AB InBev CMO wins Global Marketer of the Year

AB InBev CMO wins Global Marketer of the Year

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Marcel Marcondes, Global Chief Marketing Officer, AB InBev has won the 2024 WFA Global Marketer of the Year, WFA’s annual celebration of great marketing leadership, organised in partnership with The Drum. Marcondes was one of five shortlisted candidates and topped the combined public and expert jury vote.

Article details

  • Author:WFA

    WFA

Press releases
5 February 2025

GMOTY 2024_AB InBev Marcel Marcondes

Marcel has led AB InBev’s new brand approach focusing on global “megabrands”, boosting revenue by 3.3%, with Corona alone growing revenue by 5.6% outside Mexico in Q2 2024. AB InBev now has eight of the top 10 most valuable beer brands worldwide, including Corona at No. 1 and Budweiser at No. 2, according to KANTAR BrandZ.

During his tenure, AB InBev was named Cannes Lions’ Creative Marketer of the Year for 2022 and 2023, becoming the first brand owner to win it for two consecutive years. In 2024 the company was named Top Advertiser for Creativity by WARC for the third year running.

He has worked for the company since 2005, focusing on connecting beer to people and culture to drive growth, becoming Global CMO in April 2022. Before that he was Global President, Beyond Beer Co, focused on leading the category growth and creating a Future with More Cheers.

Prior to this role, Marcel was the Chief Marketing Officer at Anheuser-Busch, where he led the marketing strategy for a broad portfolio of some of the world’s largest beer brands – Budweiser, Michelob ULTRA, Stella Artois and more.

Before joining AB InBev, Marcel spent seven years in brand management at Unilever, working on the Dove business. He has a master’s degree in business administration from the Business School São Paulo.

“This recognition is a reflection of our team and the work we do together. Everything we do is in service of driving growth and solving consumer and business problems,” said Marcel Marcondes, Global Chief Marketing Officer, AB InBev. “At AB InBev, we dream big to create a future with more cheers so we will continue to connect our brands to moments of celebration around the world.”

“Congratulations to Marcel on his outstanding achievements at AB InBev. His 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. This recognition is a true testament to his leadership,” said Raja Rajamannar, WFA President, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at Mastercard, and Chair of the Global Marketer of the Year jury. “Well-deserved congratulations also to the four industry leaders who were shortlisted for the award alongside Marcel. Their work exemplifies the transformative power of great marketing in shaping brands and driving business growth,” he added.

The other shortlisted candidates were:

  • Kofi Amoo-Gottfried, Chief Marketing Officer, DoorDash;
  • Asad Ayaz, Chief Brand Officer, The Walt Disney Company and President of Marketing, The Walt Disney Studios and Disney+;
  • Diana Frost, Global Chief Growth Officer, The Kraft Heinz Company; and
  • Aruna Ravichandran, SVP, Marketing Networking & Collaboration, Cisco.

“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,” said Stephan Loerke, WFA CEO.

This is the eighth year that WFA has run Global Marketer of the Year. The 2023 winner was Asmita Dubey, Chief Digital & Marketing Officer at L’Oréal.

About WFA Global Marketer of the Year

Senior global and regional marketers can have a huge impact in multiple ways. Whether it’s creating effective campaigns which help grow the business, nurturing talent and building capabilities so that their internal and external teams deliver the best work or playing an industry leadership role, great marketers make a real difference.

Since 2017, the WFA Global Marketer of the Year Award has been seeking to identify the person in a global or regional role who has, over the last 12 months, made the most impact on their company, our industry and the reputation of marketing among consumers. The 2023 winner was Asmita Dubey, Chief Digital and Marketing Officer at L’Oréal. Other winners include Keith Weed (2017), Raja Rajamannar (2018), Lubomira Rochet (2019), Marc Pritchard (2020), Conny Braams (2021) and Cristina Diezhandino (2022).

The award is open to any client-side marketer in a senior global or regional position, who has worked for their company for a minimum of two years. The winner is selected from a shortlist through a combined public and jury vote.

Article details

  • Author:WFA

    WFA

Press releases
5 February 2025