FEM Individual Field Trip Assignment
1 Marina Bay Sands – Event Marketing Strategy
I’m representing Marina Bay
Sands Singapore. Marina Bay Sands has played host for many local and
international events ever since it made its opening. Its events are of diverse
types. Singapore Arts Festival, Chingay Parade and Rhythms by the Bay are
examples of the arts & cultural festivals hosted by Marina Bay Sands.
Family bonding events include Baby’s Day Out and sports events include Walk
with Diabetes 2012, DBS Marina Regatta 2012 and Run 350. Marina Bay Sands
hosted international festivals and events like Beerfest Asia 2012 and Timbre
Rock & Roots. Other than external events as mentioned above, Marina Bay
Sands has also held some of their own events. Marina Bay Christmas Splendour, i
Light Marina Bay and Loving Marina Bay are some of such events.
The wide variety of types of
events hosted by Marina Bay Sands has shown that Marina Bay Sands does not only
target to appeal to only one or two types of events and festivals. Marina Bay
Sands is an ever changing destination and it opens its arms to all types of
events and festivals.
2 Singapore Food Festival
The Singapore Food Festival
has been one of Singapore’s most outstanding attractions ever since 18 years
ago when it first started. This festival is supported by the Singapore Tourism
Board (STB). Both locals and tourists look forward to this festival each year
as it never fails to achieve its aim of displaying Singapore’s local delicacies
and wide variety of food coming from our 4 ethnic cultures and their history.
The Singapore Food Festival is a full month festival that happens during July
of each year.
Every year, the planning
team comes up with a unique theme to highlight Singapore’s wide variety of
different food and its origins from the respective cultural groups. They also
design a new logo for each year. For example, in year 2011, the theme they went
with was ‘Spices’. The logo of the year was Singapore’s favourite spices in the
traditional mortar and pestle that was used in the good old days.
Another highlight of this
annual festival is that based on the year’s theme, a “head chef” is appointed.
In 2011, when the theme was about spices, the head chef appointed was Chef
Milind while this year, having the seafood theme, the head chef for Singapore
Food Festival 2012 was Chef Eric Teo. A Singapore Food Festival Village is set
up every year. These villages have many stalls set up for people like us to
taste food based on each year’s theme. Yum! We can also sign up in advance to
learn how to make such dishes as there are live cooking demonstrations in the
village. What’s best about the cooking demonstrations is that you get to eat
the full meal, lunch or dinner after the chef is done with the demo!
For some years, the chefs
will come up with a premium food platter. For example, for the seafood theme in
2012, the chefs came up with the ‘SFF Seafood Platter’ that included a choice
between Chilli Crab and Butter crab, Nonya style deep-fried Coral Trout,
crisp-fried prawns tossed with salted eggyolk, stir-fried live geoduck with
asparagus in XO sauce and supreme seafood fried rice. Mmm.. Sounds good! But as
we all know, good food always comes with a price. This SFF Seafood Platter
costs $36.90+. Slightly on the high side, but I’m sure that it is definitely
worth the price.
I noticed that every year
has different interesting and captivating activities. Like for this year’s
Singapore Food Festival, they held seafood eating competitions and prizes stood
to be won! They also had lucky dips and some of the top prize was a luxurious
cruise.
However, even though the
locations of the events of Singapore Food Festival are at the hubs of Singapore
and they are the popular spots, I noticed that all the venues are all located
at one area of the country. This is not beneficial to the event as it “segregates”
the target market. More people who stay in areas nearer the venues would be
appealed to take part in this festival. For example, people who stay in
Sembawang would not be as interested to go to this event as it is very far and
inconvenient for people to go to the event. Singapore Food Festival could
consider dispersing the locations of the events islandwide to appeal to a wider
target market.
3 Singapore Food Festival Marketing Mix (8 Ps)
3.1
Product
In this case, the products of
Singapore Food Festival are the Singapore Food Festival Village, live cooking
demonstrations, eating competitions, lucky dips, food trails and all the other
food-related services provided. These products have successfully captured the
attention of people all over the world to visit Singapore during July just to
experience and taste Singapore’s local delicacies every year.
These days, the lifestyles
of many is no longer “eating to live”, but is now “living to eat”. This means
that there is an increase in amount of people who search for delicious food all
over the world and people who go on food tours. Singapore, being a multi-racial
country with rich culture and heritage offers a wide range of foods and many
different flavours that cannot be found in other parts of the world. This wide
variety of food attracts food enthusiasts to come to Singapore.
