McCann Worldgroup Southeast Asia creates new Shangri-La brand film directed by Dave Meyers
McCann Worldgroup Southeast Asia, together with Grammy award-winning film director, Dave Meyers, have been appointed to bring Shangri-La’s new visual film titled “Find Your Shangri-La” to life as part of Shangri-La’s new global brand campaign which launched on 15 May 2023.
The film kickstarts Shangri-La’s significant initiative to showcase the hotel brand’s ongoing efforts in inspiring guests to discover their own moments of joy. It also highlights the brand’s commitment to delivering unforgettable experiences through the authentic and the unexpected.
The launch is also seasonally aligned with the long-awaited resurgence of international travel markets.
To drive home the brand’s unique vision, the film is a remarkable departure from category norms. Instead of showcasing property amenities and lifestyle moments, “Find Your Shangri-La” employs whimsical metaphors, fantastical characters, and magical storytelling. Leveraging on the film’s name which is also the campaign’s title, it highlights Shangri-La as not just a physical place, but as a state of mind associated with the joyful moments within the hotel experience.
The film centres around the journey of a peony flower, the protagonist, as it makes its way through the whimsical world of Shangri-La’s properties, searching for its own personal Shangri-La. As it explores the world, the peony encounters various other ‘guests’, each enjoying their own whimsical versions of Shangri-La. While these characters and their Shangri-La’s are fantastical, they were designed very strategically. Each subtly represents a different guest subset, such as foodies (the hummingbird), honeymooners (the wedding dress), wellness seekers (the penguins) or families with children (the train).
Brandon Cheung, Regional Director, Global Clients & Business Leadership, McCann Worldgroup Asia Pacific, says: “We started with a beautiful truth about Shangri-La’s hospitality experience – Luxury is best expressed as personal moments of joy. Shangri-La has delivered this at the heart of their service for over 50 years. This gave us tremendous creative license to push the imagination and create a magical, whimsical world with Shangri-La in film.”
Director Dave Meyers was commissioned alongside visual effects studio, The Mill (most recently of “Dumbo” and “The Lion King” fame), to shoot and create the magical vision of the new Shangri-La world.
The film launched worldwide on 15 May across all of Shangri-La’s social media channels and its official website.
Credits
Creative Agency – McCann Worldgroup Southeast Asia
Wen Louie – Executive Creative Director/Copywriter
Anthony Yeung – Associate Creative Director/Art Director
Andrea Ferronato – Head of Production, CRAFT SEA
Brandon Cheung – Regional Director, Global Clients & Business Leadership
Production Company – Radical Media London
Dave Meyers – Film Director
Ben Schneider – Executive Producer
Visual Effects – The Mill
Jim Radford – On Set VFX Supervisor
Jake Nelson – Lead VFX Supervisor
Fernando Tortosa – Lead CGI Supervisor
Clementine Supiot – Lead Animator
Music Production House – Ultrabeing
Producer/Arranger/Composer – Allan Brearley
Singer – Momo
