This is for personal, noncommercial use only.
Today's Front Page
Gas Buddy
Luring stars to Atlantic City parties: Resort's clubs target celebs as customers, tools for marketing
Print this Article- Font Size:
- Default font size
- Larger font size
The line - packed five deep - snaked back and forth between the velvet ropes, past gaming tables to one side of the casino floor. Crowds waited more than 45 minutes in line on a rainy Saturday night to pay their $20 cover charge. They negotiated with the stone-faced men in black for a VIP table.
The were hoping to catch a glimpse of a celebutante or hear a rising recording star perform live at Dusk, the shiny, new nightclub located inside Caesars Atlantic City.
A buzz ripped through the crowd and a tightly packed group of people slipped into the press pen. They parted in front of a Dusk backdrop, revealing Nicky Hilton, Paris' younger, quieter sister, dressed in a black cutout dress, perched atop Christian Louboutin heels.
Photographers, professional and amateur, snapped hundreds of shots in under a minute. The aspiring fashion designer posed with a half-smile and gave a couple 30-second interviews. Then, she was whisked inside before partygoers 15 feet away could break out their iPhones.
Atlantic City nightclubs have become a hotspot for such events. Over the summer of 2009, celebrities have flocked to The Pool at Harrah's, Borgata's MIXX and mur.mur as well as The Chelsea's C5.
To the outside world, it makes it look like Atlantic City is the place to party. But to those in the know, the presence of celebrities in the Resort's nightclubs is the result of careful planning and some marketing savvy.
Noel Stevenson, a Borgata spokesperson, says MIXX and mur.mur work hard to create an image as a top-shelf hotspot where celebrities and guests come to see and be seen.
"We looked at what was happening in New York City, Los Angeles, Miami and Las Vegas when we were crafting the Borgata nightlife experience," she said. "We drew inspiration from social hotspots around the country."
Signature bottle service, celebrity appearances and top DJs, the lighting, music and other details of the club's design are all products of that inspiration.
The eclectic list of celebrity hosts and performers that have appeared at mur.mur includes Paris Hilton, Julianne Hough, Adrienne Bailon, Jessica Szohr, Nick Cannon, Jamie Lynn Siegler and Avril Lavigne. Last weekend, Mario Lopez celebrated his 36th birthday at mur.mur while the club's new resident DJ, Samantha Ronson - best known for her former relationship with Lindsay Lohan - spun party tunes.
Performers such as David Cook, Mary J. Blige and Lady Gaga chose to hang out at MIXX, the more performance-oriented club, where The Roots and blink-182 threw post-concert after-parties. Gwen Stefani and Fergie are favored guests at the club. Then, there are the celebrity DJ appearances by Paul Oakenfold, DJ Vice, Sky Nellor and the late DJ AM.
During Nicky Hilton's birthday party at Dusk, Sean Kingston - whose name elicited high-pitched shrieks from the audience - performed "Fire Burning" and "Take You There" inspiring an impromptu sing-along about 500 voices strong.
Like any other twentysomething in the club that night, Hilton pressed close to the stage, working her hands at shoulder height in a white-girl shimmy. Her petite frame did not move otherwise.
Eric Millstein works for Red Stripe Plane Group, the outfit running Dusk, which has already hosted celebrities such as Nick Lachey, Kristin Cavallari, Mya, Benji Madden, The Eagles and Robin Thicke. DJ AM, who was part owner of the club, worked his magic on the turntables during opening weekend in July and was known to lend his hand to promoting Tuesday nights at the club.
The result of all that work? Dusk is now one of the hottest clubs in the city.
"Everything that happens here is highly organized," Millstein said. "We take pride in that. It's all planned according to a timeline … nothing happens just by accident."
Everything includes courting the celebrity to appear. Jane Mackie, vice president of marketing for The Chelsea, says the Atlantic City hotel employs two separate agencies that reach out to celebrities and arrange the events. As the hotel's new club C5 gained notoriety, the celebrities began to reach out to The Chelsea, Mackie says.
