PERSONAL REFLECTION

I’ve been to Singapore Arts Festival 2012 for 3 times though it was my first time experiencing in Singapore Arts Festival. The first time I went was with my friend and it was during the first few days of the start of the festival. I managed to watch the performance that I’m been looking forward to it which is FLUX! As I’m not someone who really know how to appreciate arts and culture, but I still find the performance amazing. Maybe because it was my first time seeing a centaur performing and the view was close enough. 

The rest of the performances I went to see are all free. However, I noticed that there are not much people at Singapore Arts Festival during my first visit. I think it should be because it falls on a weekdays and many people might not have the time to visit. I also went to experience how the Bridge Café Project is like and it amazed me. The café workers are really entertaining. They performed and dance happily infront of the customers as they treat the place like their dance floor. They also managed to get the customers engaged by dancing with them. The whole festival café is full of music and laugher.   

For the next two visits, I went there is because I volunteered myself to be the ambassador of Singapore Arts Festival. It was really fun to work as an ambassador of Singapore Arts Festival! My job is to help out for the Spooky Stories by Children as a timekeeper. The process of my job is to ring the bell every 10 minutes so to allow the guides to bring their audiences move from one location to another when they hear the bell rings. It was a simple job but I’ve experienced how it like is to work in a festival. I also managed to listen to some of the spooky stories told by the children. I was impressed by them as they have confidence when they are telling stories infront of the public. This is what I must learn from them. Also, I’ve helped the children to do spooky make-up that I’ve never done before. And I felt good after hearing them praising about my make-up skills. 

Besides working with children, I also work with two of the staffs for the Kids Arts Festival – Ms Teenie and Ms Georgina. I spent most of the time with them because they are also in-charge of the timekeeper. I find that both of them are very approachable and friendly. Though our job is quite boring but standing next to Ms Georgina is actually quite fun. She is quite humorous always. Here is a picture of her with her so called ‘funny’ face.

Ms Georgina & ME :)

In conclusion, I think that Singapore Arts Festival is really a fun place to go. Not only experience the arts and culture but also the entertainment over there. I find that the lightings in the park make the whole environment really beautiful. During weekends, there is flea market being set up infront of the entrance of the Singapore Arts Festival. People can shop and enjoy performance at there. 

Also, it would be easy for visitors to reach the Singapore Arts Festival because there are directions available along the pathway near Singapore River. 

So overall, I think Singapore Arts Festival 2012 is successful.

I’m so looking forward to Singapore Arts Festival 2013 ! Hope I am able to volunteer myself again as an ambassador of Singapore Arts Festival J

PICTURES TAKEN : 

“UNAVAILABLE MARKET”

From what I’ve observe, the people who went there are mostly families with kids, tourists, adults and young adults. The unavailable markets are those senior citizens and those who have walking difficulties or are handicapped. As this festival is held outdoor, senior citizens who have difficulties in walking or are handicapped will have problem visiting the festival. Furthermore, the paths are not suitable for them as it is uneven and the set up areas are mostly on the grass. So, it is actually quite inaccessible for them. Therefore, I consider them as the unavailable market for the Singapore Arts festival.

In order to those senior citizens who have difficulties in walking or are handicapped to visit the festival, they have to make it accessible to reach out to these people. They can either held the festival indoor or change to a location where the areas are more suitable for senior citizens. I know it would be costly to set up festival in an indoor place so maybe Singapore Arts Festival can work with schools to host this event. School are big enough and they have facilities such as halls or auditorium or classrooms to showcase their performances. Most importantly, it would be accessible for the senior citizens who have difficulties in walking or are handicapped as there are even paths and lifts available for them.  

COMPARING THE CHANGES IN 2011 AND 2012 SINGAPORE ARTS FESTIVAL

The Singapore Arts Festival theme for 2011 was ‘I Want to Remember’ while the theme for this year is ‘The Lost Poems’. Last year, it focused more on remembering the olden days. It engaged most of the old people. There are many performances on singing of the old songs and shows about the different culture. However, in 2012, it focused more on stories, legends and myths coming alive. Below are the videos that I’ve found for 2011 and 2012 Singapore Arts Festival.

