Singapore arts festival - The Diamond
Introduction
I attended the Singapore arts festival on 31 May 2009. There were many displays of different forms of arts at different locations. These include dances, theatre performances, musical performances and many others. The event I went was The Diamond which is held at the Merlion Park which is only a walk away from the esplanade. The diamond is about a giant transparent diamond balloon which is 11 meters in height. To add on, there is also a dancer that dances along with the music inside the balloon. The lights used create ghostly images and enhances the beauty of the dancer. Each show lasts only 12 minutes and there would only be 3 shows a day. Furthermore, admission for this event is free thus enabling the public to enjoy art without the need to pay any fee. Even though this event only last 12 minutes, it was a blast as it was able to capture my thoughts and eyes of its audience.
Comparison between festivals
I have decided to compare Singapore arts festival 2009 The Diamond with Hong Kong arts festival 2009 Asia pacific dance platform. We will compare the two events using the 8 marketing strategies 8ps, they are Product, Place, Packaging and distribution, Programme, Price, Promotion, Partnership and People to compare between these 2 festivals.
Product
By using the product marketing strategy, I intend to look into the different core, facilitating and augmented products of the festivals. The core product that both the Singapore arts festival and Hong Kong arts festival is the overall experience that we the audience will be able to feel and receive when they attend the arts festival. The process in which the audience analysis and enjoy the festival is also taken into consideration. The main reason why people would want to attend the arts festival is to admire, experience and to know more about the art and dance that the event has to offer. Besides the atmosphere of the festival is also another core product. An example would be the atmosphere of the arts festival would be very classical and relaxing because when the people attend the festival they will tend to be very calm and anxious about the performances. Therefore this shows that the core product of the both festivals is rather similar. Since there is no age restriction of the festival, this shows that the entire community is able to attend and enjoy the atmosphere of the place.
Place
The festival the diamond that I went is located at Merlion Park which is very near to the esplanade and the Fullerton hotel. Furthermore, the view at Merlion park is also very unique and scenic. Moreover there is also the merlion statue located in the park. As the merlion represents Singapore, this makes the location more memorable. There are many means of transport to reach Merlion Park, examples would be to take Mass Rapid Transport MRT bus or by taxi. Since the merlion is close to city hall MRT, it would thus be very convenient and easy to reach the park.
As for the Hong Kong arts festival, it is located at different parts of Hong Kong depending on the event. As I have decided to compare with the Asia pacific dance platform, the location of this event is at Fringe Theatre, Fringe Club in Hong Kong. Its exact location is 2 Lower Albert Road, Central, Hong Kong. Visitors can choose to take the MTR Central Exit D2, Bus: 13A, 23A, 26 or by taxi.
As the Singapore arts festival The Diamond is held outdoor whereas the Hong Kong Asia pacific dance platform is held indoors, I think that by holding the event outdoors is more unique. Furthermore, I think that the Singapore arts festival the Diamond is better than the Hong Kong arts festival Asia pacific dance platform as there are many different attractions around Merlion Park such as the esplanade which is also a place build for the artistic purposes and the people attending the arts festival would be able to enjoy and visit the other attractions before or after attending the arts festival. They will also get to enjoy the different types of ambience and experience enjoyable attractions like the night life of Singapore as DXO a famous club in Singapore is also located near Merlion Park.
Partnership
The Singapore arts festival has partnerships with many companies and agencies in terms of sponsorship and creating promotions. Singapore arts festival has official partners with channel five, OKTO as the official television stations and Coca-Cola as the official beverage. As for premier partners, there are the Singapore tourism board, Shaw foundation, PSB academy and Tote board. Next there are also major sponsors such as Lee foundation, urban redevelopment authority, Vivo shopping centre, Wing Tai Asia, Raffles city, PUB, Suntec Singapore SMRT and sponsors such as Marina Mandarin Singapore, Yahoo, Starhub cable vision and Singapore Chinese chamber of commerce and industry.
Singapore arts festival uses the partnership with the companies and agencies to make the price and the overall packaging of the product more attractive to the consumers. An example of such partnership would be for example, the Singapore arts festival offers ArtsFest Club Members to those who are interested in becoming a member of the club. By registering as a member, one is able to firstly enjoy 10% discount for single ticket purchases. There is also a discount as shown below:
General Sales Discounts (13 April to 14 June 2009)
Package Discount Buy tickets to 4 or more shows and enjoy discounts of up to 15%!
