These brands tell tales like no one else.
They’re punchy, powerful, passionate, and personality-packed.
They don’t mince words.
There’s no nonsense.
All goodness. No fluff.
Please - nourish yourself with the stories of our Storyselling superheroes...
In 1998, Java was booming.
And Microsoft was fuming.
Microsoft Visual Studio .NET wasn’t an easy sell.
And the least sexy sentence in this history of books.
Microsoft needed a miracle. Developers were the lifeblood of the company. But the demands on this community grew greater every month. No longer were they coding for desktops. Mobile was on the horizon, and the internet also needed a new approach.
In recent years, other organisations were rolling out the red carpet to these previously Microsoft-loyal engineers. Java had developed an open source framework that was platform agnostic. There were stormy seas on the horizon for Microsoft, and something profound was needed.
That’s why Microsoft created .NET, its first significant foray into open source software for developers.
The biggest challenge was how to sell it in.
They needed someone like Steve Ballmer.
Fortunately, Steve Ballmer was Microsoft’s CEO.
Ballmer was gregarious, passionate, and knew how to make his clients feel like they could walk on water.
He’d invested heavily in solving their problems.
And regularly reminding them they were heroes of the Microsoft story.
He’d spent years leading and nurturing this developer community.
And inspiring his colleagues to do all they could to build a product that paved the way for the success of mobile, internet and cloud computing in the modern world.
So when the time came to make his ask - for developers to adopt .NET - Ballmer triumphed.
His ‘developers, developers, developers’ speech will go down in history as one of Microsoft’s most important. He’d somehow convinced thousands of influencers to join him for an 8.30am pitch. And with echoes of the barker brilliance of his fellow Steve, California counterpart and computing competitor, Ballmer stole the show.
This book is more than an ode to Ballmer. Though he will always be one of my business heroes, for both his flamboyant approach to captivating his audience, and his meticulous community leadership.
It’s a sprawling blueprint for how you can create a single story for your clients and colleagues that has them as the hero of your success.
We call it Storyselling.
The recipe is simpler than beans on toast. Not easy - but doable by anyone with a passion for doing right by their people.
Identify the Highest Priority Problem you solve.
Know how you do it.
Write your story
Set it free
Bring it in for repairs and upgrades.
We’ll show you everything you need to do, step by step.
You’ll see how a story comes together.
How it works in the wild.
What to measure - and how to keep your story current.
Java was simply doing a much better job servicing the needs of developers working on the web. Its applets - tiny packets of code that offered additional functionality users craved across multiple web browsers - faced no competition from the Redmond giants, whose developer tools were primary focused only on Windows development and offered a fragmented experience.
But developers were a huge part of Microsoft’s growth. And haemorrhaging them was costing the company dear - both in terms of revenue, and the famed high intensity collaboration and co-creation that informed much of their success.
Microsoft didn’t just want to compete. It wanted to create a futureproof platform, making it simple to develop web, desktop, and even mobile applications.
Despite its promise, it was a paradigm shift for the developer community.
It would take vision, and a believable commitment to developers’ success.
And Microsoft had a plan - and a man - to make it happen.
As Executive Vice President for Sales and Support (1992), Ballmer championed the need for a modern development platform to compete with Java.
Ballmer’s 34 year Microsoft career started in 1980, as the company’s 30th colleague. He quickly recognised the importance of developers and set about creating a community and support that never waivered during his rein.
As well as evangelising for tools and technologies such as Visual Studio and .NET, sophisticated yet simple-to-manage platforms helping developers navigate an ever-more complex development landscape and sate a growing hunger for more flexible solutions, Ballmer made sure engineers were embraced in many other ways.
He:
Launched the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) in 1992, providing developers with access to first-rate technical documentation, resources, and support.
Established the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) program in 1993, recognizing and rewarding top developers who contributed to the community.
Initiated conferences and events like TechEd and Build, fostering connections and knowledge sharing among developers.
Supported the creation of developer tools like Visual Studio and .NET, aiming to provide a comprehensive and user-friendly development experience.
Ballmer became president in 1998, the year Microsoft started working on a project codenamed Next Generation Windows Services (NGWS).
He made sure Microsoft colleagues were fully supported in this work.
His executive advocacy and leadership, combined with motivation and empowerment of his internal development teams, meant .NET not only gave Microsoft clients what they needed. It shipped on time, and was the catalyst for growth that today sees Microsoft among the world's richest companies.
From the project's early stages (codename NGWS), Ballmer championed its importance and secured internal buy-in from other executives.
He ensured the project received adequate funding, personnel, and development time despite internal competition from other initiatives.
Ballmer used his leadership to expedite decision-making processes and resolve organizational hurdles that could hinder progress.
One of his key strengths was in creating a captivating vision for the potential and impact of his products. Ballmer did that and more for .NET, motivating developers and project teams to strive for excellence.
He publicly recognised and rewarded achievements of engineers and teams, boosting morale and engagement.
