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Key points
- The Birdcage enclosure at Flemington spans 18,000 square metres of luxury marquees.
- This year luxury jeweller Kennedy and streaming service Paramount + have departed.
- In their place are casino operator Crown and soft drink brand Schweppes.
Alongside the Reserve Bank’s Cup Day interest rates decision on Melbourne Cup Day the other economic barometer this week is how full the exclusive Birdcage enclosure at Flemington is.
Luxury jeweller Kennedy and streaming service Paramount + (Channel Ten) are out this year while Crown and Schweppes are in, both returning after several years absence.
The enclosure is where politicians rub shoulders with celebrities, athletes and business leaders, while waiters pour champagne and shuck oysters inside invitation-only marquees put on by Australia’s biggest corporates.
Lexus Australia general manager Yolande Waldock in the car company’s marquee last year. Credit: Tash Sorenson
To mark its return Crown has constructed a towering three-storey marquee in the front row, dubbed “Millionaires row”, of the Birdcage which is cheekily even taller than that of principal sponsor Lexus.
Crown Melbourne chief executive Mike Volkert would not comment on why Crown had left the Birdcage back in 2012 but said the casino operator was excited to return with an “elevated” trackside experience.
“Our return to The Birdcage coincides with our recent brand relaunch for the first time in nearly a decade,” he said. “The Birdcage is a cultural and lifestyle attraction in its own right, and we felt it was the ideal location for guests of Crown to experience all that the Cup carnival and Crown Melbourne are known for.”
A marquee in the Birdcage makes it clear that a corporate has plenty of cash to splash with no brand willing to reveal exactly how much the venture costs.
Penfolds chief marketing officer Kristy Keyte said brands “don’t look at it like that”.
“We haven’t gone through and worked out cost per head we’re very much focused on making sure that the right people are in the marquee,” she said.
A sampling of the food on offer in the Crown marquee.Credit: Eddie Jim
A spokeswoman for Schweppes said in a statement that the brand’s return to the exclusive enclosure marked its 45 year partnership with the Victoria Racing Club.
Like Schweppes most of the brands prepared to stump up the huge cost of a marquee in the Birdcage are partners of the VRC.
All the brands provide product in the form of drinks such as wine (Penfolds), champagne (Mumm), beer (Furphy), catering (Crown) and betting (Tabcorp) with Lexus the only exception.
The only other brand which was not a product partner was luxury jeweller Kennedy which pulled the pin on its marquee this year after seven years and will end its naming rights sponsorship of Oaks day.
Kennedy chief commercial officer Glen Schlehuber said in a statement that a marketing review had led to the jeweller’s decision to abandon its marquee.
“Like all businesses we regularly review our marketing mix and after seven years we are re-
focussing our marketing and sponsorship initiatives as we continue to expand our business”
he said.
Instead, Kennedy has signed a long-term sponsorship deal with the AFL and a partnership with the National Gallery of Victoria.
Once a partnership ends brands are quick to exit the Birdcage with Ten hastily pulling the plug on its Paramount + marquee even before its broadcast deal with the VRC expires at the end of this year.
The Schweppes marquee has returned to the Birdcage.Credit: Eddie Jim
Some brands are reluctant to be associated with an event of such excess in a cost of living crisis and corporates are wary of the falling attendance numbers at racing along with the apathy or opposition of younger generations to horseracing on a variety of grounds, including animal welfare concerns.
Others are concerned that the Birdcage has lost its edge as a place to make corporate connections with reality television stars and influencers more likely to be in the marquees than the business leaders who used to frequent the Birdcage like Gina Rinehart, Anthony Pratt and James Packer.
Long gone are the days of Emirates, Myer, Lavazza, Swisse, Hilton having marquees in the champagne soaked enclosure and it’s even longer since big corporates like NAB, BlueScope and Macquarie hosted marquees.
However some A list glamour did return this year with movie star Matt Damon’s surprise appearance at the Birdcage.
Liza Minnelli in the Myer marquee in the Birdcage with Jennifer Hawkins and Rebecca Judd in 2009. Credit: Rebecca Hallas
The VRC has plugged the gaps in the Birdcage footprint with its own marquees and launched Gwen and Lucky’s this year where attendees can eat from a menu devised by Curtis Stone for a price of up to $1700 per person.
VRC chief executive Steve Rosich said despite the reshuffle of marquees the Birdcage was still going thriving.
“There’s always an evolution from time to time,” he said. “Corporate interest in the Melbourne Cup carnival has never been stronger.”
Rosich said there were record numbers of corporate attendees last year and it looked like the Melbourne Cup carnival would beat that this year with around 35,000 of the attendees over the four days of the carnival buying a corporate package.
“Over the four days they’ll showcase a bigger bolder presence in the Birdcage and including that central area where VRC members and their guests alike can be engaging with that unique Birdcage area,” he said.
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