Part A: Background on the outcome of the event
Background of the Event
Singapore Arts Festival was first held in year 1977. The purpose of the festival is to showcase local arts of Singapore’s diverse communities nationally. The Singapore Arts Festival 2012 completes the Trilogy that National Arts Council Singapore developed since year 2010 to year 2012. Singapore Arts Festival 2012 is Our Lost Poems. This edition looks at myth, legends, wandering thoughts, reflection, lost riddles and hidden stories which aim to reaffirm the audience of their sense of place in time as they uncover a different side of themselves with crossing into stuff of oral tradition. The arts festival comprises of a festival hub which is made up of Kids arts village and festival village located at Esplanade Park and ticketed shows at esplanade theaters studios and concert halls depending on the type of show.
Outcome of the event
In comparison to year 2011 edition which is I want to remember, there was a significant increase in terms of visitor numbers to the festival village and also increase in ticketed sales. For this year the festival hub attracted more than 220,000 visitors and the ticketed shows achieved more than 70% sales out of 14 shows. For year 2011, the festival hub attracted 20,000 with ticketed sales were 50% of 35 shows. Sources claimed that ticketed shows 2012 were better than the previous year. The festival hub attracted significantly much more people compared to the previous year. The interesting fact was the venue of the Singapore Arts Festival for both ticketed shows and festival hub for previous year and this year remained unchanged. Further elaboration will be done in Part B
Part B: Components of marketing mix and effectiveness evaluation
Below will be an evaluation of effectiveness of the various components of the event marketing been adopted in the Singapore Arts Festival that I have visited and a detailed comparison between previous year and this year.
Part B: Comparison of marketing mix and effectiveness evaluation
Product
Singapore Arts Festival offers its event as a service which means production, delivery and consumption of the product is inseparable. Therefore the core product that Singapore Art Festival offers is an intangible experience of international ideas and arts showcase being topped up with Asian flavors. The management has to manage variation in quality and ensure immediate recovery if poor service occurs because quality and it is essential because quality being delivered is important due to the intangible nature of the product.
For Singapore Arts Festival year 2011 ticketed and non-ticketed productions, total attendance dropped from 80,0000 to 49,000, in comparison with year 2010 with a huge decrease of 71% of ticketed sales(CNA) which is the lowest among the trilogy. The ticketed sales did well and the festival village was better than last year. (Today, 2012 Jun Festival general manager Low KH) This year 2012, ticketed sales were ideal with average sales of 70%.
The figures above show that National Arts Council did a good job in managing their variation in quality and ensured an immediate recovery when poor service occurs. From the figures, there was a plunge in total attendance comparing year 2010 and 2011 for production and festival village despite having the same number of shows. In comparison with year 2011 with festival village attracting 20,000 people, the festival hub attracted over 220,000 people this year.
National Arts Council returned in year 2012 with 14 shows this time but with good sales results of 70% average sales and also for the festival village, there were events and activities with higher quality and outshines year 2011 being programmed and organized to increase visitor numbers by so much and enhances experience, also having an impact in their lives.
I believe that National Arts Council shifted their focus from providing variety and quantity to fewer but quality after realizing the importance of quality with a painful experience with undesirable production sales.
Defining quality, the product must be able to connect with the audiences and audiences must be able to relate and appreciate what does the product offers and what are they really buying. I believe that the sales in 2012 rose because the quality of the product has improved in comparison to year 2011. In case of year 2012, I feel that the audiences that attended were able to relate themselves to the experience that Singapore Arts Festival offers them which enables them to better appreciate the intangible product that they were truly purchasing which will enhance the total experience of the visitors. In contrast, perhaps the visitors in year 2011 were unable to relate to the product that they purchased which affected their overall experience.\
Place
The venue for the events to be held is Esplanade Park and esplanade theaters/ studios for both year 2011 and 2012. Esplanade theater/studio is a good place to hold ticketed arts productions because they are built for arts showcase purpose and they are being equipped with the necessary facilities and ambience to host productions of Singapore Arts Festival.
