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1.1 Objectives
The purpose of this individual report is to look into the marketing components of Singapore Biennale 2008. It is also to analyse how effective the various marketing strategies were in promoting the event. Most importantly, understand the need of this event to Singapore and how much it can provide towards our local tourism economy.
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1.2 Methodology of Research
A trip to the Singapore Biennale was done and apart from that, secondary research was also done through the internet. Books were also used to cross-reference for events marketing materials.
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1.3 Profile of Singapore Biennale
Singapore Biennale is an event that takes place once every two years. The main purpose of organising this arts event is to help promote and place Singapore prominently as an international centre and regional head in the visual art field.
The event had its first run during September 2006 and had attracted a significant number of viewers. It was to allow Singapore artists to engage with international artists through the displaying of their visual art works.
Organised by the National Arts Council, Singapore Biennale 2008 aims to create an image of a vibrant city to the world where live, work, and play all takes place together. Featuring art works of 50 international and local artists, visitors are able to fill their senses with the multitude of the works.
The theme “WONDER” intends to bring viewers into the aspects of expression and creation of wonder, riddles, and fantasy in our daily lives.
writtern @12:52 AM
2. MARKETING MIXThe marketing mix of events consists of 8 Ps’, namely Product, Place, Partnerships, Promotion, Programming, People, Price, and Packaging & Distribution. In the following, we will look at how the organiser of the Singapore Biennale 2008 (SB08) has applied the 8 Ps’ into their marketing strategy.
writtern @12:51 AM
2.1 Product
Products are created and aimed at the needs of the event’s target market. It is build up by three main categories (Tangible ‘expected’ product, Core product, and the Augmented Product) which are often referred to as the “Bundle Purchase Concept”.
Tangible product is usually known as the formal product. It is what consumers think they are buying, e.g. a visitor to the Biennale may think that he is paying for the venue, for the beautiful art works displayed, essential services and access such as reading guides and customer services.
However, what the visitor is actually buying is the event planning and the various sub-events held by the organising committee. This is the core product.
Purchasing a product involves experiencing it as well. The augmented product of any event is the benefits and service quality received by the consumers. It is about the additional features of the event that a visitor can use to differentiate the event from its competitors.
Singapore Biennale 2008 is a Product by itself. It is an artistic product that was created to feast up audiences/visitors’ sense of sight. As we know that products can be tangible and intangible, in the case of Biennale, pieces of visual art may be seen as the tangible part of product. On the other hand, the service quality rendered by the event is the intangible part of it.
Many a times we see stand-alone exhibits where no sub-events were held. Conversely, we saw the effort put in by the SB08 organising committee. They held an exhibit called “82 Republic-The Birth of a New Generation” just a day before the start of Biennale ’08 to create awareness to public, letting them know that a major arts event is coming along.
In addition, there were many concurrent sub-events going on during the 10 weeks exhibit duration, such as the Kids Biennale as well. It is also the experience that calls upon people to view the exhibits.
For instance, I thought that the organiser had planned it well in terms of location wise. Historical buildings have been chosen as exhibits sites and this aid to the overall feel of the visual art works (to be touched on under Place).
The overall product mix strategy was brilliantly done.
writtern @12:48 AM
2.2 Place
This marketing mix may be referring to both the site where the event takes place (venue) and the place at which customers can purchase tickets to the event. Design settings of the venues are what organisers need to take into consideration for an event as well.
Singapore Biennale chose to hold at eight different venues of which, three requires admission tickets. The arts event spreads around the area of City Hall, linking towards the Marina Bay.
I personally felt that it was a great idea to have an arts event held in town, especially in the area where tourism developments are on the run. Having Singapore Flyer as one of its venue was an excellent way to promote both the attraction as well as the Singapore Biennale.
The organising committee made use of the places which most people are familiar with and chose venues that were convenient for both tourists and locals.
Take for example the City Hall. Many Singaporeans know the place since young as ‘The Padang’. It was a place famous for celebrations, a place where locals knew it for major events. This helped to create awareness among the locals and it acts as a form of publicity as well.
Choosing the old high court building as the venue added on to the value of the event. It gave a form of contemporary-yet-made-heritage feel to the visitors; in the mean time viewers are able to see the interior of the court building.
