Introduction
Objective
The objective of this report is to allow us to see how the organization of the Singapore Biennale 2008 has adopted the marketing mix (8 Posts below to show the 8 “P”s)? Also, how effective is each marketing mix being used will be discussed in this report. The second part of the report will be looking into how Singapore Biennale 2008 as tourism roles and the economic values (the 10th post) it brings to the country. Lastly, there will be a conclusion (the 11th post)
Methodology
These are the following methods of research used:
· Internet
· Festivals and Event Management Textbook
· Singapore Biennale 2008’s guide for the event.
Profile / Background of Event
Singapore Biennale is an international contemporary mega visual arts exhibition and also the city’s largest international contemporary visual arts exhibition. It is organize by the National Arts Council (NAC).
This is the second time that Singapore is holding this event. The previous Biennale which was held in 2006 was a success and had generated significant positive feedback from the international media and art critics.
This year, the theme of Singapore Biennale 2008 is “WONDERS”. It is a feeling of surprise and admiration caused by something beautiful, unexpected or unfamiliar, and as a verb, it is not only to “feel curious” or “desire to know”, but also to "feel doubt".
01: Products
Product
There were quite a few products and services that they are providing.
Of course, the very first one will be the exhibitions shown in the different venues. They will be featuring 50 renowned international and local artists, who hail from various artistic disciplinary backgrounds. The exhibitions are of different forms, not only drawings, paintings or pictures, but the artists make use of videos to show out the feeling of “wonders”. Also, there are some art pieces are in 3D form, which means it allows the viewer to have a touch and feel of it. In addition to that, for each individual art piece, there was a board with the information of the art pieces.
Raw Canvas
Beyond Recognition
Altitude of 10000m, Infinite Islands
Untitled
Next, they also have Vernissage. This is a preview of the exhibitions just 2 days before. It is for the VIPs, invited guest, professionals and general public too.
Third, they provide Encounters. It is a 'get-together' sessions in for interaction between the interested public, the arts communities and the Singapore Biennale curatorial team. This session allows the public to have some feedbacks.
They also have a little section which is the kids’ biennale which consists of children’s art pieces on the same theme: Wonders. There are more than 36 schools and 8000 students joining in this event. This actually allows the children to have a hands-on experience and present their creativity.
Kids' Biennale
There is an education and outreach, which are programmes for the secondary and tertiary students which instill an interest of arts in the students.
Under their programmes, they also provide guided tours – scheduled tours with different timings at different places and with the different languages of English, Mandarin and Japanese. This will ensure that the visitors have a better understanding of the art works by the artists. For those people who do not like to follow a guided tour, they do provide self-guided tours’ files which are audio files in both English and Mandarin which the visitors can download before going to the exhibitions.
Lastly, Singapore Biennale 2008 also has its own shop, which is selling their limited edition t-shirts and tote bags. Also, they did sell their guides which include all the pictures and information of the art pieces.
All the above products and services are actually made to cater to the needs of the visitors, which are their target markets.
How effective?
I think it is quite effective as they have made very good use of their Arts pieces as they put the different art pieces at different places which will attract more visitors to the different places. For visitors who had the passion of Arts will enjoyed them and it would be a worthwhile experience even for me, a person who did not know how to appreciate arts, but had enjoyed the trip and most of the art pieces are still fresh in minds. And, I especially like one of the art pieces name: “I’m Not Expensive”. I think it is really fascinating. The art piece looks like it is just engraved into the wall only, but when you focus on one of the engraved picture for example the boy sitting there (shown below), and you walk horizontally, the boy is actually spinning.
In addition, their encounters and guided tours actually allowed the visitors to have a better understanding of this event and the shop can let the visitors bring back some souvenirs back home.
02: Promotions
Promotion
They are holding a promotion of One-for-one ticket when going with family members. For every adult ticket purchased, the visitor can get a complimentary ticket for their child (3 years old to student with student card) or parents.
They also have a promotion for Singapore Flyer. By presenting the $10 ticket, there will be a discount for the Singapore Flyer’s ticket.
They also worked with quite a number of F & B outlets as by presenting the tickets, they will have a discount while dining in.
Another kind of promotion that they have is for Passion Card Holder and McCafe’s customers for buying the tickets with a 30% and 20% discount on the adult’s ticket respectively.
For students, senior citizens and children who are above 3 years old, they are not charging at adult price too, there is a promotion for the tickets at $5 when supporting documents are being shown at the selling booth.
They advertised through banners hanging near those exhibition areas and through newspaper as they are updating of the progress of the events. In addition, the banners are designed using the theme of Wonders and the designs are very suited to the theme as it is of black background and this created a “Full of Wonders” image to visitors.
