Cannes Lions honours AB InBev with the 2023 Creative Marketer of the Year

Cannes Lions has announced that it will honour Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) as Creative Marketer of the Year for a second year in a row. The award recognises AB InBev’s sustained creative excellence that has driven sustainable business growth – as well as their body of Lion-winning work amassed over a sustained period of time, and reputation for producing brave creative and innovative marketing solutions.

AB InBev is the first brand in the Festival’s history to be honoured with the award for two consecutive years after embedding creativity at the heart of their business.

Simon Cook, CEO, LIONS, said, “AB InBev have raised the bar once again and embedded a culture that ensures continued success is inevitable. This win bucks the trend and demonstrates an on-going commitment to creativity as a driver for growth.” Their published business results show that AB InBev has achieved an all-time high in sales volume, and brand power, in 2022. 

In 2018, AB InBev embarked on a journey to develop a creative excellence programme and set a five year strategic goal to improve their creative marketing capabilities and drive organic revenue for the business. 

This programme saw them introduce an embedded, sustainable system and culture that put creative problem solving at the centre of their business – leading to organic growth and improved creative and financial performance.

At last year’s Cannes Lions, AB InBev won an outstanding 49 Lions – 1 Grand Prix, 10 Gold, 19 Silver, 19 Bronze – across 10 brands from seven countries. The Grand Prix came in the Creative Effectiveness Lions, the award that recognises effective strategy rooted in creativity that drives sustainable business impact over time. ‘Contract for Change’ was said by Jury President Raja Rajamannar to go “above and beyond – it is disruptive, game-changing and has impact lasting into the future”. 

Cook added, “AB InBev’s commitment to creativity and the role it plays in business value creation is further supported by the clear buy-in from the company board, including CEO Michel Doukeris, which has been critical to their success. They’ve also scaled, using the best practice established in the US as a blueprint for their approach across other markets. All of this has delivered incredible business results, and the fact that they now use the number and breadth of Lion wins as a core measure of success shows just how powerful creativity is in driving progress.”