Misting Tunnel provides fantastic brand-activated marketing for a community-centric company in Auckland.

Background

Barfoot & Thompson is New Zealand’s largest privately owned real estate company, founded in 1923. With over 95 branches throughout Auckland and Northland, one in three properties every day are sold by B&T.

With strong community values, Barfoot & Thompson believe It’s important to make the place we live a better place to live.  As part of Barfoot & Thompson’s commitment to bettering the community, they were proud sponsors of the 2022 Auckland Marathon.

As part of their sponsorship, B&T decided to work with Giant Inflatables to produce an Inflatable Misting Tunnel to place at the finish of the marathon, which would cool participants as they finished their run.

The Design and Fabrication

The three-meter x five-meter deep Misting tunnel was created using a frame-and-skin construction. The frame, made from 650mm diameter tubes, was arranged to look like a house.

Finally, 18m of detachable misting hose was added to provide the cooling aspect for participants, with dozens of misting nozzles directed to create a gentle full-body cooling effect.

The supercell structure would feature air-filled walls and a roof, with the internal structure of the walls naturally creating a cladding look for the structure. The Giant Inflatables creative team decided to include windows in the side walls of the Misting Tunnel to give extra natural light and make the space feel larger.

Additionally, the tunnel was designed to be front-to-back symmetrical with inflation points on both sides, allowing the unit to be unpacked and set in any orientation, saving time during the bump-in process.

The Results

The Barfoot & Thompson Misting tunnel was an immediate hit with participants, with the tunnel described as a “much-needed relief” and “a welcome reward” by finishers. B&T all smiled when debriefing the Giant Inflatables team after an “effortless and intuitive” setup received an “overwhelmingly positive response” from the internal Barfoot & Thompson marketing department. As ongoing sponsors of this event and many other sporting events throughout the year, Barfoot & Thompson uses their new assets often.