Singapore Arts Festival 2011 Highlights

Singapore Arts Festival 2012 Highlights

So, I think that is the main difference of the theme for the Singapore Arts Festival 2011 and 2012.

Another changes is the date of the festival. In 2011, it was held from 13 May to 5 June while in 2012, it was held from 18 May to 2 June. There is a one week difference between this year and last year. This year the festival was held shorter as compared to last year.

Also, this year there is Bridge Café Project being set up in the festival. This is the first time they set up out of Japan.

Besides that, the visitor numbers have also increased as compared to last year. I’ve tried asking one of the staff while doing my volunteering job and she told me that this year there are more visitors visiting the festival than last year. There is not much different between locals and tourists who visited the festival. 

Reference:

http://www.singaporeartsfest.com/event/bridge-cafe-project/

EVENT MARKETING MIX (8Ps)

There is a total of 8Ps in the event marketing mix: Product, Place, Promotion (Communication), Partnerships, Packaging and Distribution, Programming, People and Price. However, I will be elaborating more on what I’ve have chosen which is Product, Promotion Place and People. 

Product:

It is important to know what the potential customers need, want and what they are willing to pay for so, a product is seen as an item to satisfy them. A product has 4 levels: Core Product, Facilitating Products, Supporting Products and Augmented Product.

Core product refers to what the buyer is really buying. The Singapore Arts Festival’s core product is the entertainment and experience that the visitors gain when they attend the arts festival. The main reason why the visitors attend the Singapore Arts Festival is simply because they want to appreciate and know more about the arts and culture. So the core product can also be education.

Facilitating products refers to goods or services that must be present for the guest to use the core product. In other words, facilitating products help to facilitate the core product. The Singapore Arts Festival’s facilitating products is the programmes (The Flight of the Jade Bird, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Vertical Road, FLUX etc), workshops/master class (music writing, unleash the beast, the delicious moving body etc), performances and music.

Supporting products refers to additional products offered to add value to the core product. The supporting product for the Singapore Arts Festival would be café, bar, brochures, information and ticketing counter, festive village calender, festive village map, directory sign and the ambassador.   

Augmented product includes accessibility, atmosphere, customer interaction with the service organisation, customer participation and customers’ interaction with each other. The augmented product for the Singapore Arts Festival would be transport such as the Esplanade MRT station, the relaxing atmosphere and service provided by the ambassador such as guiding. 

Promotion:

Promotion refers to the full range of “communication mix” including advertising, sales promotions, public relations, personal selling and direct marketing.

The Singapore Arts Festival provides information for the public through advertisement mainly at the MRT stations. Posters about Singapore Arts Festival 2012 can be seen everywhere especially at Esplanade MRT station. In addition, there is a short advertisement being shown on the television that can be found in the MRT station. Advertisement on MRT stations can reach out to people who always take train as their transport. So the people can read and watch the advertisement while waiting for the train. 

There are also other forms of advertising such as brochures and online social networking. There are many different types of brochures can be found at the information counter. Online social networking such as Facebook and Twitter are used to reach out to people especially teenagers because these people spend most of their time using internet. The Singapore Arts Festival has its own webpage too. (http://www.singaporeartsfest.com/). There are also videos being uploaded on Singapore Arts Festival’s YouTube channel. As many people are using iPhone gadget nowadays, Singapore Arts Festival created an application for iPhone users so they can easily access it. Details about Singapore Arts Festival 2012 can be found in the Singapore Arts Festival application. Also, iPhone users can check out what is happening new at the Singapore Arts Festival. There is also QR reader inside the application so people can just simply use their phone to scan the QR code.

