1) Introduction
The Singapore Arts Festival first started in 1977 to celebrate the arts activities in the local communities. Since then, the Singapore Art festival serves as a platform to involve art and culture as part of the life of Singaporeans. As time passes, it has become one of Asia’s major cultural events. Many people, including locals and international artists, have been part of the festival by performing in the shows. This thus also create a platform for cultural and language exchange when artists of different backgrounds and geographical regions get together for the festival.
The Singapore Arts Festival first started in 1977 to celebrate the arts activities in the local communities. Since then, the Singapore Art festival serves as a platform to involve art and culture as part of the life of Singaporeans. As time passes, it has become one of Asia’s major cultural events. Many people, including locals and international artists, have been part of the festival by performing in the shows. This thus also create a platform for cultural and language exchange when artists of different backgrounds and geographical regions get together for the festival.
The Singapore Arts Festival is also an island-wide event whereby there are performances around Singapore. This allows the performers and the local community to have a closer interaction. All these performances lasted for 4 weeks long. There were around 400 activities going on almost everyday during this period of time in total, attracting up to 500,000 people to attend the festival.
2)Strategic Marketing Strategies
The festival that I have chosen to compare with Singapore Arts Festival is the Hong Kong Arts Festival. It was held from 6 February to 8 March 2009. It is an annual event that occurs in Hong Kong between the month of February and March. The Hong Kong Arts Festival was first kicked off by a group of people who thinks that Hong Kong, as a developing country, should have an arts festival. Thus by joining forces, they formed the Hong Kong Arts Festival Society Limited, a non-profit-making organization which launch the first Hong Kong Art Festival in 1973.
Similar to the Singapore Arts Festival, the Hong Kong Arts Festival organizers have invited international artist to perform and they have also invited accomplished artist to the festival who have perform in less familiar media.
2.1 Pricing
The pricing for the admission determines the number of people attending the event. If the price is set high, not many people can afford to pay for it. However, when the price of the tickets is adjusted to a reasonable and affordable price, it will then attract more people to buy the tickets. And pricing is an important factor that affects customer’s decision especially during the current economy crisis.
For Singapore Arts Festival, the ‘Outreach’ performances which are free and the public can have a close interaction with the performers. However, there are also performances at various indoor venues which requires admission fee. The price of these tickets ranges from $16 to $120. In my opinion, the tickets are considered rather cheap as most of these performances have a range of prices according to the seating arrangements. With both free and paid performances, the festival is able to reach out to its different target markets more effectively.
For Hong Kong Arts Festival, most of the performances requires admission fee. There are two kinds of price, mainly the adult and student price. The price of the student ticket is half of the adult ticket. Ticket prices are determined by which day the performance falls on and the seating arrangement.
In my point of view, I feel that Singapore Arts Festival has done better in this pricing segment. It is able to attract different age group of people to view the performance, be it young or old. Especially during this period of economic crisis, people will tend to not spend money on things unnecessarily. Thus I feel that the Singapore Arts Festival is successful in its pricing as it is able to attract both local and foreign visitors to the event.
2.2 Place
The location of the event is important as it will affect how people get to the venue. People will tend to not attend the event if it is not easily accessible as it will cause inconvenience and waste of time.
As mentioned above, the Singapore Arts Festival activities are show cast island-wide. For example, for the ‘Outreach’, they are normally at the heartlands or town areas. And for the paid performances, they are performed at the Esplanade and various theatres. These locations are easily accessible and are within walking distance from bus stops and MRT stations. For the ‘Arts On The Move’, there are both indoor and outdoor performances available.
However for outdoor activities, they could actually be affected by the change in weather. For example, I went to watch ‘The Glittering Bestiary’ and it started late due to the rain. At first I was a little disappointed as I went all the way to take a look at the performance and I thought it was cancelled. However, the rain stopped at around 1.10pm. It was then the ‘Arts On The Move’ started. Thus I really think that though having activities outdoors is good, but the change in weather can actually cause the activity to be cancelled.
