The hotel that I am assuming to represent will be the
Marina Bay Sands (MBS). MBS is an integrated resort that is developed by the
Las Vegas Sands which aims to provide guests with an unforgettable enjoyable
experience as much as possible. Some of the events which my hotel has sponsored
are the Men Fashion Week, Andy Warhol: 15 Minutes Eternal, Women’s Fashion
Week, Harry Potter The Exhibition, Slava’s Snow Show and many more. From the
events that my hotel has sponsored in the past, it is evident that MBS is
focused on promoting the area of Fashion and the Arts in the form of
Exhibitions and shows. In addition, most of the events that had taken place in
the ArtScience Museum, which is located right outside the premises of Marina
Bay Sands.
Description
of event
The event which I have chosen for this assignment is
the Singapore International Photography Festival (SIPF). This is the third time
this event is hosted in Singapore and countless photography enthusiasts and
people who appreciate the art of photography have been attracted. SIPF offers a
wide range of exhibitions which showcase art pieces in the form of photography
by established photographers. Which include the well-known Reginald Van Develde
and Mark Power. Exhibitions of this event are located at various places, some
of which are the National Library, Singapore Management University Gallery,
Societe Generale Gallery, Selegie Arts Centre and the ArtScience Museum. SIPF
also conducts professional workshops which allow young professionals, potential
and emerging photographers to receive new skills and guidance from the
established and well known professionals. SIPF also provides a Portfolio Review
for photographers to receive reviews from curators, editors, gallery owners and
arts dealers outside of Singapore.
Review
of event
In my most humble opinion, I feel that SIPF 2012 was a
successful one as it managed to fulfill one of their main objectives of the
whole event, which is bringing photography enthusiasts together. Not only that,
SIPF also created opportunities for potential and budding photographers to
further crave their skills through workshops and portfolio reviews, which I
believe is a very important factor as it encourages and motivates them to
continue pursuing after the path of photography. SIPF 2012 also provides a
number of exhibitions to fully satisfy the participants attended this event. In
addition, SIPF 2012 has also conducted workshops and Portfolio review sessions
which I feel that is a plus point of the whole event. As it allows the
participants to bring home new knowledge and skills. This event has also
created a deeper interest for photography in me, in which I believe, is one of
the objectives for the event. And that is to reach out to their potential
target market, to instill the appreciation of arts to the young. However, I
feel that the promotion and advertising of this event is not aggressive enough,
and this results in quite a number of people not knowing that this event is
going on. Had I not heard it from my friends, I would not have known that this
event actually existed. Thus, I feel that it is a pity as many people did not
get to enjoy and experience this event.
Marketing
mix
Now, I will be comparing the 8 Ps (Product, Place,
Programming, People, Partnership, Promotion, Packaging and Distribution and
Price) for this event in 2012 with respect from 2010.
Product
The main product for the SIPF 2012 is the display of
photography. The pieces of photography art exhibited in this festival are the
works of established professionals from all around the world. And this will
allow the viewers to experience and appreciate different pieces of art at
different levels, as every artist inputs their own personality and style into
his work. In both years, the SIPF has managed to gather and displayed photograph
pieces of artists from all over the world. However, what makes SIPF 2012 better
than last year is the Magnum Photos Showcase, which displayed a total of 143
works from three prestigious photographers – Stuart Franklin, Mark Power and
Jacob Aue Sobol from the prestigious photography agency, Magnum Photos.
With
the help of all these photographs, it attracts art enthusiasts from all around
the world to come and attend this event. As it is not an everyday thing to have
photographs from many well-known and raising photography professionals
displayed in one event. In addition, there are other products such as workshops
and presentations available in this event which provides participants with activities
other than seeing the exhibitions. These products will help to attract the
participants as they can now do hands on activities which will keep them
engaged.
On top of that, there are also tangible products such
as the brochures and pamphlets to allow the visitors to have a brief
introduction on what they are expecting from the event.
