Client: Cantu Beauty
Agency: Show & Tell Creative
Role: Executive Producer; Creative Director
At their first ESSENCE Festival in 2016, Cantu was competing for attention with some of the biggest beauty brands for Black women in the country. As a newcomer to the festival, our team created an experience that not only gave consumers what they all wanted (free samples!) but also provided opportunities for product education and consumer engagement.
Event Design
In 2017, we created a new style guide for their festival activations that was used throughout their summer tour across the East Coast. A bright orange and yellow tribal pattern brought the brand colors to life in a new and fun way, and was leveraged both at the Convention Center activation and at the “Curls & Waves” rooftop pool party that Saturday.
The Experience
In 2016, we produced a dynamic performance by the Emmy-award winning Syncopated Ladies on the ESSENCE Beauty & Style Stage, breathing new life into a day full of typical tutorials and celebrity panels. The dancers had their hair styled in the Cantu salon prior to their performance, and they went on to produce additional lifestyle content for the brand the following year.
At our 2017 activation, guests could either spin the wheel for a prize, or get one-on-one consultation at the Cantu Refresh Bar with our team of stylists, influencers and scientists. The back wall had a video reel we produced, that showed guests waiting in line how to use the products featured in the booth.
Our team won “Rookie of the Year” for the Cantu brand in the ESSENCE Festival Sponsor Awards in 2016, and drew 15-20k guests to the activation in both 2016 and 2017.
Credits: Candace Queen (Art Direction); The Grant Access (Event Production)