Lastly, they also have their own blog which allows interaction of the public and allow the public to post and feedback on the Singapore Biennale.
Having all the promotions, it is actually creating awareness to the public and publicizes their products and the event itself.
Having all the promotions, it is actually creating awareness to the public and publicizes their products and the event itself.
How effective?
For their promotions to F & B Outlets may be attracting most of the adults and the Singapore Flyer may be more attracting to Family as they can get up the flyer and experience a great time with own family. Therefore, the promotions were not really attracting the youths and we could hardly see any advertisements of this event, only reaching the destinations, then we realized that there were banners. Therefore, I think this is not really effective.
Ways to improve
I think they should try to advertise more on the media as most people will saw it. Maybe through the media, they can show a few of the interesting art pieces to attract attention. They can also advertise using buses as the bus will go all around Singapore and this is will attract more tourists. They should put more banners around, not just near the event places, but other shopping centres to create awareness.
They should work with MacDonald and not just McCafe as McCafe is still considered small in scale. If they work with MacDonald, they can ask MacDonald to show their advertisement in their outlets.
They can also collaborate with school and this may education the next generation.
03: Price
Price
The single entry pass which is for adult is sold at $10. it is valid for one-entry into either City Hall or South Beach Development and for the rest of the places are complimentary except for the Singapore Flyer.
For students, senior citizens and children above 3 years old tickets are sold at a concession rate of 50%, which is equivalent to $5 per ticket.
It cost $8 and $7 for McCafe’s customer and Passion Card Holder Respectively for each ticket.
All the tickets come with a short guide except for complimentary tickets.
How effective?
For the price, I think it will be very effective for those Arts’ Lovers as the ticket is not very expensive. As for the students’ price, it is actually considered one of the cheapest events’ tickets. They also collaborate with McCafe and Passion Card which targeted mostly at the adults and it catered to both locals and tourists. For locals, normally they would have Passion Card and for tourists, they would dine at MacDonald.
04: Place
Place
There are a total of 6 places for the exhibition and all the 6 places are of walking distance and it can best bring out the artworks and engage the visitors.
The whole Biennale is formed up by 2 large indoors spaces and connecting outdoor areas. The 2 indoors spaces are: City Hall and South Beach Development.
The connecting outdoor areas are: Raffles City Shopping Centre, Singapore Flyer, Central Promontory Site and Esplanade Bridge.
For the City Hall, it consists of 2 levels of exhibitions with lots of rooms and each room consists of the different form of arts. The whole place is very quiet and some of the rooms are too in-depth of the building.
The entry tickets are only sold at 2 places: City Hall and South Beach Development. The complimentary tickets are only available at Containart Pavilion.
For the Tote Bags, Short Guides and the Limited T-shirts are only sold at 2 places: City Hall and South Beach Development.
How Effective?
I think it is very effective as they chose places within walking distance and they are all at the city area which would attract a heavy traffic. As for the rentals of places, they rent those places which not many people would be using like City Hall and places which would be tourists attraction in the future like Central Promontory Site. However, some of the rooms were too in-depth of the building which were a bit scary when it was quite late at night for example 7.30pm at those dark rooms at City Hall. This may caused some visitors missed out some of the exhibitions.
For their shops, they were located at the 2 places which were selling the tickets to the events. This would increase the sales volume as people did not require to travel to another place to get them. As for the complimentary ticket, they did not put them at those 2 places which were very convenient because some of the customers may think that it was very inconvenient for them to travel to another place just for a $5 ticket. This will allow them to increase the sales volumes also.
I think it is very effective as they chose places within walking distance and they are all at the city area which would attract a heavy traffic. As for the rentals of places, they rent those places which not many people would be using like City Hall and places which would be tourists attraction in the future like Central Promontory Site. However, some of the rooms were too in-depth of the building which were a bit scary when it was quite late at night for example 7.30pm at those dark rooms at City Hall. This may caused some visitors missed out some of the exhibitions.
For their shops, they were located at the 2 places which were selling the tickets to the events. This would increase the sales volume as people did not require to travel to another place to get them. As for the complimentary ticket, they did not put them at those 2 places which were very convenient because some of the customers may think that it was very inconvenient for them to travel to another place just for a $5 ticket. This will allow them to increase the sales volumes also.
Ways to improve
The rooms that they choose should be well-lit, also, for those rooms which were too in-depth, they should have a few volunteers or interns to show the route and stay at the room. In addition, they can provide information for the visitors
05: Programming
Programming
This Biennale was held from 11 September 2008 to 16 November 2008 and the vernissage was held from 09 September to 10 September for the preview.
