branding” tells a stranger exactly what the business does in five words.
- They kept going: The team extended past the original month because recognition was still building. Stopping at four weeks would have cut it short.
- A channel that was open to them: Where online platforms restrict cannabis-related ads, boards gave Blue Dream a way to be seen.
- One destination: Every board pointed to the same web address, which is what made the Atlanta traffic lift readable.
What Cannabis Business Owners Can Take From This Campaign
- Check the rules first: Cannabis advertising is governed by state law and by individual board owners. Confirm what is allowed in your market before you design anything.
- Separate your markets: Run each city as its own campaign so you can tell which one is working.
- Say what you do: Whether it is dispensary advertising or business-to-business consulting, a stranger should understand your category from the board alone.
- Give it more than a month: Blue Dream planned four weeks and kept going because recognition was still building. Frequency over time is what makes the name stick.
Run a Cannabis Billboard Campaign Like Blue Dream’s
Choose the boards in the markets where your customers and partners are, set a budget you are comfortable with, and give the campaign enough time to build recognition. Submit your campaign for review and start displaying after approval.
Frequently Asked Questions About Blue Dream Industries’s Billboard Campaign
How many billboards did Blue Dream Industries use?
Six digital billboards across two markets, Los Angeles and Atlanta, across two campaigns. Together they delivered 9,172 blips and 18,187 estimated impressions.
How long did Blue Dream Industries’ billboard campaign run?
The team planned to advertise for a month and then reassess. They kept the campaigns going and were still reporting good results at close to two months.
What results did Blue Dream Industries see?
The Atlanta campaign brought 1,000 additional website hits to bluedreamindustriesllc.com. The Los Angeles campaign led to a partnership with one of the most recognized names in the cannabis industry.
Are cannabis billboards allowed?
It depends on the state and on the individual board owner. Rules on cannabis advertising vary widely, so check what applies in each market you want to run in before you build the creative. This is general information rather than legal advice.
Is billboard advertising effective for cannabis businesses?
It reaches people that restricted online platforms often will not let you reach. Cannabis billboards build recognition through repeat exposure, so plan for weeks of consistent visibility rather than a single burst.
What should a dispensary advertising billboard say?
Keep it to your name, your category, and one destination. Dispensary advertising has the same constraint as any board: a driver has a couple of seconds, so a location or a web address will do more than a list of products.
How is digital billboard advertising different from a traditional billboard buy?
With digital billboard advertising through Blip you choose the boards, set the budget, and pay per play, with no contracts and no minimums. You can also run separate campaigns in separate markets and compare them.