Cannes Lions 2026 has released the shortlist for the Creative Strategy Lions category, one of the Festival’s most important competitions for recognising the thinking behind major creative ideas and their ability to solve real business, brand, cultural and behavioural challenges.
The Creative Strategy Lions celebrate “the idea behind the idea”, rewarding work where strategy interprets a challenge with precision, identifies a powerful insight, builds a creative solution and demonstrates tangible results for brands, audiences or communities.
The 2026 Jury President for Creative Strategy Lions is Sarah Lemarié, Chief Strategy Officer at Publicis France. Her leadership brings a strategy perspective shaped by internationally recognised work that connects business, culture and transformation.
The Creative Strategy Lions 2026 shortlist includes 99 shortlisted entries, distributed across areas such as Sectors, Insights & Research, Challenges & Breakthroughs, Partnerships & Perspectives and Excellence in Creative Strategy, confirming the breadth of strategic thinking within global creativity.
The selection confirms that creative strategy is no longer only the starting point of a campaign. At Cannes Lions 2026, strategy appears as a force capable of redefining positioning, shifting behaviours, activating communities, building brand platforms and delivering measurable growth.
In Consumer Goods, shortlisted work includes “Dove R/eal Reviews” by Dove Hair; “KITKAT Security Detail” by KITKAT; “Paid Sick Leave for Cows” by Too Good; “CeraVe – The New Face of Legs” by CeraVe; “Preserved Promos” by Ziploc; and “Made to Share” by Cadbury. This section shows how consumer brands are using product insight, culture, reputation and behaviour to build more relevant strategies.
Healthcare includes work such as “#UncensorYourHealth” by Ladywell; “Donate to Play” by Grupo Pulsa; “Vaseline Verified” by Vaseline; and “Viagra Blue Brands” by Viatris. These campaigns confirm that strategy is also powering conversations around health, wellbeing, trust, access and perception change.
In Travel, Leisure, Retail, Restaurants & Fast-Food Chains, the shortlist features “Price Packs” by Penny; “U Up?” by IKEA; and “Build Your Own Super Bowl Commercial” by Uber Eats. These works show how strategy can intervene in shopping moments, consumption habits, retail media, promotions and popular culture to generate participation.
Media/Entertainment includes “The Club Is Yours” by EA Sports; “Tracking Bad Bunny” by Bad Bunny; and “Prime Time 0.7” by Frecuencia Latina. This section confirms the role of strategy when brands and platforms connect entertainment, fandom, content, social conversation and audience behaviour.
In Consumer Services/Business to Business, shortlisted entries include “(Save A) Life Insurance” by Generali; “The Faroe Islands Space Program” by SKF; and “A Time and a Place” by Claude. The selection shows that creative strategy is also transforming services, technology, B2B, insurance and business innovation.
Not-for-Profit, Charity & Government brings together work such as “Relationchip” by APAV; “§HOPLEFTING” by Laut gegen Nazis e.V.; “Zip Code Exam” by Equality Health Foundation; and “The Unburied Casket” by Women for Change. These finalists show how strategy can turn social causes into ideas capable of mobilising, informing and shifting public conversation.
Insights & Research plays a central role in the shortlist, with subcategories such as Data & Analytics and Audience Insight. These include campaigns such as “Zip Code Exam”, “Missing Letters of Worth”, “Hidden Prices”, “AXA x Sonita: The Lone Voice”, “Dove R/eal Reviews”, “U Up?”, “Vaseline Verified”, “Carefleet”, “The Wedding Rice” and “S.A.B”.
The strength of Audience Insight confirms that the most competitive strategy starts with a deep understanding of people. The shortlisted campaigns do more than identify data or trends: they interpret cultural tensions, real behaviours, social barriers, desires, habits and transformation opportunities.
Challenges & Breakthroughs brings together some of the shortlist’s strongest ideas, with work across Challenger Brand Strategy, Breakthrough on a Budget, Multi-Market Strategy, Long-Term Strategy, Corporate Purpose & Social Responsibility, Market Disruption and Cultural Engagement.