· 4 or more shows - 15% discount
· 2 to 3 shows - 10% discount
Another example would be they would have partnership with Marina Mandarin Singapore and ArtsFest Club members would be able to receive discounts from food and beverage services, spa services and many other services. All this is done to attract Marina Mandarin Singapore customers and also to market itself at the same time. Therefore these partnerships help to attract customers which are a form of marketing.
Promotion
Promotion refers to the use of a full range of communication mix such as advertising, public relations and sales promotion. This is an important factor as it makes people aware of the event and also therefore attracting them to consume the product.
The Singapore arts festival mainly uses the internet to advertise and provide information to the public and potential consumers. However there are also other means of advertising such as through brochures which are distributed at places that are most likely to be collected by those interested. Moreover, advertisements are also shown on the television. To add on, posters of the festival are also shown in places such as the esplanade to gain recognition of the event. The Singapore arts festival has its own webpage which is http://2009.singaporeartsfest.com/flash_index.html#/all . The webpage even includes promotions or lucky draws for ArtsFest Club members such as winning a trip to Edinburgh.
The Hong Kong arts festival in fact uses the rather same method of advertising as Singapore arts festival as both of the festivals are of the same type. For example of their similarity, the Hong Kong arts festival too has a webpage about its activities. Furthermore, both festivals also uses the word of mouth to publicize themselves in people’s blog or through the internet such as twitter.
Packaging and distribution
By making the packaging of the event and destination more attractive we would be able to better attract and draw the attention from the public thus creating more awareness. In order to do so, they must package the destination or event along with its attraction such as for the Singapore arts festival would be to use attractions such as the esplanade to add value to the event. Therefore there must be a good relationship or partnership between the intermediaries and partners.
Examples of such good relationships would be reflected in the partnership between the Singapore arts festival and the esplanade. ArtsFest Club members are able to have discounts for food and beverage in Barossa esplanade. Besides that, ArtsFest Club members are also able to get discounts from hot stone which is located at Clarke Quay. Thus, this makes the product more attractive.
As for the Hong Kong arts festival, they have partnership with MasterCard to create ‘’Hong Kong Arts Festival MasterCard ‘’. The card is rather similar to the ArtsFest Club membership card as the cardholders able to receive priorities and discounts in food and beverage outlets and the purchase of tickets for the festival.
Programming
For the Singapore arts festival The Diamond event that I attended, its programming is rather simple as there are only three shows a day. But the fact that they invited the crew from United Kingdom shows that they are clear about who they are willing to invite for performances. However by looking at the Singapore arts festival as a whole, its programming I actually very specific and precise.
As we look into the Hong Kong arts festival Asia pacific dance platform, the organizers for the event also invited six dancers for the performance. Thus, this too shows that the planners for the programming are precise in what they want in the programs.
People
In order to provide the best services, many factors come into play. They are the people, workers of the arts festival and the service provided to them. If all these factors are met well, it will help make the event a more memorable and enjoyable event for the people attending it.
As I attended the Singapore arts festival The Diamond, I realise that there were not much services provided as the performance itself is held outdoors. However I do think that the emcee of the performance did his best to captivate the audience attention and he is also well spoken and therefore helps the audience in enjoying the performance better. Furthermore, the emcee also provided much information such as the timing of the next show and the details about the performance.
As for the Hong Kong arts festival Asia pacific dance platform, I did not actually attend the show. However after reading about the information and reviews of the performance through its webpage and though the internet, I felt that the show was well provided in terms of the service and the crowd that attended the show were rather satisfied.
Therefore I do think that the service plays a large part in the overall experience and satisfaction of the audience. Fortunately the festival I went was well serviced.
Price
The event that I went which was Singapore arts festival The Diamond was free and it was held at Merlion Park. By doing so, it allows everyone to be able to enjoy art without having the need to pay for it.
As for the Hong Kong arts festival Asia pacific dance platform, there are different prices depending on the type of customer. For adults, they would have to pay two hundred dollars. However, for the students, they only have to pay one hundred dollars to but the ticket for the show.
