Tencent’s SY Lau named Cannes Lions ‘Media Person of the Year’

• Oversaw emergence of Tencent’s OMG as China's leading mixed media company
• First executive from a China-based company to receive the award

THE Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity last month announced that the Cannes Lions 2015 Media Person of the Year Award will go to SY Lau (pic), senior executive vice president of Tencent and president of its Online Media Group (OMG).
 
Lau is the first executive from a China-based company to receive the award, Tencent said in a statement. Previous winners include Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google; Mark Zuckerberg, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Facebook; Richard Plepler, CEO of HBO; and Salar Kamangar, CEO of YouTube.
 
Lau, who will collect his award on June 24 during Cannes Lions, was selected for his leadership in overseeing the emergence of Tencent’s OMG as China's leading company for online communications, social and entertainment service, said Tencent, the company behind the WeChat messaging app.
 
The Cannes Lions Awards are an international benchmark for creative excellence, recognising the best work and the most original thinking.
 
Known as the world’s largest celebration of advertising and communications, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is held yearly in Cannes and draws thousands of participants from around the globe.
 
“I am humbled and delighted to receive the prestigious Cannes Lions Media Person of the Year Award,” said Lau.
 
“This award not only demonstrates the success of Tencent OMG, but also highlights the rise of China as a global force for online innovation, creativity and for the highest quality content.
 
“Tencent's vision is to connect everything. I am convinced that the media is a critical part of this strategy. In addition to provide information, the media will be platform for people to communicate and interact with people, services and hardware surrounded,” he added.
 
Tencent OMG manages and owns China’s online platforms including the video streaming service Tencent Video v.qq.com, Internet access and news portal qq.com, plus the Tencent micro blogging platform and related services. All of these services are available on PC and mobile devices.
 
In 2011, Lau was honored by Advertising Age as one of “The World’s 21 Most Influential People in Marketing and Media.”
 
Related Stories:
 
Tencent ups the ante with WeChat, looking to build ecosystem
 
Tencent and NHN are 'credible threats' says Ovum
 
SEA chat app war: KakaoTalk wants to be ‘the one’
 
 
For more technology news and the latest updates, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn or Like us on Facebook.