Developers are chasing celebrities to help sell their projects

Brushes with fame

By Stephen Nicholls
February 24, 2005

Developers are chasing celebrities to help sell their projects.

What's in a name? An awful lot, it seems, if you're talking about adding a celebrity to your marketing campaign. And developers of apartments, resorts and golf-course estates across the country have gone into product-endorsement overdrive.

At the time of going to press, Dannii Minogue was expected to attend last night's launch party of the $160 million Chevron apartments in Melbourne and the press releases have been flying about her association with the project. She's apparently not being paid, but promoters would neither confirm nor deny whether she was given a discounted price on an apartment.

Multiplex Living hadn't even received approval to build the Cotton Beach resort in Casuarina on the far North Coast before it announced Jodhi Packer would be its public face, saying she "embodies the philosophy behind the development: relaxed, sophisticated beachside living".

Other celebrity promoters include Thorpey, who's plugging Q1 at Surfers Paradise, Delta Goodrem (Portside Wharf in Brisbane), Matthew Johns (Knightsbridge Tower, Newcastle) and Mimi Macpherson (Luxe Apartments on the Gold Coast).

When it comes to golf-course estates, developers are jumping the gun, keen to link a famous face to a project even before it's approved. South Africa's Ernie Els recently walked the course of Bradcorp's still-to-be-approved Wilton Parklands, near Picton. Graham Marsh is the face of Twin Creeks resort at Luddenham; Greg Norman designed golf courses at estates in the Hunter Valley; and Craig Parry is designing the Kooindah Waters Residential Golf Resort at Wyong.

Agents know the importance of a famous face and its potential impact on buyers, and often trot out the names of celebrities who have been "spotted" at homes they're selling. Tabloids are always eager to report "rumours" about Kylie's imminent purchase or mysterious "sightings" of John Travolta at an open house.

In Sydney, high-profile promotions are also about the stylists of display apartments.

Last October, we had the Vogue Living penthouse, where the magazine's editor,

David Clark, fitted out a $3.9 million top-floor Ivy apartment at St Margaret's with $500,000 of finishings. In May, there'll be the Ralph Lauren-styled penthouse at Beau Monde in North Sydney. And last week was the launch of "The Apartment" at Space in Alexandria, designed by Belle magazine's editor-in-chief Eric Matthews. The Apartment isn't for sale, but it might help sell some furniture.