This is why Singapore Food
Festival has been a success from its launch. It is the ideal place for tourists
and even locals to taste Singapore’s authentic traditional dishes. Traditional
dishes range from the famous Chilli Crab, to Hokkien Mee and even the Nonya
favourite, Ayam Bua Keluat, based on each year’s theme. Nowadays, it is
difficult to find authentic tradition food. Thus, the Singapore Food Festival is
the best way to taste such local food in its most original form.
3.2
Place
Over the years, the
Singapore Food Festival has located their activities and events at the hubs and
popular destinations in the country. For example, Clarke Quay, Singapore River,
Sentosa Harbourfront and this year at Marina Bay Waterfront Promenade. These
places are places in Singapore that many locals and tourists go to. By
situating the festival at these places, Singapore Food Festival has placed
themselves in a good position to attract people to go for their events and
activities. It is also able to get “impromptu customers” as people passing by
these places will be attracted to the festival and end up attending the events
like walking through the food festivals.
The places where Singapore
Food Festival have chosen has contributed in their success over the years. If
Singapore Food Festival decided to locate their events and activities at
secluded areas like Tanah Merah and others, they might not have had such
success as they currently have. This allowed me to observe and learn the
importance of where events and festivals are held. Locations can make a big
difference to the success of an event or festival.
3.3
Price
Unlike other big events held
in Singapore, the Singapore Food Festival food village does not require patrons
to pay an entrance fee to enter the premises of the event’s locations. This
appeals to many people especially Singaporeans who are known to be “kiasu”.
This means that as long as the event does not involve money coming from their
own pockets, they will go to the event, even if it is just to look around or
rather, look at food! This might be Singapore Food Festival’s appealing factor
to attract many Singaporeans and tourists that may be on budget to attend the
event, thus contributing to the success and great response from the local and
tourists’ crowd.
Besides providing free
entrance for the festival, there are parts of the Singapore Food Festival that
need to be paid for. For example, the ‘SFF Food Platter’ as mentioned above.
Although it is not free, I feel that it is very worth the $36.90+ considering
the fact that the food served on that platter has high cost prices. Ingredients
like crab and live geoduck definitely costs a lot. People who have been wanting
to taste such delicacies but have been unable to afford such food can take this
opportunity and take part in the Singapore Food Festival to taste these
delicacies at affordable prices. This means, attracting a wide market by
setting lower and affordable prices.
3.4
Promotion
Known to all, the Singapore
Food Festival is considered a very large event in Singapore. Every year, it is
well publicized and one will definitely know when the Singapore Food Festival
is beginning or has begun. Advertisements range from the internet, television,
radio and even posters and banners all over the country.
Using the internet is the
best marketing channel to attract patrons especially tourists from other
countries. With technology nowadays, the most commonly used medium to research
about other countries is the internet. By placing advertisements on the
internet, tourists can know more about the festival and be drawn to the
festival and what it offers. The internet also allows tourists who do not know
about the Singapore Food Festival to be aware of it while surfing the net. This
widens the target market of Singapore Food Festival and thus become an asset to
it being a success.
Advertising through
television and local radio is an effective way to publicize the festival to
locals. These two channels are the two most common form of entertainment for
Singaporeans. Many people get to know the happenings and news of Singapore by
watching television on listening to the radio. By broadcasting advertisements
through these two channels, it increases the awareness of Singapore Food Festival
to the locals and further increases the interests of such audiences to attend
the festival. This contributes to the large amounts of locals taking part in
this annual event.
Posters and banners put up
all over Singapore are definitely one of the best ways to advertise an event.
It is inevitable for people to go out of their houses, be it for work or for
leisure purposes. When there are posters and banners everywhere, passersby are
sure to notice them and this also increases people’s interest in the event which
will push them to attend the event to find out what it actually is about.
3.5
Partnership
Singapore Food Festival has
many partnered with many entities over the past years. In 2011, when the food
village was held at Singapore River, Singapore Food Festival partnered with the
F&B outlets located at the Singapore River. They provided some of dining
deals and offers for the Singapore Food Festival participants. This was appealing
to many as Singapore River is one of Singapore’s hot spots and many would be
drawn to participate in this festival because of its venue. Also, since the Singapore
River is a popular hub, dining deals and offers at the F&B outlets found
there was a “must-have” for many! This largely contributed to the large amount
of participants and the success of the event.
