Cannes Lions Takes Its CMO Accelerator Global With New City Editions

The Cannes Lions CMO Accelerator is expanding beyond the festival grounds. After more than a decade of bringing senior marketing leaders together in Cannes to sharpen their creative leadership skills, the programme is launching CMO Accelerator | City Editions, a global initiative designed to bring its leadership experience to five cities around the world.

The new format seeks to combine the creative standards and insights associated with Cannes Lions with the specific realities of local markets. Rather than replicating the Cannes experience city by city, the programme is designed around a single global framework that can be adapted to different cultures, business environments and moments.

The goal is to help senior marketing leaders develop the skills needed to lead brands in an increasingly complex environment—and ultimately prepare the next generation of CMOs.

From Cannes to local markets
For more than ten years, the CMO Accelerator at Cannes Lions has focused on creative leadership development for senior marketers. The programme brings together experienced brand leaders to explore how creativity can contribute to business growth, while creating opportunities for peer-to-peer learning and networking.

The City Editions extend that approach beyond the annual festival.

Each edition will combine Cannes Lions’ global perspective with regional market context, allowing participants to translate the ideas, case studies and leadership lessons associated with the festival into challenges that are specific to their own markets.

The initiative is built around a simple premise: global marketing leadership increasingly requires both a broad perspective and a deep understanding of local realities.

A programme built for senior marketers
The CMO Accelerator | City Editions is positioned as a practitioner-led programme rather than a traditional executive education course.

The curriculum is shaped by CMOs and senior marketers with direct experience leading brands and teams. Its focus is on real-world challenges and work that has demonstrated business impact, rather than generic leadership theory.

The programme is also designed around a curated group of participants. By bringing together senior leaders with similar levels of responsibility, the City Editions aim to create an environment for more direct and candid conversations about the challenges facing modern marketing organizations.

That peer element is a central part of the experience. Participants are not simply attending sessions; they are joining a broader network of marketing leaders that extends beyond the individual city or programme.

Beyond the conference model
Another distinction is the format itself. Rather than positioning the City Editions as a traditional conference filled with panels and presentations, Cannes Lions describes the programme as an immersive, discussion-driven experience designed to prioritize interaction, reflection and practical learning.

The approach reflects a broader shift in executive learning, as senior marketers increasingly look for experiences that provide actionable insight and meaningful peer connections rather than simply more content.

The City Editions are also part of a year-round global CMO Accelerator community, meaning participants will remain connected to the wider network after their local programme concludes.

Preparing the CMOs of tomorrow
The expansion comes at a time when the role of the CMO continues to evolve. Marketing leaders are increasingly expected to balance creativity with technology, data, business performance and organizational leadership, while navigating rapidly changing consumer behavior.

Against that backdrop, Cannes Lions is positioning the CMO Accelerator as more than a festival-based learning experience. The City Editions seek to create a global leadership platform that can respond to the specific challenges of different markets while maintaining a shared standard of creative excellence.

The initiative will launch across five cities worldwide, bringing the CMO Accelerator experience closer to senior marketing leaders who may not be able to participate in the Cannes programme.

The ambition is ultimately to create a global community with a local point of entry: one programme, adapted to different cultures and markets, but focused on the same objective—helping senior marketers lead with greater creativity, confidence and impact.

Register here