References

ACM
Programme
Peranakan Museum
Scoopasia
Singapore Art Gallery Guide
Media Release
Fire Regulation

November 2008

Bituwin - template
Dementee - image

Words from Before It's Too Late by Goo Goo Dolls.

Introduction
The festival that I went to was East Meets West Festival. The event took place at: Asian Civilisations Museum, 1 Empress Place on 8 & 9 November 2008 at 12:00PM-6:00PM. I went to the festival on the second day which is the 9th November. The research methodology that I used was observation and secondary sources such as brochures, advertisements and internet research.

East Meets West Festival is a two day event. It is held in conjunction with Neither East Nor West: Asians in Monochrome that runs from 23 October 2008 to 1 February 2009. An exhibition of photographs that reflect a record of East - West diplomatic relations, figures, fashion, historical events and photographic technology of the time. The event (Asian in Monochrome) is jointly organized by Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) and Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia (IAMM).

Background of ACM
Asian Civilisations Museum focuses on the culture of Asian heritage. With exhibits of items on religion, official costume of culture, artefacts such as ancient jewellery, Asian Civilisation Museum provides facilitation with audio-visual displays and state of the Art presentation. Their mission is “To explore and present the cultures and civilisations of Asia, so as to promote awareness and appreciation of the ancestral cultures of Singaporeans and their links to Southeast Asia and the world”.

Evaluation of the effective use of Marketing
On the whole, the marketing efforts used for the festival was ideal. However, individually there may be weaknesses in the marketing components. However, there were several elements that have served their purpose and played a critical role in the event.

Product

Core
The core product is the basic feature that meets a visitor needs and benefits. The core product of East meets West Festival is experiencing the festival as this is the reason why visitors visit the museum. The product offered is beneficial to the visitor as they get to spend the time with their family, educate themselves on cultures and civilizations in Asia and get to experience the festival mood in a museum which is novel. It is also an inexpensive way to get out of the house and it presents an opportunity to meet others. As the event was a festival, I observe visitors (mostly families with children) were in a joyous mood which helps to lift the entire atmosphere of an otherwise still museum.
Left: Bond with family Right: Experience festival mood

Tangible
The tangible product is important as it emphasise on physical characteristics of a product. Upon nearing the museum, there were lots to see, touch, hear and express feelings. First, the building of the museum which features a Neo-Palladian architecture. Secondly, as I entered the museum I was greeted by a logo of ‘East meets West’ on the floor which was against a white background. The organizers provided coloured markers which visitors can use to write on the logo how they feel about the event. By doing that, the organisers have maximise branding of the logo. The tangible products of the Festival also include its performances and exhibition. The entertainment provided showcased items that reflected either East or West culture. Apart from that, the festival was dominated by very festive colours like orange and yellow for the decorations and balloons. The lighting in the museum was appropriately lighted in areas where the festival programme/activities were carried out allowing the sense of sight to be stimulated. There were various performances that evoke sense of hearing such as the drums ensemble and live music.

Left: Achitectural beauty Right: Logo at entrance








Augmented
The augmented product offers additional consumer benefits and services. The augmented product lies in its programme. There were activities provided for the children such as kids craft and making music with pots and chairs. Aside from the activities, as the festival is held at the museum, visitors get to view the exhibition. There were also products made available at the festival which requires payment – Food and Beverages stalls lined up outside the museum entrance which add s to the experience at the museum. In addition, there were also giveaways to visitors such as balloons, ice-cream and Milo.

Left: Free ice-cream Right: Balloons








Place
The festival was held at Asian Civilisation Museum. To get there, visitors have to alight at Raffles Place and walk 5-minutes to the building. It is easily accessible and surrounded by notable shopping centers and restaurant. Raffles Place is located centrally in the East-West line of Mass Rapid Transit (MRT). It was definitely convenient as there are buses to get to the museum too eg.100. Public parking is also available along Empress Place next to the building; at the basement carpark of the New Parliament House, at Six Battery Road and at One Fullerton across from the Fullerton Hotel. My concern on this is that the carpark space is insufficient for the capacity of people that they advertise to visit the museum. Although the organisers did not market about the parking space, it may cause an inconvenience for the visitors.

Aside accessibility, the place is suitable to hold performances in the museum. There was also a performance located outside the museum on the ACM Green. Combining nature and the music performance was ideal. Visitors get to enjoy the breeze while hearing rhythmic drums. Performances were also located within a short distance from each other. If a visitor prefers to watch another performance or attend activity, they may change their location with ease. There is a signage at the entrance of the museum detailing the programme line-up with the location. Although they are walking distance from each other, the organiser has spread out the entertainment at different levels and rooms. Thus, although there were performances and activities running concurrently or overlapping in time, the noise level was contained and did not interrupt other activities.

