The brewing giant’s CMO topped the combined public and expert jury vote to take the annual award for great marketing leadership.
Marcel Marcondes with the WFA Global Marketer of the Year trophy
AB InBev’s global chief marketing officer, Marcel Marcondes, has been named the Global Marketer of the Year for 2024 by the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) in partnership with The Drum.
Marcondes, one of five shortlisted marketers, takes the accolade after leading AB InBev’s successful new brand approach, which has grown revenues and cemented the brewer’s place as the dominant business in its market. According to Kantar BrandZ, it now has eight of the top 10 most valuable beer brands worldwide, including Corona at number one and Budweiser at number two.
AB InBev was also named Cannes Lions’ Creative Marketer of the Year for 2022 and 2023, becoming the first brand owner to win it for two consecutive years, and the world’s top advertiser in the 2024 World Creative Rankings.
“This recognition is a reflection of our team and the work we do together,” Marcondes said. “Everything we do is in service of driving growth and solving consumer and business problems.”
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Raja Rajamannar, the WFA president and chair of the global marketer of the year jury, said Marcondes’s “unique ability to blend cultural relevance with creative innovation sets a high standard in the marketing world, driving meaningful connections with consumers and impressive business results.”
Stephan Loerke, WFA CEO, similarly praised Marcondes and his team for the impact they’ve made on the business performance. “Marcel has led a phenomenal marketing team at AB InBev with distinction, helping it secure the top accolades in our industry. This personal award is a rightful reward for the brand growth he has secured, for the teams he has inspired and for the role he has played in demonstrating marketing’s power to deliver to the bottom line.”
Marcondes was shortlisted for the award, recognizing the marketer who has made the biggest impact on their business and the industry over the past 12 months, alongside Kofi Amoo-Gottfried of DoorDash, Asad Ayaz of The Walt Disney Company, Diana Frost of Kraft Heinz and Aruna Ravichandran of Cisco.
He becomes the eighth recipient of the accolade, following Asmita Dubey in 2023, Cristina Diezhandino (2022), Conny Braams (2021), Marc Pritchard (2020), Lubomira Rochet (2019), Raja Rajamannar (2018) and Keith Weed (2017).