Putting a Twist on Christmas

Retailers Play Remixed Songs to Boost Sales

Dan the Automator remixed a Dean Martin rendition of "Jingle Bells." (Courtesy Of Rock River Communications Inc.)

"Happy Holidays," sung by Bing Crosby. "The Christmas Song," crooned by Nat King Cole. And, of course, 46Bliss's rendition of "Silent Night."

Not familiar with the electronic pop repertoire of 46Bliss? You will be if you shop at Old Navy this holiday season. Pottery Barn will introduce shoppers to Robbie Hardkiss's "Jingle Bells." For Red Baron's "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy," you can hit a Sunglass Hut at the mall.

Remixes -- a pastiche of traditional recordings and urban-style electronic music that has been around for years -- may be more common to the dance floor than the sales floor. But this holiday season a dozen major retailers are banking on the choppy, pulsating sound of remixed Christmas classics to help lure young shoppers and keep them spending.

The sound, a new twist in the never-ending quest to remake holiday music, is one more tool stores will employ during the make-or-break holiday shopping season that runs from now through New Year's Day. After limping through the holidays from 2000 to 2002 and experiencing a modest 4 percent sales increase last year, retailers could use a big Christmas.

The goal of the music is not merely to be hip, but to actively shape consumer mood. Remixes, with their fast-paced, throbbing beats, evoke the atmosphere of a private club -- one where retailers hope shoppers see their lifestyle on display. "It's like being invited to the right party," said Leigh Oshirak, director of brands for Pottery Barn.

But retailers know it's more than that. Researchers have found that the right music can prompt bigger purchases, slow people's movement through a store, even help customers forget how long they've been shopping.

"Retailers want to put time on hold," said Craig Childress, director of research at Envirosell, a retail consulting firm, and they have found that "music can do that better than any other stimulus."

Marketing professors Richard Yalch of the University of Washington and Eric Spangenberg of Washington State University found something even more interesting: Consumers shop longer when listening to music that's unfamiliar. They speculated that shoppers may lose track of time while trying to identify the tune.

On the remixed holiday CDs now hitting retailers' shelves, the song titles are familiar, but the sound is not. On Old Navy's "Jazzy Jolly" holiday CD, 46Bliss remixes Mahalia Jackson's rendition of Silent Night. Jackson's voice is still there, but the original tune is all but unrecognizable, replaced with a thumping drum base line and computer-generated pulses.

On Pottery Barn's "Christmas Chill" album, Michael Kessler remixes Mel Torme's recording of "The Christmas Song." Torme sings, accompanied by his own echo, which reverberates throughout the piece, and a hip-hop-inspired rhythm is inserted in the background.