Figure 2: Arts On the Move @ Orchard
Figure 3: Arts On the Move @ Orchard
The Hong Kong Art Festivals on the other hand organized most its activities in the indoor locations such as the theatres and concert halls. These locations allow the audience to have a better environment to enjoy the shows as compared to outdoor location whereby there are disturbance around.
In my opinion, the Singapore Art Festival has actually done a better job in the way how the festival has reached out to more people. By arranging activities outdoor, it will gain curiosity level of the public to check out on what is going on, thus create public awareness about the Singapore Art Festival.
2.3 Product
The product is anything that can be offered to the market for attention, acquisition or consumption that might satisfy a want or need. Thus in an event, it is good to have product that will allow people to leave good impression of it and also to satisfy the customer in any way.
At the Singapore Arts Festival, audiences are able to enjoy a series of performance as the core product offered by the festival. Brochures about the festival are also given out to us so as to provide us with the information of the time and venue of the performance.
Figure 4: Brochure on the ‘Outreach’ Guide
As for most of the Hong Kong Arts Festival performances are mostly held in indoors, it will provide the audience with an undisturbed and cosy environment whereby they will not be distracted by the noises created outside. There are also performances suitable for families, which allow parents to bring their children along for the shows.
As for most of the Hong Kong Arts Festival performances are mostly held in indoors, it will provide the audience with an undisturbed and cosy environment whereby they will not be distracted by the noises created outside. There are also performances suitable for families, which allow parents to bring their children along for the shows.
Thus, I feel that the Hong Kong Arts Festival did better in this aspect as it is able to provide family oriented performances. It does help to boost the sales as they are targeting a bigger market.
2.4 Partnership
Partnership plays a role in an event marketing strategies as when packages are jointly marketed, event managers might have to modify their price and even their products to make the package more attractive.
By finding sponsors for the event, the Singapore Art Festival is able to provide customers with additional benefits such as discounts when they sign up for the ArtsFest club membership. Moreover with the free membership, members are also able to enjoy discounts when they purchase tickets to the performances.
The Hong Kong Arts Festival collaborates with Wing Hang Bank to launch the “Hong Kong Arts Festival MasterCard” whereby cardholders are entitled to pay for their tickets through interest-free instalments.
Figure 5: Online advertisement on the ‘Hong Kong Art Festival MasterCard’
In my opinion, I think both festivals have done well in this segment. They have actually come up with a unique selling point to sell their tickets by offering membership for the festival. However, these two festivals are distinguish by the features.
2.5 Promotion
Promotion is very important to the festival as it is a tool to attract people to attend the festival.
When the Singapore Art Festival was going on, the media was almost following though the whole festival by taking pictures and reporting about the activities. Media is the best channel of publicity as there are news regarding the festival on local newspapers.The Singapore Art Festival also set up an official website allowing people from all around the whole to know and check out on the festival easily. There are also advertisements around Singapore on public transports and also banners on the lamp poles.
When the Singapore Art Festival was going on, the media was almost following though the whole festival by taking pictures and reporting about the activities. Media is the best channel of publicity as there are news regarding the festival on local newspapers.The Singapore Art Festival also set up an official website allowing people from all around the whole to know and check out on the festival easily. There are also advertisements around Singapore on public transports and also banners on the lamp poles.
The Singapore Arts Festival also offer various discounts such as the early bird discount whereby customers who purchase their tickets within 9 March to 12 April 2009 will be entitle to up to 25% discount depending on the number of shows. Other discounts include the general sales, concession, group booking and school bookings.
.jpg)
Figure 6: Discounts shown on the Singapore Arts Festival brochure
To what I know, the Hong Kong Arts Festival has its own official website whereby people can check out on the festival there. The Hong Kong Arts Festival also has its very own Festmag article which includes the details of some of the performances.
For this segment, Singapore Arts Festival has done an excellent job. It is able to use different channels to promote the festival. The information provided on the official website are very detailed and clear. And I also realize that setting up an official website for the festival is a must for promotion as it is the best tool to promote the festival to people all round the world.
