Three years after its debut at Cannes Lions, Canva is investing in its first official beach takeover at the festival as it continues to broaden its image from a consumer design platform to an enterprise tool.
The business will take over La Plage du Martinez from June 16 to 19 in a space designed by Jimmy Knowles, its global head of experiential marketing.
The colorful activation will offer networking areas and towel service, as well as a space for guests to create custom tote bags and ice pops after testing Canva’s products.
The Canva Cabana will also host programming alongside Variety, including on-stage conversations with marketers and talent such as Hilton CMO Mark Weinstein; Disney Global Ad President Rita Ferro; and musician-turned-FYI.AI founder will.i.am.
Knowles told ADWEEK the brief for Canva’s 2025 Cannes push was to engage marketers on the ground and inform them of its wider mission over the next 10 years to “empower every organization to design.”
“That starts with the CXOs and the marketing teams,” he added.
The space has been designed to show these execs how Canva has evolved from a tool that “can create wedding save-the-dates and birthday party invites,” to one that can help teams collaborate and bridge the gap between “productivity and creativity,” said Knowles.
While Canva declined to disclose its budget for the 2025 space, Knowles revealed the brand has tripled its investment in the festival since its first official activation three years ago.
The space will be open to attendees who register. It’s designed to be “inclusive and welcoming” with an approach of “open doors, not velvet rope,” said Knowles.
Getting Down to Business
The activation follows Canva Create in Los Angeles, an event which drew 3,500 people for a day of keynotes, product demos, and more.
Canva has been to Cannes before, but never like this. For the past two years, the company and Variety have hosted attendees at a villa on the edge of the festival.
Its 2025 beach takeover sends a clear signal that while the Australian company, founded in 2013, might have a playful tone, it’s no longer here to play.
For the last 18 months, the business has broadened its positioning with a series of campaigns designed to educate consumers and help it topple the crowns of more established rivals, such as Adobe.
Canva’s “Design Against Dull” campaign, which debuted in the U.K. in October 2024, showed how it can inject creativity into the workplace. A follow-up U.S. push, “Love Your Work,” doubled down on this idea by spotlighting the stories of real users.
Along with its creative approach, Canva has evolved its tools for an enterprise audience. In the last year alone, it has launched features including Magic Studio, an AI suite designed to rival Adobe Firefly, and rolled out new admin and governance capabilities squarely aimed at business buyers.