Julian Cohen

Former Chief Innovation Officer, Canopy Growth

Julian is a brand builder with over 25 years of innovation, insights, strategy, and marketing experience in CPG, beverage alcohol, entertainment, and cannabis.

He has a BA in Economics from the University of Chicago, and began his career at Leo Burnett, working on Oldsmobile and Tropicana. After a brief detour to pursue a degree in Creative Writing at the University of Miami, he returned to advertising, and worked at DDB, Element79, and Leo Burnett on such storied brands as Gatorade, Quaker, Yoplait, Wheaties, Budweiser, Virginia Slims, Home Depot, and Dell.

Julian has spent the last 15 years on the client side, first at Beam, where he ran global insights and innovation on brands like Jim Beam, Courvoisier, Maker’s Mark, and Sauza, and then at Constellation Brands, where he headed up business intelligence for the beer and wine & spirits divisions, driving growth for Corona, Modelo, Mondavi, Casa Noble tequila, and Svedka vodka. In between his time at Beam and Constellation, he co-created and produced “Space Racers,” an animated children’s television series that has aired in over 150 countries in 35 languages.

Most recently, he has worked in the nascent cannabis category. First, as the SVP of Emerging Categories at Constellation, Julian led the GreenStar joint venture, overseeing Constellation’s investment in Canopy Growth and developing new cannabis infused beverages for the newly legal Canadian market. After that, he took a role as the Chief Innovation and Growth Officer at Canopy Growth, where he ran the R&D, Innovation, and Brand Marketing functions for one of the largest cannabis companies in the world. He continues to work in this space, advising several cannabis and beverage alcohol startups in Canada and the US.