How a content marketer became an award-winning cannabis creator

The company, led by founder and CEO Joanne Wilson, hired Rachel Bell as director of content and engagement in 2023, ahead of opening its first location in Bowery (it’s since opened three more) to grow its social media and brand awareness.

Cannabis is one of the few categories where a company can legally sell a product in the real world but still be effectively locked out of many of the largest digital media platforms. Conventional reach is difficult to buy and nearly impossible to scale consistently, meaning marketers operate with one hand tied behind their backs. The rules vary by platform, state and format, and enforcement can be blunt. A campaign accepted in one market may be rejected in another without the creative changing at all.

“Cannabis is one of the few categories where a company can legally sell a product in the real world but still be effectively locked out of many of the largest digital media platforms,” said Matt Barash, media executive and advisor. “Conventional reach is difficult to buy and nearly impossible to scale consistently, meaning marketers operate with one hand tied behind their backs. The rules vary by platform, state and format, and enforcement can be blunt. A campaign accepted in one market may be rejected in another without the creative changing at all.”

Bell had plenty of experience building hyper-specific communities: in her teens, she had a small but passionate community of Facebook followers (more than 8,000) who interacted with her daily status updates, written only as poems. 

After college, she got a content marketing role at apartment subletting app flip, where she built up its social media presence through memes. She had a few more content marketing roles after that, but according to Bell, at the end of 2022, received a Twitter DM from Wilson that simply read: “Loved your work at Flip. Cool opp. Cannabis. Interested?”

She joined Gotham months later, in January 2023. Tasked with creating a brand series, Bell pitched “Hi, I’m High,” a web series in which she travels New York City visiting events and landmarks while under the influence of Gotham’s products. 

“I can’t show the weed, but I can show the high on a person, and I am the talent that is easiest to schedule with and direct because I always know when I’m available,” Bell told Digiday. “It was low budget, it was easy to execute.”

Bell was also able to showcase the store’s non cannabis selection of attire, which she sometimes wears on the show. She said anecdotally that products featured in episodes sometimes show a steep increase in sales — in one instance, a featured item was the best-selling product of the month.

Even without regular uploads, “Hi, I’m High” helped Gotham gain 10,000 followers on Instagram within a year. Once Bell began regularly uploading biweekly, it jumped to 20,000 followers. Now Gotham has nearly 60,000 followers on Instagram, three years after the series launch.

Last year, Gotham started uploading long-form cuts of the episodes on YouTube; the account now has more than 20,000 subscribers. They’re building up a TikTok as well, though the platform is even more strict regarding cannabis. A search for “Gotham Cannabis,” as an example, serves you an alert that reads “Be informed and aware. Some substances can be dangerous when used or misused.” Despite this, Gotham has nearly 20,000 followers on TikTok.

Across all platforms, the branded series has over 11 million views. In 2023, shortly after its inception, the series won a Clio Award. Earlier this year, it won the Webby for branded video and film series.

Gotham is now developing a “Hi, I’m High” merch line for fans — and incubating three other branded series that are in active production. “I’m treating our social presence like a network, like a TV channel that I’m programming,” Bell said.

Stepping in front of the camera has also led to Bell’s personal account and creator cache growing. Since starting the series, her follower count on Instagram has quadrupled from 12,000 to 50,000. She’s regularly contacted to appear in other series, and recently hired a manager. Her dog, Ernie, regularly makes appearances in her content; she has a new partnership with a dog food brand, but didn’t provide details.

“I want to be sure I’m responsibly appreciating and handling my increasing visibility as a person outside of my job,” she said.