Vehicle To Stardom

Sun Herald

Sunday October 3, 1999

By Jonathan Hawley.

If you're famous and fabulous enough, you may just qualify for a free set of flash wheels.

It was a normal enough photograph, appearing on the pages of a Melbourne tabloid a couple of years ago. There's a man in the foreground, in front of a car being driven by a woman. The caption reads: "Busy: Felicity Kennett drops off Jeff Kennett on another full day." Whether the pic had anything to do with the accompanying story on a government pledge to save the spotted tree frog is another matter.

But as a piece of product placement, it was an absolute ripper. The car was a nice, shiny BMW 3-series coupe, provided to Mrs Kennett by BMW. Because of her husband's job, the picture was deemed newsworthy enough to make the papers - in the process saving BMW a tidy sum in advertising. Mission accomplished.

Car companies providing samples of their wares to famous people on either a reduced-cost basis or, better still, entirely gratis, is not a new phenomenon. In the above case, it was Felicity Kennett's celebrity status as a presenter on Ten's then Healthy, Wealthy and Wise program that caught the eyes of the BMW marketeers; her husband, to the best of anyone's knowledge, still owns an ancient Mercedes-Benz but spends most of his time in the back of a government Statesman.

Virtually every car company does something similar. If you are watching the evening sports report and a footballer turns up to training in something new and flash, chances are he's done a deal to be seen in the car - as long as his profile is high enough to warrant the attention of the cameras.

While it might seem a case of slinging a car to someone just because they are famous, it is usually not so simple. The idea of running a car business, after all, is to sell them for a profit and, if everyone who thought they deserved a free BMW actually got one, the shipping lanes between here and Munich would be clogged with car carriers and the Australian importer would go bust within a week. One company spokesman said they get calls almost daily from would-be celebrities willing to be seen in a BMW car but they are politely declined.

So in BMW's case, it's kept relatively low-key. The company calls its recipients of free cars "ambassadors": they get to drive a BMW for an agreed period of time and, in return, they are expected to show up and speak at the odd function or two and say nice things about the cars to their friends, who are usually the types who might be thinking of buying an expensive European car. BMW has three ambassadors: Felicity, artist Ken Done and Leo Schofield. People who the company thinks portray the right image for its cars. If you've noticed there are no world championship wrestlers, death-metal guitarists or anti-logging protesters on the list, you're starting to get the drift.

Saab is one car company that has honed the idea of a celebrity driver into a fine art. The list of those who are part of the company's ambassador program is quite long and includes actors Sigrid Thornton and Rebecca Gibney, swimmers Kieren Perkins and Susie O'Neill, AFL footballer Stephen Silvagni, ex-Collingwood coach Tony Shaw, musician Russell Morris, Australian leg-spinner Stuart McGill and TV sports presenter Bill Woods.

It is a reasonably eclectic bunch but, according to Saab's national PR manager Paul Ellis, far from a random selection. He says these celebrities are a mix of well-known people that the company thinks fit the bill when it comes to matching the image of its cars.

"Saab holds the perception that it's a quality product; it's stylish, contemporary and individual. So, there's some pretty good virtues there that people can identify with and a lot of the ambassadors can also be identified with those elements that Saab is perceived to be."

As with BMW, Saab has people virtually knocking down the doors to get into a cheap or free car.

Those selected don't just disappear with the keys either: they are expected to do their part of the deal by turning up to company-sponsored functions. That might mean adding some gloss to the corporate tent at the Melbourne Cup - it's called the Marquee d' Saab - appearing in the company's magazine or, in Morris's case, jamming with his guitar after a dinner.

"We give them a car, either at a really good rate or something in the way of a special lease deal and, in return, they give us 'x' number of appearances," says Ellis.

"We're providing them with a discount of some sort and they are providing us with their time, that we may use their time as we see fit. What we would do in the case of Susie, when we opened our refurbished dealership in Brisbane, we got her along to the cocktail party."

In an era when celebrity endorsements are rife, there can be no pretending these well-known people are backing a product just because they like it. While Ellis says there are concrete benefits to the ambassador program - for instance, it is no coincidence that both Sigrid Thornton and a Saab 9-3 convertible appear in the same episode of the top-rating Sea Change - it is also a contract that benefits both parties.

"We publicly acknowledge the fact that they are Saab ambassadors. We don't say that Kieren just bought a Saab and then, wow, he thought it was so great he'd come along tonight and give up his evening for a black-tie cocktail party. There's none of that."

There's a distinction here between those celebs who are happy to receive a free or cheap car and those who are actually paid to endorse a product and just happen to drive the same. For instance, you can bet that Greg Norman, who once considered buying his own Boeing 737, wouldn't be seen dead in a Holden Statesman unless there was a big cheque in the glovebox. It's a similar situation with former cricket captain Mark Taylor and the Ford he drives.

Then there is Bruce Willis, who once did an advertising campaign endorsing Subaru cars but on the proviso the ads were only shown in Japan, where his American audience was unlikely to see them. Maybe he thought he was a Ferrari kind of guy.

Some sponsorships border on the bizarre. Mazda likes to sponsor swimmers so it is no surprise to see Michael Klim gadding about in an MX-5 sports car. Ian Thorpe is also on Mazda's list but, at 16 years of age, he's obviously too young to drive. The solution is neat enough: Ian's mum drives him to training in a brand-new Mazda 626 and everybody is happy.

Saab drivers

* Stylish, contemporary, individual: it's the key to Saab style, and it's held by quite a few stylish etc individuals. Sigrid Thornton, Rebecca Gibney, Kieren Perkins, Susie O'Neill, Stephen Silvagni, Tony Shaw, Russell Morris, Stuart McGill, Bill Woods ... they all qualify.

The verdict

What they say about ... the new Holden Vectra

Price: from $25,000 plus on road costs

Sun-Herald: One of the stars in the usually dull but dependable medium car market. Base price is a tease. You can get a Commodore for the price of a Vectra with the lot.

The Age: Solid dynamics, fine handling and a quality feel of a much more expensive car.

Car (UK): No sparkle, but it's quiet, roomy and easy to live with.

BMW drivers

* Don't ask what a BMW can do for them; ask what they can do for a BMW. Felicity Kennett, Ken Done and Leo Schofield are all deemed to have the Beamer style.

Mazda drivers

* Never too young to get in the swim of things: Ian Thorpe has to ask his mum to drive his 626 (at least until his next birthday). Fellow pool champ Michael Klim is old enough to do the wheel thing himself in his MX-5.