Dentsu’s media agency network Carat has been named Cannes Lions 2026 Media Network of the Year. The runner-up was OMD Worldwide, followed by PHD Worldwide, both part of Omnicom. 

The Media Network of the Year award is won by the network whose agencies accrue the most points for shortlisted and awarded entries in the Media Lions through work credited in the media placement role.  

Carat's winning tally included three Gold Lions including two for the Heineken campaign, “Could Have Been a Heineken” (use of mobile and social behavior).  

Heineken flipped the script on the popular workplace meme about pointless meetings, “this could have been an email.” The campaign included a WhatsApp bot where users could forward lengthy voice messages (three minutes or more) to receive a voucher for a free Heineken.    

A third Gold Lions was collected by Carat Italy for a campaign for energy company Plentitude called “Dark Mode.” It was designed to reduce the energy consumption of digital advertising by converting brightly colored LED screens in store windows and other out-of-home displays to darker backgrounds.