“We are the company that stands for builders, makers and creators.”
That’s how Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella described his company at the WSJDLive Conference in Laguna Beach, Calif. on Monday evening.
Toward the end of a wide-ranging interview with Wall Street Journal Editor Gerard Baker that touched on everything from Microsoft’s mobile mishaps to its pending LinkedIn acquisition, Nadella was asked about Microsoft’s brand.
Baker pressed Nadella, noting how many people feel like they need Microsoft’s products but not necessarily love them.
The CEO began by describing a photo Microsoft employees use internally for motivation: Someone walking out of a store with an Xbox console, hugging it.
“To me, that’s a fan of Xbox,” Nadella said. “We have brands inside of Microsoft that have fans. We have fans of OneNote. Believe it or not, we have great fans of Excel — I’m one of them.”
Continued Nadella:
“The bar of consumer products in particular is such that if you don’t stand up to it — and not just once but continuously — you will get punished for it. To me, the Microsoft brand has always stood for being the company that has got a bit of a utilitarian bend to it, which I think is a good one. That’s who we are — we are the company that stands for builders, makers, and creators. That’s the brand that we want.”
Baker came back with a follow-up response, asking Nadella if it bothers him that Microsoft’s brand isn’t as well known to younger consumers as an Apple, Facebook, Google, or Amazon.
Nadella said that those customers will know Minecraft and Xbox.
“To me, having a set of brands and set of products for that demographic and especially kids and college students — it’s super important to us,” he said, adding that “I don’t want to sort of devalue a lot of other things that we do for different audiences only to the exclusion of this.”
While Microsoft’s brand may not as “popular” as other tech giants, its bottom line certainly isn’t hurting. The company beat expectations with $22.3 billion in revenue for its most recent quarter last week as its stock price reached all-time highs. Its market cap is now nearing $500 billion — third to only Apple and Alphabet as the world’s most valuable tech company.
Microsoft shares stayed relatively flat for the decade or so before Nadella took over in 2014. He’s certainly part of Microsoft’s recent resurgence of sorts, focusing on the company’s cloud computing business and helped rebuild the company’s status as a tech powerhouse. A number of stock analysts last week upgraded their outlooks on Microsoft, and MarketWatch even dubbed the company the “comeback kid.”
Nadella has also helped change the culture internally at Microsoft and he was asked about that during Monday’s interview. The CEO echoed his earlier comments about being a “learn-it-all” culture versus one that is a “know-it-all” culture.
great quote from @satyanadella at the #WSJDLive summit in mindset "we are a learn it culture. not a know it all culture" humble. Love it
— Angus Norton (@NortonAngus) October 25, 2016
Corporate culture goal from @satyanadella: "Microsoft's working for me"#WSJDLIVE
— Greg Bensinger (@GregBensinger) October 25, 2016
Here are some other tidbits from Nadella’s interview with WSJ:
At #WSJDLIVE, @satyanadella on his mission:"The thing I have tried to do is get much more foucsed on the sense of purposes of Microsoft"
— Don Clark (@donal888) October 25, 2016
"We clearly missed the mobile phone," @satyanadella says #WSJDLive pic.twitter.com/jeF5Afu24L
— Joanna Stern (@JoannaStern) October 25, 2016
"Early success is the worst thing that can happen in life," Microsoft's @satyanadella tells @gerardtbaker #WSJDLive pic.twitter.com/QfjyL8iXY6
— Rebecca Blumenstein (@RBlumenstein) October 25, 2016
Microsoft's@satyanadella on mobile: "You’ve got to be able to add unique value and be on the hunt for the next big category." #WSJDLive
— Jay Greene (@greene) October 25, 2016
Microsoft won't make cars, says @satyanadella at #WSJDLive. Car makers want "a trusted parter who is not going to compete with them."
— WSJ Tech (@WSJTech) October 25, 2016
"The ultimate computer gives a mixed reality world, where your field of view becomes an infinite display." Satya, Microsoft CEO at #WSJDLive pic.twitter.com/d9liu8r9Ml
— Bill Gross (@Bill_Gross) October 25, 2016
"Mosquitos are the most natural drones" says @satyanadella. I have no idea what he's talking about. #WSJDLive
— Geoffrey A. Fowler (@geoffreyfowler) October 25, 2016