There are also augmented products such as the lighting
of the exhibitions and the music in the backdrop. All these serve to create an
atmosphere that will further enhance the experience of the visitors when they
are viewing the exhibitions.
Place
For SIPF 2012, it is held over a wide range of places.
Some of which are the Singapore Management University, The National Library and
the Art House. One of the prominent things to note is that the different
exhibitions are widely spread apart. And I believe that this is a marketing
strategy in the sense that the organizers have the intention of reaching out to
locals from all over the country. This is also to provide easy access for locals
living in different part of the country this is because if the entire
exhibition is located in one area, people living far away will find it a chore
to travel there, thus reducing the intention to visit the exhibition. However,
if they are spread out in different locations, travelling will be more
accessible. The exhibition in the ArtScience Museum, the Outside In, is an
exhibition which is located at MBS displays works from Magnum Photos, A prestigious
photography company which was not part of SIPF in the year 2008.
Programming
SIPF has come up with a list of programs to fully
satisfy participants and make their money worthwhile. Other than the usual
exhibitions that are put up, SIPF also provides workshops with the intention of
craving, sharpening and instilling skills for the potential and young
photographers. In addition, portfolio reviews are also conducted to allow
photographers to have their works reviewed and commented by well-known curators
from the industry. In order to add on a personal touch, presentations were
conducted to allow the audience to have a deeper understanding of the art
works, and also draw them closer to the photographer, as he will be the one
presenting to the audience.
In the year 2012, SIPF has introduced their very first
education program, “Conversation with the Black Box”, that is specially
designed for upper secondary students and tertiary students. The objective of
the event is to guide the students in understanding and gaining the ability to
appreciate a photograph from different points of view, simultaneously, arriving
at their own opinions and reflections through the use of critical thinking.
This shows that SIPF not only aim to satisfy their usual target markets, which
are the photography enthusiasts, but also the young ones of our nation in
hoping to inculcate skills in appreciating forms of arts.
In addition, the House of Photography is introduced in
this year’s SIPF. It is a photography education space which is converted from a
shipping container. This will be a refreshing experience for anyone as in
covers the fundamental basis of photography, and also displaying how an image
can be created through the minimum use of equipment. Some of the workshops
involved in this are the Shadow Play and X-Ray Eyes, which allows the
participants to learn a technique from the 19th century to create
photographs, and the Pinhole camera workshop, which allows the participants to
make their own sneaky pinhole cameras.
There are also many interesting new activities in this
SIPF 2012, some of which are the competition of creating a story in 26 frames
and creating your own paper camera. All of these activities spurs curiosity and
interests in the visitors and are definitely contributing factors that attract
more participants.
People
The people who are involved in SIPF 2012 includes the
organizers, curators, tour guides, volunteers, instructors for workshops,
designers, editors, program assistants, exhibition assistants and the
participants themselves. Not forgetting
the artists that captured and have their work displayed in the exhibitions.
Without them, this event would not have been successful.
For example, in order for the participants to have a
memorable and enjoyable experience in workshops, the instructors must be well trained
in knowing their stuffs well and at the same time, able to be a good host or
‘friend’ to the participants. In this way, the participants will not be afraid
to open up and are willing to participant and engage themselves to the fullest
in the workshops. Thus, this will form a memorable experience in them, which is
an indication of a successful event.
Another example will be the exhibition assistants. Without them helping out and making sure that the exhibitions are set up nicely and correctly, the exhibitions will not have been as memorable as it is now. As the atmosphere and ambience is an important factor whilst appreciating an art piece, the exhibition assistants has to ensure that the lights are well dimmed, the art pieces are well spread out and displayed, whether the music in the backdrop is suitable or not.
Another example will be the exhibition assistants. Without them helping out and making sure that the exhibitions are set up nicely and correctly, the exhibitions will not have been as memorable as it is now. As the atmosphere and ambience is an important factor whilst appreciating an art piece, the exhibition assistants has to ensure that the lights are well dimmed, the art pieces are well spread out and displayed, whether the music in the backdrop is suitable or not.