The layout of the entire building was suitable for the exhibition as there were many different rooms/areas for the different artist’s works. In addition, there was a flow of the exhibition, which allowed visitors to walk through without getting lost.
However, I feel that what the organiser may strengthen on is the access to the venues. During rainy days, it was actually difficult to get to the venues as there were no sheltered pathways. It acts as a hindrance in visiting the exhibits and may result in a loss of viewers.
Another point of weakness was that the tickets sale is only available at the venue itself. I thought that it would be better if they have a ticket booth stationed at City Hall MRT Station as it would draw attention to more people/passer-by.
Furthermore, with a booth situated in the MRT Station, they can possibly have a rental of umbrellas during rainy days.
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2.3 Partnerships
Whenever we come across ‘Partnerships’, we will relate it to the sponsors of event. Well, actually sponsors are only part of the partnership. The other part of it is formed by the stakeholders of the event (stakeholders of event would be covered under ‘People’ in later section).
Most commonly found as one of the main sponsors will be governmental agencies. This is applicable to Singapore Biennale 2008 as well. Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is identified as one of the 7 main sponsors of the arts event. This could probably due to the fact that the event requires the use of public spaces (for instance, the South Beach Development).
In addition, event managers have a crucial role to play in identifying what exactly the sponsors want from the event and what the event can deliver for them.
Take for example the inclusion of City Developments Limited (CDL), EladGroup, and Dubai World as 3 of the main sponsors. My first thought was: why isn’t the main sponsors’ scope of business related to the arts?
After giving a call to the organisers, my doubt was clarified. I was told that the South Beach Development area was about to transform into an Eco-Quarter, where hotels, offices, shops, and luxury residences will be housed. It is a project that will be jointly developed by the 3 sponsors, and that possibly explains it so.
CDL, EladGroup, and Dubai World would probably want to let the public know about their project and therefore, they chose this pathway to create awareness.
Comparing their objective of sponsoring the event to the main objective of Singapore Biennale, which is to promote and place Singapore prominently as an international centre and regional head in the visual art field, we can find the similarity which both parties are looking into. That is awareness to the world!
I would say that the event manager has probably done it well. However, things can be made better if there was some incorporation of lifestyle magazines as one of their partners. Through advertising in the magazines (which may be a heavy cost for the event), SB08 could have outreached to a larger group of people.
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2.4 Promotion
Promotion mix is also known as communication mix. It is actually all the communications between the firm and the target market that increase the tangibility of the product or service.
It monitors consumer expectations, builds relationships, or persuades consumers to buy the product. This includes advertisement and brochures, news reviews and reports, overseas media coverage, etc.
In the case of Singapore Biennale 2008, this could possibly be the least effective mix of all. Very few commercial advertisements were seen on the television, which is one of the main paths in getting people’s attention. Maybe SB08 may attract more families if they advertise during the golden hours.
Brochures were only presented to visitors at the point when they purchase the tickets (at the venues itself). What the organiser should have done was to place the SB08 brochures at the Postcard stands, or information counters located in shopping malls.
However, looking at the better side of the Promotion mix, there were quite a number of news reports on it. There was once a news report on the “maggots” art work shown in the news. This could have probably brought up attention to the event.
I thought that SB08 could have achieved higher number of visitors if there were overseas media which are keen to write reports on it. Perhaps this can be done in future, when Singapore Biennale has expanded into a Major Event.
Possibly, most of the promotion was done through Word-Of-Mouth. People who had visited the inaugural Biennale in 2006 may have passed a positive WOM to their friends and relatives.
writtern @12:39 AM
2.5 Programming
Programming is a marketing mix that includes both the arts and science aspects. Event coordinator has to consider the artistic, entertainment, and educational criteria that the Biennale should achieve. It is the way of creating targeted benefits.
In the case of SB08, the core benefit to Singapore tourism economy was the awareness among the citizens and tourists created through the event. It also benefits the young and old in getting to know more of the arts.
The event hopes to get more Singapore youths to participate in it. Therefore, in order to attract more upper secondary and tertiary students, the organiser came up with the “Biennale Race” to get them involved in the event. In my opinion, it was a good idea to conduct a race so as to create awareness among students.
There was actually a program called “Encounters” which was targeted at the Singapore community. It was made in a way of “get-together” sessions which served as a feedback mechanism for the Biennale.