3.6
Programming
The Singapore Food Festival
never fails to portray itself in a well-organized yet interesting way each
year. Each year, the locations of the festival events are designed based on the
theme for each year. For example, the food village held each year follows the
theme by designing their stalls in alignment with the theme. Using the theme of
the year to design the locations is a good idea as it is able to get customers
into the mood of the theme. Like this year, the theme was seafood. When patrons
step into the location and the whole place is designed with things related to
seafood, I feel that this creates more excitement and interest to taste the
seafood dishes and learn more about their history. The distance between is food
stalls in the food village gives the food village a very neat and clean
appearance.
The design factor of the
event creates a want for patrons to want to come back each year to have the
same experience but in a different theme each year. This is good because it
means that more people will want to go for each following year’s Singapore Food
Festival thus increasing the number of patrons. However, design is not the only
factor of programming that contributes to the success of this festival.
Quality of the food served
in the Singapore Food Festival is another reason why people are enticed to go
for the event and even come back each following year. Over the past 19 years, Singapore
Food Festival has proven to have top quality food and assures customers of the
hygiene and quality of the food. Besides being reputable for such good quality
food for the past 19 years, it is known to all that top chefs are one of the
main attractions of the Singapore Food Festival. These renowned chefs include
Chef Eric Teo, Chef Violet Oon and Chef Ho Tian Tsai. All these chefs are known
for their top quality food and thus assures that the food catered at the Singapore
Food Festival are of the same quality as their food.
Other than the outlook of
the festival, Singapore Food Festival has come up with programs that entice
people to be interested in it and take part in it. Other than just having
merely a food village and cooking demonstrations, there are events like ‘Sentosa
BBQ by the beach’ and ‘Catch of the Season @ Sentosa Harbourfront’ that
provides interaction between the organisers and the participants. Interactive
and entertaining activities are more attractive to people and therefore these
interesting activities can contribute to the number of participants and the
success of Singapore Food Festival.
3.7
People
The people involved in a
festival or event is one of the most important factor of the success of a festival
or event. People like the organisers, sponsors, partners, staff, participants
and even the cleaners are important in contributing to the success of the
event. Every role that a person has in an event is essential to the success of
an event. Without organisers, there would be no Singapore Food Festival as no
one would plan the event or run it. Without sponsors, the event is unable to
pull through as it might face insufficient funds, be it for the ingredients or
props. Partners play a big part in events as mentioned above. If they are not
present, some of the activities might not have been successful. If there is a
lack, or no manpower, the event cannot be run as no one is there to cook,
promote or guide participants. What’s more, if there are no participants, the
event would be a flop as it means that no one is interested and the Singapore Food
Festival is not making any revenue or profit. And lastly, if there are no
cleaners during an event, who will clean up the areas? With no cleaners, the
event venue might end up looking like a rubbish dump. Therefore, the people involved
in an event or festival is one of the most important factors in contributing to
the success of the event.
3.8
Packaging & Distribution
Singapore Food Festival uses
the internet as an intermediary to customers to book and register for the
events catered in the festival. The internet provides fast, easy and convenient
for people interested in the masterclasses, workshops and trials. This is
effective as there might be many people who are actually very much interested in
these activities but find it a hassle to make a trip down to a certain place
just to register for them. Therefore, putting the registration up on the
Singapore Food Festival website makes it convenient and less time-consuming for
users and this will lead to a rise in number of people who sign up for the activities
and number of attendees.
3.9
Changes from year 2011 to 2012
The most noticeable
difference from last year was the theme of the Singapore Food Festival. The
theme of an event makes a huge difference in the event. Last year, Singapore
Food Festival’s theme was Singapore’s best-loved spices. This year, the theme
is seafood. The difference in theme affects the target market each year.
This means that last year,
people who might be more interested would be people who love spices and want to
try dishes that uses spices like star anise, cinnamon and other spices. This
year however, there will be more people who are interested in seafood as
compared to people interested in spices. Thus, the difference in target market
from last year to this year.
From last year, the main
sponsors and official sponsors have changed. Last year, there were 2 sponsors,
CityGas and Asahi, the other sponsors were Pepsi, Yeos, Clarqe Quay, and a few
others. This year, the main sponsor was NETS and the other sponsors were Carlsberg,
Central, Pokka, Resorts World Sentosa and a few others.
The difference in sponsors
can also attract different target markets based on their likes and dislikes of
companies. This applies similarly for partners.
Due to technology
advancements over the past 19 years, there has also been some changes in the
intermediaries that are used. The biggest benefit of technological advancement
is the use of the Singapore Food Festival website. From year 1994 to 2008,
there was not Singapore Food Festival website. The use of an official website
only started in year 2009. It has been beneficial to Singapore Food Festival as
I have explained above in the Packaging and Distribution Section. With the
convenience of the online official website, it has largely increased the number
of participants of the Singapore Food Festival. This change has played a huge
role in bringing the success of Singapore Food Festival.