Partnership
In order for the event to be produced and successful,
organizers have to work with various companies for different aspects of the
festival. One such partnership is the venue supporters which will provide the
venues where the exhibitions are held. Some of the examples are the National
Museum of Singapore, Singapore Management University and The Arts House. As
these venues are well known for the arts, it serves as a perfect platform for
the exhibitions to be held at.
Promotion
SIPS 2012 advertise their event through different kind
of mediums such as putting advertisements online, setting up posters in
shopping malls, bus stops and spreading through the word of mouth. However, I
feel that the promotion of this event is not aggressive enough. For example,
the malls that they set up the posters at are mainly Marina Bay Sands and
Esplanade Mall. And this will result in lesser people knowing that there is
such an event going on. In my opinion, if there advertising is more aggressive,
it will definitely attract more people into knowing this event. Some methods of
doing so can be doing a promotional video online and spread it across social
networking platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr. As such, once the
public knows about SIPF 2012, details of the event flow and programs can be
easily accessed through the official website in great detail, and this is a
promotional tool for the event.
Packaging
and Distribution
In terms of
packaging, SIPF 2012 came up with 3 packages for 3 different activities. One of
the package covers for all 8 sessions of talks by the artists and curators,
which cost $60 for adults and $30 for students and senior citizens. Another
Package covers the evening presentation of art pieces by artists for all 3
evenings which cost $22 for adults and $15 for the students and senior
citizens. The last package includes the screening of all 8 films which cost $60
for adults and $40 for students and senior citizens. These packages will
motivate the visitors to purchase them as it is more worth it to buy them as a
package as it will be cheaper than to purchase the tickets for the respective
activities individually.
Price
SIPF 2012 has one exhibition that requires the
visitors to purchase a ticket upon entering the exhibition, and that is the
Magnum Photo Showcase. The Magnum Photo Showcase tickets are sold at a standard
full price of $6/adult and $3/child. However, for Singapore residents, it is
sold at a discounted rate of $5/adult and $2/child. I believe this is to
encourage locals to learn and appreciate the arts and culture. There is also a
concession rate for students and senior citizens for the participation of talks,
presentation and film screenings. Also, students and undergraduates are
entitled to a $50 rebate off all Professional Workshops and Portfolio review. I
believe this is done so to encourage the young ones to attend and participate
in those activities without having to worry about the price they have to pay.
There are also workshops that require the participants
to pay before attending it. Some of which are the Shadow Play & X-Ray Eyes
which cost $15 per pax and the building a Pinhole camera workshop which cost
$20 per pax.
There are also talks and presentation conducted by
artist and curator which cost $10 for adults and $5 for students and senior
citizens.
Special
events
One special event concept that I will like to propose
to the festival organizer of SIPF is the amalgamation of a photo-taking
competition in a Fashion show. The photos that the photographers are required
to take does not only restrict to only what the Fashion show offers in the
front stage, but also what is happening in the backstage. I feel that this is
feasible as it creates a platform for the budding and young photographers to
put their photography skills in the form of a competition. Although it is
normal for photographers to take pictures of models during a fashion show, but
having a competition out of it is still a rather fresh idea. Not only it allows
the photographers gain more insights about photography art as they are able to
explore beyond their boundaries in their attempts to capture different moments
in the whole of the fashion show, it also allows SIPF to have an additional
display of art in their exhibition or an additional content for their evening
presentations.
Bibliography
Bibliography
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sgkwave. (n.d.). Retrieved 11 23, 2012, from International Designers Shine at Men's Fashion Week Singapore 2012: http://www.sgkwave.com/tag/mens-fashion-week-2012/
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Disclaimer
This blog is created entirely for the purpose of education and for the Module, Festivals and Events Management.
This blog is created entirely for the purpose of education and for the Module, Festivals and Events Management.
