Brand new: AB InBev wins Lions’ first-ever Creative Brand prize
- Jun 23
- 2 min read
THE RECIPIENT of the first ever Creative Brand Grand Prix is AB InBev: Creativity at Scale. The win continues a remarkable week for the global brewing giant which has already been named as Cannes Lions’ 2026 Creative Marketer of the Year.
The Jury President for the category was Marcel Marcondes, global chief marketing officer, AB InBev — who stressed that he was excluded from the room for the jury debate that culminated in his company’s win. “I was not involved in the jury conversation, so it was a complete surprise for me,” he said.
The idea behind the new Lion is to place a spotlight on the processes that result in great work: Ahead of the Festival, Simon Cook, CEO, LIONS, explained: “For 70 years, we’ve recognised the work and creative outputs that drive demand for brands all around the world. But in 2026, we’re asking a different question: what are the inputs that make those breakthrough ideas possible in the first place? The Lion recognises the visionary brands that are building the systems, cultures and capabilities that make world-class creative marketing inevitable and repeatable.”
Key criteria considered by the jury included: commercial effectiveness; strategic alignment; creative innovation and originality; scalability and sustainability. All were given equal weighting. Marcondes said judging year one was “a big challenge and responsibility”, further complicated by the fact that “it is the one category focused on inputs not outputs. As a consequence there were no videos, just a lot of reading instead.”
Unlike other categories, there are no Gold, Silver or Bronze Lions in Creative Brand. The only other entry to be awarded was Mastercard, which secured a Creative Brand Lion. “It’s a very challenging category which asks for a lot,” Marcondes said. “It requires strong capabilities delivering strong creative work and results over a sustained period of time. In our view, everyone who got shortlisted was like a winner.”
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