Festival and event management
Fieldtrip report ( Singapore Biennale 2008; theme:wonder)

Introduction

Objectives

The objective of this report is actually to try to identify how the various components of the event marketing mix is applied when organizing for the event which I have chosen and visited in which this case is the Singapore Biennale 2008. Other than that we are also required to evaluate how these strategies played a major role in making the whole event such a major hit. The amount of impact and how the Singapore Biennale 2008 has on the tourism economy is also one of the assignment intentions.

The methodology of research is through the knowledge from those theories that we have learnt in class, information we have gathered before visiting the event and relating them when doing our onsite observation and research materials during the event. This will help us to understand how important the various components of event marketing mix are when organizing such any types of events.

Background of event

This Biennale, which is organized by the National Arts Council Singapore, will be showcasing artworks from 66 artists and art collectives from more than 35 countries and regions which are the best not just in Asia and international art practices.

This year Biennale is the second time it is hosted in Singapore, as the previous one, which is dated back to 2006, was a huge success when it amassed a crowd of 883,000 people. The reason this year Biennale is themed “wonder” which is a sequel to the previous Biennale theme “Belief” is because the organizers wanted those who came to the event to have a conviction of their presence in this world. To be able to allow those guests to relate the beauty of the artworks that are exhibited in accordance to this world is one of the organizers motive for this year Biennale.

The Biennale 2008 will be mostly revolved around 3 major areas which are South Beach Development, City Hall and Marina Bay with the first place representing the past of Singapore, the following being the present and the latter being the future. Most of the artworks and collectives in the form of paintings, sculptures, multi-media artworks and performance by various artists will be displayed at these 3 areas.

Evaluation of the Effective Use of Marketing Mix

Product

The first marketing mix that I will be tapping on is product. The product refers to what the potential customers require, want and will pay for. It is one of the most important factors of the marketing mix to take into consideration, as it is what that will attract the public to visit and spend at the event. The term “product” can be divided into three different segments, which are:

1) Core product- the main element of the event that attract the public to visit and spend there
2) Tangible product- the visible element of the product
3) Augmented product- other factors of the event that help to enhanced the core product and helped to improve the guest experience at the event

In this example, the core product of the Biennale is the beauty of the artworks that are exhibited here regardless of it being a painting or a multi-media work. This is the main reason the public are willing to spend $5-$10 on the admission fee. Here are some of the artworks that were exhibited:

Xteriors (By: Desiree Dolron)
Meaning behind artwork- wants people feel that art is an embodiment of higher spirituality from the serenity and narrative which is a reminiscent of the religious paintings of the European Renaissance

Yellow Mountain (By: Tse, Su-Mei)
Meaning behind video- disrupts one perception of it being a video of sunrise when the fake sun rises out which makes people think again about their stereotypical view of oriental paintings and the way one look at the world in general

The tangible product of the event would be the whole layout of the place. The place is designed in a way such that the artworks are all distributed throughout the place. One example would be the maggots that were placed in such a way that it formed a trail from the entrance to the main hall. The way they distributed the artworks is totally unique and different from the way other exhibitions layout their exhibits thus allowing the guest to have a refreshing perception of the place.

Lastly, the augmented product will be the experience of being able to blend in with the artworks instead of just admiring the beauty of them only. In the Biennale, there are many rooms designed in a way such that it depicts a scenario when we are in it. One example would be this room which is depicting a scenario of a room which is burning and that everything inside of it is being burnt into dust.

Place
The decision to set up the Biennale at places such as City Hall and Marina Bay is a very smart move of the organizers as all these places are not only in the central of Singapore but also easily accessible by buses or trains. The signs that were placed along the corridors were helpful as it helped to guide guest like me to navigate through out the exhibition.

However, there are some upsets with the design in the Biennale in City Hall. One inconvenience was that although there were toilets at the second, third and fourth storey, most of them were closed off to the public. The only ones available were the gents on the fourth storey and the ladies on the third storey which goes to question another point in the design of the Biennale: which is why separate the two restrooms on two different levels. For those who urgently need to use the restrooms will have to walk all the way to the restroom on the third or fourth level since there were no elevators catered to the public and therefore affects the mood of the guests.

Partnership
One major partner of the Biennale is the National Arts Council Singapore which is a government agency as it is one of the main organizers for this event. Other partners include:
· Pico- Official Exhibit partner
· (Raffles City Shopping Centre, Singapore Flyer)- Venue Partners
· (Helutrans artmove)-Official Freight Partner
· Passion- Official Community Partner
· (Lasalle, Republic Polytechnic, Little Art Bug Workshop, NLB, The Arts House , and The Substation)-Education and Outreach Partners

Being in a partnership is an advantage for both parties as they can collaborate with one another to attract the public to patronize them by modifying their prices such as in forms of discounts or packages. Some examples would be like giving a discount of 30% for all Passion card holders when purchasing an admission ticket to the Biennale. There are packages being offered by the Singapore Flyer such that if we pay a certain amount of fees depending on our age, we will be entitled to a chance of being able to go on a ride on the Singapore Flyer and also a visit to the Singapore Biennale.

