Tencent's SY Lau is the First Chinese Company Executive to Be Named Cannes Lions Media Person of the Year

BEIJING, Jan. 29, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Today in Beijing, Terry Savage, Chairman of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, announced that SY Lau, Senior Executive Vice President of Tencent (HKEx: 0700) and President of its Online Media Group (OMG) has been named Cannes Lions 2015 Media Person of the Year.

This prestigious award has been presented in the past to visionary leaders from world-class companies, including Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Google; Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook ; Richard Plepler, CEO of HBO, Salar Kamangar, CEO of YouTube, etc. SY Lau, the first executive of a Chinese company ever to receive the coveted award, was selected for his leadership in overseeing the emergence of Tencent's Online Media Group as China's leading online communications, social and entertainment service company.

The Cannes Lions Awards is an international benchmark for creative excellence, recognizing 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 has drawn thousands of participants from around the globe.

Cannes Lions selected SY Lau for his vision and direction in transforming OMG from a provider of a single Internet portal service into China's largest and most admired integrated media service matrix. OMG's success is derived from a mix of powerful platforms, unwavering focus on quality content and innovative products.

The result of this effort is the establishment of a game-changing industry model. Under the leadership of SY Lau, OMG is now setting a new industry standard and has changed the way that Chinese people utilize media. His team has been fundamental in developing a strong media business that contributes to Tencent's success.

"I am humbled and delighted to receive the prestigious Cannes Lions Media Person of the Year Award," said SY 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. Tencent OMG stands proudly at the forefront of this movement. We thank Cannes Lions for recognizing us as a leading global player in online communications."

Pony Ma, Core Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Tencent said, "We are pleased that SY Lau is awarded as the Cannes Lions Media Person of the Year, which underscores the success of Tencent Online Media Group and how it transforms people in China consuming online information and entertainment content. This is a special moment for Tencent, and we extend our warmest congratulations to SY Lau, and thank the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity for recognizing his achievement."

Tencent OMG manages and owns the country's leading 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. According to Alexa.com, Tencent is now the leading Internet portal in China according to traffic. Tencent News is China's leading smartphone news platform by daily active users; and Tencent Video has the highest monthly unique view on PC and its mobile client takes the second position in the industry according to monthly unique view. 

"We hope that by giving this annual accolade, we can set precedents and benchmarks across the industry while also providing inspiration across the board," concluded Terry Savage. 

SY Lau will be presented with the award on Tuesday 23 June during Cannes Lions, which will take place from 21-27 June in Cannes, France.

In 2011, SY Lau was honored by Advertising Age as one of "The World's 21 Most Influential People in Marketing and Media." He has been appointed an Honorary Ambassador to the City of Brisbane, Australia to recognize his contribution as, in the words of Brisbane's Lord Mayor, "a world leading global entrepreneur."

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150129/172206

SOURCE Tencent