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Company: Trailblaze
Company Description: PR Agency Specializing in Next-Generation Cannabis, Psychedelics and Wellness Brands
Nomination Category: Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, & Public Relations Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Communications or PR Campaign of the Year - New Product or Service Launch
 Nomination Title: MariMed and Trailblaze Unveil the World's Largest Cannabis Brownie - and Go Viral.
- Which will you submit for this nomination, a video of up to five (5) minutes in length about the nominated PR campaign or program, or written answers to the questions? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the nominated video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this first question: Specify the date on which this campaign or program was launched:
December 7, 2021 ahead of National Brownie Day
- Optional: Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 32 words used.
The attached PR Summary provides an overview of the challenge, our approach and the phenomenal results of this campaign - all accomplished on a shoestring $3500 budget and a LOT of creativity.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this second question: Describe the genesis of the nominated campaign or program: the reasons it was initiated, the challenges it was created to address, the problems it was developed to solve, etc. (up to 250 words):
Total 142 words used.
Massachusetts-based cannabis company MariMed, Inc, approached its PR agency, Trailblaze, with a unique challenge: How can we get media attention for a new THC consumer product brand rolling out in a single state during the most crowded time of the year--the holidays?
The brand? Bubby’s Baked: A new line of nostalgia-inducing soft-baked THC edibles in three classic confectionery recipes – brownie, chocolate chip, and snickerdoodle. The catch? The campaign would need to be executed for under $5K.
Putting their heads together, client and agency landed on a novel idea: What if we baked the world’s largest cannabis-infused brownie to promote our launch?
Our goals: Raise national awareness of MariMed and its Bubby's Baked product line, drive consumer interest/product trial in Massachusetts, create investor and analyst confidence in the company's product strategy and contribute to the destigmatization and mainstream acceptance of legal cannabis.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this third question: Describe the development of the campaign or program: the planning process, the goal setting, the creative and media development, the scheduling, etc. (up to 250 words):
Total 191 words used.
To land our stunt, we knew we needed a killer photo AND a news peg. After researching the cultural calendar we found our moment: National Brownie Day on December 8, 2021.
The next step? Figuring out how to make it! MariMed’s marketing team consulted with their industrial kitchen staff and devised a plan to bake a 3 foot by 3 foot, 15-inch high brownie--the largest size they could fit in their commercial oven--as well as a specially built palette study enough to display it. MariMed’s confectioners used 1,344 eggs, 212 lbs of butter, 81 lbs of flour, and 20,000 mg of THC.
The record-breaking result: An eye-popping 850-pound, 3 ft X 3 ft square super-sized version of a Bubby’s Baked pot brownie, created on a shoestring budget of approximately $3,500.
On December 7, the day before National Brownie Day, MariMed issued a press release with a single hero photo of the brownie surrounded by kitchen staff. Trailblaze went to work securing an exclusive and pitching the story to dozens of outlets, and by that afternoon the brownie began gaining traction in the news and in social media conversations.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this fourth question: Outline the activities and concrete results of this campaign or program since the beginning of 2020. Even if your initiative started before 2020, limit your response to activities and results since the beginning of 2020 only (up to 250 words):
Total 213 words used.
The campaign was a phenomenal success. For a $3,500 investment (the cost of ingredients and photography), the PR stunt produced unprecedented ROI:
- 4.89 Billion Earned Media Impressions (UVM)
- > 1,750 stories spanning 43 countries
- 88% Positive Sentiment with the majority of stories including the brand name and/or image.
The story was covered by almost every major online, broadcast news organization and late-night show: USA Today, People.com, the Associated Press, Inc., The Huffington Post, Washington Post, New York Post, Yahoo! News, International Business Times, UPI, Boston Globe, TMZ, Thrillist, VICE, Complex, Boing Boing, NowThis Weed, The Klein and Alley Show, NBC News Radio, CBS Radio News, ABC News Radio, Cheddar, Spectrum News 1, KTLA 5, Fox 13, Fox News Radio, Bloomberg Radio…plus SNL, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyer, and Stephen Colbert.
From a business perspective, the stunt thrust a little-known company into the international spotlight, and investors took notice. The company’s stock price surged, and two new analysts initiated coverage of the company.
While the brownie was denied the title of “World’s Largest Brownie” by Guinness because they “no longer accept submissions from cannabis products,” it nonetheless set an international record and won the hearts, and attention, of mainstream media and consumers of all walks of life.
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