HQ Cannabis Brand

Affinity Report
Decoding the Top Passions, Interests and Common
Values in 2020 for Gen Z and Millennial Lifestyle
Cannabis Consumers.
Millennials have surpassed baby boomers to become the largest
living generation in America, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
By 2021, Gen Z is expected to account for 40% of all customers.
The massive growth of these two demographics have altered the
marketing landscape forever. Gen-Z is the first digitally native
generation, while millennials are a hybrid of digital and analog.

Every marketer has assumptions about who the Gen Z and millennial
cannabis consumers are and how they spend their time. But those
assumptions are usually limited to A-listers within categories like
“Hip Hop” “Gaming” and “Influencers.” And while it’s helpful to know
which of the big brand names resonate the most with your target
consumer (ie: Is your audience more into Rihanna or Snoop Dogg?
FaZe Clan or Fnatic? Kylie or Cristiano?), they are too expensive or
out of reach for the majority of cannabis marketers.

So
how can cannabis brands
earn market share with these
complex, multifaceted, and
massive demographics?

This is where HQ comes in. In short, we help cannabis brands launch

in California – the largest legal cannabis market in the world. And
the first step in our process is understanding, at a granular level,
who a brand’s target consumer truly is.

Through our partnership with The Statement Group, we use AI

audience interest software to go beyond personas and templated
demographics. We uncover exactly who and what your audience
is interested in and passionate about in real time across 56
categories.

We will not only uncover if your consumer is more into Rihanna or

Snoop Dogg. We also uncover the mid and micro tier of performers,
influencers, brands, publications, podcasts etc that are actionable
– whether that’s through paid campaigns, native content, organic
outreach or partnerships.

When you know exactly who your audience is interested in, it takes
the guesswork out of marketing and cuts wasted spends. When you
align your brand with your audience’s interests your engagement
skyrockets and you build a deeper emotional connection with your
consumer that lasts years.

We have launched our “Cannabis Brand Affinity Report” to help

brands decode the most important brands, performers, podcasts
and much more across 56 categories. Below is a sample of the top
five results from the popular and value sections across Hip Hop,
Dance/Electronic, Gaming and Influencer categories.

Brand Affinity Report • 01

Overview

As of January 2020, Gen Z spending power is

$143,000,000,000
– Business Insider

Each year in the US alone, millennials spend approximately

$600,000,000,000

38% of cannabis consumers age 21 and older in fully legal states are mad
up of Millennials and Gen Z. Just one year into legal age, Gen Zers
account for 2% of that figure.

44%
84% of Millennials play of Generation Z has made a
video games regularly purchase decision based on
- Gen Z = 91% Whistle a recommendation from a
social influencer. Kantar

Brand Affinity Report • 02

Hip-Hop/R&B is
Music is the key
2300% 38%
more important to the Gen Z and Millennial
recreational cannabis consumers than the
of Gen Z and
Millennial total
interests accounted
for all categories of
music including (Hip-Hop/R&B, Dance/Electronic,
average Internet user. Pop, Rock, Country, etc.) when combined.

71%
of Gen Z and Millennials
are liberal leaning.

After music, Digital Platforms, Influencers,

Gaming and Style & Fashion received the
highest Mindshare.

Brand Affinity Report • 03

Mindshare tiers

DOMINANT MAJOR PRIME

Categories within this tier hold the The second most important tier Categories within this tier resonate
highest value to this consumer to this consumer on average 10x more than the
average consumer

ESSENTIAL
While this category is extremely
important to this consumer, there
are certain areas within it that stand
resonate than others
VALUABLE
While on the lowest rung, everything
in this tier is still more important
to this target audience than the
average consumer

How the data works

• Our proprietary algorithms analyze the millions of connections this consumer engages with across a wide array of
categories and topics. Understanding who and what your audience is interested in and passionate about is essential to
understanding how to reach them.

• Mindshare This is how we measure the importance of one category in relation to all 56 categories and interests. The
more accounts in a specific category your consumer follows and engages with, the higher their mindshare tier.

• Value Score We identify which medium and micro-sized brands, publishers, celebrities, influencers etc that over-index
with your consumer. These are the high-value opportunities to reach your target audience at a much lower cost.

