The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

-d -h -min -sec

Creative Collaboration

Sir Peter Blake creates bespoke collage for the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in collaboration with London Advertising

Author

By Naomi Taylor | Client Services Manager

January 18, 2017 | 3 min read

Sir Peter Blake, a leading figure in the art world, and often referred to as the ‘Godfather of British Pop Art’, has created a collage covering Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, which was revealed overnight on 17 January.

The artwork acting as a wrap for the hotel, currently undergoing a multi million pound renovation, is the latest instalment of the ongoing 'Our Fans' brand campaign that spans 18 years and is the brainchild of London Advertising's founders Michael Moszynski and Alan Jarvie.

'Our Fans', the largest artwork Sir Peter Blake has ever created, is a collage of 100 prominent faces, from Morgan Freeman and Helen Mirren to Joanna Lumley and Jenny Packham. All are regular guests at Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London as well as fans of the Group’s hotels around the world.

“Some of my first works were collages of crowds of people; this piece is in the spirit of The Beatles 1967 Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album,” said sir Peter Blake, the artist responsible for this iconic album cover. It is therefore entirely apt that sir Paul McCartney and fellow Beatles' bandmate Ringo Starr should feature in the poster, during the 50th anniversary of the album in 2017.

The collage has become Blake’s trademark format and one that he has returned to time and again over the years. “This artwork was very different to my usual way of working”, he said. “A collage is very time consuming and laborious, but this was more a matter of arranging the figures and making them work together - making sure no one had a cut-off shoulder or missing legs - that’s the skill of it. It was an amazing project to work on. Hopefully, people passing by will try to spot celebrities they recognise,” he added.

Displayed prominently on the front of the building, this striking work is a visual treat. “We are delighted to showcase this original piece by such a talented artist in London, the home of our European flagship hotel,” said Jill Kluge, Mandarin Oriental’s group director of brand communications. “Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park is part of the fabric of London life, and this exciting renovation project is designed to confirm it as one of the leading luxury hotels in the world. Sir Peter Blake’s artistic masterpiece not only pays tribute to the city, but also celebrates the Group’s global reach, in a truly original way,” she added.

Alan Jarvie, creative director at London Advertising comments on the campaign’s origins: "We knew Mandarin Oriental wanted to do something different from other hotels. So, no pictures of lobbies or smiling doormen. When we heard the names of some of the people who regularly stayed at Mandarin Oriental, it wasn’t a huge creative leap to come up with the idea of using them. The problem with many ads featuring celebrities is that you tend to remember the celebrity and not the brand. We wanted to avoid this and so we came up with the idea of linking the headline to the hotel’s logo, and the Fan Campaign was born."

The Mandarin Oriental renovation is set for completion in Spring 2018.

Creative Collaboration

Content created with:

LONDON Advertising

LONDON is a global advertising agency built for today and is the only agency to have won Agency of the Year for four consecutive years. We create One Brilliant Idea that works in any media, any language and any market that is proven to deliver the highest ROI for our clients in their sector.

Find out more

More from Creative

View all

Trending

Industry insights

View all
Add your own content +