Microsoft Celebrates the Developer Community with ‘Yours to Build’

Developers are building the future as we speak. To celebrate their individuality and their power as a community, Microsoft is launching 'Yours to Build.' The integrated effort, created by the technology and creative network Code and Theory, kicks off after Microsoft’s largest developer conference of the year, Microsoft Build.

The campaign puts developers - and their creativity - at the centre of the story. It is a bold celebration of the ingenuity, impact and trust developers bring to their work. Through cinematic storytelling, dynamic POV visuals and subtle nods only real devs will catch, the campaign aims to authentically reflect the emotional reality of building with code.

At the core of the campaign are spots that bring both energy and Easter Eggs. During the high-energy spots, we see developers cranking away, but also a rubber duck for debugging at the corner of a desk, Github Octocat stickers hiding in the background and a Clippy statue placed on a bookshelf.

Running across CTV, paid and organic social, display and digital OOH placements at Seattle-Tacoma Airport and beyond, the campaign includes a flagship 30-second film, shorter creative cuts and banners—all anchored in Microsoft's focus on putting developers and their worlds at the forefront vs. individual Microsoft products.

Alongside the campaign, Microsoft and Code and Theory and creative technology agency, Left Field Labs introduced the Connection Wall at Microsoft Build. The Connection Wall is an interactive installation and microsite designed to bridge the experience between 4,000 in-person attendees and 200,000 virtual participants. Featuring a live gallery of generative AI avatars submitted by developers, the experience transforms conference engagement into a real-time, community-driven canvas.

To connect, developers were asked to sign into the experience via their LinkedIn profiles and were given a series of questions to make their experience more personal. Their answers not only guided the experience to suggest recommended sessions based on their interests, but also generated a personalized 8-bit avatar likeness, displaying their developer communities and primary programming language. The avatars then populated the desktop and physical experience of the wall. IRL attendees can print out laptop stickers of their avatars.

Michel Treff, CEO of Code and Theory says, “‘Yours to build’ embraces developers as individuals and as a community. We wanted to bring them in deeper into all of the tools being unveiled at Microsoft Build and then get out of their way and let them build the future.”

The campaign and experience were created in partnership with Code and Theory, Left Field Labs and Imagine This.