Cannes Lions will honor Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) as Creative Marketer of the Year. The honorary accolade is presented to a marketer that has amassed a body of Lion-winning work over a sustained period of time, and has established a reputation for producing brave creative and innovative marketing solutions.
Last year’s Cannes Lions awards, which were given for work from 2020/2021, saw AB InBev amass a haul of 40 Lions; two Grands Prix, two Titanium, nine Gold, 10 Silver and 17 Bronze Lions in total. Over the past few years, some of the standout work has included Budweiser’s “TagWords” in Brazil, Corona’s “The Match of Ages” in Mexico, Bavaria’s “Tienda Cerca” in Colombia and Michelob Ultra’s “Contract for Change” in the U.S., which won the PR Grand Prix and a further eight Lions including a Titanium.
Speaking at Cannes Lions Live, 2021 Titanium Lions jury president Susan Credle cited the strength of the agency client relationship as a big theme across the Titanium Lions winners. Calling out the multiple Lion-winning “Contract for Change,” Credle said it “showed a great relationship and trust that you could go for the big idea.” She added that in presenting the piece, the client and creative showed a joy of accomplishment in their big idea that probably most of us would say “it’s crazy we shouldn’t do it.”
Simon Cook, CEO, LIONS, said, “What we see time and again at Cannes Lions is that when brands unlock their creative capability and potential they drive real business growth. AB InBev has shown how creativity can be used as a lever to drive incredible success. Its belief in the power of creative culture and capability has resulted in a body of Lion-winning work and it’s a shining example of a brand that is leading the way in creative marketing. We are delighted to be recognizing their sustained efforts by honoring them as our Creative Marketer of the Year.”
Michel Doukeris, AB InBev’s CEO, said, “This remarkable recognition reflects our commitment to harnessing the power of our creative teams and partners from around the world. It has been great to see the creativity of our brands translating into category and business growth. I’m very proud of our colleagues who always dream big and use creativity to create a future with more cheers.”
Pedro Earp, AB InBev’s CMO, said “We’re honored to be named Creative Marketer of the Year. We’ve been on a journey over the last five years to embed creativity into the core of our business, and this award is a humbling recognition of our progress so far, as well as a testament to the people and teams who made it happen. And we are only getting started. We will continue to focus on our consumers and customers and leverage data and innovation to deliver creative business solutions that answer real needs and drive consumer, community and commercial impact.”
The Creative Marketer of the Year award was introduced in 1992, with past recipients including: Apple Inc. (2019), Google (2018), Burger King (2017) and Samsung Electronics (2016). Most recently, in 2021, Microsoft demonstrated that outstanding creativity drives business performance and won multiple Lions at the Festival as a result.
AB InBev will be honored at the final Awards Show of the Festival on Friday, June 24. Cannes Lions takes place June 20-24.
SCHROM x Yacht Club and Be Electric Studios Launch Electric XR for Virtual Production
SCHROM x Yacht Club, a full-service live-action, tabletop, and postproduction company, has teamed with Be Electric Studios, a soundstage, equipment rental, and virtual production company, to launch Electric XR, a virtual production collective.
Industry veteran Thomas Rossano will lead the new venture, which provides advanced virtual production solutions across multiple facilities. He brings over 25 years of experience in live-action, tabletop, postproduction and talent curation to enhance Electric XR’s offerings as a resource for brands and agencies, as well as other production companies in need of virtual production solutions. Additionally Rossano continues to serve as EP at XR New York (XR-NY), a role he’s held since December 2022. SCHROM x Yacht Club originally established XR-NY to help provide XR services for third-party rentals. While XR-NY will continue to function independently for SCHROM X Yacht Club, it now operates under the Electric XR umbrella.
Rossano’s expertise spans producing live-action commercials, branded content, interactive and experiential content. In addition to leading Electric XR, he holds responsibilities at SCHROM x Yacht Club which include driving business development, collaborating with sales reps and expanding the company’s creative talent network. Rossano’s career includes serving as an exec producer at Hungry Man for about 11 years, right from that company’s inception. He then went on to become a partner at Station Film where he also had a lengthy tenure. Later he was a partner at PRISM. Then after the pandemic hit, he became a freelance EP for nearly two years, looking into opportunities in virtual production, which led him to XR NY and now Electric XR. Over the years, he has produced high-profile... Read More