4 Proposed Partnership & Special Event
As I have talked about at the beginning of this post,
Marina Bay Sands has been proven a good and effective host to many events and
festivals. Even till date, many events are held at the Waterfront Promenade and
Marina Bay and are hosted by Marina Bay Sands. I propose that Singapore Food
Festival should partner with Marina Bay Sands Hotel. This would be a winning
partnership as both festival and hotel are renowned and working together can
only bring benefits to both entities.
Singapore Food Festival is a big event that almost
every Singaporean and many tourists knows about. Marina Bay Sands is relatively
new. However, it has already made its name in the industry and is well-known
all over the world. By working together, the number of visitors and guests for
each of them will rise significantly.
Marina Bay Sands can come up with a promotion whereby
the room booking comes with a free entry to the masterclass or workshop held by
the Singapore Food Festival or discount coupons that can be used at the Food
Village. This way, Marina Bay Sands’ guests can be notified of the festival and
thus, this would lead to an increase in number of participants of the Singapore
Food Festival.
As for Singapore Food Festival, it can offer packages
and promotions. Customers who book and sign up for the masterclasses, workshops
and other activities can choose to book a package that comes with 3 nights stay
instead of just the activities. This way, Marina Bay Sands’ room sales will
increase because tourists that come to Singapore for the festival will choose
to stay in Marina Bay Sands hotel due to convenience of booking. Also, Marina
Bay Sands can offer to reserve a number of rooms for the organisers and event
personnel to stay in during this period.
Looking at this in a bigger picture, due to the cross
promotion of both festival and hotel, besides increasing number of participants
and room sales, this can also contribute to having higher number of tourists
coming into Singapore during the month of July.
Other than proposing a partnership between Singapore
Food Festival and Marina Bay Sands, Marina Bay Sands has also came up with a
special event to add on to the activities for Singapore Food Festival.
This special event came from the food village concept
that Singapore Food Festival has. What Marina Bay Sands is proposing, is to set
up a ‘Culture & Heritage Village’. The physical idea of this village is
exactly the same as the Food Village. However, instead of having food stalls,
we are proposing that the stalls talk about the origins of each food dish.
For example, as seen below in the diagram, if stall 1
in the food village is a ‘Char Kway Teow’, stall 1 in the culture &
heritage village would be talking about the origins of Char Kway Teow too. This
means that both villages will look exactly the same. However, one village is
where participants can taste the food, while the other is where participants
can find out about the origins of the dish and how it came to be.
This idea came about as we noticed that each year,
there are heritage trails that Singapore Food Festival organizes so that
participants can find out about the origins of their favourite foods. Having
such a village that is identically placed and organized allows participants to
easily gain access to the information of all these rich history. Placing the
stalls in both villages in the exact same order prevents confusion and gives
participants a surprise as they would feel like they are walking in the same
village, but actually having two different experiences.
I feel that this partnership will bring greater
improvements and novel experiences to patrons and customers like you and I and
we will be able to look forward to a better Singapore Food Festival and a
buzzier Marina Bay Sands!
References
(missuschewy), C. (2012, July). missuschewy
– Singapore Food & Fun Blog. Retrieved from Get Hooked On A Sea of
Flavors @ Singapore Food Festival 2012!:
http://missuschewy.com/2012/07/06/get-hooked-on-a-sea-of-flavors-singapore-food-festival-2012/
My SIngapore Travel. (2012, July 25). Retrieved from
Singapore Food Festival 2012:
http://www.mysingaporetravel.com/2012/07/singapore-food-festival-2012.html
Singapore Food and Beverage Alliance Pte.
Ltd. . (n.d.). SIngapore F&B Alliance. Retrieved from Past
Projects: http://www.sfba.com.sg/past_projects.html
Singapore Food Festival 2011. (2012,
July). Spice it up! Retrieved from Singapore Food Festival 2011:
http://singaporefoodfestival.com.sg/2011/
Singapore Food Festival 2012. (2012,
July). Seafood Tales of Temasek. Retrieved from Singapore Food
Festival 2012: http://singaporefoodfestival.com.sg/2012/
Your Singapore. (n.d.). Retrieved from Marina Bay
Sands:
http://www.yoursingapore.com/content/traveller/en/browse/see-and-do/family-fun/attraction/marina-bay-sands.html
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