Best of Australia’s Top Creatives To Judge 2026 Cannes Lions, Including HERO’s Ben Lilley
HERO Founder Ben Lilley will join the world’s best creative advertising and marketing leaders as a juror at the 2026 Cannes Lions, in the Social and Creator category.
A passionate advocate for creative effectiveness, Ben’s a regular speaker and mentor on creativity and effectiveness, including as a Creative LIAisons Coach and Copyschool tutor. And as a judge at local and global award shows, including most recently at the Cannes Lions, London International Awards and Jury President at the World Independent Advertising (WINA) Awards.
Ben started his career as a creative with Australia's leading agencies before launching SMART, his own independent. SMART was eventually acquired by IPG and Ben named CEO of McCann Australia, which under his leadership became the world's most awarded agency, achieving global acclaim for campaigns including Dumb Ways to Die, the most awarded campaign in advertising history and the only Australian campaign to win the Cannes Lions Grand Prix for Creative Effectiveness.
Ben was subsequently appointed McCann Worldgroup Asia Pacific Creative Leadership Chair, overseeing creative excellence across twelve markets including Australia, China, Japan, India and South Korea.
In 2020 Ben launched HERO as a new independent, built on the belief that local creativity in a local voice is what genuinely connects with Australian audiences and shapes Australian culture.
Since its launch, HERO’s been named Australia's #1 independent at both the Australian and APAC Effies, Agency of the Year at the New York Festivals, WINA, Campaign Brief, Mumbrella, AdNews and B&T, and recognised at the Cannes Lions, D&AD and the One Show.
As Campaign Brief reports, 11 top industry professionals from Australia have been named today as jury members for this year’s Cannes Lions. The Jury will shortlist world-class creative work that will go on to be judged, awarded and celebrated during the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, taking place 22–26 June 2026.