Brand Marketing Academy

Supercharge your creativity – and your leadership.

Unlock the power of creativity – for your brand and for yourself.

Do you work in brand management, communications, media, publishing or technology? Are you aged 30 or under? Apply to our certificate programme for top marketing talent today – and join thousands of marketers who have learnt from the very best.

What’s the Brand Marketing Academy?

A year’s worth of knowledge. Packed into one week.

Our six-day certificate programme at Cannes Lions offers you the opportunity to learn firsthand from the world’s biggest brands and leaders – including chief marketing officers, chief strategy officers, creative directors, design directors, communication executives and media executives.

Not just that – you’ll also get to build a close network of global peers and join the Cannes Lions Brand Marketing Academy alumni network. Create connections that last a lifetime.

What am I going to learn?

Our programme changes every year – but we always build it based on four themes:

career development – unlocking your potential with practical tools and inspiring stories from senior leaders to help you craft the career that’s right for you
brand, demand and experience – inspiration, cases and knowledge about science-based modern marketing
unlocking the power of creativity – how to lead your teams and partners to unlock creativity that moves your business and society forward
new technology and AI – exposure to cutting-edge thinking and approaches to use tools like AI to your advantage.

Who’s it for?

To join our programme, you must:

work in a client-side marketing role – for example, as a brand andmarketing manager, digital marketer, marketing director, social media manager, campaign director, global digital marketing manager, campaign coordinator, product marketer, etc.
be aged 30 or under (born on or after 26 June 1995)
be employed full time and have at least 2 years of full-time experience.

Please note that the programme is delivered in English. Only apply if you’re confident you’ll be able to participate in all discussions and collaborate with other programme participants.

2025 Speakers

See the full 2025 agenda here

Andreas Mielenhausen

Andreas Mielenhausen, Creative Lead MENA, Google

Elizabeth Rutledge

Chief Marketing Officer

American Express

Fernando Machado

Board Member at Braze and Operating Partner

Garnett Station

James Hurman

Founding Partner

Previously Unavailable

Jennifer Healan

Vice President, US Marketing, Brand, Content and Culture

McDonald’s USA

Keka Morelle,

Chief Creative Officer LATAM

Ogilvy

Luis Camano

$Luis Camano, Chief Creative Officer, Imper\Active$

Luis Camano

Chief Creative Officer

Imper\Active

Marc Pritchard

Chief Brand Officer

P&G

Sandro Gelashvili

Head of Creative Works and AI Transformation Lead

Google

Sunder Balasubramanian

CMO

Myntra

Suzy Deering

Founder

The Grit Advisory

How do I apply?

To join the 2026 cohort, you’ll need to complete an application that includes:

an essay (1000 words max.) answering the following question: What do you think is the most creative brand in the world and why?
a video (2 minutes max.), recorded in English, telling us who you are and why you deserve a space in the Academy
a character reference (500 words max.) by your employer, your company's talent officer, a senior executive of your company or a previous Brand Marketing Academy graduate.

Please ensure you have the funding approved to attend the 2026 Festival before applying.

To complete your application, select the Brand Marketing Academy pass and proceed to your Cannes Lions account to fill out the required information.

Please note that there are limited spaces available in each round of applications. We will close to all new applications on 15 April 2026.

Apply now

How much does it cost?

The fee for successful applicants is €2940 + sales tax.

Got questions about the Academies? Get in touch with us at academies@canneslions.com.

What happens after I apply?

The Academy Dean, together with the LIONS team, reviews every application carefully to determine the applicants who can attend the programme.

There are five rounds of application reviews, with a limited number of spaces available in each round.

Round 1 deadline: 2 November 2025 (up to 10 spaces available) Round 2 deadline: 16 December 2025 (up to 10 spaces) Round 3 deadline: 31 January 2026 (up to 5 spaces) Round 4 deadline: 10 March 2026 (up to 5 spaces) Round 5 deadline: 15 April 2026 (up to 5 spaces)

We’ll contact you within 2 weeks after the application deadline to let you know if you’ve been accepted.

If you’re selected, you’ll then need to confirm and pay for your pass. Please note, you must buy your pass within 14 days to guarantee that your place is secured.

What you soak up here is years’ worth of field experience and knowledge from world-class specialists and CMOs. You’ll also learn to question yourself and be forced to re-evaluate how you work, pushing yourself to higher standards. You’ll travel home with the motivation to achieve more and better, and you’ll know exactly how to do it.

Pierluigi Rossi

Integrated Marketing Manager

Reality Labs, Meta, United Kingdom

The Cannes Lions Brand Marketing Academy was one of the most inspiring experiences of my life. To learn from the world’s most influential marketing leaders, while sitting beside some of the brightest young talents from around the globe, was both humbling and empowering.

Tauhid Irteza Ali

Senior Manager, Brand Marketing

Banglalink, Bangladesh