The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has named AB InBev as its 2026 Creative Marketer of the Year.
AB InBev, the owner of brands including Budweiser and Stella Artois, is the first company in the festival’s history to be honored with the award for a third time. The brewer previously won the title in 2023 and 2022.
Cannes Lions has given out the Creative Marketer of the Year award since 1992 to recognize “a marketer that has amassed a body of iconic, Lion-winning work over a sustained period of time,” according to the organization.
In 2025, AB InBev won 37 Cannes Lions. The trophies spanned work from 10 countries across 15 different categories, including the Audio & Radio Grand Prix for Budweiser’s “One Second Ads.”
Last year’s Global Effie Index, owned by Cannes Lions parent company Informa, also ranked AB InBev as the World’s Most Effective Marketer for the fourth year in a row. In the Kantar BrandZ rankings, AB InBev brands lead the world’s most valuable beer brands, taking eight of the top 10 places, with Corona ranked first for the second consecutive year.
The company is gaining momentum after global chief marketing officer (CMO) Marcel Marcondes overhauled the beer giant’s marketing model to put a “disproportionate” amount of spend behind its master brands like Budweiser, Corona, Stella Artois, and Michelob Ultra.
This week, AB InBev reported its first rise in sales volumes in three years, bucking an overall downturn across the alcohol sector. The brewer’s revenue rose to $15.27 billion for the first quarter, with a 0.8% organic increase in total volumes.
Marketing highlights over the past year have included a multi-year global deal with Netflix to integrate beers such as Bud Light and Stella into shows like The Gentlemen.
AB InBev was also the largest advertiser at this year’s Super Bowl, where it ran commercials from Budweiser, Bud Light, and Michelob Ultra.
