Three years after its Cannes Lions debut, Canva is significantly increasing its presence at the festival with its first official beach takeover. The company plans to occupy La Plage du Martinez from June 16 to 19, featuring a space designed by Jimmy Knowles, Canva’s global head of experiential marketing.
The activation will include networking areas, towel service, and interactive stations where guests can create custom tote bags and ice pops while trying Canva’s products. The Canva Cabana will host programming in partnership with Variety, including panel discussions with industry leaders like Hilton CMO Mark Weinstein, Disney Global Ad President Rita Ferro, and musician-turned-entrepreneur will.i.am.
Knowles explained that Canva’s 2025 Cannes campaign aims to engage marketing executives and highlight the company’s decade-long mission to empower organizations to design. The design of the space emphasizes Canva’s evolution from a consumer tool for simple designs to a platform facilitating collaboration and blending productivity with creativity.
Although Canva declined to reveal its budget, Knowles confirmed the brand has tripled its Cannes investment since its initial activation three years ago. The space will be accessible to registered attendees and is designed to be inclusive with an “open doors, not velvet rope” policy.
This launch follows Canva Create in Los Angeles, which attracted 3,500 attendees for keynotes and product demonstrations. Canva has participated in Cannes before but its 2025 beach takeover signals its intent to be taken seriously in the enterprise market.
Over the past 18 months, Canva has expanded its positioning through campaigns like the U.K.’s “Design Against Dull” and the U.S.’s “Love Your Work,” highlighting how its tools boost creativity at work. Alongside marketing efforts, Canva has introduced enterprise-focused features including Magic Studio, an AI suite to compete with Adobe Firefly, and enhanced administrative controls tailored for business clients.
According to Canva, 95% of Fortune 500 companies use its platform, and notable enterprise customers include Reddit and Zoom. Despite growing awareness, Knowles notes that understanding of Canva’s capabilities among marketers remains limited, making Cannes a prime opportunity for feedback and engagement.
Adobe, a long-time Cannes presence, will also have a prominent space in 2025, showcasing its role in campaigns like Coca-Cola’s global ‘Share a Coke’ and engaging creators through Adobe Express at LinkedIn’s Studio.
While Canva’s 220 million users generated $2.5 billion in revenue last year, it remains behind Adobe’s $21.5 billion. Nonetheless, Canva’s intuitive user experience, viral growth, and business-oriented features provide it with potential to gradually penetrate enterprise toolkits.
At Cannes, Canva will track metrics such as visitor traffic, engagement levels, and sales leads to measure the impact of its activation. Knowles emphasized that inspiring creativity among attendees is where the brand hopes to create lasting influence.