CANNAINVESTOR Magazine September / October 2016 | Page 71

AUDIENCE GROWTH & DEMOGRAPHIC.

Since launch in September 2015, Civilized has attracted its high-value demographic by the millions. Civilized.life receives more than 1 million unique page views a month, and has received more than 8 million total content views (combined page views, video views, and social platform views).

THE RIGHT OPPORTUNITY AT THE RIGHT TIME.

Civilized combines the best of both digital media and cannabis by leveraging its smart, appealing lifestyle content and branding while targeting an elevated, lucrative audience of millions.

The digital media industry has demonstrated exponential growth, which is forecasted to continue. According to eMarketer in 2014-15, digital ad spending grew by 13% with a valuation of $53 billion – the fastest growing media category. By 2020, digital is estimated to increase to $105 billion or 45% of total ad spending, surpassing TV for the first time ever.

Some of the industry’s largest digital media companies have built vast, multi-platform networks – including Vice ($4 billion valuation), BuzzFeed ($1.5 billion), Huffington Post ($1 billion), Vox ($850 million), and Mashable ($300 million). Mergers and acquisitions associated with these companies (and many others) have steadily increased year-over-year, with 96% of transactions being strategic buyers.

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