I think that both the festivals have thought for the public. Moreover, for the Hong Kong arts festival Asia pacific dance platform, the student needs to pay a lot less than the adult’s price. This further shows that the organizers have thought about the capabilities of the different groups of customers.
Best practices
Out of all the practices I think that there are two best practices as shown below:
Singapore arts festival
In the Singapore arts festival, the organizers of the festivals used many types of marketing strategies. However I think that one of the best practices made by them would be their promotions done to attract customers. Examples would be by providing the necessary information to the public, promoting the festival in the best way possible. Be it in terms of the advertisements or the brochures that were used during the process. All these promotional methods were though of meticulously in order to market the festival. All scopes of means including the internet in the form of webpage in order to educate and inform the public about this event. Moreover, blogs, online forum and many other websites such as twitter has been also used to spread the news. Last but not least, word of mouth plays another important aspect too.
The next best practice that was also used would be the location of the Singapore arts festival The Diamond. By placing the event in the Merlion Park adds flavour and uniqueness of the event. Because of the spectacular view that the Park boasts, it further adds on to the beauty of the dancer and complements it. Furthermore, there are also food and beverage outlets near the Merlion Park therefore catering to every needs of the audience. Moreover, there is also the Merlion statue that stands 8.6 meters tall in the centre of the Park. As we all know, the Merlion symbolises Singapore, which further adds on to the uniqueness of the performance and overall experience.
Hong Kong arts festival
As for the Hong Kong arts festival, they too put in much effort to promote their festival. Such means were similar in many ways as the Singapore arts festivals. Examples would be creating a webpage solely for their festival in order to create awareness and information to the public about their activities. They also used other internet mean of creating awareness such as blogs and through simply by the word of mouth.
The next best practice used by the organizers would be by choosing a location that would be appropriate for their performance. For the Hong Kong arts festival, they used fringe theatre, fringe club to hold their event. By using the fringe theatre to hold the show, this creates a classical feeling for the audience. Furthermore, the location is easily accessible to all aspects of the public, thus by doing so; the organizers hope to attract all parts of the community.
Stake holders in the Singapore arts festival - The Diamond
· Host organization – Singapore arts festival
- Host community – Singapore citizens, Hotels, Attractions, F&B, Shopping centre around the area.
· Participants –
· Spectators – Audience of the festival
· Co- workers – All the staff such as the ticketing, back stage crew, emcee, operations staff, organizers
· Media – Internet, Television, Brochures, Newspaper
Official television station – Channel five
Supporting television station – OKTO
Official venue – Merlion Park
Official sparkling beverage – Coca-cola
Premier partners
Major sponsors
Sponsors
Supporters
Venue partners
Main purpose of festival
The main purpose of the festival is to allow the public to know more about this form of art and to expose our community to other arts. Therefore, there would be exchange of art culture between the host and foreign country, thus Singapore can be a place to market their art form to draw more audience. By doing so, our country can learn from them in terms of producing quality art. Furthermore, the festival also allows the participants of the festival to become more educated about the different art forms that are present throughout the world. The festival also provides entertainment for the community. As Singapore is a very stressful country, the festival allows the people to take this opportunity as a way of distressing.
Tourism benefits
There are tourism benefits for the host country.
Economic and tourism benefits
Firstly, for the host country, they stand to gain in the tourism revenue. This is because, not only the locals would attend the festival. Foreigners even took the effort to travel overseas just to attend the festival. Examples of increase in tourism revenue would be because of the tourists visiting the attractions, food and beverage and hotels. Therefore, the overall tourist revenue would increase. Besides that, the festival also creates employment for the people, therefore reducing the unemployment rate of the host country.
Political benefits
The host country is able to earn prestige and a good reputation because other countries will be able to recognize that our country is able to host the Singapore arts festival so well. Furthermore, this also shows that despite our country being so small is able to overcome difficulties and hold an even like this.
Social and cultural benefits
Since those that attend are mostly interested in art, therefore we are able to attract all the people with the same interest together. By doing so, this group of people are able to bond with one another thus increasing the pride and prestige of the group.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I do think that the Singapore arts festival is better than the Hong Kong arts festival in many aspects and ways, such as its location and pricing. Overall I find the visit to the festival a fun and unique experience that would be very memorable to me.
