This Christmas, we wanted Shangri-La fans to feel the festive cheer – wherever they were on earth.
Simultaneously we also wanted to subtly spread the message of Shangri-La's global footprint, whilst growing their Instagram and WeChat channels and fan following.
This meant crossing a myriad of markets and platforms, as well as creating images, videos and a variety of other content to boost interaction.
For Shangri-La's 2015 festive social campaign, we created a magical animated advent calendar for both Instagram and WeChat that followed the journey of a Christmas Star travelling to earth, and welcomed by a myriad of whimsical creatures and characters.
Released over 25 days, each 15-second episode features the Star visiting a new global Shangri-La destination where it's met with warmth and kindness - bringing to life the kind of welcome guests can expect to feel when they visit the Shangri-La. If viewers screen-grabbed the moment the Star's heart glowed, then reposted it, they stood a chance to win prizes and stays in their hotels.
The story became a great vehicle to showcase Shangri-La's global footprint, as well as the brand values of warmth and hospitality. The beautiful visuals also encouraged engagement across the platforms – which are heavily influenced by visual appeal.
The characters from the episodes also featured in collateral at hotels – creating a seamless experience from online to offline for fans visiting the properties.
From tigers to manatees, icy tundra to deepest seas, every step of the incredible journey was painstakingly animated by a team of international talents at Cirkus, under the leadership of Romain Borrel, featuring artists from as far afield as Auckland and Shenzhen.
The campaign also features an original score by Jianping Zou – an acclaimed Chinese composer and musical professor.
In under a month, the campaign earned millions of impressions and increased Shangri-La's Instagram following by 20% and its WeChat following by 40%.
On December 25th, we revealed the full five-minute video following the entire journey of the Star around the world, and by the end of the year it had already received over a million views.