Since opening earlier this year, C5 has played host to Jimmy Buffet, Vanessa Minillo, LMFAO, Ryan Cabrera, Kim Stolz, John Mayer and Chloe Sevigny.
Casino clubs offer celebrities complimentary suites, high-end dinners and spa treatments. They give designer fashions. They pay well.
Spencer Pratt, of "The Hills" infamy, told David Letterman he "won't go to a club now, for less than $100,000." While he may have exaggerated just a little, Mackie puts celebrity appearance fees at a conservative $5,000 to $20,000. Other industry insiders say a well-known performer or reality TV star may earn as much as $70,000 in a single night.
For Millstein and his partners, the cost of having a celebrity appear at Dusk is just a part of the branding process. They're marketing a product. They're using celebrity spokesmodels.
Sometimes, a socialite such as Paris Hilton will pose for a billboard or do other publicity for the club such as Paris's recorded "shout out" for mur.mur.
"Hey sexy, wanna spend the night with me?" she purred. "Well you can. Meet me at mur.mur … it'll be the hottest night ever."
In a struggling economy, these high-end clubs are unconcerned with how they will survive the winter season financially. Such concerns are unnecessary, irrelevant here, says Millstein.
"Our patrons aren't affected by the (weak) economy," Millstein said. "Look around at our demographic; they're mostly 21-35, the majority are renters. They have jobs that give them a lot of disposable income and most of that goes to entertainment."
The women in line outside Dusk teetered precariously on their stiletto heels, long hair and bare legs gleaming, torso's draped in what passed for "dresses." The men had scrubbed up nicely, too. The standard uniform was a button down shirt from AIX, the cuff carefully arranged to show off a designer watch, dress shoes peaked out from under $200 jeans. Their hair was carefully sculpted with gallons of gel.
Borgata recently launched its Nightlife Rewards program to ensure its share of the above crowd's disposable income. Much like gambling rewards programs, regular visitors earn points for spending money. However, the rewards are different, including trips to fashion week in Miami or celebrity paraphernalia such as a recently won drum set, which was signed by ?uestlove.
Alongside trendy indoor nightclubs, C5 and The Pool sport rooftop decks complete with outdoor bars where guests can party in designer swimwear and lounge inside $1,000 cabanas, just as they would at a VIP table inside.
"Over the summer there were definitely some young men and women looking like supermodels, wearing the latest in swim attire," said Mackie. "And why not? Most of our demographic is 22 to 38 years old. Everything you read about the recession is saying that if you're under 40, you'll recover.
"They didn't seem too concerned as they sipped cocktails by the pool."
But can this shore gambling city really measure up to the likes of Los Angeles, New York City, Miami or Las Vegas? A growing number of celebrities are being paid to say so.
"I love Atlantic City," Nicky Hilton's publicist said for her. "I would say that the A.C. experience was a little more intimate than a Las Vegas experience."
Intimate may not be the most descriptive word to paint the scene at Dusk that night.
Shortly after 1 a.m. burly bouncers cleared a path through the club-goers and press photographers that crowded around Hilton's VIP table near the dance floor, revealing a three-tiered, pastel colored cake. Hilton's party - which included Lance Bass of N'Sync and "Dancing with the Stars" fame - strained to be heard singing "Happy Birthday" over the club's sound system.
As they sang, scores of young women reached high above their heads to grab a snapshot of Hilton blowing out her 26 candles. Hilton's sister, Paris, and boyfriend, David Katzenberg were conspicuously absent.
"These people want to know what's going on in fashion, celebrities, music and technology," Millstein said. "They look to nightlife to show them. We pick celebrities who are very fashion forward, who have the latest camera, watch, jeans, phone or song, the DJ's who play the freshest tracks."
"In that way, there's no difference between music and clothes. It's a product. It's about what's fresh, new, hip and hot."
E-mail Felicia Compian:
Posted in Life on Saturday, October 10, 2009 6:15 am Updated: 3:43 pm.
2 comments:
Click here to report a comment as abusive.