2.6 Packaging
Packaging refers to bundling event with other attractions and services together. This might in return boost the sales up.
As mentioned above, when customers sign up for the ArtFest club membership, they are entitled to a series of discounts at various sectors such as lodging, food and beverages and shopping. By putting all these benefits into the membership, it will tend to attract more customers to sign up for the membership and moreover, the membership is free. Members can enjoy up to 30% discount depending on the number of show tickets they buy. They have also work together with Edinburgh International Festival by providing a chance for ArtFest club members to win a trip to Edinburgh with all expenses included in the package. Tickets to the bank of Scotland Fireworks Concert are also inclusive in the package.
Figure 7: information on the ArtsFest Club membership
Though the Hong Kong Arts Festival has collaborated with the bank to launch the ‘Hong Kong Arts Fest Mastercard’, they only offer the interest-free payment through instalments and also one free gift upon signing up for the card.
Thus in my point of view, the Singapore Arts Festival has definitely done better than the Hong Kong Arts Fetival in terms of packaging as the package it offer will tend to attract people to sign up for the membership. By paying one price, the customer is able to enjoy discounts and privileges.
2.7 Programming
Programming refers to activities lined up during the festival to attract the target market to attend the festival activities.
Singapore Arts Festival is a 4 week long event with a series of performances and activities going on everyday. The durations of the performance last from the shortest 12 minutes to the longest 70 minutes for the ‘Outreach’ and the show timings are either in the noon or night everyday. As for the indoor performances, the shows are usually at night except for some which falls on a weekend afternoon.
.jpg)
Figure 8: Details of the program schedule of the ‘Arts On the Move’
+001.jpg)
Figure 9: Details of the program schedule of the ‘Outreach’
The shows of the Hong Kong Arts Festival are normally held in the night, and some in the noon on weekends. By setting the timings at night on weekdays, working adult will thus have the time to attend these performances after work.
As for programming wise, I feel that Singapore Art Festival has done better as there are programmes going on everyday. We can choose to attend anyone we want. For most of the ‘Outreach’ activities, there are at least 2 or more performance slots. Thus, we can choose the one that we are able to attend. Moreover during the Singapore Arts Festival opening, there were also fireworks. It was actually the highlight of the day and it lifts up the spirit of the people present there.
2.8 People
During the Singapore Arts Festival, there are volunteers around to answer enquires from people and also help to resolve conflicts. When I was at the opening ceremony of the Singapore Arts Festival, I happened to witness a volunteer who managed to solve a conflict between the publics patiently. I feel that the volunteer did a great job as she tries to solve the problem into a win-win situation. For the Arts On Move, the performers have many interactions with the public by taking photos with them and also playing along with the public. As mentioned, the ‘Outreach’ programs allow the public to have a closer interaction with the artist by taking photos with them.
Figure 10: Photos taken with one of the artist
For Hong Kong Arts Festival, they have organized session whereby people get to meet the performers face-to-face. It is rather a rare opportunity for the audience to be able meet the cast of the shows, moreover the cast are mostly international artist. They are able to talk to the artist and directors of the performance to get to know more about them and the show.
Thus, I feel that both festivals have done well in this area. Through interaction with the cast and performers, it allows the public and audience to feel that they are part of the festival and bringing art to part of their life.
3) Stakeholders of the Singapore Arts Festival
The stakeholders of the Arts Festival are the media, sponsor, host organization, host community, co-workers, participants and spectators. For the media, they are the channels whereby they will promote Art Festival to the general public and inform them about the event.
The sponsors such as the Coco-Cola company give out free beverage to the public during the Art Festival opening. This enables them to promote their drinks too. The host organization, National Arts Council Singapore, takes this platform to develop of a sense of art in Singaporean’s heart.
Figure 11: Sponsors of the Singapore Arts Festival
As for the co-workers, the Singapore Arts Festival engaged volunteers to help out in the events. The participants of the festival are mainly the international and local performer and also the backstage crews. Not to mention, the spectators are obviously the locals and tourists.
