[The real hit of the show: Microsoft Surface makes an appearance.]
[Steve Ballmer on stage. I had a press pass so I got to sit second row central.]
My take on the Microsoft Imagination Show 07:
Microsoft has every intention of taking over your advertising budget, in the same way they once took over your IT budget. Madison Avenue, you work for Redmond now etc.
Do The Math: Microsoft has gone on record for saying they think they can get 5% of the total amount of money spent on advertising globally each year. 5% of $650 billion is $32.5 billion. Thirty two point five billion dollars annually. Nice work if you can get it.
OK, maybe that’s a bit extreme Kool-Ade drinking on my part. But don’t underestimate their ambition or capability, either. In his keynote, Steve Ballmer said he predicted advertising to be between 25-50% of Microsoft’s core revenue within a few years.
I’ll write more about this later, once I have time to really sit down and think.
[UPDATE:] The London Times confirms what I heard in Paris. Ditto with Businessweek. Ditto with New York Times.
