Cannes Lions 2023: 45 Steal-Worthy Event Ideas From the Massive Festival of Creativity

Working with creative agency Amplify, Pinterest once again brought a vibrant activation to the Carlton Beach Club. The “Pinterest Manifestival” was designed to spark creativity through colorful experiences and interactive activities rather than panels and talks.

Throughout the activation, attendees could do things like manifest their dream trip by getting a peek at new products that are trending on Pinterest, and taste global food trends like ice cream topped with mini croissants.

Private meeting rooms took over the adjacent pier area.

Another highlight? The Future You Studio, which spotlighted top trends on Pinterest by offering hairstyling, piercings, tooth gems, and even real tattoos. Guests could also customize their own merch, including upcycled jewelry and accessories.

Working with experiential agency The Park, Spotify returned to Cannes Lions for its ninth year, hosting the airy Spotify Beach across from JW Marriott Cannes. The space hosted a number of daytime master classes and sessions featuring guests like Trevor Noah, Issa Rae, Emma Chamberlain, and Cesc Fàbregas, who all emphasized the brand’s focus on creativity, connection, and innovation.

Spotify Beach featured several activation experiences, including daily sound bath meditations, an FC Barcelona play zone, a “Sonic Sips” coffee and juice bar, and a custom sunglasses gifting station.

Guests could try Spotify’s new DJ, an AI-driven tool that sorts through users’ latest music choices and favorites and delivers a stream of song recommendations.

In the evenings, Spotify Beach hosted performances from H.E.R., Florence & the Machine, Jack Harlow, Foo Fighters, A$AP Rocky, and more.

For its beachside activation, Meta opted to showcase how its platform and products like AI, Reels, and business messaging can drive performance, help businesses spark new connections, and unlock the opportunities of the metaverse tomorrow. Jack Morton Worldwide handled creative execution and full production, while multidisciplinary design studio De-Yan handled design.

A creative highlight was the Reels SuperStudio. Each year at Cannes Lions, Meta Beach offers an immersive experience in collaboration with an inspiring creative—and in 2023, that was Colm Dillane, founder and CEO of KidSuper Studios. Attendees were welcomed by a prompt each day to create their best Reels, and were greeted by an artful sculpture garden containing surreal, oversize “totems of creativity” before entering the SuperStudio. Inside, guests were inspired to create their own Reels while learning about the most important creative principles that have proved to drive effective Reels ads.

For the studio, Dillane was inspired by his theatrical Paris Fashion Week show called “How to Find an Idea.” The concept centers on how Reels allows users to express their ideas. The immersive space started with creative doodles by Dillane that represented the germ of an idea—and once they were inside, attendees could nurture their own ideas into a fully formed concept. Guests also received a Reels-branded T-shirt with an idea-centric graphic, which was also featured at Paris Fashion Week on June 24.

Meta also created a giant “message in a bottle” sculpture. Attendees were met with a visualization of messages of encouragement, creative catchphrases, and inspiring ideas centered on Cannes Lions. They could add their own anonymous messages that appeared as a new chat bubble on the screen. As the messages “floated” to the top, they turned into soap bubbles that floated out of the bottle, capturing attention across the beach.

For its first official appearance at Cannes Lions, Netflix worked with Seen Presents on a rooftop space at the JW Marriott.

Throughout the space, guests could experience vignettes inspired by some of Netflix's biggest titles, including Wednesday, Squid Game, Stranger Things, Emily in Paris, and more.

A massive version of Netflix's logo was visible up and down the Croisette all week.

The Wall Street Journal’s Journal House hosted networking and conversations around the intersection of media, technology, and culture. The media brand hosted 20 events across four days, including newsroom-led interviews; sessions programmed by The Trust, a commercial department at The Wall Street Journal, including panels from sponsors; and invite-only meals like the CMO Network Annual Lunch. This year, speakers included the CMOs of Coca-Cola, NotCo, and MLB; Snap Inc.’s co-founder and CEO Evan Spiegel; actor Kevin Hart; TikTok star Tinx; and more.

The brand also debuted immersive exhibit The Field, created by The Trust in collaboration with Active Theory and sponsored by Hyundai. The multisensory exhibit allowed guests to explore “From the Ground Up,” a 360-degree storytelling adventure demonstrating how Hyundai’s product innovations are improving lives today and in the future. Guests engaged with the experience via an interactive portal as well as VR headsets; they were also able to scan a QR code to take the experience on the go on their mobile devices.

Brand experience partner Cheerful Twentyfirst handled design, production, fabrication, and audiovisual production, while Spirited Pictures handled photo and video. Food came from Giry Traiteur, while beverages came from LiquidChefs and WSJ Wine.

Reddit’s eye-catching space aimed to give marketers fresh insights and best-practice examples to help them drive success on the platform. The activation was specifically centered on recommendations, based on research that every second an average of two people ask Reddit communities for a recommendation—and receive an average of 19 responses. The pop-up’s bright-orange exterior cleverly used text from questions that have been asked on the platform to form the walls.

Inside, guests could take a journey down the consumer recommendation path on Reddit, starting with a question and following the prompts to land on a recommendation. The space also highlighted a data-based analysis of the latest industry trends, like how consumer influence is shifting and the impact this has on marketing strategies.

Upstairs was a breezy cafe space for meetings.

The TikTok Garden at the Carlton Cannes hosted a week of programming, including panel sessions and creative workshops centered on creating authentic content, maximizing brand impact, the future of creativity, and more. The greenery-filled area was designed and produced by Jack Morton Worldwide.

In keeping with the garden theme, a large TikTok logo was created out of moss, offering a fun photo op.