As for the opening hours, it will be from 11.00am to 8.00pm, Tuesdays to Sundays. They are closed on every Mondays.
They had a total of 41 encounters which caters mainly to the general public with the talks and tours starting from 10 September 2008 till 18 September. Of course, way before the starting of the Biennale, during July, there were already some encounters which catered to Teachers, Students, and Other Guests like the Media and the Artists.
For the kids’ biennale, they had Kids’ Day Out 1, 2, 3. For the Kids’ Day Out 1, it was held on 20 September 2008 at City Hall from 11am to 4pm for a On-The-Spot Art Competition. For Kids’ Day Out 2, it was held on 4 October 2008 at South Beach Development from 11am to 4pm for a Treasure Hunt. Lastly, the third Kids’ Day Out was held on 2 November 2008 at south Beach Development from 11am to 4pm for making of their own windmills which can help in the charity. These activities actually involve the kids.
For the exhibitions, they show out the real art pieces that were being done and were displayed out and we actually had a feel and touch of the items. The art pieces are placed from the start till the end.
How Effective?
The programmes schedule was very effective. By having a Vernissage before the real exhibitions may create interest in people and they would come and visits when the real events starts. Also, the encounters that they had are very good starts and introduction to the visitors as they were able to get-to-gather with those artists.
Also, by putting the event in between 11 September 2008 to 16 November 2008 would be able to attract more tourists and increase the traffic to Singapore because this is the non-peak period and also, they were able to get some visitors to lengthen their stays after the F1 race as the F1 race was on 26 to 28 September. Moreover, the place was very near the F1 race.
As for the kids’ Biennale, it would be effective as it spread throughout the 3 months and by putting those activities on weekends may attract more people and their parents would follow them to the event also.
Also, by putting the event in between 11 September 2008 to 16 November 2008 would be able to attract more tourists and increase the traffic to Singapore because this is the non-peak period and also, they were able to get some visitors to lengthen their stays after the F1 race as the F1 race was on 26 to 28 September. Moreover, the place was very near the F1 race.
As for the kids’ Biennale, it would be effective as it spread throughout the 3 months and by putting those activities on weekends may attract more people and their parents would follow them to the event also.
06: Packaging and Distribution
Packaging and Distribution
Collaborating with the Singapore Flyer is one of the packages that they have, which are: $31 for adult tickets to both Singapore Flyer and Biennale.
$25.65 for child tickets to both Singapore Flyer and Biennale.
$28.60 for senior citizen tickets to both Singapore Flyer and Biennale.
Having an official website: http://www.singaporebiennale.org/index.html allows the public to get access to the information easily. The website provides a lot of information like the venues, ticketing, basically all the information of the Singapore Biennale.
Other than website, Singapore Biennale also has its very own blog which allows the public to access and join as members to discuss over the Biennale. The members are free to post any blogs.
All these provide ways for the public to increase their awareness of the event.
How effective?
Having a package with the Singapore Flyer would be a good choice as the Biennale is just at the Singapore Flyer and many visitors would take this opportunity to experience the flyer and this actually helps to generate sales for the flyer especially during weekdays.
The official website of Singapore Biennale 2008 would be effective because it is easy to navigate and all the information are readily and because is the official website, the information would be reliable. By providing more information regarding the event would attract more visitors to the place.
However, whether the blog would be effective or not would have to depend on those members who joined and the thing they post. If many posted negative sides of the event, then it would affect the brand and the image of the event. But, if many posted positive sides, then it would attract more visitors.
07: People
People
There are a lot of people who are involved in this biennale. First, will be the artists. They are artists from Asia, Middle East, Europe and America. For example, the art piece “I’m not expensive” is done by Lee Yong Deok who is from Korea.
Also, the organizing committee had also put in a lot of effort and commitment to make this event a successful one. The organizing committee is National Arts Council (NAC) and the Chairman of this event is also the CEO of NAC, Mr Lee Suan Hiang and the Co-chairman is Mr Kwek Leng Joo, the Managing director of City Developments Limited. There is also other positions like Secretariat who are in-charge of Programming, Logistic, Partnership and Education of the Biennale. The Artistic Director: Fumio Nanjo, Curatorial Team, Interns and Volunteers (People like students who went to help out) are people who contributed to the event too.
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Fumio Nanjo
Lastly, it will be the customers, the visitors who went to view all the art pieces. There is no event going on and succeed and called an event if there is no customers.
How Effective?
They have all the management staffs who were very experienced of planning events.
As for the artists, they really had attracted quite a big number of artists to present their work pieces in Singapore.
