Microsoft's Chief Executive Officer was recognized as the Media Person of the Year at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. Steve Ballmer keynoted the event in Cannes, France, June 21-27, explaining Microsoft's own strong commitment to creative advertising communications. Of course, the company's commitment falls in the overall lines of its software-focused strategy and is related to fueling innovation and growth through the introduction of technology.

"We are delighted to honor Steve Ballmer, a passionate and dynamic personality whose energetic leadership and vision over the years has made Microsoft into the global leading brand that has touched the lives of millions, and changed the face of worldwide communication," revealed Philip Thomas, festival CEO.

Ballmer explained that Microsoft had witnessed a consistent growth when it came down to its advertising business. In this context, the company's CEO pointed to having already passed the $2 billion mark as an indication of success. Moving onward, Ballmer stressed the need to drive content quality and to make it more and more engaging to end users.

This because consumers are increasingly capable of filtering or fending off unwanted materials, in a digital universe that will span across the entire range of screens and devices, well beyond the PC.

“All content needs to be relevant. We’ll live in a world of... at least in the digital world, where people will pull what they want, they’re not going to get things pushed on to them. Not content, not advertising as a form of content, people are going to pull things that are relevant and all content will need to deal with a multi-device world. A world in which the phone, TV and PC – big, middle, and small screens if you will all play important roles in peoples’ lives,” Ballmer stated.