Gatwick Airport recently became the first European airport to use the social network Soundcloud by releasing a series of audio books for kids and parents. This week, the airport announced plans to feature the best new children’s stories on its channel, giving budding children’s authors the chance to reach a potential audience of tens of thousands of people.
According to Gatwick spokesperson Zoë Baker, the new initiative is designed to “embrace social communities and enhance a passenger’s journey as they pass through the airport.” This campaign is timed to focus around families traveling during this summer’s school holidays.
The Gatwick Soundcloud channel currently features tracks for 10 classic fairy tales. A new, previously unpublished story will now be recorded each week throughout the summer until the end of the school holidays.
Authors interested in participating can send their story to creative.thinking@
Gatwick’s summer campaign using Soundcloud is another example of a social media first for the airport. Gatwick was the first airport with an Instagram account, the first European airport to offer out of hours Twitter support, the first to integrate a third-party review system into its online restaurant and shopping listings, and is noted for its extensive use of QR codes.
The SoundClout campaign will be measured by monitoring the number of followers and listens on the Gatwick Soundcloud profile, as well as the number of authors submitting their stories for consideration.