I feel that the venue where free events are held suits the theme of the two years which is I want to remember and the lost poems because venue complements the themes. The esplanade park used to be a popular dating place for Baby boomers or even Generation X who are Singaporeans which will bring back many memories for them of the past that they may have forgotten which suits the theme of year 2011 which is I want to remember which focuses more on memories that have been forgotten but would be wanted to remember by Singaporeans.
In contrast, for year 2012 Our lost poems focuses more on the myth, legends, wandering thoughts, reflections, lost riddles and hidden stories which aims to deliver an experience of inspiring stories and legends that have deep cultural roots which brings visitors to a crossroad waiting to affirm their place in time and enables them to uncover new facts about themselves. The area that surrounds the festival hub which is located at Esplanade Park has our cultural value and helps to add value with enhancement effect on overall experience of visitors.
I find that one important difference between last year and this year was, the highlight of last year which was the People’s exhibition was not held at the festival village itself and it attracted about 300,000 people but the festival hub alone only attracted 20,000 which were rather ironic. This year, the main venue of free events is at the festival hub itself and not scattered around Singapore.
Partnership
The event was mainly sponsored by Singapore tourism board. The premier sponsors reduced this year compared to last year. This year, their sole premier sponsor is Singapore Turf club and previous year there were 3 premier sponsors but less rich than Singapore Turf club in comparison. Compared to last year, there were more sponsors in overall. But I realized that for venue partners there was a noticeable decrease this year compared to last year which I find that it is rather beneficial for them as they are able to be more focused on using one space and maximizing capacity usage and achieve better results rather than working with many venue partners diverting their attention but reducing attraction rate which is inefficient and ineffective. I feel that it is rather commendable that this year, they are working with their partners such as cold stone, Tully’s coffee, Salta and Quiznos for a project called bridge café project which involves the idea of going to the bridge café to eat and to enjoy performance put up at intervals. This project not only benefits their sponsors but also gets their participation in the event which makes it a win win situation for both parties and also provide joy and entertainment for their visitors and enhances their experience and makes it unique and unforgettable.
Promotions
The promotion efforts of Singapore arts festival this year I find that is sufficient but ineffective. There were many methods of advertisement used such as banners around roadside, advertisement printed on taxi, television screens at MRT stations, brochures and posters being placed at Theaters by the Bay which many people will come across. They have their own face book page yearly too. However I realized that though these advertisement methods only enables viewers to process it into their sensory memory which is temporary and does not undergo deep processing and go into their permanent memory which is retained in the brain for a longer period of time which is quite wasted because it is equivalent to only seeing it and not remembering anything about the art festival seeing the advertisements which is quite pointless because promotional effort is supposed to raise awareness of the public and attract people to the festival and if public does not see the advertisements frequent enough, Singapore arts festival will only have the share of being forgotten, ended without being attended and connect people
Packaging and Distribution
For both year 2011 and 2012, the place to purchase tickets from is SISTIC which is the largest ticketing service provider in Singapore for sales of tickets to a wide range of arts, sports and entertainment. The unique point SISTIC is that it spans beyond Singapore to regional countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia. It is a wise move for Singapore Arts Festival to sell their tickets through SISTIC because it is a well-established and trusted brand for the locals but also enables them to be known to regional countries and encourage participation and ticket sales from there. Selling tickets through SISTIC also helps to raise awareness of locals and regionals about the presence of the Singapore Arts Festival.
Singapore arts festival also tapped on the resources that their partners can offer. For example Theaters on the Bay, Singapore Arts Festival used their walls to paste posters and brochure counters to place their promotional tools to promote awareness of their product. It is also a strategic location to pick for promotion because Theatres by the bay is where people who appreciates arts will go for their performances and this will make Theatres by the bay an ideal partner to secure for Singapore Arts Festival as a distribution channel to reach out to their target market who will appreciate and interested to purchase their products.
