Mandarin Oriental celebrates 50th year with ad designed by pop art Guru Sir Peter Blake

Blake is an English pop art artist perhaps best known for his design for the album sleeve of the Beatles' Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. He has never delved into any advertising work before.

For the campaign, the artist has used archive images of Mandarin Oriental and Hong Kong as the backdrop for a collage of celebrities who have appeared in the hotel group’s long-running 'Fan' advertising campaign.

Michael Moszynski, CEO of London Advertising told Campaign Asia-Pacific that Blake's work celebrates the evolution of the Hong Kong-based company to a become a leading global luxury brand, and is designed to coincide with the hotel’s gala celebration in October. The collage will be used as a massive 36-metre wide outdoor billboard and will be mounted opposite the hotel in Central in Hong Kong from 1 October.

Hong Kong will be the main focus city for the campaign. Ten of the international stars from its ‘Fan’ campaign, including Oscar-winning British actress Helen Mirren, rock star Brian Ferry, Hong Kong entrepreneur David Tang, local actress Maggie Cheung, singer-songwriter Karen Mok, designer Vivienne Tam and world-renowed author Frederick Forsyth, will be attending the hotel’s first gala celebration event on 17 October in Hong Kong. Ferry and Mok will be performing at the event.

The entire image: Click to enlarge

Globally, the brand's media agency Walker Media in London, will be running a series of marketing initiatives through social media, direct marketing and press relations, and the collage ads wlll be running across two-page spreads in a major international newspapers on 17 October.

“We are delighted to showcase this original piece by such a talented artist in our hometown of Hong Kong,” said Jill Kluge, Mandarin Oriental’s group director of brand communications. “It is a fitting tribute to our flagship property in its 50th year, and also celebrates our global reach.”

The Group, which is owned by Jardine Matheson Holdings, currently has 28 hotels around the world and is listed in the Singapore and London bourses.

Moszynski and his creative partner Alan Jarvie, are founders of London Advertising, who have been working on the Mandarin Oriental’s global creative account since 1998, including when they previously worked with M&C Saatchi in Hong Kong. The team devised the Fan campaign in 1998 and have shot 36 globally-renowned individuals who are leaders in their fields.