Microsoft Corporations’s Steve Ballmer was announced as the Cannes 2009 media person of the year in advertising. Together with its prestigious movie festival Cannes is also known as the Mekka of commercial advertisement. Over 28,000 ads from all over the world are showcased and judged at the Festival. Winning companies receive the highly coveted Lion trophy, honouring the most creative TV/cinema, print, outdoor, interactive, radio, design, sales promotion, integrated advertising, as well as the best media and direct marketing solutions.
The Media Person the Year award pays tribute to a prominent personality who is an influential figure in the development of today’s media landscape, which ultimately plays an integral part in shaping the future of the advertising industry.
Sure, the award reflects the great public attention Microsoft received with its viral marketing star Ballmer and the Seinfeld-Gates advertisement campaign. The Seinfeld-Gates advertisement series used the trick of confusion to let customers speak up with their appreciation of the Microsoft products and services. What came out of it was the “I’m a PC” campaign which takes on the operating system competitor Apple and it seeks to improve brand profile by a focus on core messages.
Microsoft also follows Google and Yahoo as a business which creates a way to profit from internet search, currently being number three. As the application sphere moves towards the cloud and advertisement budgets are cut, the competition becomes even more fierce.
Sköne Oke 