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J.Walter Thompson bring China's Yangtze River to Gatwick

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J.Walter Thompson London and HSBC have brought one of the world’s longest rivers to the sky by creating an ambitious and unique soundscape in Gatwick Airport’s new Sky Bridge. “A Living River” is the world’s longest and most advanced soundscape in an airport, and gives travellers the chance to experience the authentic sounds of the 6,300 km Chinese river in rich detail as they head on their journeys to wherever. In the Sky Bridge, just like along the Yangtze River, the sounds react to the time of day, the weather, and even the movements of the travellers. It is designed to give a unique journey no matter how many times you experience it.

J.Walter Thompson London and HSBC have created an ambitious and unique soundscape in Gatwick Airport’s new Sky Bridge, which recreates the sounds of the Yangtze River in China

The installation features over 100 hours of authentic sounds taken directly from 35 locations along the Yangtze. The sounds ebb and flow across the Sky Bridge, transmitted by 160 speakers through 80 channels to immerse travellers in 3D sound. The installation is made possible by over 60,000m of speaker cable, which is approximately the length of 584 football pitches! The idea for the installation and eventual sound experience were both created by J.Walter Thompson London in collaboration with JWT Live, their in-house event and experiential team, and the WWF, who the bank is working with on the HSBC Water Programme.

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The wall of colourful imagery, shot along the Yangtze River, compliments the sounds travellers hear as they travel from one side of China to the other (from the First Bend of the Yangtze to the mouth near Shanghai), and showcases the beautiful wildlife, nature and the millions of people who call the river home. To construct this soundscape an innovative recording approach was used. Instead of just recording individual components such as wildlife or human sounds and then creating a soundscape, JWT captured multi-channel spatial recordings on the Yangtze. Microphone arrays were also used to capture incredible detail and match how the agency recorded the sounds to how it would be heard on the Sky Bridge.

HSBC Water Programme – A Living River

HSBC and WWF have been working together to tackle conservation challenges across the world by helping to support communities, businesses and nature. The HSBC Water Programme is the latest phase of the partnership between WWF and HSBC, helping to safeguard freshwater resources across Asia, Africa and Latin America. The soundscape was created in partnership with sound designer Nick Ryan, who is widely recognised as a leading thinker on sound creation and performance. He has won multiple awards including a Clio Gold for the Nike 360 “Control” spot and a BAFTA for “The Dark House,” a BBC Interactive Radio Drama.

The sound is transmitted by 160 speakers through 80 channels, and is made possible by over 60,000m of speaker cable, which is approximately the length of 584 football pitches

Ryan said of the project: “I believe that sound, and the act of listening, can entirely transform our sense of 'place' and thus, ourselves. I wanted to design a highly immersive audio installation that could 'relocate' listeners, for an instant, to the banks of the Yangtze River, with a tangible, 'first person' sensory experience of its pace, beauty and diversity. Using ground breaking technical and creative approaches to audio, and audio technology, we’ve created a spellbinding journey down an evolving, responsive and Living River.”

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Chris Clark, HSBC Group Head of Marketing, said: “Our popular jet bridge advertising in airports has been a powerful medium for our Brand. Our new Gatwick Sky Bridge installation pushes the boundaries of our Brand experience at the airports further. It's a chance for us to share some of the investment and initiatives we've undertaken as part of our HSBC Water Programme, this is a cornerstone of our Sustainability commitments and involves thousands of people at HSBC around the world who demonstrate our commitment to the environment and the communities that we serve.” Jonathan Terry, Head of JWT Live, added: “HSBC has been synonymous with airports for many years; we looked to airports to bring to Life HSBC’s water programme, pushing the boundaries of HSBC’s airside advertising, and current technology. How best to tell the story of a 6000 km river and millions of people, in an airport? With sound.”

HSBC Water Programme – Stories from the Yangtze

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