References:
http://www.singaporeartsfest.com/event/view/name/the_diamond_/
http://2009.singaporeartsfest.com/ticketing/
http://www.hk.artsfestival.org/en/prog/40/
http://www.visitsingapore.com/publish/stbportal/en/home/what_to_see/landmarks_and_memorials/merlion_park.html
http://www.thedreamengine.co.uk/dreamhtml/transparenscenes.html
Comparison between festivals
I have decided to compare Singapore arts festival 2009 The Diamond with Hong Kong arts festival 2009 Asia pacific dance platform. We will compare the two events using the 8 marketing strategies 8ps, they are Product, Place, Packaging and distribution, Programme, Price, Promotion, Partnership and People to compare between these 2 festivals.
Product
By using the product marketing strategy, I intend to look into the different core, facilitating and augmented products of the festivals. The core product that both the Singapore arts festival and Hong Kong arts festival is the overall experience that we the audience will be able to feel and receive when they attend the arts festival. The process in which the audience analysis and enjoy the festival is also taken into consideration. The main reason why people would want to attend the arts festival is to admire, experience and to know more about the art and dance that the event has to offer. Besides the atmosphere of the festival is also another core product. An example would be the atmosphere of the arts festival would be very classical and relaxing because when the people attend the festival they will tend to be very calm and anxious about the performances. Therefore this shows that the core product of the both festivals is rather similar. Since there is no age restriction of the festival, this shows that the entire community is able to attend and enjoy the atmosphere of the place.
Place
The festival the diamond that I went is located at Merlion Park which is very near to the esplanade and the Fullerton hotel. Furthermore, the view at Merlion park is also very unique and scenic. Moreover there is also the merlion statue located in the park. As the merlion represents Singapore, this makes the location more memorable. There are many means of transport to reach Merlion Park, examples would be to take Mass Rapid Transport MRT bus or by taxi. Since the merlion is close to city hall MRT, it would thus be very convenient and easy to reach the park.
As for the Hong Kong arts festival, it is located at different parts of Hong Kong depending on the event. As I have decided to compare with the Asia pacific dance platform, the location of this event is at Fringe Theatre, Fringe Club in Hong Kong. Its exact location is 2 Lower Albert Road, Central, Hong Kong. Visitors can choose to take the MTR Central Exit D2, Bus: 13A, 23A, 26 or by taxi.
As the Singapore arts festival The Diamond is held outdoor whereas the Hong Kong Asia pacific dance platform is held indoors, I think that by holding the event outdoors is more unique. Furthermore, I think that the Singapore arts festival the Diamond is better than the Hong Kong arts festival Asia pacific dance platform as there are many different attractions around Merlion Park such as the esplanade which is also a place build for the artistic purposes and the people attending the arts festival would be able to enjoy and visit the other attractions before or after attending the arts festival. They will also get to enjoy the different types of ambience and experience enjoyable attractions like the night life of Singapore as DXO a famous club in Singapore is also located near Merlion Park.
Partnership
The Singapore arts festival has partnerships with many companies and agencies in terms of sponsorship and creating promotions. Singapore arts festival has official partners with channel five, OKTO as the official television stations and Coca-Cola as the official beverage. As for premier partners, there are the Singapore tourism board, Shaw foundation, PSB academy and Tote board. Next there are also major sponsors such as Lee foundation, urban redevelopment authority, Vivo shopping centre, Wing Tai Asia, Raffles city, PUB, Suntec Singapore SMRT and sponsors such as Marina Mandarin Singapore, Yahoo, Starhub cable vision and Singapore Chinese chamber of commerce and industry.
Singapore arts festival uses the partnership with the companies and agencies to make the price and the overall packaging of the product more attractive to the consumers. An example of such partnership would be for example, the Singapore arts festival offers ArtsFest Club Members to those who are interested in becoming a member of the club. By registering as a member, one is able to firstly enjoy 10% discount for single ticket purchases. There is also a discount as shown below:
General Sales Discounts (13 April to 14 June 2009)
Package Discount Buy tickets to 4 or more shows and enjoy discounts of up to 15%!
· 4 or more shows - 15% discount
· 2 to 3 shows - 10% discount
Another example would be they would have partnership with Marina Mandarin Singapore and ArtsFest Club members would be able to receive discounts from food and beverage services, spa services and many other services. All this is done to attract Marina Mandarin Singapore customers and also to market itself at the same time. Therefore these partnerships help to attract customers which are a form of marketing.
