Cannes Lions is known as the world’s stage for creativity, where global brands gather to inspire, connect, and celebrate bold ideas. But behind the glitz of the Croisette, the real story this year wasn’t just about the parties or panels: it was about how experiential activations, powered by data, are reshaping the way brands engage audiences.
At the heart of that transformation was Cvent. From the beaches to VIP dinners, our event technology helped brands deliver seamless experiences while capturing the insights that prove their impact.
📹 Watch the story unfold at Cannes Lions 2025:
Capturing engagement signals with technology
When your event brings together global leaders and high-profile guests, access isn’t just about getting people in. It’s about making movement frictionless and ensuring that organizers have clear visibility into how attendees flow through each experience.
Using RFID and NFC, Cvent technology tracked not only entry points but also attendee behavior across the beaches.
As Jamie Vaughan, Vice President, Sales, Event Solutions at Cvent, explained: “Most years, this is a mishmash of access bands. This year, these are data signals capturing access and, more importantly, behavior.”
For attendees, it meant frictionless movement between activations. For brands, it meant real-time insights into engagement, from the busiest times of day to where conversations happened most.
Powering 35+ brands at Cannes
Cannes 2025 also marked the first year Cvent and Splash (now part of Cvent) joined forces on the ground. Together, we supported more than 35 brands, including household names like Pinterest and TikTok.
Felicia Asiedu, Director, Europe Marketing at Cvent, captured the energy perfectly: “You can have a wristband one day, a lanyard another day, and still do all the things you want to do. Meeting business people on the beach in the sunshine in their cabanas, having a drink — it’s joyous. But behind the scenes, Cvent tech makes those connections possible.”
This mix of festival spirit and enterprise-grade technology showed that seamless doesn’t have to mean corporate. At Cannes, it meant creativity, flexibility, and authentic connections, all backed by powerful data.
Cannes was also home to initiatives that went beyond spectacle. One highlight: the Empower Café, hosted by Propeller’s Women in Advertising and Communications.
Louise Watson, Associate Director at Propeller Group, ran the Café and shared how Cvent supported their mission: “The team built our sign-up page, managed registrations, and made it easy to handle 30 content sessions. We’ve had far more sign-ups than expected and all that data will help us improve for next year.”
For Propeller Group, Cvent made it possible to scale efficiently while capturing the insights they’ll use to shape future activations.
Turning moments into measurable outcomes
Great events spark engagement in the moment. Smart reporting proves their value long after. By combining experiential creativity with measurable insights, brands can justify investment, strengthen relationships, and plan for even greater impact.
For many clients, the most exciting part of Cannes wasn’t just the energy on the beach — it was the story told afterward through data.
As Jamie put it, “Clients will have maybe a different perspective of how well they did when they see their data reports. The data is very telling; it shows what worked, and where to improve next year.”
Bring experiential to life in your own events
Cannes showed how technology can turn activations into measurable, meaningful experiences. Whether it’s RFID tracking, smarter registrations, or AI-powered personalization, the right tools make it possible to both delight attendees and prove ROI.
