The 2010 Jay Chiat Awards for Strategic Excellence Winners

Communications and Media Strategy—Gold
JWT, New York
"Microsoft's 'Geek Network'"

Every planner craves the challenge of nailing a moving target. But what if your target cannot afford to listen to advertising? When the decisions you need to make cost $20,000,000 and affect the productivity and efficiency of every company employee, taking your cues from advertising alone is risky, to say the least.

It is for this reason that IT decision-makers only listen to other people who either actually make, buy or use technology. In order to be trusted, we had to get inside their world and stay there.

And that was our brief: Rethink who we are and what we do: stop delivering ad copy and start delivering useful content. That meant looking for a delivery method that allowed only the
most current content to reach this niche audience. As a result, we created a publishing model that let us join the conversation by enriching the conversation.

We became one with our target by creating a world for them to live in and engage with in real-time, and in the process, redefined the role of advertising. So here's to the Geeks. And, while we're at it, here's to the future of "advertising."

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