As brands and cannabis PR agents well know, it’s tough to get media coverage. We do our best here at MJBI, but we can only cover a tiny fraction of the pitches that flood our inboxes daily. And while the mainstream media has begun to follow cannabis more closely, the focus tends to be on news and issues rather than brand leaders, innovation, or the positive influence that brands can have on their customers and communities.
So it’s a big deal to get press. And it’s an even bigger deal to get a lot of press. So which cannabis companies are winning this race? Pioneer Intelligence recently released a report on the brands that garnered the most media attention in 2022. And, for the reasons stated above, we can assume these companies have all done something notable (or at least made the smart decision to invest heavily in some killer PR).
Of course, “notable” isn’t always something good. A few of the brands on this list are likely here because they’ve been in the hot seat. Take MedMen (#5), a company that has garnered a fair amount of bad press in the past years, most recently due to the recent disclosure that their debt far exceeds their assets and that there’s “substantial doubt” that they’ll be able to pay their bills on time.
But let’s not focus on the negative—when it comes to cannabis, the mainstream press has got that covered. Instead, let’s take a moment to celebrate the companies that are working hard to become household names. To keep things interesting, Pioneer has created two lists: MSOs and brands that operate in three states or less.
So who are these “smaller” brands? Oh, for example, a little brand called “Houseplant.” So, yeah, the non-MSO list isn’t exactly an obscure backwater. Here we see some major players, including Theory Wellness, Papa & Barkley, and Glass House Farms.
It’s unsurprising that bigger brands are dominating both lists. A big company that’s constantly opening new stores or forging celebrity partnerships is a natural news engine. See Trulieve (#2 on the MSO list), which garnered a lot of press for its continuing expansion in Florida and for its partnership with Khalifa Kush (#14 on the MSO list).
But if we analyze this list, we also see companies that drew press for pheno-hunting (Ball Family Farms, which incidentally also made Pioneer’s 2022 social media ranking) or making a 3 million dollar donation to cannabis research (Wana). But enough already. Scroll down to make your own judgments about why these thirty are the most newsworthy cannabis companies in the US.
Full lists ↓
