Cannes Lions is getting ready to toast Anheuser-Busch InBev for the second straight year with its Creative Marketer of the Year award—the first time a company has repeated as winner of the accolade.

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, taking place June 19-23 this year, cited the ongoing commitment to creativity at the world's largest brewer—and its impressive haul of Lions once again last year—in announcing the award Thursday.

“AB InBev have raised the bar once again and embedded a culture that ensures continued success is inevitable,” said Lions CEO Simon Cook. “This win bucks the trend and demonstrates an ongoing commitment to creativity as a driver for growth.” 

AB InBev won 49 Lions—one Grand Prix, 10 Gold, 19 Silver and 19 Bronze—across 10 brands from seven countries at the 2022 Cannes Lions festival. That was nine more Lions than it won the previous year.

See all the Cannes Lions 2022 Grand Prix winners

Cook said belief in creativity from the very top, including the board and CEO Michel Doukeris, has been critical to AB InBev’s success, including all-time high full-year volumes in 2022. 

“They’ve also scaled, using the best practice established in the U.S. as a blueprint for their approach across other markets,” Cook said. “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.”

“This is truly unprecedented to win such a prestigious award two years in a row,” Doukeris said. “It is a testament to the creativity of our entire marketing organization and the relentless focus on connecting in meaningful ways with consumers. Investing in organic growth is our No. 1 priority and this recognition of creativity further demonstrates our brand-building excellence.”

Cannes Lions presents the Creative Marketer of the Year award 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.” Other recent winners have included Microsoft (2020-21), Apple (2019), Google (2018) and Burger King (2017).