Those mentioned above are all benefits received by the guest who are associated with the other organizations when purchasing an admission ticket. Whereas those mentioned below are some of the benefits one will receive at Singapore Flyer by owning a SB admission ticket.

1. 10% off ala-carte food at Seafood Paradise
2. 10% off on the first product and 25% off on the second same/ lower priced product at Red Dot
3. 10% off a la carte food and beverages at O’Learys Sports Bar & Grill

Promotion
Personally I felt that the event was poorly marketed to the public as most of the LRM course mates that went along with me only got to know about the event from a friend. I firmly believed that if not for this project, I would never get a chance to know of the existence of such an event even though it was ongoing at many different venues. Although there was a launch party which allowed guests to have a preview of the event, it was only extended to those who have an invitation only. Other than that, some of the partners have also done a poor job in advertising for the event. Another mistake SB has made in the promotion process is that they have neglected the use of the media other than the internet.
Therefore some suggestions I could give to SB is that they could actually collaborate with the SBS such as putting up posters on its buses and bus-stops. Other advertising method could be through radio and advertisement timeslot in between channel 5 and 8 dramas on the television. They could also generate hype by publishing news about how success the launch party and Vernissage was since only people invited were allowed to go.

Packaging and distribution
As stated earlier in the partnerships part, the Singapore is actually offering 3 different packages for 3 different groups of people such as the adult package, children and student package and finally the senior citizens package. Henceforth I would say that they have done a good job such as they have taken all the 3 age group into consideration when setting the price of the package. One important factor of a partnership is that both parties need to have a good relationship and reach an understanding with one another on the prices of certain benefits being offered in order for both parties to work together.

One suggestion I can give is that the SB can try to also come up other packages with the other partners instead of just having 3 different packages with Singapore Flyer only. SB could also come out with family package such as $22 for a family of 2 adults and 1 child.

Programming
On the first level, there were many programs for kids to play with such as rooms for them to draw and colour and also a room for them to sit back and relax. Though the activities were catered for kids, young adults such as ourselves were also allowed to use the facilities inside. These rooms may be used in such a way such that parents can allow their kids to play in these rooms while both of them enjoy a peaceful and quiet tour around the building.
One other programs being organized would be the tour around the City Hall building and South Beach Development. The tour is planned out very well such that not only do they help the tourists to answer their doubts about any of the artworks and how the artworks relate to them, it also comes in many different languages such as English, Chinese and also Hokkien, Cantonese and Tamil too when upon request.

As one can see, although there are programs catered for children, there are actually no specific program that is catered to the young adults such as us. So in order to retain potential customers such as us in the next Biennale, I suggest that SB could try to come up with a few programs that could make out trip here even more worthwhile.

People
The interaction between the customers like us and the staff inside needs to be in a healthy amount such that they will be able to help to answer any queries we have while not neglecting other guests and also maintaining the order of the exhibition. For me personally, I find that the staff inside are not very amiable. Most of them have a grumpy face instead of smiling whenever any guests approach them. Though I have to agree that their product knowledge is very strong, the way they explained it to the guest turns many guest off. It seems to us that they are very bothered by the fact that we are asking them any questions on the exhibits instead of reading the guide book. Furthermore, most of them also frightened many kids when they shouted at them not to touch any of the exhibits. Although I know this is their job, I strongly encouraged them to speak to the guest in a more friendly way when answering and correcting them.

Price
For every event we go, all of us will have to pay a price regardless of it being in terms of cash for the admission ticket and travel cost or the time we spend to travel to and tour the event. For me, I spend a total of less than $10 and also half a day’s time on the day I went for the event, which is quite reasonable to me. I was very delighted at the pricing of the admission ticket as it only cost me $5 since I was entitled to the student rate which is also extended to children and senior citizens and only $10 for the adults. I also considered quality time being spent at the exhibition as with just half a day, I am able to admire the beauty of artworks that came from more than 35 different countries. Other than that as I have stated, there is also a 30% for those who hold a Passion card when buying an adult admission ticket. McCafe customers are also entailed to a 20% discount rate.