Fusion performance

In terms of atmosphere the transformation of the museum was successful. It went from a still museum to a lively festival. There were balloons in bright colours, food stalls, music/performances and the correct audience. Although it was a festive mood, people still felt secured in the building. There were no dangers that could bring harm to neither the audience nor the performers/staff/volunteers. ACM provide lockers for visitors with valuables.

Partnership
Another element of marketing seen at the event was partnership. The festival is a part of ACM programme which is a part of Museum Roundtable and National Heritage Board a governmental agency. These two agencies helped to promote the festival via their official website. ACM itself has partner with both individuals and organization. These include major donors such as ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, Mr Edmond Chin and Mr Saiman Ernawan.

It has strategically aligned itself with Milo, a company selling chocolate drink. Milo is seen as a favourite drink among kids and as an augmented product may draw children to come with their parents. The other festival partner is Canon; supplying the event with prizes for the lucky draw. It is also appropriate as the festival is part of the exhibition which features photographic technology of historic time. Other collaboration for the festival is Apsara Asia which provided entertainment while for the exhibition, ACM collaborated with IAMM.

Festival Partners: Canon and Milo

Promotion
Personally, the promotion that I encountered was through a full-page advertisement in local newspaper-Today. It caught my eyes as I was browsing the news. For the background, the colour was yellow and the designs used other very contrasting colours like purple and red. There were also images of dancers smiling. The organisers promoted the event with a logo of East Meets West Festival. It is impossible to miss the advertisement. The advertisement was in the newspaper within a week before the festival was launched. The advertisement declared a “Weekend of Family of Fun” trying to appeal to families to come to the festival. To promote the event further, the event organizer went as far as to organize a lucky draw where visitors stand a chance to win a digital camera and printer from Canon. In the advertisement, they highlighted the special exhibition in ACM that is “Neither East Nor West: Asians in Monochrome”

Newspaper advertisement-a full page advertisement

Aside from the advertisement, there was also promotion sent to Scoopasia detailing the event. ScoopAsia offers free listing of events to organizers that seek media coverage. Events are then listed and laid out in a yearly calendar for easy media planning. Tapping on its resources, Asian Civilisation Museum used its official website to tell potential visitors of the event. By tapping on the internet as a way to promote its event is a good strategy taken by the organisers. If a potential customer is browsing through the newspaper and want more details of the event they may search for the event via internet. With availability of details on the internet, it may increase the ‘pull’ for potential visitors to visit.

Aside from these channels, a media release (PDF format) by the organisers was given out to stimulate media interest in the event. However, the press release was not found on its website. Instead, I found it on National Heritage Board webpage. This is not particularly surprising as National Heritage Board collectively market for museums and heritage interpretative centres. However, the media release only mentioned the festival briefly in annexes. The festival was sidelined by the exhibition in terms of media release marketing, which had a 3-page write-up.

Packaging and Distribution
The packaging and distribution of the product was vaguely seen. They may have packaged itself well with Apsara Asia in terms of entertainment but in terms of distribution, it remains hard to be seen.

Programming
Programming is a marketing decision if properly managed, able to create targeted benefits. As the festival is a two day event, the organisers have mapped out the same programme for both days. In line with promotions that were carried out-“Weekend of Family Fun”, the programmes offered have thought of the target market in mind. In this event, they are targeting family. The mix of programme was balanced with performances and activities for children and adult. Families get to enjoy the festival either individually or together. Compared to the exhibition, the line-ups were more engaging though there may be room for improvement.

Programme lined-up for visitors

People
People involved in events are an experiential component. Examples of people are staffs, media, sponsor volunteers, and participants. They have interactions with customers and are able to shape a customer’s perception and experience. The hospitality provided by them is an essential part of the event. There were a mix of staff and volunteers providing service at the festival. Besides them, performers who performed also did their part to value add the experience the festival. In addition, there were also people who man the food and beverage stalls.

The people were doing their work effectively and were well dispersed. For example, when I was walking around, there were volunteers who were at the ice-cream station offering both my friend and I free ice-cream. In addition, we also noticed a staff who was always at the reception giving directions to a man in the museum and security guards. We also saw staff who floats around the museum which could provide valuable information to a lost visitor and also tour guides bringing the visitors around the museum. They are both knowledgeable about the exhibits and clear about the regulation (I was told that my camera should not give out flash in certain areas of the museum.)

Volunteers giving out ice-cream

The media has a stake in the festival. The event must attract the right kind of people. Publishing the festival in the media must be able to meet the objectives of an event/ festival. For example, advertising in the local newspaper Today has help to reach masses of people who later came to the festival.

