META + Instagram

cannes - france

The pillars of a great company retreat, offering the global creative industry a nourishing environment and tools to empower their work.

How can the idea of a global community manifest in a physical space, while also promoting tools for creativity? With a company wide mission to focus on community, 2018's event strategy at Cannes was imagined to give people the power to build community while bringing the creative industry closer together. Our event’s theme and platform were inspired by the pillars of a great company retreat, offering the global creative industry a nourishing environment and tools to empower their work and strengthen the connection to each other. Guests were welcomed to an amazing first impression of a vibrant, creative, open and welcoming space, delivering tiers of interconnected experiences – all the way from a fluid yet high security VIP track with private spaces, to broad B2B focused programming and meeting rooms, to engaging public touch-points. 

We took inspiration from the water front location and our audience’s expectations to extended the openness and shade of the existing space, by designing an expansive deck and tent cover. Our beach space planning design strategy focused on bringing our ‘respite/retreat’ theme to life through fluid, inviting and active environments supporting the entire Facebook family of apps and services. Instagram partnered with renowned artist and designer Es Devlin for the immersive, ‘Stories’ installation, which fused technology, design and storytelling to celebrate Instagram’s leading role in business and culture. Developed with Facebook and Magnetic, Adweek called it “The most powerful thing you’ll see in Cannes.”