They did not engage in those expensive staff, their group of guiding the rooms and places were students, volunteers and interns. This not only save cost but the people they attracted would definitely Arts’ Lovers as they were willing to help as volunteers. By having them, they would be promoting the events to people they know and this would be the power of word-of-mouth.
08: Partnerships
Partnership
This is a big event which they have collaborated with a lot of organizations.
First, they had their main sponsors like Urban Redevelopment Authority and Jet Airways. Then, they have their preferred sponsors like Singapore Tourism Board and IKEA and sponsors like Tiger Beer and AXA. Also, the Institutional sponsors like British council.
Next, they had partners like Raffles City Shopping Centre for venue, PICO for exhibitions, Passion Card for the promotion and it’s for the community and National Library Board for education.
How Effective?
They have a total of 30 different kinds of sponsors which would generate quite a lot of money for them.
They are also partners of 14 organisations excluding government supporters which would create awareness to the public and attract more of the tourists and visitors.
Tourism Roles and Economic Values
Tourist attractions
On of the ways that Singapore Biennale had taken up the role of a tourist attraction is to attract visitors from another country. As this event only takes place once in every 2 years which will actually let the visitors felt that it will be a great event after waiting for so long.
Another way is they held this event to cater to the Arts’ Lovers as this is the biggest Arts Event held in Singapore. Through this, they would attract a lot of visitors who were very interested in Arts.
By having a shop which sold those limited edition T-shirts and Tote-bags will actually increase the tourists’ spending in Singapore as all these items can be bought back as souvenirs.
The dates and location did help in the role of tourist attraction as the F1 race also took place during those 3 months. This may attract those tourists who were here for F1 race to lengthen their stays for this Biennale. Also, the tourists may lengthen their stays as the ticket that they bought entitled them to free admission to the other connecting outdoors areas as they may not be able to finish viewing of the art pieces just in one day.
Animator
This year is a new theme which will be fresh and new to everyone. Most Arts Lovers would be attracted to view the art pieces that the artists can produced with this theme. Their blog and website actually allowed “new comers” to know more about the event. Additionally, programmes like Vernissage and Encounters allowed the visitors to know more about this event and gain a better understanding of the art pieces.
Image Maker
Singapore Biennale 2008 is an international contemporary mega visual arts exhibition which gave Singapore a great image and it had brought out the Singapore’s Art and Heritage element. All the art pieces had also brought out the “feel” of Wonders which is this year’s theme. Nevertheless, Singapore Biennale 2008 had served as an educational hub for the kids though kids’ Biennale and the youths for a special price for the admission and also the adults on the Contemporary Arts.
Catalyst
The Biennale had taken up the role of catalyst by the locations of the event. If without this event, I guessed none of the visitors would be going into the building like City Hall or the Containart Pavilion as this site is also earmarked for a public attraction in future. They would also stimulate the businesses for their partners through having some promotions with some F & B Outlets. Singapore Biennale also supported other attractions like the Singapore flyer by having special packages at a special price.
Place Marketing
Like what is stated at Image Maker, Singapore Biennale was actually creating a positive image as they were served as an educational hub and also they were promoting Arts and Heritage for Singapore. This event also attracted not only the tourists but also the locals who were interested in Contemporary Arts and with the sponsors that they had showed that they had attracted quite a number of investors.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I think that Singapore Biennale 2008: WONDERS gave me a very new and wonderful experience as I was not interested in Arts, but the art pieces of the artists had make me feel that Arts is really a Wonder and there are a lot of mystery in each and every art pieces.
Of course, their marketing have been done well as among the 8 “P”s, most of them are very effective especially their Products and Programming. I believed that these 2 elements are very important in all kind of events so that they can attract the People who are their customers, Partners who are able to sponsor them and having those Packages. Of course, the Place and Price play a big part in affecting the customers too.
Therefore, I think that this event is a great success and I hope that after 2 years, there will be surprises and another “Wonder” when I visit them again.
Appendix
Proof of Visits:
mingfang and me with the banner
left top: group picture.
left bottom: me with artpiece, "Evolutional Mythology" by a Korean Artist, Han Jong-Gun.
On the right, me with one of the picture of the artpiece "Who is this Family" by a local artist, Rachel Goh
top left: me at the kids' biennale,
bottom left: at the entrance of the Biennale
top right: me standing on "Singapore 2008", a artpiece by a Thai Artist, Pimkanchanapong, Wit
bottom right: exhibition continues...
me, steffi, liting and mingfang in front of the art piece,"Black Field" by a Yemen Artist: Zadok Ben-David
References
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