Cannes Lions 2026 adds Creative Brand Lion, refreshes Data, and brings AI Craft into focus
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity will run 22-26 June 2026 and comes with big updates. The headline: a new Creative Brand Lion that rewards brands building the systems, culture, and capabilities that make great work happen again and again.
What's new
- Creative Brand Lion: Honours brands with internal operating systems that produce consistent creative excellence.
- Creative Data Lion refresh: Judges will look for data driving the strategy from the very start-shaping the core idea and proving measured impact.
- AI Craft subcategories: New craft-led recognition for work where human creativity and AI combine, with focus on artistry and execution.
- Retail Media expansion: New subcategories across Creative Strategy and Creative Data to reflect one of the fastest-growing channels.
- Call for content: Open through 31 December 2025.
Simon Cook, CEO of LIONS: "We're recognising the visionary brands that are building the systems, cultures and capabilities that make world-class creative marketing inevitable and repeatable - and the practices that transform creative potential into lasting business impact."
Simon Cook: "For 70 years, we've recognised the work and creative outputs that drive demand for brands all around the world. But in 2026, we're asking a different question: what are the inputs that make those breakthrough ideas possible in the first place?"
Marian Brannelly, Global Director of Awards, LIONS: "Data has become a creative catalyst, AI is expanding what's possible and retail media is redefining how brands connect with consumers."
Why this matters for creatives
Output alone won't cut it. Cannes is shifting attention to the inputs-the operating system behind the work, the role of data from day one, and the craft decisions that make AI-led pieces feel human.
If you can show repeatability, not just a lucky strike, you're playing the new game. Build the machine that makes bold ideas inevitable.
How to get ready for 2026 entries
- For the Creative Brand Lion
- Document your "creative OS": briefing rituals, decision rights, review cadence, and how ideas move from spark to ship.
- Prove repeatability: multi-year pipeline, cross-market deployment, learning loops, and how insights are reused.
- Show capability building: training programs, AI/production toolkits, brand systems, and partnerships.
- Link to outcomes: brand effects, commercial impact, and how creativity influences product, media, and experience.
- For the revamped Creative Data Lion
- Start with a data hypothesis in the brief. Show how data shaped the idea-not just the media plan.
- Be specific on sources and integrity: first-party, retail media networks, panels, sensors; consent and privacy guardrails.
- Explain the decision logic: models used, insight discovery, and how data guided creative choices and timing.
- Prove impact with causality: holdouts, geo tests, incrementality, brand lift, and downstream sales-tie it clearly to the idea.
- For AI Craft subcategories
- Show your craft stack: model selection, prompts, control nets, style guides, negative prompts, and human oversight.
- Provide build evidence: process reels, layer passes, before/after comparisons, and file anatomy.
- Prioritise taste: consistency across formats, fidelity to brand codes, and the small decisions that make it feel hand-made.
- Address ethics and provenance: usage rights, bias checks, and disclosure where relevant.
- For Retail Media expansion
- Design creative for retailer context: versions by network (Amazon, Walmart, Instacart, etc.), onsite vs. offsite, and shopper mindstate.
- Use closed-loop measurement: basket data, new-to-brand, ROAS with incrementality, and path-to-purchase signals.
- Connect brand and trade: brand-building in RMN environments, retail-specific storytelling, and promo integration without killing the idea.
- Feed insights back into creative: SKU-level learnings that inform the next concept, not just the next bid.
- Entry hygiene that wins juries
- Case film structure: problem → human insight → idea → craft → data logic → outcomes. Keep it clean and concrete.
- Use real numbers and methods, not vanity metrics. Cite sources and testing design.
- Make it scannable: one idea, one proof point per screen. Avoid buzzwords.
Key dates and useful links
- Festival: 22-26 June 2026
- Call for content: open until 31 December 2025
- Cannes Lions official site
Level up your AI craft and data capability
If you want sharper entries for AI Craft and Creative Data, build your skills now and document the process as you go.
This year, don't just show the work. Show the system that makes great work repeatable-and the craft and data choices that made it hit.
Your membership also unlocks:
