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//Monday, November 24, 2008 7:52 AM
Evaluation of the Effective Use of Marketing Mix
THE 8P'S
1. Product The core product of this event is the event itself as a whole as well as the experience that viewers get from viewing the various artworks. These people are willing to pay to view the artworks in the hope of satisfying their needs. These needs could be to boost creativity, achieve a deeper understanding in art, or just to enjoy the beauty of the art pieces. People are part of the product too as they ensure that they get the most out of the event. Additionally, there are the tangible products that the customer expects, for example, art pieces, historic sites and services. Finally, there are the augmented products, which are additional features that differentiate Singapore Biennale 2008 from other art exhibitions. These are the famed artists, past recognition (Singapore Biennale 2006), unique locations as well as a creative theme (wonder). I believe that they have used the product in an interesting way. 2. Price One example of the price of this event is the $10 entry fee required for three exhibition areas, namely, City Hall, South Beach Development as well as Singapore Flyer. These three areas require the customers to purchase an entry ticket before they are allowed to view the art works. There is a discount of 30% for Passion Card holders, 20% for a purchase of McCafe wonder set and 50% for senior citizens and students off the $10 admission fee. If a tour is held for schools, the students are only required to pay $5 for a tour lasting approximately one hour. Pricing was used very effectively here, as they have different prices for different markets. By charging different prices, they can attract certain markets like the students or senior citizens to the event. Singapore Flyer has formed 3 packages for customers. They are:
3. Place This event takes place in many sites throughout the city area. At these places, there will be areas or rooms to house the art pieces and their supporting equipment (like signs, lights and screens). Place includes locations where tickets are purchased; in the case of Biennale, tickets are purchased at the door of the locations where tickets are required, namely City Hall, South Beach Development and Singapore Flyer. The City Hall and South Beach Development sites, the two largest spaces of the event, were chosen for their historical value, as well as their ability to present the artworks and engage the visitors in a meaningful way. By using these non-gallery spaces to showcase the artwork, instead of just highlighting the works, the spaces themselves will be enhanced. The sites themselves then become a part of the art. Along the way, connecting these two spaces is Suntec City and Raffles City Shopping Centre, which house a few public displays that can attract more people to the event or keep event-goers interested as they travel from one place to another. Besides these sites, Singapore Biennale has managed to use the marina bay area as a whole to be a place to display art in Singapore. As part of Singapore Biennale @ Marina Bay, various sites around Marina Bay will be used to install public artworks. In addition to these, Shigeru Ban’s Containart Pavilion, an artistic architectural structure which doubles as a unique gallery space for six artworks has been erected at the Central Promontory Site along Marina Bay. Having the event at Marina Bay, a prime land for development extending from the Central Business District allows people to rethink the spaces where art and culture can be experienced. The sites along Marina Bay are the Central Promontory Site, the Esplanade Bridge, One Raffles Quay and Singapore Flyer. Cilfford Pier, which is part of The Fullerton Heritage, will be used to hold two large-scale public art projects, to be left there permanently. This means creating history in the city through art, and changing the city’s boundaries and aesthetics through art. There may be too many locations used and visitors might not want to walk everywhere, or miss out on some locations. Therefore I would suggest that they reduce the number of locations, if not organise a shuttle service or even a bus tour around these locations. 4. Promotions The communications mix of Singapore Biennale consists of publicity through press, advertising through the internet, public banners, outdoor displays and sales promotions. Press publicity gives credibility and reaches to a large audience. Internet advertising consists of the event’s official website (http://www.singaporebiennale.org) and blog (http://www.singaporebiennale.org/blog). There is also a group created on a social networking website (www.facebook.com) where interested members can join to find out more information about the event. Through these, the event organisers can post messages to these people and form a mailing list. This can be very cost effective as there is little wastage generated. There are also outdoor banners and public displays along the city to generate awareness of the event. Besides all these, they have also come up with sales promotions like the discounts stated in pricing and the packages stated under packaging above and packaging below. These promotions help to generate sales and revenue for the event. 5. People The people linked to the event are the stakeholders. They can be anyone who holds an interest in the event, for example volunteers, staff, event attendees, residential community (country), artists, government, and partners. Under event attendees, the target markets are included. These are specific groups of people who the event management targets their marketing on. For example, passion card holders, students and senior citizens. Other market groups are also included but they might not be the target market. Singapore Biennale has many volunteers that helped out at their counters and as ushers. They also have staffs like management, guides, volunteers and officials that help to facilitate the movement and operations of the event. During my trip to the event, I found these people to be very helpful to me. They were able to answer my questions regarding the event, the artworks and also gave me accurate directions to the different event locations (The counter staff even gave me a map and recommended an efficient route for us to view all the art works.) I happened to overhear a group with a guide and found that the guides were well trained in information about the various works. This shows that the people do contribute effective to the success of the event. There were many different artists that took part and gave their support for this event. Among them, many were local artists and this shows that not only does Singapore Biennale support local talent, they also gain support from the local people. Another example of local community is that many of the volunteers come from local polytechnics like Republic Polytechnic. 