Case Study · Regulated Consumer Brand · M&A Exit Goal
A regulated cannabis brand needed US media credibility before a merger. Avaans built the narrative, the visibility, and the investor-grade proof that made the acquisition possible.
Verified Results · 6 Months
The Challenge
The US cannabis market doesn't hand credibility to outsiders. This Canadian-based regulated consumer cannabis brand needed to establish real media authority with US investors, partners, and industry press before a planned merger. The regulatory complexity was high. The media channel constraints were real. And the timeline was fixed.
Most agencies would have treated this as a generic announcement campaign. Avaans treated it as what it actually was: a credibility-building mandate with an exit deadline attached.
The brief: introduce a regulated Canadian brand to US media, build measurable share of voice against publicly traded competitors, and increase investor-relevant visibility, all without a single regulatory misstep.
The Approach
Regulated brands can't just blast a press release and hope. Avaans built a systematic earned media program: weekly outreach to cannabis business and adjacent financial journalists with timely, newsworthy storylines tied to announcements, conferences, and media calendars.
Global reputation monitoring informed corporate decisions in real time, including partnerships and product positioning in the US. Executive thought leadership was built through media profiles, speaking engagements, and owned content, all with message consistency enforced through internal and media training.
Crisis prevention was built into the strategy from day one, covering both product and positioning risk. When your brand is heading toward a transaction, the worst thing that can happen is a media problem you didn't see coming.
What Avaans Built
As Seen In
The Outcome
Over six months, the brand accumulated 985 million in earned media reach across investor-relevant financial and industry publications. Website visits from the target audience increased 11,240%. Competitive share of voice grew 291%, including against publicly traded entities with significantly larger resources.
The M&A event completed successfully. That outcome doesn't happen by accident for a regulated brand in a scrutinized category. It happens because the narrative was credible, the coverage was consistent, and the brand had built real visibility with the audiences that matter in a transaction.
Regulated brands heading toward an exit don't need more marketing activity. They need a PR agency that understands what investors read, what journalists in their category will actually cover, and where the regulatory lines are. That's what Avaans built here.
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Regulated brands preparing for M&A need credibility built before the deal table.
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