Programming also refers to the duration of event. Organiser has to take into consideration the timeline of SB08. Questions that they probably thought of would be:
If SB08 was to be held only for 4 weeks instead of 10, would awareness be created?
Will there be visitors to the event if SB08 takes place for 10 weeks?
What would be the possible cost of holding the event for a longer period of time?
What could be the possible activities at the different duration of the event?
Looking at the sub-events under SB08, I would say that the organiser had intelligently programmed the event. It was in way that throughout the full 10 weeks of exhibition, there were activities to continuously arouse people’s interest into the event, such as the school tours and the “Biennale Race”.
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2.6 People
In any festivals and events, this marketing mix is often referred to as the ‘cast’ of the event and is closely related to Partnerships. It may be the audiences or the hosts & guests. In shorter terms, they are stakeholders. It includes the event staff and volunteers, event attendees, residential community and also the public services’ providers.
It is the interaction between all stakeholders that contributes to a large part of the event experience. In the case of Singapore Biennale 2008, they have recruited volunteers to work as guides for the event’s tour. There were also staffs situated at some areas of exhibit which enabled viewers to ask any questions they had in mind.
It can be said that the event staff and volunteers created an extraordinary experience for us viewers as we do not usually get to have guided tours for an arts exhibit.
‘People’ also refers to the hosting nation citizens, in this case, Singaporeans. Tourists may have come just for the event and they might have graded the successfulness of SB08 through the interactions between us locals.
The event had actually succeeded in getting the residential community to be involved with the set up of Encounters, a get-together sessions for interaction between the interested public, arts communities and Singapore Biennale curatorial team.
Furthermore, the organiser would probably have successfully marketed the event to tourists through the help of Singapore Tourism Board.
However, what was ineffectively done was the use of sponsors. They could have used more of their sponsors name such as Club 21 and Ikea in promoting the event.
Although Land Transport Authority was one of the government supporters, they did not make use of the opportunity to publicise more. It restricted the interactions between different suppliers.
writtern @12:32 AM
2.7 Price
Pricing is the combination of prices that consumers are offered to purchase the product. This strategy may be revenue oriented, operations oriented, or market based. In this case, we will look into the different admission charges offered by the SB08 to the different groups of people and see which orientation the organiser was using.
Tickets to SB08 were selling at $10 each. However it offers a reduction of 50% for full-time students, senior citizens, and children aged 3 and above. Through the pricing of the tickets, we can see that the organiser was actually not revenue oriented, but however, is market based.
It uses the differential pricing strategy, with different pricing for the various market segments. As Singapore Flyer is one of the exhibit venues, the organising committee had also packaged it within the ticket sales.
For example, if one would like to visit all the 3 payable venues, he can purchase at a price of $31. For those who do not wish to have a ride on Singapore Flyer could choose to purchase the $10 ticket. This enabled viewers to have a choice over the tickets. With the presence of a choice, people would then be interested about the event.
With the tickets selling at a low price, many did not mind of getting to the exhibits and this somehow made the event more of a “killing-time” event rather than a professional arts event.
writtern @12:29 AM
2.8 Packaging and Distribution
Packaging of an event includes the opportunity to package different types of entertainment, food and beverage, and merchandise as a single market offer, and the opportunity to package the event with accommodation, transport and other attractions.
In my opinion I thought that this marketing mix was not appropriately used by the organiser of SB08. The only packaging strategy present was the packaging of Singapore Flyer ride with the exhibit admission ticket. In this case, it is the packaging the event with an attraction.
Probably they could have packaged SB08 with the Singapore Grand Prix, whereby people who bought the Singapore GP ticket could enter the Singapore Biennale at a discounted price. This would probably encourage more tourists to participate in the Biennale.
In addition, since the event was held in the Marina Bay area, the better way of packaging the event was to give complimentary tickets to those hotels’ guests living within that area, e.g. Ritz Carlton Millenia, Marina Mandarin, Pan Pacific, etc.
writtern @12:26 AM
3. TOURISM ROLES AND ECONOMIC VALUES OF SB08
I have once thought of how Singapore tourism economy would be like without any events. Most probably we would be like North Korea, a country which is still trying hard to progress. For many, they may see events like Singapore Biennale as a local outreach program in the field of arts.