In Challenger Brand Strategy, Cannes Lions selected “The Swedish Prescription”, “The 58 Year Old Rookie”, “U Up?”, “Paid Through Parents”, “A Time and a Place” and “[Censored Truth]”. These campaigns show how a bold strategy can challenge category conventions and open new ways to compete.
Breakthrough on a Budget includes “U Up?” by IKEA and “Prime Time 0.7” by Frecuencia Latina. Their presence demonstrates that a precise strategy can create impact even with limited resources, when insight, cultural timing and focused execution are aligned.
Multi-Market Strategy includes “Proudly on the Pitch” by Budweiser, while Long-Term Strategy recognises “Power of ‘Salado’” by Cris-Sal and “It Has to Be Heinz” by Heinz Ketchup. These works show two forms of strategic effectiveness: the ability to scale an idea and the consistency of a long-running platform.
Corporate Purpose & Social Responsibility includes “(Un)dangered Vegetables”, “Recipe for Change”, “The Period Uniform”, “Let’s End Fast Tech”, “Eye Test Menu”, “The Final Copy of Ilon Specht” and “No Frame Missed”. The category underlines that purpose must be built from a useful, credible strategy connected to concrete outcomes.
Market Disruption includes “Recipe for Change”, “Price Packs”, “Carefleet”, “Tocayos”, “De’Longhi Computer” and “Preserved Promos”. These campaigns show how strategy can change category rules, shift shopping habits, challenge communication codes and create new business opportunities.
Cultural Engagement includes “§HOPLEFTING”, “From Delivery Rider to Urban Racer”, “The Period Uniform”, “The Pub That Refused to Die”, “Ruby Blooms”, “The Unburied Casket”, “Tocayos”, “The Final Copy of Ilon Specht” and “No Frame Missed”. This section confirms that the most effective strategy understands cultural codes, communities and local context before building an idea.
Partnerships & Perspectives includes Brave Brands and Collaboration, with campaigns such as “Recipe for Change”, “Dove R/eal Reviews”, “A Time and a Place”, “Scratch Your Data”, “Explore Your Story”, “Tracking Bad Bunny”, “#UnlockYourGreenFlag”, “Prime Time 0.7”, “Tocayos” and “Delivered by Tetris”.
The presence of strategic collaborations confirms a key Cannes Lions 2026 trend. The strongest ideas do not always come from a single brand or agency, but from partnerships across creativity, media, entertainment, platforms, technology, communities and shared purpose.
Excellence in Creative Strategy recognises work across Products/Services, Experience and Relationship Models, Brand Strategy and Retail Media. These sections include pieces such as “§HOPLEFTING”, “Explore Your Story”, “Happy Doggy”, “The Coolest Ihram”, “Long Lasting Passport”, “Eye Test Menu”, “Scratch Your Data”, “Reverse Media Schedule”, “Tracking Bad Bunny”, “Price Packs”, “Missing Letters of Worth”, “Dove R/eal Reviews”, “Let’s End Fast Tech”, “Vaseline Verified”, “A Time and a Place”, “Columbia”, “Worth More.”, “Build Your Own Super Bowl Commercial”, “S.A.B” and “Made to Share”.
Retail Media appears as a relevant strategic signal within the shortlist. The inclusion of work such as “Price Packs”, “Build Your Own Super Bowl Commercial”, “S.A.B” and “Made to Share” shows that commerce and retail channels are no longer only conversion spaces, but strategic territories for brand-building.
Among the most recurring campaigns across the shortlist are “Dove R/eal Reviews”, “U Up?”, “Price Packs”, “§HOPLEFTING”, “Vaseline Verified”, “A Time and a Place”, “Tocayos”, “Recipe for Change”, “Tracking Bad Bunny”, “Prime Time 0.7”, “No Frame Missed” and “Scratch Your Data”. Their repeated presence highlights the strength of ideas capable of operating across multiple strategic dimensions.
Creative Strategy Lions 2026 arrives at a decisive moment for the industry, as brands need to prove that creativity comes from a deep reading of business, people and culture, not only from striking execution.
With this shortlist, Cannes Lions 2026 confirms that strategy is a competitive advantage. The strongest ideas do more than answer a brief: they redefine problems, uncover opportunities, build relevance, deliver results and change how a brand participates in people’s lives.
