Saks Works With Microsoft To Spread Holiday Cheer

from Brand Channel - Sara Zucker - December 2nd, 2009

What happens when two branding titans collide? In the case of Saks and Microsoft, a precipitation of fashion and technology.

Companies are going all-out this holiday season. We can see proof of that in the collaboration between Saks Fifth Avenue and Microsoft, which will take place in honor of the sixth annual Snowflake Spectacular display at the department store's New York flagship, and will display shoppers' holiday Twitter updates right in the store's windows.

The Saks Fifth Avenue holiday windows will be powered by Windows 7, helping to bring life to the children's book "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Flake." The windows show the story of a snowflake named Twinkle and includes 3-D animations and interactive displays. More than 20 video monitors were provided by Microsoft, powered by Windows 7 to animate some of the book's key scenes.

The windows will also feature ice-skating penguins and a voiceover of the book that is audible to passersby.

Along with the display windows, Saks and Microsoft have created interactive in-store lounges for shoppers. The specially constructed lounges feature Windows 7-based PCs, with Microsoft experts on hand to answer questions about the software and hardware. Shoppers who can't be in New York City this year can still participate by downloading a special Windows 7 holiday theme pack featuring Twinkle and some of the key scenes from the book at the Windows Personalization Gallery.

With PC lounge areas in-store, customers can visit the Windows 7 computers and share their holiday wishes. Shoppers can tweet, using the hash-tag #holidaywindows and have them appear in the windows, making the presentation interactive. This will spread the word about Saks' holiday goings-on, and give Microsoft a chance to reach the store's upscale clientele.