Home Depot, ESPN and Disney Enter One Club Brand Hall of Fame for 2026

The One Club has named The Home Depot, ESPN, Disney, Budweiser and Chick-fil-A as its 2026 Brand Hall of Fame inductees, bringing the total list to 15 companies. The honor was awarded at the Brand Hall of Fame Awards Gala during The Gathering Festival in Banff, Canada, in October.

The five join an inaugural 2024 class of Coca-Cola, the NFL, Levi's, McDonald's and MTV, and a 2025 class of Gatorade, American Express, Fender and Dove. The list now spans three years and 15 brands.

What does the recognition actually measure?

The Brand Hall of Fame is not a reward for a single campaign. Each year, five winners are selected by a committee of senior marketers from a list of 100 top nominees. Nominees do not need to lead their category. They are graded against 10 criteria that test sustained success over a long-term period. The mechanism favors endurance over momentary cultural impact.

Mandy Balak, president of The Gathering Festival and a member of the selection committee, framed the purpose of the Hall as educational. "Every brand in this room has been tested by decades of change and is still here, still growing, still shaping how people live," Balak said in a statement. "That's rare. The Hall exists to study it as much as celebrate it, so the next generation of builders knows what it actually takes."

Why is Apple's honor a first?

The One Club for Creativity also made a structural change this year. It named Apple as the first brand ever inducted into its Creative Hall of Fame, which until now has honored individuals who shaped the creative industry.

Adam Izen, chief awards officer at The One Club for Creativity, explained the shift as an acknowledgment of what organizations contribute to creative work. "What does it take to build a lasting creative legacy? For Apple, it's a commitment to creativity that runs through its products, its design, its communications and the tools it puts in other people's hands, held for decades," Izen said. "The Creative Hall of Fame has always celebrated the people who shaped our creative world. Recognizing a brand for the first time acknowledges the role organizations play in creating the conditions for great work to happen, again and again."

Who accepted the awards?

Each inductee was represented by a named marketing executive at the gala:

• The Home Depot — Whit Friese, VP, creative marketing
• ESPN — Jo Fox, SVP, marketing
• Disney — Jason Reacher, VP, segment content creation and digital integration, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products
• Budweiser — Andrew Oosterhuis, VP, marketing, Labatt Breweries of Canada
• Chick-fil-A — Dustin Britt, executive director of brand strategy, entertainment and media

Nominations for the 2027 Brand Hall of Fame remain open until Dec. 31. For brands with decades of consistent work behind them, the window to join a now 15-company list is open for another cycle.