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August 2007 - Strategy Magazine
What next

The sound of windows
New York City storefronts are abuzz with sounds of Canada, thanks to new non-noise-polluting sound technologies

by Annette Bourdeau
page 44

It's not often you hear a polar bear crunching through the snow in the middle of Manhattan. Especially not in the heat of summer.

The latest campaign from Vancouver-based Canadian Tourism Commission, by DDB Canada, aims to "intrigue" passersby with unique storefront executions that include sound only audible within a couple of metres of the window.

DDB used a technology called "Whispering Windows" from London, U.K.-based tech company Feonic. It works by turning the store window into a large sound radiator, emitting audio at a fixed volume level that's only loud enough to hear while in front of it.

"The campaign is about playing up unique experiences in Canada. [Whispering Windows] is a great way to bring the experiences to life," explains Andrew Simon, CD at DDB Canada. "It's always on....

As you pass by, for example, you would hear a tundra buggy pulling up, and a polar bear approaching."

One execution features a photo of a person nose-to-nose with a polar bear, with the tag: "Does polar bear breath smell like fish?" (DDB also did a print version for New York magazine using a scratch-and-sniff patch. Instead of an unpleasant fish aroma, though, DDB opted to give it minty fresh breath.)

NYC-based International Robotics produces a similar audio technology called Hypersonic Sound Beams, which works by projecting sound waves and using the target's surface as a speaker. So if the target is a person, their head becomes the speaker. Sound waves can be projected from up to 300 feet away.

feonic.com/internationalrobotics.com

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