Singapore Arts Festival also come up with sales promotion. They have 3 different types of sales – Pre - Sales, Early Bird Sales and General Sales. They can enjoy up to 20% discount off tickets with terms and conditions apply. In addition, full – time students, NSFs and senior citizens also can get 20% discount off tickets. 

Place:

Singapore Arts Festival 2012 is held at Esplanade Park which is located near the Esplanade. It is very convenience for visitors to visit as there is Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) stations, bus stop and taxi stand nearby. The nearest MRT station is Esplanade MRT station. It is just a few minutes walk from the station to the Esplanade Park. In addition, Esplanade Park is located in the central area of Singapore. Singapore most popular tourist attractions such as Singapore River and Singapore Flyer are located near to the Esplanade Park. Also, buildings such as Marina Bay Sands, Esplanade – Theatre on the Bay and Fullerton Hotel are around its surrounding. It is a great location because many people, be it locals or tourists, will be around the area. So, it can attract the people to come for the event.

The Esplanade Park turns into Festival Village for this arts festival. Here is a map of the Festival Village. 

As you can see from the map, the area is being organised into different sections such as Main Stage, Kids Arts Village, Black Box, Festival Café, Festival Bar, Ticketing & Information Booth and others. Visitors can go to the different section without getting confuse and mix up because all the sections are separated and there are directory sign to guide the visitors. The main stage is a place where the village music shows are performed at there. The layout of the main stage is huge as performances such as FLUX needs spaces to perform. Kids Arts Village is an area for children. The activities such as Tangle are designed in a colourful way where children love the most. Also, one of their programme, Spooky Stories by Children, make use of the park efficiently as many historical landmark such as Tan Kim Seng Fountain, Lim Bo Seng Memorial are located there. So this can actually add to the atmosphere of the environment. The Ticketing & Information Booth is set up at the main entrance of the event. This makes it easy for the visitors to view the various programmes they want to join and to make any purchase of the tickets to the ticketed programmes.

People:

The people you can find in Singapore Arts Festival are the staffs, ambassadors, performers, surveyors, visitors and the café waiters. All of them play an important role in representing the Singapore Arts Festival. Without them, Singapore Arts Festival will not be successful. The role of staff is to provide training for the ambassadors to make sure that all of them are well-equipped. There are many different roles of ambassadors. Some ambassadors are in charge of giving direction to the visitors, controlling the crowds, distribution of brochures, providing information about the shows while others are in charge of helping out the various activities. There is a form of interaction given between the ambassadors and the visitors because visitors will approach the ambassadors for help in giving directions. Many ambassadors are scattered around the festival so that visitors can reach out to them easily. They can be easily spotted because all of them are wearing the bright pink official festival ambassadors T-Shirt. As for the performers, their role is to entertain the audiences. They must get the audiences to be engaged and involved. This can be considered a form of interaction too. The visitors play an important role in this festival. Without the visitors, nobody will be able to play their various roles in helping the festival. For example, the performers won't have anyone to see their performances, the cafe waiters won't have anyone to serve etc. So the role of visitors is to bring in fun, joy and laughter. All the people must be enthusiastic about their role in order for festival to be successful. 

Overall, I think that the event marketing mix that had been adopted in the Singapore Arts Festival is very effective in contributing towards the success of this festival. The product really satisfy the needs and wants of the consumer. I can see that most of the visitors especially the children are enjoying themselves in this festival. The promotions are successful as it can be reach to many people through advertisement on MRT station, online social networking, brochures, online videos and iPhone application that Singapore Arts Festival used. Also, sales promotion such as Pre-Sales, Early Bird Sales and General Sales are used. The place that this festival is held is quite convenient to many people as different transports available nearby. Furthermore, it is situated in a place where surroundings are all the Singapore most popular tourist attractions. So, it can attract more visitors to attend this festival. Singapore Arts Festival made up of people that play an important role in contributing to the success of this festival. Hence, I think all the components used are effective in contributing to the success of this festival. 