Most importantly, people represents participants and spectators. The festival attracted the right kind of visitors and sponsors to create a festive mood.

Price
The admission was non-ticketed for the weekend for the festival. Usually the entrance to the museum costs $5. It definitely helps to entice families with children as it adds value by going as a family. The only item that they have to pay for is the local delights that they may consume that are found along the museum entrance. In addition to free admission, visitors also have the chance to gain free Milo, ice-cream, bond with the family through activities and performances offered and a chance to view the exhibition. In comparison to the non-ticketed entry, I personally feel the value of the festival is high. I believe the non-ticketed admission is an animator to encourage first and repeat visits.

Evaluation of how well the event used marketing mix
From my observation, I feel that the organiser has effectively used the marketing mix to pull off the event. However, there are issues that they could have tackled. Their mission to promote awareness and appreciation of the ancestral cultures of Singaporeans and their links to Southeast Asia and the world was evident. Through the attendance of the visitors (children, foreigners) they were able to present the cultures and civilization of Singapore. The organizers have definitely used the marketing mix to their advantage. By applying the marketing mix and strategically positioning the festival as a “Weekend of Family Fun”, the organizers were able to attract the right type of visitors and thus able to create an atmosphere where it is family friendly. Recognising the festival as a form of activity for family, they have successfully lined-up programmes to keep the children entertained along with their parents.

The organisers have also carefully thought of branding and logo of the festival. The colours used are in-line with the logo for the exhibit. They have included the festival logo in the advertisement and the lobby of the museum.

In terms of what they offer, although it is their mission to “increase the awareness and appreciation of the ancestral cultures of Singaporeans and their links to Southeast Asia and the world” (ie. pushing the product). They also presented the product as customer oriented. As a family, people want to learn and spend time together and experience the atmosphere. Therefore, visitors got what they wanted by going to the festival. Having a balance, they manage to provide to the customer while achieving their mission.

The organizers could have held the event anywhere. However, as this festival is in conjunction with the exhibition, they are smart as they locate themselves near the exhibition. They not only tie and link the festival and event together in terms of theme, they also created the ideal atmosphere for the festival. They also must have thought about the accessibility for the visitors as the festival location is ideally central.

Being a non-ticketed event, the festival was able to entice people to come to the festival. People recognize and value the entertainment to the entry price which was free for that day. By cleverly promoting the festival on the advertisement with “Free Admission- Save $5” they made people realize that they usually have to pay to gain entry to the festival. Potential visitors may take advantage of the opportunity presented to them by visiting the museum for the festival.

With the partnership that they forged with Milo and Canon, they have created the right image for the festival. Not only that, they got to provide visitors with better products, offering entertainment such as lucky draws and free Milo.

The people (staff, volunteers, performers) involved in the festival have positively affected the festival. Through them, visitors received good hospitality. They are the critical part of the event as they shape visitors experience and they certainly have left a good impression to the visitors.

Suggestions
There were several components of the marketing mix that I feel should be improved. They are promotion, packaging and distribution and programming. For promotion although they have done well with the advertisement in the newspaper, they might want to make improvements on their media release and internet sources of reference for the visitors. For example, the media release will be interesting if given to a media with pictures. If a media choose to publish the festival, they have graphics to insert so the news will be more interesting instead of just text. For media to choose a story out of so many events, organisers may want to look into relationship building and practice good public relations. Organisers may wish to elaborate more on the festival as I prefer to think of it as a highlight. It should not be too overshadowed by the main exhibition; it also has to equally draw the visitors. The current internet sources for visitors also lacks in graphics. To maximize the use of the internet media, they may insert videos with music.

The festival organiser may try to work with tourism government agency such as Singapore Tourism Board (STB). STB’s current website has a ‘Calendar of Event’ which the organisers can use to promote the festival. Currently, they are not using the opportunity available. In contrast, The Teddy Show which happens on the 9th November located nearby at The Arts House at the Old Parliament is featured on this website. The Teddy Show may be a competition for the festival as it also draws adults and young.

Competition

There seems to be a lack in distribution of the event. The organisers may try to partner with tour agencies and get people to the festival. They may also try package itself with Peranakan Museum or other arts organisation and organise a “mass art-hopping” ( hopping to places of Arts for a limited period of time with a mass of people) with food and beverage provided.

The programme line-up was engaging compared to the exhibition. However, as a festival, it was largely passive except for ‘make-your-own music’ and ‘kids craft’. It can afford to be more interactive as it is afterall a festival. Maybe provide more stalls for them to shop or have Traditional Asian game competition between parents and children. As the festival is a two day event, it is pretty repetitive. I suggest they have a grand opening of the festival on Day 1 and more interactive activities on Day 2.

