Spiritleaf

READ THE CASE STUDY

Spiritleaf was the first Canadian cannabis company to be granted Canadian Franchise Association Membership and is Canada’s largest single-brand network of cannabis retail stores. The Spiritleaf brand is all about enjoying life, breaking from norms, embracing the unexpected and sharing meaningful moments. Inner Spirit Holdings approached Flipp in 2017 with a vision to become one of Canada’s leading cannabis retailers. Here’s how we created their brand identity and set them up for success.

Services Provided:

Strategy

Vision Fest Program

Creative

Branding
Brand book
Investor deck design
POS materials
Advertising campaigns
Loyalty program branding & collateral

Interactive

Website design and development

Challenge

The legalisation of cannabis in Canada was an exciting and uncharted historical event. The end of prohibition meant we would be navigating a totally new market that was heavily regulated. Government, Google, and media owners all have very strict guidelines around promoting cannabis. Promoting a cannabis company before legalisation was just the kind of creative challenge that we love.

Cannabis culture has always pushed boundaries, challenged perceptions and attracted creative types. Flipp needed to create a brand and assets to reflect that.

Solution

The logo is clean, bold and clever. Using the Spiritleaf initials, a leaf motif, and a shift in perspective. The simplicity of the logo was especially important because it needed to work well in small spaces – like those found on their custom rolling papers.

To pre-promote Spiritleaf while staying within the guidelines, we came up with the campaign concept “October 17th” (the official date of legalisation in Canada). We ran a digital ad campaign leading to a custom landing page that featured a countdown to legalisation. Our main goal was to grow Spiritleaf’s email marketing database, so that we could email potential customers about store openings, news and updates.

Once Spiritleaf’s retail footprint began to grow from coast to coast, they needed a loyalty program to recognize their customer base. Flipp developed the brand, messaging, and promotional assets for the Collective. As of April 2022, 430,000 people across Canada have signed up to “Feel the Love” as Collective benefit program members.

Results

The Spiritleaf brand framework created by Flipp, supported a franchise-based retail network that grew to over 100 locations from coast to coast. The company was acquired by Sundial Growers in 2021 and continues to thrive.