I realized that at the festival village side and theaters by the bay side, there were more foreigners spotted than locals regardless at the festival or purely visitors of curiosity which I find it rather weird. Looking at the theme, my initial thoughts were there was going to be more Singaporeans than foreigners but looks like it is the complete opposite. But more foreigners than locals may mean a blessing because they are more willing to spend than locals in comparison. Plus this period is great Singapore sales where regional and international tourists would flood into Singapore for the sake of coming to shop for better deals and they might bring more cash with them during this period.
Singapore Arts Festival has its own website for the event and comments from public that I asked and websites claims that the website in year 2011 was difficult to navigate with thematic categories confusing their online users and made the information search process more difficult. I feel that from the comments, the website this year is more interactive and user friendly in comparison with last year. But sourcing online, I think they have scraped the website for the Singapore Arts Festival last year but still maintaining the current year website. I feel that they should keep the website because it helps to tangibles the product and make people remember about Singapore Arts Festival
Programming
During research, I came across comments from the public that the quality of the shows was still not up to international standards for year 2011. That may be part of the reason to account for the low ticket revenue for the year. Some comments that I heard from visitors who went for ticketed shows was the shows were boring and they were unable to relate and understand the rationale behind performances despite the ticketed sales being better this year but perhaps it is time for Singapore Arts to review on the types of ticketed shows that they offer and how to better present to their audience to encourage repeated consumption.
As a participant I feel that the free events will be easier for Singaporeans to appreciate and bring back memories for some. But for teenagers like me, even if we do not appreciate arts, but performance will still keep us coming back for more. Quite a number were new concepts to me that I have yet to see before. For example Flux. This performance is where performers will ride on the horse and engage the audiences by encouraging them to follow behind the horses to watch the performance after parading for some distance. I found it quite unique, unusual and special. It was an eye opening experience because rarely in Singapore you will ever see a horse on the streets with someone riding it.
From a blog, the highlight for year 2011 was Non-Stop touring People’s exhibition which attracted about 300,000 people which is much more than this year which is 220,000 people in total In comparison to last year.
I find that for festival village wise, last year was better programmed than this year because people were able to relate to the programs and brought back memories of people which was probably why 2011 had more visitors for highlight. But this year, there was a village specially designed for kids and educational purposes which I find it a rather good platform for parents to bond with their children but at the same time enjoying themselves and quality time is spent.
The whole Singapore Arts Festival was targeting more than a niche market this year compared to last year looking at the program list of last year and this year. More groups of people like children can participate this year at the Kids Village and there were significantly more volunteers as well this year which I find that is a rather good way for people to remember Singapore Arts Festival as they participate to make the whole event a successful one.
People
The artists that took part in Singapore arts festival 2012 span over 13 countries all over the world including Singapore. They play an important role in the overall experience of the product because product is intangible. Personally I find the quality of the artists was excellent and they were very professional in terms of carrying out their performances. Looking at the themes of the different year, I feel that 2012 Singapore Arts Festival has more artists from different country than year 2011.
When I went down to the festival village as a visitor, the festival guides were also very well trained and were able to give specific and clear directions. Festival guides were easily found around the festival hub, they were very warm and helpful. Most importantly they were very patient and will ensure that the enquirer gets a satisfying answer. Experience starts during moment of truth and I feel that Singapore Arts Festival controlled variability quite well by providing trainings for their festival guides and equip them with the necessary directions to answer possible questions that their visitors may have. Festival guides also approached me and handed me program schedule for the week and when I looked lost which I find warming. They were proactive and were eager and willing to help which left a good impression in my heart which was rather memorable.
From the website, targeted audiences this year are people who have not encountered arts, art lovers, art makers and art volunteers which I find that is quite a wide range of people but yet people who can blend nicely together. Compared to last year, the targeted audience was much wider this year.
