California Department of Cannabis Control

Buyer seeks a full-service advertising agency to develop and implement a statewide Real California Cannabis campaign. The campaign aims to educate consumers about benefits of purchasing from the legal cannabis market and dangers of unlicensed products. Buyer requires a multi-platform approach targeting adult-use cannabis consumers age 21 and up. The contractor will conduct research, develop creative concepts, implement media strategies, and evaluate campaign effectiveness.

• 6/3/2025 - Written questions due
• 7/1/2025 - Questions and Answers posted
• 7/16/2025 - Proposal Due Date
• 7/22/2025 - Team evaluations
• 7/29/2025 - Interviews/Presentations
• 8/5/2025 - Scoring
• 8/26/2025 - Anticipated start date

• Three consecutive years of social cause marketing experience
• Experience in behavior-change marketing/advertising
• Experience outreaching to adult-use cannabis consumers 21+
• Experience marketing to multi-lingual, multi-ethnic audiences
• Minimum annual gross billings of $6 million
• Minimum of ten employees and California-based office
• No conflict of interest with tobacco, e-cigarette, cannabis companies
• Achieve 3% Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise participation
• Good standing and qualified to conduct business in California

• Develop a statewide media campaign promoting legal cannabis market benefits
• Conduct formative research on cannabis knowledge and attitudes
• Create culturally appropriate messaging for multiple demographic groups
• Develop and execute a multi-platform digital media strategy
• Create content for real.cannabis.ca.gov website and landing pages
• Produce educational advertising for multiple media platforms
• Implement media buys with minimum 20% discount or added value
• Mail RCC QR Code packages to licensed retailers
• Provide translation services in Spanish and other languages
• Monitor and evaluate campaign effectiveness with quarterly reporting
• Create messaging for cannabis-focused days like 4/20
• Maintain ADA compliance across all digital content
• Provide technical assistance and training to DCC staff
• Develop social media content and strategy
• Incorporate existing RCC assets into new campaign materials