Battle of the branding: Who is competing for inaugural European CMO of the Year at Cannes Lions

Published on 19/06/2026 - 8:54 GMT+2•Updated

9:10

A new award celebrating Europe's most influential marketing leaders is set to make its debut at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity on 22 June, with a shortlist drawn from some of the continent's biggest and most exciting brands.

The European CMO of the Year award, with Euronews among its industry partners, aims to recognise the chief marketing officers excelling at what they do.

The shortlist spans 29 names from across the continent - from household giants like LEGO, Ferrari, Coca-Cola and L'Oréal, to newer-wave brands like Klarna, Gymshark and Revolut.

"Marketing is a growth engine for companies, enabling innovation and playing a key role in long-term success," said Florian Haller, CEO at Serviceplan Group. "Digitalisation and data-driven strategies impact value creation measurables and clearly show the significant contribution CMOs make to businesses. With the European CMO of the Year, we are giving this achievement a prominent platform across Europe."

To make the cut, candidates needed to have held their CMO role for at least two years and held strategic responsibility for marketing across a minimum of four European countries.

And rather than leaving the winning decision to a room full of judges, the European CMO of the Year hands the vote to the marketing community itself. More than 800 marketing leaders from 15 countries were surveyed through the CMO Barometer, nominating peers they considered to be setting the standard.

The winner will be announced at a special gala dinner on 22 June, hosted by the Euronews Culture's editor-in-chief Tokunbo Salako, on the opening night of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

Full list of shortlisted CMOs:

Ilaria Lodigiani - Barilla

Boris Dolkhani - Bosch

Javier Meza - Coca-Cola

Anouk Van Hauteghem - Coca-Cola (Fanta, Mezzo Mix, Dr Pepper)

Cristina Diezhandino - Diageo

Beltran Dobao - Fatboy

Enrico Galliera - Ferrari

Marco Neroni - Golden Goose

Noel Mack - Gymshark

Karsten Kühn - HORNBACH

David Sandström - Klarna