The Airbus H160 Helicopter Gets a Show-Stopping Reveal
When Airbus Helicopters, a division of Airbus Group, decided to debut their brand new H160 helicopter, they wanted to ensure that the reveal was done on a scope fitting the Airbus brand of excellence and the elegance of the craft itself.The reveal took place at this year’s Helicopter Association International’s HAI Heli-Expo, the world’s largest vertical flight helicopter trade show, in front of hundreds of attendees and the industry press. To create the impactful reveal as well as a fully immersive booth experience Airbus worked with Skyline Sector 5 and their creative agency group Sector 5 Digital. PRG provided and supported Airbus and Sector 5 with all the lighting, audio and video technology solutions, crew and services.
The Product is the Star
“For the reveal of the H160, Guillaume Faury, the CEO of Airbus, wanted to do a straightforward reveal and to really focus on the H160,” explains PRG’s Kerry Snider, Director of Global Accounts. “It really was an elegant reveal that had wonderful movement. As the LED wall was raised up above the helicopter, the Kabuki drape dropped in sync with the video content and the lights, moving to direct the attention to the beautiful charismatic H160. PRG worked closely with Sector 5 and creative director Nate Nelson right from the conceptual ideas all the way through design and of course the final finished product. It was a very clean, stunning moment that was the epitome of a reveal experience.”
Airbus’ booth had a 100 by 150 foot presence on the show floor. It had almost 1,000 linear feet of truss above housing the lighting rig and the motors for the LED screen. For the reveal itself, PRG provided a Unilumin Utile R3 3.9mm high-res LED screen measuring 16 by 60 feet (HxW) with graphics timed in synch with the reveal. They worked together with a four-sided kabuki drape and the moving lights for the big moment. Working through the timing and integration of the movement of screen, the drop, the video content and the lights was challenge enough, but because this was a brand new aircraft, the enormous booth build came with an additional challenge. The team needed to keep the helicopter shrouded throughout the load-in. The requirement to maintain complete secrecy until the reveal added some layers of complexity on top of an already-huge project.
Reinforcing the Brand
Having worked with Airbus Helicopters, formerly Eurocopter, for the last five years, Sector 5 understood the brand of Airbus and knew it was important to create a cohesive experience between the reveal; the H160 aircraft; and the corporate brand itself. It is an approach that is in the Sector 5 name, explains Jeff Meisner, President and CEO of Skyline Sector 5 and Sector 5 Digital. “Sector 5 is what we call the experience, and to hit that experience successfully, we have five components. We start with a discovery phase, which is a very consultative process focusing on the client’s objectives, what they want to achieve and about what are their goals for the project. Two is the design phase — we take the discovery and design a stunning booth based on those objectives. Number three is coordination; all the project management, all the coordination throughout the entire team and partners on the project. The fourth component is the execution of the design. If parts one through four are done well, then the final stage is the experience itself. Discover, design, coordinate, execute and experience — that is Sector 5.”
Pushing the boundaries of what is expected and how production technology is integrated into the design is essential to being able to achieve something as successful as the Airbus reveal. “We look at new ideas, new technologies,” notes Nate Nelson, the creative director at Skyline Sector 5, “and we look for ways our clients can do something really impactful. Things that will let them stand apart from their competitors. We want to get to the point where the surprise happens; when the experience resonates. That is where the real connection with the brand happens. The Airbus H160 is a good example of that moment of connection. We were able to create a place, a time where the immediate impact of the space created was felt by the client, the attendees; it was a complete moment of engagement with the experience.”
Adjusting to Changes
Since it is was very important that Airbus be completely satisfied with not only the reveal itself but also the booth functionality throughout their presence at the Heli-Expo, the creative and production team had to plan ahead for all the possible changes at the last minute during such a dynamic event. “Responding to the curveballs, we need to be able to rely on our partners, and we always can with PRG,” says Meisner. “To achieve a reveal of this scope on a tradeshow floor took all of us working together from beginning to end, but you also have to be ready for whatever your client might want to do during the entire run of the show. You have to do all the planning up front. It is the only way to do something of this scope. One of the ways we plan is that we recommend using programmable moving lights, especially the PRG Best Boys on any large lighting project we do on the trade show floor. This gives us cost savings as well as the flexibility to make changes on the show floor. Conventional lighting would require lifts and crew to make focus changes, which is very expensive and very inflexible.
“For example, we had some major signing announcements in the Airbus booth,” continues Meisner. “We thought that they were scheduled to have the signing announcement in one part of the booth space, but with literally with less than half an hour before the signing, they asked to move it to another area of the booth. We were able to have our LD, Jon Murphy, simply refocus the lights on the fly from his iPad. It was a beautiful event, and lit perfectly. We couldn’t do that without the [PRG] Best Boys.”
Choosing the Rig
Flexibility was only one of the considerations in the selection of gear for the Airbus lighting rig. Murphy, whose lighting design company is Lights On Tour, explains, “When I am lighting helicopters, one of the main things that I take into consideration is the reflective paint that they have on their surface. Understandable, since they are made to go in the sky and have to compete with the sun, but when you are battling with the reflective paint in lighting them, you need lots of lumens; lots of intensity to create that bright pop for the helicopters. When I began to design the lighting for the Airbus booth, I had to figure out what fixture types that I wanted to go with and, like on any project, also keep in mind the budget. The Best Boy Wash is the brightest wash light out there and was a perfect light for this job. I went with a rig of 70 Best Boy Washes and 70 Best Boy 4000 Spots to cut down on fixture counts and still achieve that big, powerful effect that I can get from both of those fixtures.”
Movement within the design itself was also important to Murphy. “When I found out that this year Airbus was doing a big reveal, I knew I wanted to have movement and to make it entertaining. I wanted to have the lighting work in conjunction with the video content and help build the excitement of the experience. PRG provided the whole lighting package for me. I appreciate that when I spend the time to design efficiently that they understand what I want to achieve and work with me to realize those goals. It is all about making sure that the project comes out the way the client wants and everyone at Airbus has been very happy with this year’s booth and the reveal itself. I am really pleased with the result.”
Bringing new technology into the corporate environment and helping clients expand the possibilities is something that Nelson loves about his job as creative director. “Strong partnerships creatively are really exciting to me. For example, as I have learned what all of PRG’s capabilities are, I am excited about all the possibilities. All the different realms they work in opens up bringing all those technologies, things like the automation from Broadway, to trade show floor in ways that people haven’t really explored yet. I like to say to our current and potential clients, you have not seen what’s possible. The possibility of creating extraordinary experiences particularly with integrated technology and digital content is very, very powerful for your brand. You can create experiences that really move people emotionally and that’s what engages people with a brand. I believe that both Skyline Sector 5 and PRG are certainly at the leading edge of bringing that kind of engagement to companies. Certainly for Airbus I am proud that together we brought that promise of an immersive experience to our client and were able to execute it so successfully.”
For a video of the reveal, go to www.plsn.me/PRG-Copter.