6. Programme The main programme for the event is the viewing and experiencing the different art works on display at the customer’s own leisure. This makes the customer in control and he/she may alter the programme as he/she wishes. The total experience however requires programme planning by the artistic director and producers. I feel that they were successful in enhancing the programme for the customers by use of a distinguishing theme, historic locations and selecting wonderful artists whose works were strategically placed around the galleries. The programme was compatible with the market in the sense that the needs (enjoying the experience) of the market were fulfilled. The programme is brought out by different means, to enable the different artists to convey their thoughts. This also keeps the viewers’ interests by providing them with more variety. Examples of the mediums used are channel videos, installations, photographs, digital prints, stickers, video stills, films, sculptures, paintings, lights, sounds, drawings as well as public art. Another programme that was provided was the guided tours around the main locations where the guides would bring groups around and introduce the various art works to them. These groups can be pre-arranged (school/other organisations) or individual visitors joining the scheduled tours coming in three different languages to cater to the different market groups. Groups would then be given explanations to the works and also ask them questions about their ideas on the works to stimulate their thinking on the issues involved. This will give them a deeper understanding on the works, as well as the event as a whole. For the independent visitor, there are also self guided (audio) tours available, provided by Bloomberg. There are some key events held by Singapore Biennale like a vernissage (preview days consisting of gala dinner and press conference) before the official opening, a launch party, wonder club, artists talks, book launch and talk, artistic director’s tour, 2 curator’s tours, and kids’ days out that help to make the event more interesting for both the organisers and the event goers. This can even attract some repeat visitors who wish to know more about the works or take part in a particular event. Click here for a list of all their programmes and events! Having so many events definitely enhances the experience and I feel that Singapore Biennale has used the programmes to their advantage. 7. Partnership Partnerships usually begin on the basis of goodwill and relationships. These goodwill are provided by a number of people and corporations and are vital to the competitive potential of the event. Usually, a sense of sharing a common vision exists within these partnerships. Singapore Biennale has formed many partnerships through sponsors. They can be grouped into government, venue, institutes, travel agents, communications, freight, media, magazine, community as well as other corporate sponsors. Examples are Bloomberg which provided audio help, Republic Polytechnic which provided student volunteers, Raffles City which sponsored location space and Land Transport Authority and Urban Redevelopment Authority which gave government support. Other events have formed partnerships with them and have helped to include it in their promotional efforts. In response, Singapore Biennale has a Parallel Events section in their brochure and website (http://www.singaporebiennale.org/parallelevents.html) promoting these events. Partnering with the Singapore Tourism Board can help increase tourists coming into Singapore for them, but also help to promote the event overseas. To take a step further, partnerships and packages can also be formed with the other sectors of tourism to increase tourist drawing powers. This shows that having partnerships works both ways to the benefit of both parties. Partnerships with Tradewinds have helped to form an art compass, where bookings can be made to destinations where Biennale is held including Singapore, Shanghai, Sydney, Gwangju and Yokohama. The forming of partnerships can lead to the formation of packages. These packages can help to promote the event but the partners might also steal away the attention. As a result, event managers might have to modify their prices and even their products to make the packages more attractive. Having too many partners might cause problems too, due to clash of interests. However, Singapore Biennale has managed to group their partners into different categories and there are not too many sponsors in simillar groups. Main and preferred sponsors are also mentioned to reduce this problem. Therefore, I believe that they have handled their partnerships well and effectively. 8. Packaging & Distribution Packaging provides opportunities for the event to better position themselves in their current markets. Packaging includes service bundles, where different types of merchandise and entertainment are packaged together as a single market offer. Prices may also be altered in the bundle. For example, paying for a ticket at the city hall venue enables the buyer to enter the south beach development for free, and vice versa. In addition, the guide book, which costs $5 normally, is given to the buyers as part of the package. Packaging can also be done with its partners, for example, holding discounts with passion card holders and having school tours with education and outreach partners like Little Art Bug Workshop and The Substation. These school tours cost about $5per student and last for about one hour. If a tour is booked by a group, the prices can be negotiated to form a package. Singapore Flyer has a package allowing one-time entry to the main Biennale sites and a ride on the Singapore Flyer to listen to spell#7 and Evan Tan’s audio artwork, Sky Duet, two artworks of the Singapore Biennale. McCafe has a package where customers who purchase a McCafe wonder set can get a 20% discount on Biennale tickets. Not only these, follow this link for a whole list of their packages and promotions! The parallel events mentioned under partnership have formed packages with them to ensure that people visit both events. For example, the event No Wonder, by students of LASALLE College of the Arts, is an art exhibition of its own, responding to Singapore Biennale’s theme of Wonder in a humorous way. This requires viewers to have been to Singapore Biennale to gain an understanding to some of the references there. Singapore Tourism Board may provide packages of tourism related events for the Singapore Biennale to attract tourists. There is also a package with the various biennales around the world called art compass. This allows people to book tickets for all the other biennales worldwide and travel accommodations to these destinations. As for the distribution network, intermediaries of various types help to contribute to the revenue and experience. For example, besides selling tickets at the door, Singapore Biennale also provides school and other guided tours where tickets can be sold separately to these people. Corporate functions at their locations can also be discussed with the organisers. I think that the distribution network of this event is not wide enough, as they may want to limit or control their customers. An individual is only able to purchase tickets at the door, and might be to much of a hassle. I believe that they should expand their ticketing services online, especially since the website is already so impressive. Another suggested methods is having ticket booths at the public locations or having the tourism agency(for tourists) to sell the tickets to them. |
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