Promotion
Promotion refers to the use of a full range of communication mix such as advertising, public relations and sales promotion. This is an important factor as it makes people aware of the event and also therefore attracting them to consume the product.
The Singapore arts festival mainly uses the internet to advertise and provide information to the public and potential consumers. However there are also other means of advertising such as through brochures which are distributed at places that are most likely to be collected by those interested. Moreover, advertisements are also shown on the television. To add on, posters of the festival are also shown in places such as the esplanade to gain recognition of the event. The Singapore arts festival has its own webpage which is http://2009.singaporeartsfest.com/flash_index.html#/all . The webpage even includes promotions or lucky draws for ArtsFest Club members such as winning a trip to Edinburgh.
The Hong Kong arts festival in fact uses the rather same method of advertising as Singapore arts festival as both of the festivals are of the same type. For example of their similarity, the Hong Kong arts festival too has a webpage about its activities. Furthermore, both festivals also uses the word of mouth to publicize themselves in people’s blog or through the internet such as twitter.
Packaging and distribution
By making the packaging of the event and destination more attractive we would be able to better attract and draw the attention from the public thus creating more awareness. In order to do so, they must package the destination or event along with its attraction such as for the Singapore arts festival would be to use attractions such as the esplanade to add value to the event. Therefore there must be a good relationship or partnership between the intermediaries and partners.
Examples of such good relationships would be reflected in the partnership between the Singapore arts festival and the esplanade. ArtsFest Club members are able to have discounts for food and beverage in Barossa esplanade. Besides that, ArtsFest Club members are also able to get discounts from hot stone which is located at Clarke Quay. Thus, this makes the product more attractive.
As for the Hong Kong arts festival, they have partnership with MasterCard to create ‘’Hong Kong Arts Festival MasterCard ‘’. The card is rather similar to the ArtsFest Club membership card as the cardholders able to receive priorities and discounts in food and beverage outlets and the purchase of tickets for the festival.
Programming
For the Singapore arts festival The Diamond event that I attended, its programming is rather simple as there are only three shows a day. But the fact that they invited the crew from United Kingdom shows that they are clear about who they are willing to invite for performances. However by looking at the Singapore arts festival as a whole, its programming I actually very specific and precise.
As we look into the Hong Kong arts festival Asia pacific dance platform, the organizers for the event also invited six dancers for the performance. Thus, this too shows that the planners for the programming are precise in what they want in the programs.
People
In order to provide the best services, many factors come into play. They are the people, workers of the arts festival and the service provided to them. If all these factors are met well, it will help make the event a more memorable and enjoyable event for the people attending it.
As I attended the Singapore arts festival The Diamond, I realise that there were not much services provided as the performance itself is held outdoors. However I do think that the emcee of the performance did his best to captivate the audience attention and he is also well spoken and therefore helps the audience in enjoying the performance better. Furthermore, the emcee also provided much information such as the timing of the next show and the details about the performance.
As for the Hong Kong arts festival Asia pacific dance platform, I did not actually attend the show. However after reading about the information and reviews of the performance through its webpage and though the internet, I felt that the show was well provided in terms of the service and the crowd that attended the show were rather satisfied.
Therefore I do think that the service plays a large part in the overall experience and satisfaction of the audience. Fortunately the festival I went was well serviced.
Price
The event that I went which was Singapore arts festival The Diamond was free and it was held at Merlion Park. By doing so, it allows everyone to be able to enjoy art without having the need to pay for it.
As for the Hong Kong arts festival Asia pacific dance platform, there are different prices depending on the type of customer. For adults, they would have to pay two hundred dollars. However, for the students, they only have to pay one hundred dollars to but the ticket for the show.
I think that both the festivals have thought for the public. Moreover, for the Hong Kong arts festival Asia pacific dance platform, the student needs to pay a lot less than the adult’s price. This further shows that the organizers have thought about the capabilities of the different groups of customers.