Discuss the tourism roles and economic value of the festival
As the event is not done on a big scale, the tourism roles and economic values of the festival may not leave a large impact to the economy.

Maintaining Heritage

The tourism role that the festival was able to make on was firstly, maintain and preserving our culture. In addition, the festival is also celebrating the Arts. By preserving culture and embracing the Arts, the festival may have made potential tourists, Arts enthusiast and culture lovers to take notice. The festival may then draw more tourist to the country who are interested in areas such as culture and Arts.

Tourist attraction

By drawing tourist to the festival, they have learned more about the region’s rich culture including ours. As ACM is the first museum in the region to present a broad yet integrated perspective of pan-Asian cultures, visiting the festival may have left the tourist with a different view of Singapore. The festival may have also instilled pride and awareness in local community. With increased awareness, they might be Singapore’s ‘ambassadors’ if tourists want to know more about our heritage and culture. Through this event, Singapore may have a more positive image in terms of culture as it was always commented that our culture is not rich.

Animator

Another role that the festival may take on is that of an attraction. A tourist may refer it to their friends and family back home who will look forward to events organized by ACM. The festival is an animator which encourages first and repeat visits.

Increase visitor spending

As a two-day festival, the event is able increase visitor spending and length of stay. Eg. a tourist may be interested and his flight is due today but decides to stay on enjoy the festival. The tourist not only has to spend on additional hotel stay. He also has to spend on meals, transportation and maybe even shopping.

Attract investors

The festival serves as a novelty. Disagreeing with people who have the negative perception that museum is boring. The festival acts as an image maker. Carving itself as an inexpensive way for families to enjoy the weekend and being fun in addition to educational. Thru the festival, the museum is able to enhance and create a positive image of itself. With a positive image, the museum is able to attract investors who may provide funding to further improve the festival.

Catalyst

As a catalyst, the festival may stimulate other business or trade. The economic value of the event may have left an impact on the surrounding areas. However, I will touch on the direct impact on the museum first. The local delights stall lined outside the museum may have been affected by the increase of visitors that day. Also seeing a surge in sales may be the Museum Shop by Banyan Tree, Siem Reap Café, Indochine Waterfront Restaurant and Bar Opiume. Indirectly, there may be an increase in surrounding area of ACM. For example, visitors to the museum may want to go to a shopping centre or patronize a restaurant after their visit. Therefore, the festival may indirectly push the sales of retailers in the surrounding area.

Conclusion
The festival was a novel idea. However, there are areas for improvements and suggestions that ACM can take. I personally enjoyed myself at the festival and I think it is not impossible for ACM to have an increased attendance next year if they are doing something similar. In fact, I think it will be possible for ACM to hold it annually.

The positive factors that add to the value of the event are its product which is relatively new and at the same time it is changing its image to be more vibrant. The place was ideal as it is located centrally on the East West line and also a mere distance walk from the MRT. In addition the breeze and the performance outside was enjoyable. The festival has aligned itself with partnerships that are beneficial for both parties. However, they should have more collaboration with organization such as Apsara Asia. The manpower resource is not a problem for the organisers. They are knowledgeable and courteous and handle their duties well. The price is also not a concern for the organisers. Not only is it ticketed but visitors also see the value of the entry.

The organiser efforts in promotion have been many. However, they can improve their media release and internet sources for visitors to gain awareness of the festival. They can also improve on their distribution by working with government tourism agencies and tour agents to improve attendance as their packaging and distribution efforts have been vaguely available. The organisers also need to think about the programme for two days and avoid being repetitive. If the programme is the same for both days, the attendee on Day 1 may not return to the festival the next day. I also suggest interactive activities for visitors so that they are more engage in the programme and therefore able to make a connection with the museum.

I believe that they can look deeper in areas such as packaging and distribution, their media release format and internet promotions, relationship building and practice good public relations and plan a more attractive or appealing programme for visitors.

Overall, I feel the marketing efforts have been managed well. This is shown from their attendance of visitors to the festival. I also feel that they have enjoyed and occupied themselves with the entertainment provided. However, I feel a better promotion effort may help to entice more people to the event. Even though it is non-ticketed and a visitor may gain many free items, a potential visitor may not come to the festival if information is difficult to obtain.

Though there are eight components to the event marketing mix, organisers cannot look at them individually and work out a plan. It must be at some point integrated with each other, only then a whole picture will emerge giving the organiser a clearer picture.

End....a little video

5:27 AM ·