Truthfully, till today, the society we live in still have a mindset that arts is a total waste of time and money. Only a minority of Singaporeans would relate SB08 as a kind of tourism activity that is used by the nation to bring in more tourism receipts.
With a kind of market-based event instead of revenue oriented, SB08 was not mindful of how much profit the event can earn for the organiser. Instead, it is an act by the government to bring Singapore out of her red-dot, showcasing to the world how fun our city is!
The primary role of SB08 was to promote and place Singapore prominently in the visual arts field. What would be the secondary objective then?
With S$13.8 Billion earned through tourism receipts in 2007, it is impossible for Singapore to reach its target of S$30 Billion by 2015 if there were no events planned to attract tourists.
As stated in the book written by Johnny Allen, one of the most important impacts to the local economy is the revenue generated by the event. Apart from spending at the event, visitors are likely to spend money on travel, accommodation, goods and services in Singapore.
Furthermore, if promotions are effectively done, tourists may extend their stay in Singapore, thus spending even more amount in our city. In a long-run, what we gain is the tourism image as well as visitation.
As Singapore Biennale 2008 took place during the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix season, it was expected that SB08 would boost even higher tourism receipts. It was the image of Singapore that the government was targeting at when planning such events. SB08 was a way to showcase our expertise in the area of arts.
Viewers could choose to buy off the art pieces from Biennale and this revenue contributes to the tourism receipts as well! This is an example of business opportunities provided by SB08.
With this event planned, some Singaporeans may take into consideration the setting up of small businesses, like selling souvenirs to the tourists or probably transportation companies may offer transport services to and fro attractions and exhibit venues. These again, are new business opportunities.
I am sure that with more events of similar scale as Singapore Biennale, Singapore economy would gain and probably able to reach our goal of S$30 Billion by 2015!
writtern @12:22 AM
4. CONCLUSION
Having analysed through all the eight marketing mix, one overall comment which I would give on Singapore Biennale 2008 is: Brilliant choice of a mix in marketing the event, yet there is no feel of wilderness.
That’s right! Firstly, the product was excellently presented to the consumers because of the experience it gave to the visitors through guided tours. However, weaknesses start rolling in to the ‘place’ marketing mix. As mentioned earlier, there were no sheltered pathways available during rainy days and the ticket sales venues were rather insufficient.
Probably the organisers could have sold their tickets through ticket booth at City Hall MRT Station or through SISTIC, where many may get it through most heartland malls.
Thirdly, SB08 could have done even better if there were partnerships with some lifestyle/weekly magazines (e.g. i-weekly, 8-days), where readers get to read on the Biennale, thus having the probability of them to visit the exhibition.
Nonetheless, they had done a good job in selecting City Developments Limited, EladGroup, and Dubai World as their main sponsors as these three companies are recognisable in the tourism sector and that both parties have a shared goal; that is to create awareness.
In addition to the above, I personally feel that promotion strategy was not sufficiently and effectively used as there were little commercial advertisements through the media. Frankly speaking, I learnt about this event through the news at ten on channel 8.
I thought that it was a waste that the organiser did not use the Kids Biennale as its promotional strategy for commercial advertisements. They could have simply showcased the Windmill Garden which was colourful enough to attract kids’ attention. After all, it is always easier to target at the kids than the adults!
Under the part of programming, the organiser had actually planned it well for the duration of the event as well as the various sub-events. It helped to arouse awareness of SB08 within people and also continuously encouraging the public to visit the exhibit.
To add on, although all stakeholders were involved in the event, they were however not effectively used. An example would be: Since Ikea was one of the preferred sponsors, what the organiser could actually do was to partner with Ikea and promote the event through their advertisements.
What I like most was the pricing strategy implemented. Tickets were sold at a low price, in which students can get a chance to have a ride on the Singapore Flyer as well as visiting the various exhibits only at a price of S$25.65! A normal ticket to the Singapore Flyer for a tertiary student like me cost S$29.50.
Lastly, I thought that the packaging strategy could be strengthened further if they were to package it with the hotels located within the Marina and City Hall area.
Singapore Biennale 2008 was a way of promoting Singapore internationally and regionally. It has definitely helped Singapore in earning more tourism receipts, and in years to come, tourists may return to our lion city for the next Biennale!
writtern @12:16 AM
