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1:18 AM

Singapore Arts Festival 2009

1. Event Chosen
The event I have chosen is the Singapore Arts festival 2009. It consists of a lot of events held over a period of time within specific timings. It is an annual arts festival held in Singapore and it started in 1977 as a national arts festival to celebrate the different local arts from Singapore's various communities.
Besides local participants, approximately 70% of the events are put up by international artists. As according to sources from the internet, (http://www.singaporesights.com/sight/singapore-arts-festival-2009) there are “26 core productions and over 400 free outreach performances” This event was held from the 5th May till the 4th June 2009 where different specific events were held at different parts of Singapore, for example, Vivo city and Marina Barrage, etc. Marina Barrage hosted the opening of the whole festival and there were vast performances with people on stilts accompanied by awesome fireworks to mark the end of the opening of the festival.

Another similar and alike festival would be Hong Kong Arts Festival. As compared to Singapore, Hong Kong boasts of 52 performing arts programs, 38 overseas programs and 14 local programs. Singapore had artists from more than 20 countries boasting of 500 activities which can attract up to about 700,000 attendances. This year, an estimated number of 4,800 students from 157 secondary schools and 20 colleges and universities attended 62 performances and rehearsals. This has contributed an additional attendance of 9,600 people.

2. Objectives of the event and the target market
These performances and events are meant to inspire and capture the public's imagination and interest of our country's culture and heritage. They are “exhibitions and special events that promise to enthrall, engage and uplift the spirits.” This event is mainly meant to educate and cultivate the young and old by giving them “an inspiring and educational arts experience”. The Arts Festival also aims expose students in Singapore “arts colleges to international professional work.”, “They bear the Festival’s signature strengths of bringing new perspectives to cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary work that continues to secure the Festival's reputation for artistic innovation.” Said Ms Goh Ching Lee who is the Senior Director for Performing Arts and Director for Singapore Arts Festival from the National Arts Council.

This event can be a ground for family bonding where families go together to watch an event together. This helps to facilitate a better connection and relationship within members of the family. However, this event is mainly targeted at students and young adults; to cultivate in them the culture and heritage of Singapore and its local arts. Basically, people who are interested in arts and culture and those who are there just for entertainment purposes, form the majority in the crowd number.

For the Hong Kong Arts Fest, the Festival's Young Friends Scheme continues to try generate great interest among students.

3.Marketing Strategies and Marketing Mix

3.1. Product (Experiential Component)
The main product of the whole festival is the events, activities and programs organized. The audience and the participants of the events are the consumers of the products.
The main factor would be the wholesome experience people gain from attending the festival. However, I feel that that there were many mistakes made during the stilt performances; although all others were just fine. It may not be the most impactful opening event as compared to other events I have been to, but it is considerably good enough for me. It is not to bad neither is it too good an experience for me.

3.2. Price (Facilitating Component)
Some of the events are actually free of charge, like the opening of the festival. However there are events that requirement entry charges. However, due to the current economic climate and state, ticket prices have been reduced by 20%, starting at $16 for some shows.
Various early bird discounts are also available to offer patrons to save off regular ticket prices if they purchase multiple tickets to different shows. This starts from the 9th March to 12th April 2009 This includes discounts of up to an estimated 30% for ArtsFest Club members for a limited period from the 4th to the 8th March 2009. ArtsFest Club membership is free and the public are welcome to register and take advantage of the attractive offers. The ones I went for were free of charge (vivo city and marina barrage-the opening)

3.3. Place (Experiential Component)
I went to the event held at Vivo city and Marina Barrage, but I shall elaborate on Marina Barrage’s event instead. It hosts the opening of the whole Arts Fest which is held during the night. It is definitely the most ideal place to hold the event as it boasts of Singapore’s spectacular sea view and the outline of Singapore’s skylines in the CBD area. The place was big enough to accommodate the large crowd or audience, as my friends and I could see, the numbers stretched all the way to the top from the ground floor. It provided as a relaxing atmosphere and sort of a blissful ambience which helped make the whole experience even more satisfying for the people.

3.4. Programming (Experiential Component)
Overall, I feel that the Festival is well organized. Though the performances did not meet up to my expectations, but everything displayed was relevant to the festival’s objectives. There was a program named “Family Funfest” and it was planned during the school holidays where most people, like families, are free. The events are also spread evenly throughout the days to fit the schedules for everyone.

3.5. Packaging and Distribution (Facilitating Component)
Companies of renowned brands are sponsors of the Festival. This is a packaging strategy by the organizers. At the same time, these, in a way benefit those companies as their own brands are being promoted to the public. It provides as a venue for them to expand their marketing of their branded products.
The distribution network of tickets is through Sistic or by phone or through online booking in the internet.

3.6. Partnerships (Facilitating Component)
The Festival was working with the Esplanade, PUB, Singapore Street Festival, Community Development Councils. There were other partners that helped bring the arts to the wider community. For example, The Singapore Dance Theatre helped to present a performance, “Ballet Under the Stars”.

3.7. Promotion and Communications (Facilitating Component)
There was an online promotion, (www.singaporeartsfest.com) where people could view it for further details about the whole event. It provides ample information on the dates and different venues of events and pricing of all performances.
Banners promoting the Arts Fest are placed at various location of Singapore, e.g. Shopping Centers like Vivo City, and heartland Shopping malls as well.
The Festival organizer launched a new FEST CONNECT initiative in order to build stronger links with schools, arts communities and the public. The Festival began engaging those schools in early February, by providing recommendations of programs suitable for different age groups, and information on discounts and special activities for the schools.

4. Stakeholders
The stakeholders of Singapore Arts Festival consist of the host organization, audience, staff, media and sponsors. The main and host organization will be the National Arts Council (NAC); they are in charge of tying in all the sponsors together and partnerships with other companies to make the whole event a success. The audience, next, play almost the most important part in the whole experience. They are the main purpose this event is organized for. Without them, this event will be meaningless, because the Arts Festival is meant to educate and inculcate Singapore’s culture into its citizens. The staff would then be the crew who are ushering and those who are in charge of technical equipment, like lightings, etc. The major sponsors will be Lee Foundation, SMRT, Raffles City, PUB, Suntec Singapore and so on and so forth. The official partners which make up the media would be the Official TV station, Channel 5; the supporting TV station which is OKTO, and finally the official sparkling beverage, Coca Cola Light.

5. Best practices
There are many positive comments that I can give about this whole event. It is very thoughtful of the organizers to even host events in the heartland areas, where it can allow for better community bonding amongst the people. This allows for better interaction between locals in the different residential areas.
Another good point that I want to address is that the staff were very friendly, and they consist of mostly the ushers. They never failed to have a bright smile on their face even during a whole day of hard work. They could organize the people in such a systematic way where there was ample space for everyone to view the performances. They were also polite answering questions when asked. Like for example, they would gladly show us to the nearby toilets which was at the ground floor.

6.Tourism benefits gained from Singapore Arts Festival
Singapore Arts Festival can help increase and generate higher tourists’ rates as performances are offered by worldwide performers. This way it can relate to foreign tourists who are here in Singapore for a holiday and it is able to capture their attention and interest. This also applies the same to Hong Kong’s Arts Festival. As more tourists visit the host countries, they will naturally spend more money and thus, this leads to the country’s increased revenue and sales for shops, be it confectionary stores, food and beverage or clothes departmental stores and so on and so forth. The service sector for tourism, like hotels and resorts, may see more incoming cash flow and thus boosting business.