The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has named AB InBev its 2026 Creative Marketer of the Year, making the global brewer the first company in the award’s history to receive the honor three times.
The accolade is presented to a marketer that has accumulated a body of Lion-winning work over a sustained period. AB InBev won 37 Lions at last year’s Festival.
“AB InBev has embedded creativity into how it operates, not just how it leverages marketing, and it is consistently outperforming as a result,” said Simon Cook, CEO, LIONS.
“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. This is a historic win, recognising a company that has made creativity scalable, measurable and sustainable across hundreds of brands globally.”
Corona’s “Sun Reserve” won a Gold Lion and a Silver Lion in 2025
AB InBev’s published Q1 2026 business results demonstrate strong momentum across its global footprint, achieving all-time high revenues and increased beer volumes. Its focused and consistent consumer-centric strategy builds brands to drive sustainable long-term growth – with 20 “+1 billion-dollar” brands.
“Creativity is always in service to driving growth,” said Marcel Marcondes, Global Chief Marketing Officer, AB InBev.
“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. It’s also a credit to the amazing teams and agency partners we have around the world that are delivering all-time high revenues. Cheers to everyone that helped make this history-making recognition possible.”
