5 billion people just received a massive upgrade in how they communicate.
After years of stalling, Apple finally announced they will support RCS, then recently launched it with iOS 18.
I played a big role in making this happen.
And it was done through the power of stories.
Apple Putting Users Last
SMS messaging is 30+ year old tech. Pixelated photos. Broken groups. Zero encryption.
Think of everyone you ever want to talk to. Unless they can all afford iPhones or use the same chat app – you get a broken experience.
RCS solves this problem. It is a modern, open messaging standard to replace SMS.
Yet Apple refused to support it.
Here was Apple CEO Tim Cook’s reply, at a 2022 tech conference, to an iPhone user talking about the pain they felt:
Speaker: It’s just, it’s tough not to make it personal, but I can’t send my mom certain videos or she can’t send me certain videos.
Tim Cook: Buy your mom an iPhone.
How Stories Made RCS Succeed
Getting Apple to change its mind is no easy feat.
I joined, and eventually led, the Google RCS team for 6 years. We grew RCS users from a few thousand to over 1 billion (and counting).
Our goal? Bring Apple to the negotiating table.
And it worked.
Here are 3 stories that made it happen.
1) Story to Our Team
Growing a product from zero to a billion users is – wait for it – hard.
Not to mention, trying to rapidly innovate an open standard like RCS. Imagine trying to move fast with every mobile network operator and phone manufacturer at the decision table.
To help the org build extraordinary resilience in the face of constant ups and downs, I told the story of our noble mission.
Over and over and over again.
Everyone deserves modern and secure messaging. Apple isn’t going to do it. THIS is the team that can change the world.
Why the story worked: Authenticity. Of course, Google gets value if cross-platform messaging improves. But the company goal and the noble goal were aligned. Working towards a higher purpose is a strong motivator.
2) Story to Our Partners
Apple doesn’t care if Google demands RCS support.
Apple does care if the entire ecosystem demands RCS support.
Unfortunately, the ecosystem’s RCS efforts were fragmented at best.
And so we told every mobile network operator, every phone manufacturer, the same story of strength through partnership.
We are stronger, together.
We have the same goals.
And we want to help.
Why the story worked: Trust. We backed up our story with action. We shouldered much of the financial and implementation burden. We jumped through hoops to make our partners happy. And for every partner who began to believe in our story, two more would take notice.
3) Story to Apple
Apple prefers the exclusivity of their iMessage experience. It sells more iPhones. Leaked internal emails confirm this.
Why would they change?
So at Google, we started the “Get The Message” campaign.
We told the story of Apple hurting its own users. Compromising privacy when Apple users texted non-Apple users. Refusing to innovate by using outdated standards.
Why the story worked: Our story challenged their story. Apple’s story to their own users around privacy and innovation lost authenticity. Users noticed. Media noticed. Regulators noticed. And finally, Apple noticed.
The Power of Stories to Drive Change
Stories captivate an audience, in a way raw data cannot.
Stories harness emotions, imagination, and an innate love of narrative to communicate messages in a way that is both engaging and memorable.
Great storytelling can be a game changer. The stories I told fired up a team, unified an ecosystem, and influenced a titan in the industry.
Now, billions of people around the world will benefit.
Product managers, never forget, this is the power of stories.
