Singapore – Global hospitality brand Shangri-La has launched a new visual film, titled ‘Find Your Shangri-La’, under its new global brand campaign which launched in May.
The film, done in collaboration with McCann Worldgroup Southeast Asia, 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 development of the film engaged GRAMMY® award-winning film director, Dave Meyers. 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.
Whilst 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 for global clients & business leadership at McCann Worldgroup Asia Pacific, said, “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.”
To bring this ambitious project to life, multi-GRAMMY®-award-winning 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.