The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has announced AB InBev as the 2026 Creative Marketer of the Year, one of the most prestigious honours awarded to companies that consistently deliver Lion-winning work over time.
The recognition comes after a year in which AB InBev secured 37 Lions, confirming not just creative consistency, but scale – across markets, brands and categories. More importantly, it positions creativity as an operational principle, embedded beyond campaigns into how the company builds and grows its business.
This is the first time in the Festival’s history that a company has received the award three times, marking a shift from episodic creative success to sustained system-level performance.
Since 2021, AB InBev has been restructuring its growth model, moving from acquisition-led expansion to a more integrated, organic approach. At the core of that shift is a clear strategic bet: creativity as a competitive advantage.
As Simon Cook, CEO of LIONS, explained: “AB InBev has embedded creativity into how it operates, not just how it leverages marketing, and it is consistently outperforming as a result. By prioritising creativity at a C-suite level and implementing an internal creative effectiveness system, it continues to demonstrate the clear and compelling link between creative excellence and commercial performance.”
The company’s latest business results support that claim. In Q1 2026, AB InBev reported all-time high revenues alongside increased beer volumes, driven by a portfolio strategy centred on long-term brand building. Today, the company manages 20 brands valued at over $1 billion, reinforcing the scale at which its model operates.
For Marcel Marcondes, Global Chief Marketing Officer at AB InBev, the recognition reflects consistency rather than momentum: “Creativity is always in service to driving growth. To be named Creative Marketer of the Year for the third time in the last five years reflects our consistent and sustainable approach to building brands people love.”
The industry has been validating that approach across multiple benchmarks. The Global Effie Index ranked AB InBev as the world’s most effective marketer for the fourth consecutive year, while Kantar BrandZ places its portfolio among the most valuable beer brands globally, with Corona holding the number one position for two years in a row.
At last year’s Festival, Cannes Lions juries awarded AB InBev work from 10 countries across 15 different categories, further underlining the geographic and creative breadth of its output.
Beyond recognition, the company will also play a central role in this year’s programme. AB InBev will open the Festival on Monday, 22 June, with a keynote at the Lumière Theatre, before being officially honoured at the final Awards Show on Friday, 26 June.
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity runs from 22 to 26 June in Cannes, positioning this year’s edition around a question the industry increasingly cannot ignore: not whether creativity works, but how to operationalise it at scale.
