Ryan Archibald, the former president and managing director of VICE Canada, has launched Gram By Gram – billed as a first-of-its-kind global marketing agency “devoted to helping cannabis brands grow – from seed to scale.”
Co-founded with Los Angeles-based media entrepreneur Ted Chung, Gram By Gram will have offices in Toronto, Los Angeles, Mexico City and London and operate as an agnostic creative division of Merry Jane – the cannabis digital media company Chung co-founded with Snoop Dogg.
It promises to offer brand strategy, marketing solutions, B2B services and content approaches for the burgeoning cannabis industry and is launching with a client roster that includes Canopy Growth Corporation’s recreational cannabis brands Tweed and LBS, and fast food chain Jack in the Box which previously partnered with Merry Jane on the “Merry Munchie Meal” in celebration of recreational pot becoming legal in California.
During his 14-year tenure at VICE, Archibald established VICE Studio Canada and oversaw the growth of Virtue in Canada, VICE’s Brooklyn-headquartered global creative agency. Led by Badr El Fekkak, Virtue Canada developed content and launched platforms for brands including Google, Canon, and Sephora. El Fekkak rejoins Archibald at Gram By Gram in the role of Chief Strategy Officer.
“No other cannabis agency offers this combination of footprint and experience,” said Archibald in a release. “Our team has spent a decade successfully connecting a subculture with the mainstream, bringing unprecedented levels of access, knowledge and expertise to the table.”
In addition to its Canadian legalization in 2018, cannabis is now legal for medical use in 33 U.S. states and recreational adult use in 10 states. In Mexico, private, personal use of recreational marijuana in amounts of five grams or less has been decriminalized, with plans for broader legalization set to come into effect in October. Spending on legal cannabis is expected to hit $57 billion by 2027, according to Arcview Market Research and BDS Analytics.
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