Reference:

Temasek Polytechnic. Festive and Events Lecture 4: Marketing Part 1

Temasek Polytechnic: Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism Lecture 6: Designing & Managing Products

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing_mix

BEFORE GOING TO SINGAPORE ARTS FESTIVAL

I have never been to Singapore Arts Festival before and knowing that I am going there in a week time, I felt excited about it. I could hardly wait till next week because I’ve already browsed through the programmes that the event offers in the Singapore Arts Festival website. Also, I’ve watched some of the videos of the programmes that interest me. For example, FLUX and The Wind Up Bird Chronicle. I’m looking forward most to FLUX because I’ve never seen horses being featured in any performance. Furthermore, I would be able to have a close up view with the horse without paying any money LOL !

Anyway, before the Singapore Arts Festival officially starts, I actually went there for training. I volunteered myself to be the ambassador of Singapore Arts Festival 2012. I will be helping out at the Kids Arts Village as a time-keeper. During the training, I was told to ring the bell every 10 minutes, so that the group leaders can bring the groups around the 3 locations. Although this is a simple job, but I will still be looking forward to help out on these two days (1&2 June).  

SINGAPORE ARTS FESTIVAL 2012

Singapore Arts Festival 2012 will be held over 16 days from 18 May – 2 June at the Esplanade Park.

The festival will highlight the presence of puppetry. This is considered one of the most important mediums in the region because stories, legends, teachings, folklore and myths were once communicated using puppets.

Unique about this festival is that there are real horses seen in the festival. The horses are featured in the performance, FLUX. It is the first time a centaur is present right in Singapore.

Another unique about this festival is the Bridge Café Project. In Japan, there is a special café that is similar to Bridge Café Project where middle-aged men were recruited not only serve as café waiters but also performed and danced to entertain customers. However, in Singapore, it is abit different because youth generation will also join to perform and dance. 

THEME

For the Singapore Arts Festival, there is a theme for every year. This year’s theme completes the trilogy of themes that were set two years ago. In 2010, the theme was ‘You and Me’ and in 2011, the theme was ‘I Want to Remember’. This year, 2012, the theme is called ‘Our Lost Poems’.

Our Lost Poems looks at myths, legends, wandering thoughts, reflections, lost riddles and hidden stories. It is a discovery of tales and aspirations that need to be told and retold. Stories that inspire us, legends that have deep cultural roots, and riddles that reveal the secrets of the world. This coming Festival finds us at a crossroad, waiting to reaffirm our sense of place in time as we uncover refreshing facets of ourselves:

Something ancient.

Something lost.

Something hidden.

Something new.

Reference:

http://www.singaporeartsfest.com/2012-festival/

BACKGROUND

Singapore Arts Festival first started in 1977 as a national showcase celebrating the local arts of Singapore's diverse communities. For the past 30 years, the Singapore Arts Festival has played a symbiotic catalytic role in development of the artistic and cultural life of Singapore. It has helped to transform the city's cultural landscape, turning it into one of Asia's major cultural capitals today. In addition, it has influenced the work of artists and increased a growing public demand for the arts, spawning new capital platforms, events and movements that help underpin the lively cultural scene in present day Singapore. In 2010, Singapore Arts Festival saw its turning point under the leadership of Lee Kee Hong, the general manager of Singapore Arts Festival. Today, Singapore Arts Festival has become an international showcase of ideas, art and discourse with a distinctive Asian flavour, known for its bold and innovative discussions between vernacular and contemporary art. 


Singapore Arts Festival is an arts festival held annually in Singapore. Organised by the National Arts Council, it is one of the most significance events in the regional arts scene. Singapore Arts Festival usually held in mid-year for a stretch of one month, incorporates theatre arts, dance, music and visual arts, among other possibilities. The participants for the events include both local and international artists. However, approximately 70% of the events are put by international artists. 


Reference: 
http://www.singaporeartsfest.com/about-singapore-arts-festival/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore_Arts_Festival