And Ballmer promoted cross-functional collaboration between different teams within Microsoft, ensuring diverse perspectives and expertise contributed to the platform's development.
In early 2000 - the year Ballmer became Microsoft CEO - the first beta version of NET 1.0 was released.
And in 2002, Ballmer took to the stage at 8.30am - alien territory for most engineers - and was met by an audience of thousands, as he made a heartfelt plea for them to adopt .NET and build a better future.
His ‘Developers, developers, developers’ speech has gone down in Microsoft lore as jet fuel propelling the company’s continuing success.
.NET marked a paradigm shift, modernising Microsoft and attracting developers with a platform on which they could build diverse applications, from desktop software, and web services, to games.
And it continues to thrive, today - offering the cross-platform capabilities our modern world needs, and supporting continuous innovation.
.NET’s active developer community continues to grow, and not only provides Microsoft with the insights it needs to continually evolve, but also acts as a talent pipelines for the company’s leadership team of tomorrow.
Use Stack Overflow, Xbox Live, Maersk, or Duolingo? You’re among millions benefiting from Ballmer’s pioneering pitches and ralling cries for .NET, all those years ago.
This isn’t a story about Ballmer the baller, but how solving client and colleague problems is your most direct path to success.
It’s about how to recalibrate your entire business into a solutions-centric organisation.
And how story - our most venerated and proven strategy for progress - will drive this radical, and necessary, transformation.
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Hitchd spent a long time understanding the big problem it was solving for engaged couples. The whole wedding registry world is a mess. But Hitchd found a way to make life easier for both gifter and giftee.
The website is pure poetry. Not literally - but close enough.
One of the most compelling stats on the homepage is - compared to a competitor - Hitchd generates a way bigger gift pot. Which speaks directly to the needs of the to-be-wed, who obviously need a massive stash for a honeymoon hiking Macchu Pichu.
The world's most mouldable glue.
Don't believe us?
You will...
There is nothing I would change about Sugru’s story.
The video. Those words. That sweet elevator pitch.
Everything about this brand is sticky.
I have a special bond with Sugru, having charted its rise since a packet of the stuff landed - unrequested - on my doormat, about 15 years ago. A totally different kind of adhesive, it can do things others can’t. And they’re not shy about telling you. Exactly as you’d expect from a quality product with no real rivals in its niche.
I have personal experience using this business. The human service is even better than the digital experience.
Proving that no matter how complex your product, you can always simplify it to a point where your customer is delighted.
Check out the remarkable website. Quite unlike any other financial services provider. A real day-brightener.
My only challenge to the Habito team would be moving the social proof above the ‘Life’s too short for life admin’ section. Because a testimonial is worth a thousand fluffy words.
The Habito story is simple. We make buying your next house about 1,000% easier than the last one. And 4.9/5 for a financial product? Someone’s doing something right.
Eyes, Lips, Face. A trinity that, when luxuriated with the finest, cruelty-free products, is guaranteed to make the owner grin wider than the River Mersey.
That’s e.l.f. And in a multi-billion pound industry where looks could shill, they need to also make your hair stand on end.
Which is how we came to Cosmetics Criminals.
Speaking not as a member of the target demographic, but very much receptive to the idea of cosmetics for men (lord knows, we need it), I can imagine how annoying it must be when your mum/sister/daughter/dad swipes your prized lipstick.
It’s one of the biggest grumbles heard by the e.l.f. team. And when you’re sensitive to the enormous value of insights, you do what’s required. Create a spoof true crime documentary and share it with cinema audiences - who, and it’s an open secret, are some of the most prone future buyers of any products shown on that huge screen.
There is nothing apart from the length of this presentation that misses the mark. Treasured actors, a highly-engaging and empathetic storyline - and beats that feel real.
What do we learn from e.l.f.? That research is often enough to help you define your storyline. Or if you’ve already pinned down what it takes to make your customers swoon, then the insights it surfaces will not only validate your assumptions, but give you tangible examples that you can act upon in future marketing campaigns outside and in your organisation.
I had some ideas how e.l.f. Cosmetics could go even further.
Show real examples of people who steal their friends’ and families’ cosmetics. Humans of New York style - vox pop, out in the street.
“Hey, that's a gorgeous shade of lipstick. BUT IS IT YOURS?”
When people admit to stealing, reward them with a voucher to get their own.
When people are using their own, ask them the last time they stole someone else’s. Then voucherise them.
We’ve already talked about LEGO being a hero of the solution story genre.
LEGO doesn’t just make.
It cares.
How about a set of Lego teaching Braille?
When you’re an organisation renowned for innovation, exceptional comes as standard.
To the outside world, this design thinking comes across as borderline supernatural.
Which is a huge asset for the originator, who gets a ton of priceless publicity just for being itself.
When you work in this Danish business, immersed in innovative thinking every day, ideas like this happen all the time.
Moral of the story: encourage everyone on your team to think differently. No more phoning it in. Because when you start every day reflecting on your product, users, and experiences, you’ll have your own LEGO Braille Bricks moments more often than lunches.