CLIENT:
Glorious
Cannabis
Services:
Campaign Identity
+ Deliverables
Agency: Qonkur Media
YEAR: 2022
My Role: Art Director; Graphic Designer
Collaborators:
Ashley Lupinski - Account Manager
Software Used: Illustrator
Photoshop
Indesign
A State Divided, was a product launch campaign created for Glorious Cannabis Co. Glorious saw untapped potential for success in a ‘rivalry’ product that, like many their products or ideas, was quick to be replicated by competitors the next football season.
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The football rivalry between the University of Michigan and Michigan State is a yearly event that truly divides sports fans across the state of Michigan. The meeting of the two teams two teams has happened total of 116 times and they compete each year for the Paul Bunyon trophy. When they approached me, they were looking for a launch campaign, centered around this rivalry, featuring the two new pre-roll flavors they were releasing just in time for the football season.
The asks were minimal but as with most projects, if I am given the time to go above and beyond, I will. Their target audience were heavy cannabis smokers, as their infused pre-rolls are most times, 3x more potent than a non-infused pre-roll. Based on company research, they deemed those people were mostly men, ranging in age from their early twenties to late thirties. The result needed to appeal to this demographic while being eye-catching as marketing in the cannabis space is often overwhelming and busy.
ThE Concept
The campaign blossomed from the idea that during the football season (and even outside it) the state is divided over these two teams. To understand the complexities of this multi-generational beef you have to go back to the 1940s, although it can be argued it started even earlier at the inception of MSU. This campaign asks the age old question every Michigander is familiar with; whose side are you on?
Rivalry History Explained
When the University of Chicago decided to leave the Big Ten in 1946, there was an opening for MSU to join. Despite publicly voting for this, U-M’s leadership at the time did everything behind the scenes to prevent the vote from even happening. Through the dislike of U-M from other schools in the Big Ten, MSU found their allies (most importantly from University of Minnesota) and finally joined the Big Ten in 1948. Yet, due to U-M’s behind the scenes tactics, they didn’t start playing football in the conference until 1953. As their first season as Big Ten football members, the governor of Michigan presented the Paul Bunyon trophy, to be played for each meeting of the two teams moving forward and given to the winner of the U-M v. MSU game. The winner of that first Big Ten game was MSU, they celebrated on the field with fans, engraved the score on the trophy, and proudly displayed it in their fieldhouse. In fact, that season the Spartans were the winner of the conference and even went on to win the Rose Bowl, a historically important bowl game. The next two years U-M won those rivalry games and by comparison did not engrave the scores of those games and stored the trophy in an equipment closet. The tension has only built since then. In recent years there has been the first night game in the series’ history, some top 10 matchups between them, scouting scandals, viral moments, and unfortunately, a few fights. Most notably, the ‘fight’ where a few Spartan players assaulted a Wolverine player in the tunnel at U-M. This resulting in fines for MSU, suspension of the players’ involved and arrests made. Regardless of how both schools do throughout the season, the University of Michigan vs. Michigan State game is always a must watch.
The Products To be Launched
The rivalry products were additions to the Glorious Cannabis Co. lineup of Icewater Bubble Hash Pre-Rolls. These are very popular infused pre-rolls among cannabis smokers across the state:
Melon State represents Michigan State University. The pre-rolls are offered in two different SKUs; a single, 1 gram pre-roll or three, .5 gram pre-rolls.
Go Blueberry represents University of Michigan. The pre-rolls are offered in two different SKUs; a single, 1 gram pre-roll or three, .5 gram pre-rolls.
Campaign Colors
Campaign Mockups