From the sources I find that the market that they are targeting this year is quite meaningful. It is because art makers refers to teachers and artists who aims to inspire their students through arts which actually makes the event meaningful and has an educational purpose which is beneficial to both students and teacher because teacher is using Singapore Arts Festival as an educational platform to inspire their students and make a difference in their life. Another group that I find interesting is art volunteers. This is because very seldom to see events that target their volunteers and have events tailored for them. This means that Singapore Arts Festival cares about their volunteers and takes care of them in a way not forgetting this group of people during the programming process, having events tailor made for them which is worth commenting.
I find that 2012 targeted market will differentiate them from the previous year with the element of giving back to their volunteers and having educational purpose in mind while planning the events which I find that they should continue to do so to impact lives of Singaporean.
Price
Singapore arts festival 2012 benefits their sponsors by giving them discounted prices at 10%, upon members showing the card. However due to the perishability nature of the product, Singapore arts festival this year encouraged early birds the more the merrier bookings by offering up to 30% discount if two or more performances were booked by a person and encouraged family and social group purchase by giving a 20% discount with minimum 4 tickets booked together. But of course not leaving out the single show performance, early birds were also given 10% discount. However seems that group booking this year helps to save a lot of money for the consumers.
Among the people that I spoke to about the arts festival, many actually find the shows were overpriced and were unwilling to pay for the show again as they found the show was not worth the amount that they pay for the experience. I find that the price of their product might be one factor that Singapore arts festival might want to look into because making their consumers feel that the money that they are paying is worth the value is very important for repeated purchase.
However I find that comparing this year with last year, ticked sales did better which shows that Singapore arts festival did improve their pricing strategies by pricing their product targeting at different group of people and the people they target is wider range rather than niched market.
Part C: Suggestion to earn the unavailable market
I find that Singapore arts festival can request to increase the frequency of screening their advertisement at a more regular interval and give meaning to the advertisement for the audience to undergo deep processing and from there able to retain information of the Singapore arts festival longer. Another way is buff up their social media to earn the revenue of teenagers and young adults who are on social media. I find that the social media part can be strengthened by means of working with face book or working with existing volunteers to post their experience on face book or twitter to encourage their friends to come down to participate in the events and number of recommendations entitle them to other forms of incentives. I feel that Singapore arts festival can consider having activities and production to engage the senior citizens because they are the ones who have the most time to spare for leisure actives. Perhaps festival guide booklets can be placed in coffee places or high tea places to increase their awareness on the program and highlight activities for them. I feel that activities that can relate to them probably about old time Singapore how it used to be and engage them to share their experience.
References:
Festivals and special events management 5th edition
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_807636.htmlhttp://blogs.todayonline.com/forartssake/2011/06/08/s%E2%80%99pore-arts-fest-2011-2012s-lost-poems-50-ticket-sales/http://www.ifacca.org/national_agency_news/2010/06/16/singapore-arts-festival-2010-connections-between-y/http://singartsfestival.wordpress.com/http://www.singaporeartsfest.com/about-singapore-arts-festival/ http://superadrianme.com/2011/05/13/singapore-arts-festival-2011-kicks-off-13-may-till-5-june-2011/http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1134031/1/.htmlhttp://marketing-interactive.com/news/26794http://23princessroad.wordpress.com/2011/06/09/269/ http://www.todayonline.com/ArtsandDesign/Arts/EDC120606-0000009/Spore-Arts-Fest-on-hiatushttp://www.sistic.com.sg/portal/dt?dt.isPortletRequest=true&dt.action=process&dt.provider=PortletWindowProcessChannel&dt.windowProvider.targetPortletChannel=JSPTabContainer/pStaticPage&dt.containerName=JSPTabContainer/sFreeLetters&dt.windowProvider.currentChannelMode=VIEW&dt.window.portletAction=RENDER&pageID=aboutSistic
