New York based The Colony directs Vietnam Airlines campaign for Ogilvy & Mather Vietnam

Ogilvy & Mather, Vietnam and The Colony recently completed a new Vietnam Airlines spot titled “Lotus”. The commercial unfolds as a vivid travelogue of international cities with the re-occurring image of the lotus blossom, Vietnam Airlines’ logo, appearing in expected and unexpected ways.

Maria Ines Manchego directed the project while Colony co-founder David Gaddie stayed in New York working closely with agency creative director Todd McCracken and the Ogilvy & Mather team.

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Describing the creative process, Gaddie says, “The creative concept was simple but required interpretation in each location. We needed to find examples of a lotus blossoming in locations all around the world. Early on we discovered the Bahai Lotus Temple in New Delhi so that was an obvious starting point. We then had to figure out creative ways of bringing the lotus into other locations around the world in ways that made sense in each context. This is how we came up with a baker creating a lotus shaped loaf in Paris, and synchronized swimmers in Sydney. Sometimes the location provided the answers and other times we had to invent a scenario.”

The expedition was exciting and fast-paced, involving many locations; the director lensed footage in five countries over a two week period. The tight schedule meant at times the team would arrive at an airport and drive straight to location to catch sunrises and sunsets. That process in the end, lent the film that very natural travelogue feel as the filmmakers experienced the locations first hand and documented what they saw. The team found themselves in lotus fields, knee deep in mud in Southern Vietnam, riding elephants next to ancient temples in Cambodia, in busy street alleys in India, stormy coastlines in Australia and on rooftops in New York.

Gaddie concludes, “This spot is a perfect example of what can be achieved with the collaborative framework of The Colony.  By involving multiple directors, our post team and our multiple offices, we were able to create the sort of epic, dramatic film that the team from Ogilvy were hoping for. The execution makes the spot feel simple, but to achieve everything in the spot required solving so many technical and logistical challenges that were made possible by the unique collaboration of the team.”

Director: The Colony