Marcel Marcondes, AB InBev: Meet the 2024 Global Marketer of the Year Finalists
The five finalists for WFA’s 2024 Global Marketer of the Year award, celebrating the work of global marketing leaders from some of the world’s biggest companies, have been announced. Voting is now open until 20 January 2025 at https://www.globalmarketeroftheyear.com, with the winner announced later that month in partnership with The Drum.
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As Global Chief Marketing Officer of AB InBev since 2022, Marcel Marcondes has led the company’s new brand approach focusing on global “megabrands”.
This strategy and the allocation of resources and focus against brands globally, 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.
Marcel has firmly positioned marketing as the company’s growth engine, developing a four-part semester on “Marketing for Growth” under the premise that organic growth starts with building effective, powerful brands.
He also cultivates internal creativity with programmes such as CreativeX, training marketers to more effectively request and evaluate creative work, helping AB InBev be named as the most effective marketer by Effie Worldwide for three consecutive years.
AB InBev was the first-ever global beer sponsor at the Paris 2024 Olympics, championing Corona Cero to offer a no-alcohol choice that resonated across time zones. Leading up to the Games, Marcel and his team executed launched Corona Cero in more than 40 markets, and the “For Every Golden Moment” platform.
This builds on AB InBev’s presence across major sporting and music platforms. Notably, Michelob Ultra became the first global beer sponsor of the NBA, and AB InBev established partnerships with MLS, Copa America, Wimbledon, Tomorrowland, and Lollapalooza.
During Marcel’s 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.
The 2024 shortlist for WFA Global Marketer of the Year also includes:
- 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
- Aruna Ravichandran, SVP, Marketing, Networking & Collaboration, Cisco