Tourism roles and economic value of the festival / event

Tourist attraction
Holding an event such as the SB will definitely help to generate hype for the place as when promoting for the event, many advertising methods will be used ranging from internet to word-of-mouth. This will thus make the public aware to this event and attract them to visit it regardless of them being locals or tourists from other countries. Finally, this will cause a boom in the tourist receipts and economy as foreigners might be interested in how a Singapore art event looks like and also the famous artworks that are displayed at the exhibition. Organizers from other countries Biennale or art events might also come and visit the event to see the difference between the two countries perspective of art and the reason it attracted such a huge audience of more than 800,000 people in 2006.
When tourists visit Singapore, they will need to spend on lodgings, food, shopping, air tickets and lastly the admission fees for the SB. All these revenue earned from these tourists will helped to boost the Singapore economy. Although the tourist main purpose is to take a tour around the Singapore Biennale, some of them might also visit other famous attractions in Singapore such as the zoo or the Bird Park.

Animator
As the Biennale is hosted in Singapore for the second time, healthy word-of-mouth will be generated as the Biennale in 2006 was a success. This will cause those who missed the first Biennale to be interested to visit it and find out the reason behind its success. Furthermore as it is considered a new event, people who are bored of the other attractions in Singapore may visit the Biennale as they seek to get whole-new experience. As for those who have gone to the previous SB, if they had an enjoyable time back in 2006, they will definitely want to revisit the event.
In order for the public to enter and tour the Biennale, they will be required to pay for admission ticket which is form of revenue to the event.

Image Making
In the past before the Biennale was hosted in Singapore, the place used to host the SB in City Hall was the Old Supreme Court. Nobody in the world would love to visit this place as if we really do visit this place; we will either be the convict being trialed or the relative of the convict and will mostly end up leaving the place in a sad mood.
However, by holding the Biennale here which is an event that should make people happy after viewing those beautiful artworks, the whole perception of the place will be inverted from a dull and old place to a lively place. Furthermore, many people are also very interested to find out how the Old Supreme Court in Singapore looks like as in the past one was not allowed to tour and walk around the area freely like not as there were court in sessions. Henceforth by attracting people who are curious about the Old Supreme Court design layout as it is now accessible to the public at only $5 to $10 will help to increase the amount of cash flow in the economy.

Place marketing
One of the motives of this event is partially to help to create awareness to the public that artists in Singapore also have an eye for art and are able to draw as well as artists abroad. This will therefore make Singapore more prominent in the world in other areas other than just having the best airline in the world. Not only will this event pave the way for those local artists to international fame, it also helps to improve the confidence of people either locally or abroad to engage a local artist to have their drawings done or depict a picture of scenery.

Catalyst
One catalyst effect of this event is that it helped to increase the number of people visiting the Singapore Flyer due to the package that SB is offering with the Singapore Flyer. Since Singaporeans are known for their “afraid to lose” attitude, most people will surely take up the chance to sign up for the package especially those who have not been on the Singapore Flyer. Other than that, it also helped to improve business such as the food-court or fast-food restaurant nearby as the SB do not sell food inside of it. Therefore this will help to increase the revenue earned in that area.

Conclusion
Personally, I felt that all the elements of the marketing mix have being utilized effectively except for the promotion part. I felt that the Biennale may had concentrate too much on the other elements of the marketing mix or have slack behind thinking that the first Biennale was a success and that they would have no need to worry about the promotion factor of the Biennale. I find the pricing and place of the SB being the two best revised factor of the marketing mix as the price was set in such a way that it was affordable to the public and attract them even though the economy is not very good and stable. The place was also chosen in such a way that it could help to generate interest from the public to visit a place where one would not even go in the past.
Though the promotion factor was neglected, I was very amazed at how the whole event was being presented as I was constantly amazed by how the art pieces were being layout especially those maggots.
Overall, I believe that the Singapore Biennale 2008 was also a success and that I will be looking forward to the next Biennale being hosted in Singapore which I trust will be an even much better and greater one than this year.

Appendices

Links

http://singaporebiennale.org/

http://www.nac.gov.sg/eve/eve03.asp

Pictures

Artist:Rhee, Ki-Bong

Artwork: Bachelor- The Dual Body

Characteristics: A book that is thrown into the aquarium which does not rise to surface or sink to the bottom

Artist:New, Leeroy

Artwork: Teratoma 2: Digmaan ng mga Mundo(Teratoma 2: War of the Worlds) 2008

Characteristics:the bulges growing out of the wall gives impression that the building is losing its shape with many types of aliens standing on the wall of City Hall Courtyard

Artist:Liew, Kung Yu
Artwork: Cermelang, Gemilang, Terbilang(Excellence, Glory, Distinction) 2007
Characteristics: On the surface, there are pictures of various Malaysia icons but the light which passes through this artwork will form a picture of a Demon King called Rawana on the floor behind this art piece

Artist:Ben-David,Zadok

Artwork: Blackfield

Characteristics: Colourful on oneside and totally black and starky on the other side as shown

A proof that I was here!( On the upper left corner)