The rosé is ready, the jurors are assembled and the global creative industry is back in Cannes. The 73rd Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity opens Monday in France, with more than 300 global jurors gathered to judge this year’s awards submissions.
For 2026, the Festival received 20,050 entries from 92 countries, as Cannes Lions continues to reflect a marketing and creative industry being reshaped by brand leadership, independent agencies, AI craft and heightened scrutiny around awards integrity.
Chicago has an early reason to pay attention.
BBDO Chicago is among the first agencies to appear on a Cannes Lions 2026 shortlist, earning a Creative Brand Lions nod for “Creativity From Soil to Snack” for M&M’s. The work is listed with Mars Wrigley in Newark, giving Chicago representation in the inaugural year of a category built around the systems, cultures, and capabilities that help brands make world-class creative work more consistently.
The Creative Brand Lions are one of the new storylines at this year’s Festival. Ten pieces of work have been shortlisted in the category, which recognizes not only single campaign ideas, but the broader brand machinery that makes creative excellence repeatable.
For Chicago, the BBDO recognition is a notable early marker in a Cannes Week that will be watched closely by agencies, production companies, post houses, brands, and creative leaders across the city.
Day one will set the tone quickly.
AB InBev, named Creative Marketer of the Year for a historic third time, will take the Lumière Theatre stage Monday morning with Global Chief Marketing Officer Marcel Marcondes. Later in the day, the Festival will lean into creator-led work with an interactive Creators Stage session featuring Jessica Serrano, CMO of Bagel Brands, along with creators Cian Abion and Cindy Camponovo.
By evening, the first Lions winners are expected to be revealed across Audio & Radio, Creative B2B, Creative Brand, Health & Wellness, Outdoor, Pharma, and Print & Publishing. That means BBDO Chicago’s M&M’s work will be part of the first wave of awards attention as the week begins.
This year also marks the introduction of new Awards Integrity Standards across all Cannes Lions categories. The standards were created to reinforce entry credibility, results legitimacy and judging integrity as creative work becomes more complex, more technologically enabled and harder to evaluate through old frameworks alone.
Simon Cook, CEO of LIONS, said the strengthened standards are meant to protect creative excellence rather than constrain it. “We have been working closely with our international community over the last year on what are considered significant steps, and thank everyone for their support, cooperation, and leadership,” Cook said. “Together, we understand that these strengthened standards are not designed to restrict creativity, but to fortify it, ensuring breakthrough work gets the recognition it deserves, while preserving the integrity that makes the recognition meaningful and enduring.”
Ahead of Monday’s opening, shortlists have already been released across several categories, including Health & Wellness, Outdoor, Creative B2B, Pharma, Print & Publishing, and Audio & Radio Lions.
The growing presence of brands is one of the major stories heading into this year’s Festival. Cannes Lions says 10 percent of all work submitted this year came from brands, up from 8 percent in 2025. Approximately 400 brands are expected in Cannes, with a presence across the Brand Village, B2B Summit, LIONS Creators, and the first LIONS Sport.
That matters for Chicago, a market long defined by deep relationships between agencies and major marketers. As Cannes places greater emphasis on brand systems, client-side creativity, and creative effectiveness, the Festival’s center of gravity is shifting beyond traditional agency campaign recognition.
Independent agencies are also gaining ground. This year, independents, including indie networks, account for nearly a third of all entries. Cannes Lions also has more jury presidents representing indie agencies than ever before. That shift reflects a broader industry reality that Chicago shops know well: big ideas are coming from more places, through more flexible models, and often outside the old holding company lanes.
Cannes Lions is also expanding its leadership forums as more CEOs and CMOs connect creative marketing to boardroom growth agendas. The returning CEO Forum will take place on the first day of the Festival, bringing together 50 global CEOs in a confidential setting for exchange and discussion.
New this year is the LIONS Global CMO Forum, a closed-door, peer-level format designed for leading global marketers to speak candidly about growth, capital allocation, influence, and the issues they are navigating at the board level.
Craft will also remain a key area of attention. In 2026, Cannes Lions introduced new AI Craft subcategories across the craft, leading Lions to recognize work where human creativity and artificial intelligence work together in service of an idea. The focus, according to the Festival, is on genuine craft, artistry, and intent, rather than technology for its own sake.
“Our industry is constantly shifting, adapting and innovating, and 2026 feels like it will be remembered as a transformative year for many reasons,” Cook noted. “We know from our 73-year history that the Awards reflect industry disruption, but also opportunity, and we can see that through greater engagement from brand marketers and independents.”
With jurors assembled, shortlists rolling out, and the Festival preparing to open, Cannes Lions 2026 is shaping up as a defining week for the industry. For Chicago, the first storyline is already on the board: BBDO Chicago entering the week with Creative Brand recognition for M&M’s, and the city’s creative community watching to see what else breaks through.
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