4) Main Purpose of Singapore Art Festival
4) Main Purpose of Singapore Art Festival
There are various purposes of the Singapore Arts festival. Firstly, it is to develop a sense of culture and arts in the daily life of the locals. It is also to encourage foreign and local arts and culture exchange through this festival. Through the Arts On Move, it brings Art to the doorstep of Singaporeans, allowing them to understand that appreciating Arts is not only restricted to the people of the higher class. Lastly, it is to unleash the potential of the artist by getting them involve in the performance.
5) Tourism Benefits Received
Having organized the Arts Festival in Singapore yearly, it is bounds to have a certain amount of tourism benefits brought into Singapore. People who enjoy Arts and festivals might make a special trip to Singapore just because of this festival. Besides attending the Arts Festival, the tourists can also take this chance in Singapore to visit other attractions during free time. For example, for this year’s Singapore Art Festival, it collides with the Great Singapore Sales. This will somehow affect the tourists to buy more products and do more shopping due to the discounts and offers.
6) Conclusion
By comparing the 8Ps between the Singapore Arts Festival and Hong Kong Arts Festival, we can see how the Singapore Arts Festival is different from Hong Kong Arts Festival and the areas that the Singapore Arts Festival could improve on. However, I feel that to compare these two festivals is somehow unfair as I am unable to attend the Hong Kong Arts Festival.
Personally, I feel that actually the Singapore Arts Festival has done well in 2 segments, place and pricing. By planning the activities in convenient locations, it allows more people to attend the Arts Festival activities easily and it will also gain attention from the people walking by too. Not everyone can afford to pay and enter a theatre to watch a performance, thus having the ‘Outreach’ allows the general public to know that it doesn’t need to be rich to enjoy art.
In conclusion, as this is actually the very first time that I attend the Singapore Arts Festival activities, I really enjoy the shows that were put up. And I can see that the performers are putting their best for every single performance so as to impress us, the audience. I am really touched by their performance and I will definitely attend the next Singapore Arts Festival activities too.
7) Appendices
5) Tourism Benefits Received
Having organized the Arts Festival in Singapore yearly, it is bounds to have a certain amount of tourism benefits brought into Singapore. People who enjoy Arts and festivals might make a special trip to Singapore just because of this festival. Besides attending the Arts Festival, the tourists can also take this chance in Singapore to visit other attractions during free time. For example, for this year’s Singapore Art Festival, it collides with the Great Singapore Sales. This will somehow affect the tourists to buy more products and do more shopping due to the discounts and offers.
6) Conclusion
By comparing the 8Ps between the Singapore Arts Festival and Hong Kong Arts Festival, we can see how the Singapore Arts Festival is different from Hong Kong Arts Festival and the areas that the Singapore Arts Festival could improve on. However, I feel that to compare these two festivals is somehow unfair as I am unable to attend the Hong Kong Arts Festival.
Personally, I feel that actually the Singapore Arts Festival has done well in 2 segments, place and pricing. By planning the activities in convenient locations, it allows more people to attend the Arts Festival activities easily and it will also gain attention from the people walking by too. Not everyone can afford to pay and enter a theatre to watch a performance, thus having the ‘Outreach’ allows the general public to know that it doesn’t need to be rich to enjoy art.
In conclusion, as this is actually the very first time that I attend the Singapore Arts Festival activities, I really enjoy the shows that were put up. And I can see that the performers are putting their best for every single performance so as to impress us, the audience. I am really touched by their performance and I will definitely attend the next Singapore Arts Festival activities too.
7) Appendices
a. Singapore Arts Festival official website
http://www.singaporeartsfest.com/#/all
http://www.singaporeartsfest.com/#/all
c. Singapore Arts Festival history
http://www.singaporeartsfest.com/aboutus/
8) References
Proof of visit
8.1 Singapore Arts Festival Opening
http://www.singaporeartsfest.com/aboutus/
8) References
Proof of visit
8.1 Singapore Arts Festival Opening
8.2 The Glittering Bestiary@ Orchard
