Exclusively for IAA members.

Join the exclusive IAA cohort of the LIONS cMBA, starting January 2025

The IAA x LIONS cMBA cohort takes place between 13 January and 16 May 2025.

You can complete the course at your own pace within those 4 months. Exclusively for your cohort, we’ll be hosting a live ‘You’re On The Jury’ session – moderated by LIONS Editor-In-Chief Jenni Middleton with a Cannes Lions Jury President as guest.

At the end of 10 comprehensive modules, you’ll have the knowledge, experience and toolkit to take your career to the next level.

Your exclusive IAA member rate unlocks the LIONS cMBA for just €749, with a limited special early bird offer of €549 if you book in 2024.

What is the on-demand LIONS cMBA?

It’s a self-paced digital course from LIONS, the organisers of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

The LIONS cMBA helps you understand what’s needed to deliver you most impactful work and become creative leaders in your own right – guided by high-profile industry experts.

Learn how to...

Become a builder of creative culture

Evaluate your status, voice and focus as a creative leader confidently

Build long term and short term career paths

Increase team chemistry and quality of your outputs

Put out your best creative work that impacts business, culture and society

Why invest in creativity?

The business case for creativity is proven. From our research, we know that brands that predict higher growth for 2024 are 6x more likely to prioritise creativity, and more likely to invest in brand building.

Leaders who believe in creativity have an impact on their company’s KPIs:

  • 67% above-average organic revenue growth

  • 70% above-average total return to shareholders

  • 74% above-average net enterprise value

    Sources: State of Creativity 2024, LIONS Advisory, Forrester, McKinsey and Deloitte

Why choose the LIONS cMBA?

You can learn your way. 10 modules, 4 months, yours to complete as you wish. Outside of an introductory welcome week and the live ‘You’re On The Jury’ session, you can progress through the LIONS cMBA at your own pace.

You will power your learning. You’ll be certified by LIONS – the benchmark setter for global creative excellence. You’ll develop principles and approaches that stick, making them applicable in daily practice. You’ll learn from the world’s most award-winning creatives – and leave with a network for life.

Creativity is a skill - and you can master it.

At LIONS Learning our mission is to bring the magic of creativity to the forefront of your career, and your life – with industry-leading experts delivering insights rooted in commercial impact. Simply put, on our courses, you get exclusive access to the industry’s best.

Who is this course for?

For creatives

Gain knowledge on how to evaluate creative ideas, learning directly from leaders who have awarded the industry’s best at Cannes Lions.

Learn tools, techniques and ideas to inspire your creativity and ensure it’s effective.

Understand how to become a true creative leader and help your teams push the boundaries of their work on every single brief.

Create the most important brief of your career – the ‘ME Brief’. Helping you structure your career goals and use the course’s content to meet them.

For strategists

Learn tools and frameworks to recognise game-changing creative ideas and establish a common language with your creative agencies and partners.

Understand the conditions for creative success and learn how to build a culture of creativity in your team with the right processes and structures.

Gain insight on how to use creativity to drive impact in your marketing programmes and prove the value of creative marketing in the boardroom.

Create the most important brief of your career – ‘the ME Brief’. Helping you structure your career goals and use the course’s content to meet them.

The modules

The course is delivered in 10 modules over a self-paced 4 months

Get familiar with the LIONS cMBA. Meet your community of peers. And explore curated playlists on The Work, our creative intelligence platform.

A foundational module to discover the conditions you need to deliver your best work. Learn from multiple perspectives and get an introduction to creative evaluation.


Explore how to unleash the power of behavioural economics in your own work – and how human insights can be used to create Lion-winning campaigns.

Demystify the thinking behind the world’s most creative cultures and use their processes in your own work. Be reinvigorated by Lion-winning work that breaks category conventions.


Equip yourself with the LIONS cMBA Idea Toolbox – your key to category disruption and problem-solving. Analyse your ideas with frameworks that helped businesses win Lions.

Our ‘Inspiration Module’ - a chance to recap at your own pace, catch up, dive deeper into work and reports.

Unlock the power of collaboration – with people and tech – to deliver Lion-winning work. Learn how to articulate your ideas in a way that inspires and engages your team.

Learn how to create compelling narratives that engage. Discover the decisions that led to Award triumphs. And develop your skill at inspiring and influencing effectively.


Get a creative leadership masterclass from the industry’s role models. Perfect the art of pitching – reading a room, connecting with an audience and showing an idea’s impact.

Turn your learning into an advantage for the rest of your career. We’ll recap tools and techniques to manage your time, manage your manager and influence others to deliver creativity the LIONS cMBA way.

Don’t take it from us. Take it from our graduates.

Duda Moreira Salles

Creative Director, Terruá

The LIONS cMBA exceeded my expectations, offering unparalleled insights from industry leaders and immersing me in decades of Lion-winning creative strategies.

The creative framework and especially the 'You’re on the Jury' section, provided invaluable perspective on what it truly takes to build not just a creative work, but a campaign that transforms businesses.

Mette Davis

Director, WithMette

For anyone needing some creative reinvigoration or wondering whether to invest in themselves or their own team, look no further.

I’ve already applied some of what I’ve learnt in my own work, with super positive results. Thank you to the fabulous team who made it happen.

Kevin Reis

Creative Manager, Lonsdale Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising Limited

The LIONS cMBA was an experience that any individual who is interested in upping their game creatively should invest in.

In the words of Tom Beckman, ‘If you learn anything in your career, you’re about to trade up!’

Nikola Žinić

Co-Chairman & Chief Creative Officer, Bruketa&Žinić&Grey

The LIONS cMBA showed me that even when I thought I knew it all, there’s always more to learn (and it’s fun!).

It reignited my passion for the industry and gave me fresh ideas to enhance my work. Having the chance to learn from and discuss with top people in our business was incredibly inspiring.

Tuere Kareem

Senior Copywriter, Lonsdale Saatchi & Saatchi

This unique experience enabled me to envision my best creative self and significantly motivated me to elevate my performance as Creative Director.

My passion for the industry was reignited, inspiring me to further advance creativity in the Caribbean region. I aim for us to gain recognition alongside the greats and contribute to the diversity of the global advertising and marketing legacy.