Brand Affinity Report • 04

Hip-Hop and R&B Mindshare Tier
DOMINANT

Popularity Score (A-Listers

Big Names and Brand Names with
Large Followings)
Best Value
Value Score (Mid-Tier
Names and Brands that
Overindex with this
Consumer)

Wiz Khalifa
96 Na-kel Allah Smith 97
American rapper, American designer,
singer-songwriter, rapper, songwriter
and actor skateboarder

87 Travis Scott
95 Fendi P

American rapper, American rapper,

singer-songwriter, born and raised
and Producer in New Orleans

Snoop Dogg 81 Valee 94

American rapper, American rapper
singer-songwriter, signed to Kanye’s
producer, and GOOD Music
actor label

78 Kendrick Lamar 94 Larry June

American
American rapper rapper from San
and songwriter Francisco

Kanye West 76 Westside Gunn

91
American
rapper, designer, American rapper
producer, and and hip-hop artist
mogul from Buffalo

Brand Affinity Report • 05

Dance/Electronic Mindshare Tier
PRIME

Popularity Score (A-Listers

Big Names and Brand Names with
Large Followings)
Best Value
Value Score (Mid-Tier
Names and Brands that
Overindex with this
Consumer)

Marshmello 63 Alison Wonderland 79

American Australian
electronic music electronic dance
producer & DJ music producer,
DJ, & singer

49
American DJ,
Chantel Jeffries
78 Kaytranada

Haitian-Canadian
producer, actress,
DJ and record
model, & YouTube
producer
personality

Major Lazor 48 Flosstradamus 71

Jamaican-American American DJ and
electronic dance musician Curt
music trio Cameruci

44 Deadmau5 70 RL Grime
Canadian American record
electronic music producer and
producer & DJ Trap DJ

DJ Snake
38 Zeds Dead 59
French DJ and Canadian
record producer electronic music
from Paris duo from Toronto

Brand Affinity Report • 06

Gaming Mindshare Tier
DOMINANT

Popularity Score (A-Listers

Big Names and Brand Names with
Large Followings)
Best Value
Value Score (Mid-Tier
Names and Brands that
Overindex with this
Consumer)

Ninja
67 Jordan Daley 76
Owner & Chairman
American streamer,
YouTuber and of Era Eternity, Orbit,
pro gamer & Vivace Hub.

48 FaZe Clan
71 100 Thieves

Pro esports Lifestyle brand

organization from & gaming org
Las Angeles based in LA

Tfue 42 Ronnie 2K 2K20 68

American American pro
streamer and pro gamer & digital
Fortnite player marketing
director

36 pokimane 65 Dr. Disrespect

Moroccan- American Internet
Canadian Twitch celebrity and
streamer and YouTube streamer
YouTuber

Myth
33 nadeshot
57
American Twitch Founder, co-owner
streamer and pro and CEO of esports
Fortnite player team 100 Thieves

Brand Affinity Report • 07

Fashion Brands Mindshare Tier
MAJOR

Popularity Score (A-Listers

Big Names and Brand Names with
Large Followings)
Best Value
Value Score (Mid-Tier
Names and Brands that
Overindex with this
Consumer)

Supreme
89 Just Don 94
American Fashion brand
skateboarding located in Los
lifestyle brand Angeles

78 Virgil Abloh 91 Union Los Angeles

Artistic director American youth

at Louis Vuitton and counter
men’s wear culture fashion
brand

A Bathing Ape 73 Staple Pigeon

90
Japanese fashion NYC-focused
brand founded street culture
by Nigo in Ura- brand
Harajuku

61 Undefeated 89 Cookies Clothing

American sneaker SF cannabis-
store and apparel focused streetwear
brand brand

KITH 59 Denim Tears

86
Multifunctional Fashion brand
lifestyle brand for created by
men, women, & Tremaine Emory
kids

Brand Affinity Report • 08

Influencers Mindshare Tier
MAJOR

Popularity Score (A-Listers

Big Names and Brand Names with
Large Followings)
Best Value
Value Score (Mid-Tier
Names and Brands that
Overindex with this
Consumer)

Cole Bennett
58 Stoney Sunday 77
Cannabis-focused
Owner of Lyrical YouTuber and
Lemonade streamer

39 MrBeast
76 Ngaio Bealum

Stunt-focused American,
American musician, activist,
YouTuber and publisher

David Dobrik 38 Dope as Yola

74
YouTube Cannabis-
personality & focused YouTuber
vlogger and streamer

36 Desi Banks 68 Mr. Foamer Simpson

American actor Youtuber

and comedian and Sneaker
influencer

Marques Brownlee
29 Seth Fowler
66
Technology- YouTuber
focused YouTuber and industrial
and podcaster designer

Brand Affinity Report • 09

 Now what?
This data can be used for any industry, any vertical and
any brand – big or small. Understanding your customer on
a deep level is now table stakes to building an authentic,
community driven brand. For more information on how your
brand can take hyper-targeting to a whole new level, say
hello@cannhq.com.

Headquarters
Twitter- @weareyourhq
Linkedin - www.linkedin.com/company/hdqtrs
www.cannhq.com

The Statement Group

LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/company/thestatementgroup
thestatementgroup.com