What If Marketing Felt Like a Hug? Pinterest Just Showed Us How
From dessert bars to personalized style readings, Pinterest’s Manifestival proved that the most powerful marketing moments are the ones that make you feel something.

There’s something magical about stepping into a world that feels like it was made just for you. Not a brand display. Not a product demo. But a whole world built around your dreams, your mood, and your manifestation journal. That’s what Pinterest pulled off this year at Cannes Lions with their audacious, ethereal, and oddly grounding activation called the Manifestival.
It wasn’t just a booth, but an entire vibe. A manifested experience equal parts Pinterest board, spiritual sanctuary, and trend playground. And it worked because, at its heart, it understood the new holy grail of modern marketing: activation.
What Even Is Activation Marketing?
Activation marketing is what happens when a brand stops talking at you and starts inviting you into their world. It’s immersive, tactile, and emotional. It’s not a billboard on the side of a bus, it’s the pop-up café that serves drinks inspired by your zodiac sign while you journal about your five-year plan. It’s the space where branding meets experience, and memory becomes the metric.
It’s not a new concept however; festivals have long had branded lounges, free swag, and selfie walls, but the strategy has evolved. Because people? We’re exhausted. Ad fatigue is real and algorithms are loud, and we’re tired of constantly being sold to.
But here’s the kicker: when something invites you to participate, not just consume, it cuts through the noise. Our brains are wired to remember how we felt in a moment, not the polished script behind it. That’s where activation lives: in the limbic system. It’s a science-backed emotional response that hits deeper than a tagline ever could.
Pinterest’s Manifestival: A Case Study in Dreamworld Marketing
Let’s talk specifics. Pinterest’s Manifestival wasn’t just some vague mood board brought to life. It was overflowing with tactile, trend-forward experiences designed to pull people into a full-body Pinterest daydream. Here’s what attendees were treated to:
Personalized style readings powered by Pinterest visual search and Adobe Firefly, delivered with a custom key charm and tailored visual recs.
Pinterest Patisserie, a gamified dessert bar serving trend-themed sweets like Rebel Floats, Chaos Cakes, Cherry Coded Tarts, and Rococo Ice Cream.
A beauty bar experience with L’Oréal Paris, NYX Professional Makeup, and Maybelline New York offering Pinterest Predicts-inspired looks.
Hat customization workshops where guests dyed and detailed hats with Pinterest’s 2025 color palette.
DIY tin wallet stations, where you decorated Altoids tins with charms and mini trinkets for a “Dolled Up” trend keepsake.
A Riso Remix collage workshop, inviting guests to layer vibrant stencils and print posters in Pinterest’s visual style.
The Pinterest tattoo parlour, offering fisherman-core temporary tattoos curated from the platform’s trend boards.
A towering Pinterest Predicts mural featuring Gen Z persona archetypes like ‘Groovy Nuptials’ and ‘Café Core,’ encouraging attendees to spot themselves IRL in the aesthetic mix.

Every detail from scent design to soundtrack was curated to immerse you in the emotional potential of your future self. This was participatory wonder.
Pinterest didn’t roll up to Cannes with a flashy pitch deck. They brought a portal and a full-on immersive experience that screamed, we know our audience. Because Pinterest isn’t just a mood board, it’s a mirror where place people go to figure themselves out. To hope, to plan and to build lives they haven’t lived yet.
And the Manifestival leaned into that with unapologetic flair. There were dream journaling stations. Energy readings. Manifestation prompts. Vision board corners. Personalized charms. Basically, if you’ve ever lit a candle on a full moon and said, "This is my year," Pinterest had something for you.
But the brilliance wasn’t just in the aesthetic, it was in the psychology. Every single moment was about the guest. About tapping into who they are or who they want to be. Pinterest didn’t insert themselves into your narrative, they held up a mirror and let you see yourself more clearly. That’s where the connection was made and that’s why it worked.
The Science Behind the Sparkle
Let’s get into the nerdy part for a sec. When people actively participate in a branded experience, multiple sensory systems are triggered such as visual, auditory, and tactile. That multi-sensory immersion helps build stronger memory pathways in the brain. You don’t just remember the brand but you remember the moment. The sound of the music, the scent in the air, and the way your body felt in that space.
It’s the difference between seeing a perfume ad and walking into a room that smells like that perfume while a playlist curated to match the brand’s energy plays in the background. You feel it. And when you feel something, you’re more likely to recall it, talk about it, and trust it.
This is where Pinterest nailed it. They didn’t just show you their brand, they let you live it.

Why It Matters Now More Than Ever
In a world where our attention spans are collapsing faster than influencer apologies, brands have to work harder for a genuine moment. Not a scroll, not a like, but a stop-you-in-your-tracks moment.
And the truth is, digital alone isn’t cutting it anymore. People are craving touch, meaning, and community. Even the most online among us want something offline to hold onto. Activation marketing answers that craving. It says, "We see you. Come play."
In a time when the future feels overwhelming and every brand is telling us to hustle harder, Pinterest said, "What if you just paused… and dreamed a little?"
And honestly? That might be the boldest marketing move of all.
Final Thoughts
The Manifestival wasn’t just a smart move but rather a strategic surrender to what people really want: softness, self-expression, meaning. Pinterest created a space that wasn’t trying to sell us a dream. It was reminding us we already have the tools to build it.
Activation (and experiential) marketing like this doesn’t just elevate a brand. It humanizes it. It gives it texture. Personality. A pulse. And in a marketplace oversaturated with content, that pulse can make all the difference.
Because when you leave an activation and think, “That made me feel something,” the brand doesn’t just win your attention, it earns your affection. And that’s the kind of ROI no algorithm can promise.
So here’s to manifesting more meaning. And more marketing that moves us.
Because darling, if your campaign doesn’t feel like a main character moment, you’re doing it wrong!
But when it does? It lingers like the scent of your favorite candle. Like a good first date. Like a moment that mattered. And if a brand can make you feel all that?
That’s not marketing. That’s magic.