Best practices
Out of all the practices I think that there are two best practices as shown below:
Singapore arts festival
In the Singapore arts festival, the organizers of the festivals used many types of marketing strategies. However I think that one of the best practices made by them would be their promotions done to attract customers. Examples would be by providing the necessary information to the public, promoting the festival in the best way possible. Be it in terms of the advertisements or the brochures that were used during the process. All these promotional methods were though of meticulously in order to market the festival. All scopes of means including the internet in the form of webpage in order to educate and inform the public about this event. Moreover, blogs, online forum and many other websites such as twitter has been also used to spread the news. Last but not least, word of mouth plays another important aspect too.
The next best practice that was also used would be the location of the Singapore arts festival The Diamond. By placing the event in the Merlion Park adds flavour and uniqueness of the event. Because of the spectacular view that the Park boasts, it further adds on to the beauty of the dancer and complements it. Furthermore, there are also food and beverage outlets near the Merlion Park therefore catering to every needs of the audience. Moreover, there is also the Merlion statue that stands 8.6 meters tall in the centre of the Park. As we all know, the Merlion symbolises Singapore, which further adds on to the uniqueness of the performance and overall experience.
Hong Kong arts festival
As for the Hong Kong arts festival, they too put in much effort to promote their festival. Such means were similar in many ways as the Singapore arts festivals. Examples would be creating a webpage solely for their festival in order to create awareness and information to the public about their activities. They also used other internet mean of creating awareness such as blogs and through simply by the word of mouth.
The next best practice used by the organizers would be by choosing a location that would be appropriate for their performance. For the Hong Kong arts festival, they used fringe theatre, fringe club to hold their event. By using the fringe theatre to hold the show, this creates a classical feeling for the audience. Furthermore, the location is easily accessible to all aspects of the public, thus by doing so; the organizers hope to attract all parts of the community.
Stake holders in the Singapore arts festival - The Diamond
· Host organization – Singapore arts festival
- Host community – Singapore citizens, Hotels, Attractions, F&B, Shopping centre around the area.
· Participants –
· Spectators – Audience of the festival
· Co- workers – All the staff such as the ticketing, back stage crew, emcee, operations staff, organizers
· Media – Internet, Television, Brochures, Newspaper
Official television station – Channel five
Supporting television station – OKTO
Official venue – Merlion Park
Official sparkling beverage – Coca-cola
Premier partners
Major sponsors
Sponsors
Supporters
Venue partners
Main purpose of festival
The main purpose of the festival is to allow the public to know more about this form of art and to expose our community to other arts. Therefore, there would be exchange of art culture between the host and foreign country, thus Singapore can be a place to market their art form to draw more audience. By doing so, our country can learn from them in terms of producing quality art. Furthermore, the festival also allows the participants of the festival to become more educated about the different art forms that are present throughout the world. The festival also provides entertainment for the community. As Singapore is a very stressful country, the festival allows the people to take this opportunity as a way of distressing.
Tourism benefits
There are tourism benefits for the host country.
Economic and tourism benefits
Firstly, for the host country, they stand to gain in the tourism revenue. This is because, not only the locals would attend the festival. Foreigners even took the effort to travel overseas just to attend the festival. Examples of increase in tourism revenue would be because of the tourists visiting the attractions, food and beverage and hotels. Therefore, the overall tourist revenue would increase. Besides that, the festival also creates employment for the people, therefore reducing the unemployment rate of the host country.
Political benefits
The host country is able to earn prestige and a good reputation because other countries will be able to recognize that our country is able to host the Singapore arts festival so well. Furthermore, this also shows that despite our country being so small is able to overcome difficulties and hold an even like this.
Social and cultural benefits
Since those that attend are mostly interested in art, therefore we are able to attract all the people with the same interest together. By doing so, this group of people are able to bond with one another thus increasing the pride and prestige of the group.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I do think that the Singapore arts festival is better than the Hong Kong arts festival in many aspects and ways, such as its location and pricing. Overall I find the visit to the festival a fun and unique experience that would be very memorable to me.
References:
http://www.singaporeartsfest.com/event/view/name/the_diamond_/
http://2009.singaporeartsfest.com/ticketing/
http://www.hk.artsfestival.org/en/prog/40/
http://www.visitsingapore.com/publish/stbportal/en/home/what_to_see/landmarks_and_memorials/merlion_park.html
http://www.thedreamengine.co.uk/dreamhtml/transparenscenes.html
