In some circles, the popular stereotype of rural residents is of straw-chewing half wits, at least half a century behind the times. Whereas in reality, in rural and remote Australia there is actually a faster uptake and far greater use of the latest technology – at least, the practical, directly useful and durable bits (not fashionable ephemera). Computers have become essential for every aspect of life on remote cattle stations, from business to personal aspects. For example – children’s education (School of Distance Education/School of the Air), medical information, ordering stores, spare parts and anything else required on the station, from clothing to saddlery and computer software; keeping an eye on investments, stockmarket prices and weather predictions; and communicating with buyers and sellers. Plus notification of regional field days, latest local social event news and keeping in touch with distant relatives (via email, Facebook, blogs, etc).
Now MacDonald Downs Station, owned by Charlie and Sonja Chalmers, is being marketed online as ‘The Ultimate Toy’ via a specific website and Facebook page. Charlie and Sonja have had a marketing company – Relativity Communications (of Newtown, Sydney) – put together the marketing campaign, which includes a website with a ‘Business’ angle and a ‘Lifestyle’ angle – aimed at ‘(multi) millionaires who already have everything else’ (or are bored with it). Sonja Chalmers apparently worked for Clemenger Group Limited (CGL), Australia and New Zealand’s largest marketing agency, so presumably has significant urban marketing experience herself.
For at least a couple of years Cape York Peninsula’s remote Strathmay cattle station was marketed by owners John and Kelli Kozicka via a website, however without the extra ‘social media’ angles attached. (Strathmay was eventually sold to Anna Bligh’s Queensland Government for $4.62 million, in September 2009. A great way to spend taxpayers money – a bare cattle station for $4.64 million, to turn into yet another National Park, that owners purchased stocked just 6 years earlier for around $2 million. Maybe the website helped them more than double their money, maybe it made no difference at all.)
The MacDonald Downs marketing campaign includes an online ad, Twitter profile, and Facebook group.
MacDonald Downs is a 2,000 square kilometre cattle station 285km northwest of Alice Springs, in the Harts Range area. It has been owned by 3 generations of the Chalmers family. 5,000 Santa Gertrudis/Droughtmaster cattle are included in the sale, along with a 6-deck roadtrain, a chopper (presumably an R22) and motorbikes. In addition to the beef production, additional income is gained from a station store and Eastern Desert Art, an aboriginal art business.
MacDonald Downs is to be auctioned at Ray White’s Brisbane office at 123 Eagle Street, on 18th June. The agent is Mark Fennel of Ray White Rural Mt Isa.
It is actually surprising that multi-million dollar cattle stations haven’t been marketed a bit more creatively in the past. Perhaps it is because the majority of rural properties end up being sold to people already in the business anyway, who would find out about rural property sales via conventional means (expensive rural newspaper advertising and free word-of-mouth). However it is buyers from outside the rural industry who are most likely to pay a premium – thus easily repaying creative marketing money invested – and you never know if you don’t aim advertising at both markets. The typical agribusiness marketing of Ray White Rural is an interesting contrast to the slick urban marketing of Relativity Communications, and it will be interesting to see who the eventual buyer of MacDonald Downs is.
And if you can’t afford a dozen or so million dollars to buy ‘The Ultimate Toy’, buy the next best thing – books containing hundreds of photographs taken on more than three dozen of Australia’s largest and most famous cattle stations – ‘A Million Acre Masterpiece’ and ‘Life as an Australian Horseman‘. Armchair travel without the heat, dust, flies and expense.
Tags: Rural properties for sale and ownership, MacDonald Downs Station