Today, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity named Microsoft its 2021 Creative Marketer of the Year.
The annual honor goes to an advertiser that has consistently produced creative and Lion-winning work over the years. Microsoft has repeatedly impressed at the festival, earning accolades across its suite of products, including Xbox, “Halo 3” game, Windows, OneNote, Kinect, MSN and Microsoft Cloud.
In 2019, for example, the brand had a particularly standout showing with its “Changing the Game” campaign, created out of McCann New York. The effort centered on the company’s accessible gaming controller and earned both a Grand Prix in Brand Experience and Activation as well as a Titanium Lion, among other honors.
Other notable honorees included the Glass Lion-winning “Make What’s Next,” an International Women’s Day STEM push from McCann New York; McCann London’s multi-Lion honored “Survival Billboard” Xbox/“Tomb Raider” that got fans to stand on the outdoor ad as they endured simulated harsh weather conditions; and Creative eCommerce Grand Prix-winning “Xbox Design Lab Orginals: The Fanchise Model,” a platform that incentivized gamers to create and buy customized controllers.
The Lions had intended to honor Microsoft last year, but those plans had been put on hold, along with the festival itself, due to the pandemic. Now that the Lions celebration will resume this year, albeit virtually, Microsoft will finally take the stage.
“What really stands out about Microsoft’s performance at Cannes Lions is that they’re winning Lions across a real breadth of products and geographies, which means they’re pushing creative boundaries throughout their entire business and the world,” said Philip Thomas, Cannes Lions chairman in a statement. “With CEO Satya Nadella stating that ‘marketing is one of the top drivers of our success’, it’s clear that Microsoft has unlocked its creative potential to drive growth. We continue to see more and more evidence of the power of creativity for business, and that’s why we recognize brands like Microsoft who are actively moving the needle on creative marketing.”
