Steve clayton microsoft

Have you ever witnessed a commercial that hit home with you so intensely, or made you resonate so deeply, that you cried? Steve Clayton has been with Microsoft for 21 years and was accidentally hired. In a lot of ways, the release of the commercial for the Xbox Adaptive Controller signaled a transition at Microsoft. The company went from lampooning to reaping the rewards of a successful and authentic re-brand. Reindeer Games [digital image]. What came next was a natural fit for the brand and technology.

Starting as an uncomplicated idea, Microsoft published a story detailing the technology behind the 88 acres that their Redmond HQ lives, sits, and breathes on. The story published off-the-radar, without any amplification from within the company.

Microsoft received correspondence from multiple corporations asking if they could purchase the technology, or some variation of the 88 acres, for their own corporate use.

From there, Clayton shares, the company began to experiment with different mediums as a way to surprise and delight their audiences. Not only was this practiced this externally, but internally, to signal to employees that times were changing. Microsoft was beginning to evolve into something better than it had ever been before. Microsoft took one of the most commonly used items at their Redmond campus and gave it a story to tell: the recyclable coffee cup.

In this discussion, Clayton expressed a formulaic way to tell the story of your brand or organization. Using these elements allows you to reconnect your brand with its values and help showcase them in an authentic and mindful way. There should always be people and their stories and personalities in your campaigns.

For the next few years, he and a small team helped to design and build a global intranet for the company. And then he joined Microsoft…. Stortyelling Book. Thank you for contacting me! First Name: Email Address:. Ok, what's your email address? Got it! Thank you for contacting me. Steve, thanks so much for speaking with us. We are pleased to have you. To start off, can you give viewers some details about your path to Microsoft?

Were you always interested in pursuing tech? I was always interested in pursuing tech. It turns out I was hired to Microsoft as an accident, actually. Microsoft was trying to hire a guy called Steve Clark about 23 years ago from a customer of ours, and I worked in the same IT department of a customer with Steve Clark.

Through a mix-up of names, they actually hired Steve Clayton. I would say my tip there is really trying to find out as early on in your career what your passion is. For me, it was clearly technology.