Albertsons Media Collective made its Cannes debut this year, showcasing two interactive spaces designed to foster innovation, creativity, and connections. The unique Evan's Garage space was modeled after the home garage of Evan Hovorka, vice president of product and innovation, where companies like The Trade Desk have historically laid the foundations for partnerships and strategy. At Cannes, the team hosted various leaders in Evan’s Garage for innovation sessions. The garage itself contained the tools needed for partners to brainstorm ideas and leave with co-designed solutions.

As part of its larger presence, the team also hosted a beachfront collaboration space for client meetings and panels to discuss timely topics including industry standardization. In addition to hosting these discussions, Albertsons Media Collective took action at Cannes this year, debuting a preliminary standardization framework to improve transparency in retail media and remove points of friction for advertisers, which is available in its new white paper.

Global integrated marketing agency MG Empower had a cabana just left of the Palais that welcomed more than 300 attendees during the festival. "Along with interactive elements—such as our photo booth, interactive wall, and metaverse showreel—the project was also designed to offer thought leadership moments with key industry figures through an agenda of outdoor panel discussions," explained MG Empower founder and president Maira Genovese. "For this purpose, it was important for us to make sure the terrace was not isolated from the interior of the cabana, but linked to the whole experience."

"With a privileged location close to the Palais, we took advantage of our bold branding elements—mainly the yellow-black color palette—to stand out among the crowd and create a recognizable space for attendees to learn, chat, or just enjoy the view," added Genovese.

On site, the team offered branded goodies like desserts and bright-yellow sunglasses. DesignScene was the production partner for the activation.

Digital-first marketing company Stagwell worked with its production company TEAM Enterprises and brand experience partner Cheerful Twentyfirst to create the Stagwell Sport Beach, a weeklong experience featuring live pickleball games and renowned sports personalities like Maria Sharapova, Carmelo Anthony, Spencer Dinwiddie, Patrice Evra, and Scout Bassett. The creative stadium on the beach setup could host as many as 322 people for meals, panels, games, and more.

In total, the space hosted more than 5,000 attendees, plus 38 athletes, 25 hours of sports, and more than 25 content sessions.

This year, in addition to hosting an on-site yacht, PwC extended its Cannes Lions presence into the virtual world to include those who couldn’t make it to France. Working with metaverse company Virbela, the brand created a custom virtual environment where users could explore the French Riviera via their web browsers.

Virtual guests could listen to PwC industry discussions and panels, hop aboard the PwC yacht, watch daily event summary streams, walk the red carpet, take beach selfies, and connect with their peers.

Throughout Cannes Lions, NBCUniversal hosted a variety of meetings, dinners, and industry events, along with 60 speaking opportunities for its executives. The brand’s main space was called Le Studio NBCU.

The activation space hosted a number of private dinners, including events surrounding the 2024 Olympics and Saturday Night Live. (The brand also appeared on the main stage during the festival, on a panel featuring Sunday Today’s Willie Geist plus SNL’s Lorne Michaels and cast members Ego Nwodim, Bowen Yang, Chloe Fineman, and Mikey Day.)

NBCU also hosted an Olympic takeover at FreeWheel Beach, which was co-hosted by NBCUniversal, FreeWheel, and Comcast Advertising. It featured programming focused on the 2024 Olympics in Paris and the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. There was also a breaking performance by Olympic hopeful Sunny Choi.

Paris Hilton DJed NBCU’s official after-party.

Cheerful Twentyfirst partnered with advertising platform Criteo, docking a branded yacht in Cannes port and hosting an interactive storefront. Wrapping up a week of exclusive networking events and engaging content sessions was a party hosted by NYC-based DJ Mick.

Cheerful Twentyfirst was also the brand experience partner for advertising platform TripleLift’s storefront activation, The Imaginarium, an immersive and reactive world where guests could influence the changing environment through their actions, learn more about TripleLift's products, and unlock their imagination.

TripleLift cut through the Cannes noise even further through a series of guerrilla marketing activities across the week, including bright-pink "Imaginator" brand ambassadors taking over the Croisette, plus a local ice cream partnership.

This year, just steps from La Croisette, Uber hosted meetings, select programming with key industry leaders and influencers, and invite-only happy hours at the Uber Villa. As Uber’s advertising continues to gain momentum, the company showcased its latest advertising products and opportunities to brands, agencies, and media in the intimate setting.

Uber Advertising also offered “Cannes Carryout by Uber,” an exclusive storefront for Uber VIP clients that allowed them to order breakfast, conveniences, and fun swag via the Uber Eats app, for free.

Executives from iHeartMedia and MediaLink hosted a VIP dinner featuring a special performance by Lizzo in Cap d’Antibes, France, at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc. The party brought together influential decision-makers and thought leaders in the media ecosystem, including brand, agency, media, emerging technology, and financial executives.

Hearst Magazines hosted Hearst House, a luxury retreat and wellness destination for VIPs. Supported by Cheerful Twentyfirst, the activation featured a week of content and experiences, including a skincare bar and AM workout program.

The stylish space featured a series of intimate lunches and panel discussions with Hearst editors along with guests like actress and activist Jameela Jamil and Alex Cooper, creator and host of the popular Call Her Daddy podcast.

Ad tech company Infillion hosted the Inclusion Cafe, a space created to spark DE&I action and drive meaningful industry conversations. Located within the brand's larger Infillion Garden, held at the Mondrian Cannes, the cafe hosted meaningful dialogue about underrepresented audiences in advertising, media, marketing, and tech. Partners included VaynerMedia, Raptive, Brand Innovators, and Getty Images.