Microsoft
To empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
This article is part of a Brand Strategy column focused on uncovering the associations behind the world’s most disruptive brands. See all reviews
I tend to expect successful tech companies to have a special kind of culture. Maybe it is the effect that Google’s strong culture had in the tech scene.
Microsoft interestingly has a quite generic description of what defines them as people (in Cultural Attributes). To be fair, it must be difficult to create and manage a unique culture when you are as massive as Microsoft, not only in number of employees, but also in amount of subsidiaries, locations, etc.
I also found a set of Corporate Values (Respect, Integrity, Accountability1) but these seem to focus more on guiding corporate actions rather than beliefs and behaviors — a code of conduct of sorts. In my opinion it is confusing to have two sets of principles that define who they are, but this kind of complexity seems to happen when large organisations decide to define new principles without accepting to make compromises and or letting go of old ones — thats when the label salad starts.
When it comes to the the brand expression, I found a set of (design) principles in a Visual Design Guidelines document. They are a bit old (2016) but I think they are very much aligned with other attributes that I found in other documents.
Brand Mission (Why we exist):
To empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
Cultural Attributes (Who we are):
Growth mindset
We fundamentally believe that we need a culture founded in a growth mindset. It starts with a belief that everyone can grow and develop; that potential is nurtured, not pre-determined; and that anyone can change their mindset.
We need to be always learning and insatiably curious. We need to be willing to lean into uncertainty, take risks and move quickly when we make mistakes, recognizing failure happens along the way to mastery. And we need to be open to the ideas of others, where the success of others does not diminish our own.
Customer obsessed
We will learn about our customers and their businesses with a beginner’s mind and then bring solutions that meet their needs. We will be insatiable in our desire to learn from the outside and bring it into Microsoft, while still innovating to surprise and delight our users.
Diverse and inclusive
The world is diverse. We will better serve everyone on the planet by representing everyone on the planet. We will be open to learning our own biases and changing our behaviors, so we can tap into the collective power of everyone at Microsoft. We don’t just value differences, we seek them out, we invite them in. And as a result, our ideas are better, our products are better, and our customers are better served.
One Microsoft
We are a family of individuals united by a single, shared mission. It’s our ability to work together that makes our dreams believable and, ultimately, achievable. We will build on the ideas of others and collaborate across boundaries to bring the best of Microsoft to our customers as one. We are proud to be part of team Microsoft.
Descriptor (What we do):
We build best-in-class platforms and productivity services for a mobile-first, cloud-first world. We aim to reinvent productivity and business processes, build the intelligent cloud platform and create more personal computing.
Principles (How we express ourselves):
Keep it simple:
We start with simplicity as the ultimate unifier. When design is intuitive, we just know. We can feel it. The result is an experience that’s honest and timeless.
Make it personal:
Next, we challenge ourselves to create emotional connection with an individual person. We design for the ways people really live and think and act. The result is an experience that feels like it was created for one person.
Think universal:
We design to embrace the things that make us human. It’s more far more than an attitude for making stuff – and into creating a world that makes lives better. The result is technology that’s inclusive.
Create delight:
Our final principle is about energy within a structure. It’s how you know the experience was made by a real person. The result is an experience that surprises and has a sense of place.
For Tone of Voice and Photography Microsoft adheres to attributes that are different but seem mostly aligned with the principles above. Tone of Voice: Crisp and Clear, Warm and Relaxed, Ready to lend a hand. Photography: Authentic, Optimistic, and Brave.
“Corporate Values”, Microsoft, accessed February 24, 2024, https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/about/corporate-values
“About Microsoft”, Microsoft, accessed February 24, 2024, https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/about
“Culture | Microsoft Careers”, Microsoft, accessed February 24, 2024, https://careers.microsoft.com/v2/global/en/culture
“Microsoft Welcomes Windows 10 With $10 Million Gift To Charity”, Forbes, accessed February 24, 2024, https://www.forbes.com/sites/devinthorpe/2015/07/29/microsoft-welcomes-windows-10-with-10-million-gift-to-charity/?sh=22612bc16cc5
Microsoft, “Microsoft Design Language Guidelines”, March 2016
Microsoft, “Microsoft Visual Identity Guidelines”, July 2013