Ten Years In, the Cycle Begins Again

This special edition celebrates a decade of Influence Society, and a journey that has taken us much further than we could have imagined when we started in 2016.

The original idea was relatively simple: help ambitious hotels and restaurants explore the new technologies that could transform their marketing. At the time, that meant social media. Instagram was still emerging as a serious marketing channel, influencer content was new, and very few hospitality brands were thinking about how this new generation of content could shape their identity and inspire people to discover them.

But the opportunity quickly became bigger. Social media needed great content. Great content needed somewhere to live. Websites needed to become more dynamic, more visual and more connected to the brand. And so Influence Society evolved.

We moved into web design and technology, eventually developing our own CMS and proprietary technology stack. We invested heavily in that ambition, only to realise that maintaining our own platform was taking us further and further away from what we did best: imagining new ideas, crafting distinctive experiences and helping hospitality brands take advantage of what was coming next.

So we changed direction. We moved to Webflow and began building on the best technology rather than trying to build every piece of it ourselves. That decision gave us the freedom to concentrate again on brand, design, creativity and innovation.

A handful of clients became dozens, then hundreds. Our work took us from France to London, Geneva, New York, Miami and far beyond. Influence Society grew from a small idea into a global agency, recognised among the leading digital agencies in hospitality and one of the largest Webflow specialists in the industry.

Along the way, Influence Society also became more than an agency. Through our SOCIETIES events, we brought together people, ideas and conversations shaping the future of hospitality. And through this magazine, we created another space to share inspiration, explore new perspectives and celebrate the creativity of an industry we love.

And now, in many ways, the cycle is beginning again.

AI is changing imagery, video, search, websites, advertising and the way marketing teams work. Our AI Studio is already creating campaigns for hospitality brands around the world, while new tools we are developing are exploring how hotel and restaurant marketing itself could work differently.

We cannot predict exactly where this will lead. Ten years ago, we could hardly have imagined the journey that brought us here.

But if the past years have taught us anything, it is that every technological shift opens new creative possibilities. Each one challenges us to rethink familiar ideas, question established approaches and discover better ways of bringing brands to life.

That curiosity has shaped Influence Society for ten years. It is also the spirit behind this special edition of SOCIETIES: a celebration of the people, places and ideas that inspire us, and a look at the creative possibilities still ahead.

To every client who placed their trust in us, every partner who shared our ambitions, and every person who has been part of Influence Society along the way, thank you for making these first ten years possible.

Sébastien Félix, Founder & CEO