Microsoft + Stranger Things
A robust partnership campaign between Netflix and Microsoft set around the launch of Stranger Things Season 3. Increased brand love on both sides was delivered by leveraging shared values and a common insight to pay off Microsoft's mission of empowerment through technology. In addition, this campaign delivered a ton of custom, unique content that Stranger Things and Microsoft fans couldn't get enough of.
Watch the campaign recap
Phase I: A Strange Trip Back in Time —
Stranger Things Season 3 takes place in 1985—the same year Microsoft released the original Windows. To set the stage, the campaign teased the partnership by taking Windows social channels back to 1985, with throwback content we knew Microsoft fans would love.
IG Stories featuring 1985 Microsoft content —
Phase II: Revealing the partnership —
By turning our social channels strange, the campaign invoked a spirit of discovery and intrigue with our fanbases and got them guessing about what's to come. A unique set of throwback and Stranger Things content for Microsoft fans and customers with digital web store takeovers, custom windows themes, and more.
Themes and Wallpapers -
Phase II - Introducing Windows 1.11
We partnered with a development team to create a strange rerelease of the original Windows called Windows 1.11. Featuring throwback Microsoft technology, retro games and graphics, unique content, and more, it combined everything fans love about Stranger Things with everything they love about Windows. We created throwback kits for influencers and had them help spread the word.
Phase IV: Camp Know Where
Since being at the forefront of personal computing in the 1980s, Microsoft has developed a mission of empowering people and companies to achieve extraordinary things. That includes a commitment to STEM education. The kids of Stranger Things embody that vision. And so we used them as a way to help teach a new generation how to save the world. We took the fictional camp from the show—Camp Know Where—and turned it into a real experience at Microsoft stores. We created custom Stranger Things–inspired classes. Of course, we used the smartest girl in the camp to promote it, becoming the first and only brand to work with Suzie.
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Project: Microsoft + Stranger Things Partnership
Agency: CMD
Role: Creative Director
ECD: John O'Connell
Writer: Avery Harisson
Art Director: Kendall Birch
Art Director: Chris Shults