Cannes Lions 2026: Ogilvy bags Network of the Year; Kenya gets first-ever Grand Prix

On the final day of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the winners of the Glass: The Lion for Change, Sustainable Development Goals Lions, Film Lions, Dan Wieden Titanium Lions and the Grand Prix for Good were announced.

Simon Cook, CEO, LIONS, said: “The body of work our Jurors have awarded showcases the ideas, innovations and creative excellence that moves the industry forward. Across the Festival week, we have seen Lion winners representing every corner of the globe with first-time Grands Prix for Kenya and Greece. Huge congratulations to all. Thanks, once again, to our incredible Jurors, entrants and winners for setting the global creative benchmark for 2026.”

Glass: The Lion for Change received 122 entries and 5 Lions were awarded by the Jury: 1 Gold, 1 Silver, 2 Bronze, and the Grand Prix was presented to ‘Nigrum Corpus’, for IDOMED & Instituto Yduqs, by Artplan, São Paulo. The work turned an abstract injustice – racism - into a reality doctors are trained to recognise and treat, shifting how medicine sees, studies and cares for Black patients.

Glass: The Lion for Change Jury President, Monique Nelson, Executive Chair, UWG, said: “The Grand Prix is awarded to ‘Nigrum Corpus’, a multimodal medical textbook that treats racism as a disease and attacks it at the educational level. What set this work apart was the rigorous documentation, quantification, and research of the lived experience of Black patients translated into action. Adopted by Brazil's highest medical authority and endorsed by the WHO, it is now redefining medical education and humanising Black bodies for an estimated 2 billion people worldwide.”

From 289 entries received in the Sustainable Development Goals Lions, 9 Lions were awarded: 2 Gold, 2 Silver, 4 Bronze, and the Grand Prix was presented to ‘Paid Sick Leave for Cows’, for Too Good, by The Partnership Agency, Nairobi. The work crosses boundaries between labour rights and agriculture, creating a new way to think about work and value in food systems.

Sustainable Development Goals Lions Jury President, Kazoo Sato, Chief Creative Officer and CEO, Earth Centric Design, commented: “The Jury awarded the Grand Prix to a piece of work with a brilliantly simple idea that goes beyond awareness to create lasting systemic change. It transforms an apparent trade-off into shared value, benefiting people, business and other species alike. More than solving a single problem, it offers a replicable model for how creativity can help redesign a more sustainable future.”

The Film Lions received 1469 entries and 45 Lions were awarded: 8 Gold, 14 Silver, 22 Bronze, and the Grand Prix went to two campaign films ‘Can I Get a Six Pack Quickly?’ and ‘How Can I Communicate Better with My Mom?’, for Claude, by Mother London. The darkly comedic Super Bowl films positioned Claude as the AI pledging not to run commercial messages on its tools.

Film Lions Jury President, Pelle Sjoenell, Worldwide Chief Creative Officer, NLS Corp. (formerly at Droga5, BBH and Activision Blizzard), commented: “An ad about where ads shouldn’t exist. An AI making fun of AI. A challenger that took on the market leader, using its own announcement against it, like corporate aikido, with wit, nerve and craft in every frame. The risk was profound, the execution immaculate, and it reshuffled the perceptions in the most consequential technology race of our age.”

In the Dan Wieden Titanium Lions, 138 entries were received and 5 Lions presented: 4 Titanium Lions and the Grand Prix was awarded to ‘Haven’, for Suncorp Insurance, by Leo Australia. The work turned insurance into a long-term public service initiative, combining education, design innovation, and policy advocacy to help Australians better prepare their homes and communities for extreme weather.

Dan Wieden Titanium Lions Jury President, Chaka Sobhani, Global Chief Creative Officer, TBWA\Worldwide, said: “The theme of the festival is where does creativity go next? And that is what the Dan Weiden Titanium Lion exemplifies in droves. This is about celebrating the ideas that are genuinely game changing, that inspire us to reimagine what is possible, and that genuinely pave the way for where creativity can go in the future. These are not ideas that exist for just one moment but that have a true and profound lasting impact on how brands show up in the world, on business, on people, on the culture we are part of and on the world we live in. Ultimately ideas that the world would miss if they didn’t exist.”

Finally, the Grand Prix for Good was awarded to ‘600K Network’, for Comando Con Venezuela, by Rainbow Lobster, Mexico City / Comando Con Venezuela, Caracas. The work turned a simple QR code into a decentralised electoral verification system, transforming more than 600,000 citizens into an effective electoral verification network during the 2024 Venezuelan elections.

The following Special Awards were also announced:

Network of the Year:

1. Ogilvy
2. VML
3. TBWA Worldwide

Independent Network of the Year:

1. Rethink
2. Mother
3. Wieden+Kennedy

Agency of the Year:

1. LePub, Milan, Italy
2. VML, New York, United States
3. Rethink, Toronto, Canada

Independent Agency of the Year:

1. Rethink, Toronto, Canada
2. Isle of Any, New York, United States
3. Mother, London, United Kingdom

Palme d'Or:

1. MJZ, United States
2. Biscuit Filmworks, United Kingdom
3. CANADA, Spain

Creative Brand of the Year:

1. Heineken
2. KitKat
3. IKEA

Agency of the Year by Track

Agency of the Year – Classic:

1. Rethink, Toronto, Canada

Agency of the Year – Craft:

1. TBWA\Media Arts Lab, Los Angeles, United States

Agency of the Year – Engagement:

1. LePub, Milan, Italy

Agency of the Year – Entertainment:

1. DAVID, New York, United States

Agency of the Year – Experience:

1. VML, Warsaw, Poland

Agency of the Year – Good:

1. Motion Sickness, Auckland, New Zealand

Agency of the Year – Health:

1. Fallon, Minneapolis, United States

Agency of the Year – Strategy:

1. Publicis Conseil, Paris, France

Independent Agency of the Year by Track

Independent Agency of the Year – Classic:

1. Rethink, Toronto, Canada

Independent Agency of the Year – Craft:

1. Isle of Any, New York, United States

Independent Agency of the Year – Engagement:

1. Special, Los Angeles, United States

Independent Agency of the Year – Entertainment:

1. Wieden+Kennedy, Mexico City, Mexico

Independent Agency of the Year – Experience:

1. WESAYHI, Sliema, Malta

Independent Agency of the Year – Good:

1. Motion Sickness, Auckland, New Zealand

Independent Agency of the Year – Health:

1. Klick Health, Toronto, Canada

Independent Agency of the Year – Strategy:

1. Rethink, Toronto, Canada

In-house Agency of the Year

1. Apple, Cupertino, United States
2. Google Creative Lab, Mountain View, United States
3. L'Oréal, New York, United States