The space was named “The Hubilo Retreat” and was inspired by Hubilo’s creative identity, color palette, and geometric logo, along with the sights and sounds of the French Riviera. “The goal was to be really inviting, with greenery and lighting and warm branding," explained Jessica Connolly, Hubilo's director of events. "When you walked upstairs, it almost didn’t feel like you were on a yacht—you were transformed into another place.”Photo: Overflow Creative
CANNES, FRANCE—"The yachts at Cannes are the ultimate trade show booths," said BizBash chairman and founder David Adler during this year's Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, which took place in the south of France from June 20-24.
Adler was speaking on board BizBash's own yacht (or floating activation, if you will) that showcased creativity at the festival of creativity in a luxury, branded space with our partner, leading event technology platform Hubilo. Playfully named "The Hubilo Retreat," our inaugural outing at the high-profile festival was docked in a prime location just outside the Palais des Festivals—known as "yacht row" among festival attendees. It offered a relaxing and inspiring place for event and marketing professionals to connect via networking opportunities, shared meals, top-tier education sessions, entertainment, and more.
Adler referred to the yacht as a space for “managing serendipity.” “It’s about connecting people face-to-face, and creating programming that gets the right people to your place so they can have those casual interactions and create that community," he explained.
Throughout the week, the BizBash and Hubilo teams hosted top marketers and event planners from big brands like Instagram, LinkedIn, CBS, Amazon, Pinterest, Spotify, and many more, who joined everything from panel discussions to podcast recordings to an interactive, on-site scent lab, with plenty of moments for casual conversations and fun activities in between. The goal was to offer a unique space for the event professionals—many of whom were working long days on their own activations during the festival—to relax, recharge, and connect.
“Every detail that went into this experience was about connection," noted Michela Giovannotto, BizBash's director of brand experiences. "In the bustle of one of the largest festivals in the world, we hoped to create a serene place that would authentically bring people together in intentional ways.”
The success of the yacht also proves the power of partnerships, added Adler, noting that when BizBash and Hubilo first brainstormed how to make their debut at Cannes Lions, he was immediately excited to bring a thoughtful experience to the brands' shared audiences of event and marketing professionals.
Of course, he was also humbled about how to pull it off, Adler remembered. Enter marketing and event agency BMF, whose team has extensive experience activating at the busy festival and was tapped to help design and produce the experience. "BMF did a fantastic job," Adler said. "Their understanding of culture and marketing and branding really helped; they knew how important it is to create a stage presence that was like a theater. They created the set for us to have meaningful engagement with the Cannes community."
Jessica Connolly, the director of events for Hubilo, agreed. "What we pulled off in five or six months is amazing, and I want to give all the credit to the teams from BizBash and BMF for bringing our vision to life," she said.
Scroll down for a look inside the experience.
"Through high-end hospitality and forward-thinking yet purposeful programming, this rejuvenating space for festival attendees pays homage to the art, scents, sounds, and tastes that define both classic and contemporary Côte d’Azur lifestyle," said the BMF team in a pre-event interview.
The space was intentionally designed with a flexible layout that could be changed based on programming needs, and umbrellas were strategically placed and moved as needed to protect guests from the heat. After the event wrapped, all furnishings were donated to a local charity.
The BMF team noted that for a yacht-based activation, it’s crucial to address outdoor elements like wind and heat, and also to think through constraints like a limited kitchen and any bolted-down furniture. They resolved this by carefully thinking through the guest journey through the yacht’s floorplan, and using some cleverly placed custom design elements and signage to keep guests comfortable and informed.
“For the scent lab, we wanted people to be able to take something away from the experience—and again use a local vendor, and France is known for its perfumes and scents," Connolly explained. "So people will go home and put on their spritz and remember the time they had here with Hubilo and BizBash.”
