Singapore Biennale 2008

2008-11-24T23:41:00.012+08:00

Admission ticket and short guide of SB2008

1. Introduction

The objective of this report is to access the marketing mix used in this art festival – Singapore Biennale 2008 (SB2008) and how effective the marketing mix is in proportion to the success of the entire event. The methodology of research used in this report is on-site visit, guidebook to the festival as well as online research.

The first Singapore Biennale held in 2006 – themed ‘Belief’ was organized by the National Arts Council of Singapore. More than 883,000 visitors from both Singapore and overseas attended the 72 day exhibition which showcased 95 artists and artist collectives from 38 countries and regions, portraying artworks from Asia, Middle East, Latin America and Africa.

The event attracted wide media interest, including art critics. More than 1,000 articles were published which were estimated to cost around $19,300,000, gained 103,000,000 readers. In addition, the Singapore Biennale 2006 website accumulated 1 million hits. (Refer to Appendix 1)

Returning for the second time, there are 66 artists and art works from more than 35 countries and regions. The Singapore Biennale 2008 was held from 11 September to 16 November 2008 with a new theme – ‘Wonder’, which urges visitors to “wonder anew at the world you live in. Feel surprised, be awed, challenge your perspectives and ponder the profound.” (Refer to Appendix 2)

Ev2. Evaluation of the Effective Use of Marketing Mix

Product

The core product of Singapore Biennale 2008 is an arts exhibition, where visitors journey through the exhibitions, understanding the various messages that the artists are trying to convey through their works, and at the same time forming an opinion of their own from these messages.

The tangible product of SB2008 is the venues where SB2008 is held, the 137 art exhibits from more than 36 countries and region (refer to Appendix 3), the short guide or audio guide on SB2008, and brochures with information on the content of SB2008. Other forms of tangible products such as F&B outlets are not available in SB2008 due to the nature of the festival being an arts festival, the space available for exhibition is to create an ambience for visitors and the existence of an F&B outlet might be too noisy or inappropriate.

The augmented product is that SB2008 is an art exhibition based both indoors and outdoors. Being a festival that occurs once in every two years, the artists SB2008 attracted are regional and on a larger scale. In addition, rather than just focusing on one media of arts expression (such as paintings, sculptures, etc) as what most art exhibitions do, they incorporated audio and video materials. There are also limited collectables that are available for sale at the main venues, namely the limited edition T-shirt designed by Club 21 and limited edition tote bag.

Although the product is not too sophisticated or all inclusive, it brings about a clear idea to the visitors what to expect to experience in SB2008. This makes it easier for SB2008 to attract a mass market as the idea put across is easily understandable by different groups of people and allows different groups of people to enjoy this art festival together. Therefore, even though the product is minimal, SB2008 has used it well to its advantage to convey the product to the public.

Price

The admission fee for SB2008 is fixed at $10 per single entry pass to the 2 main venues – City Hall and South Beach Development, and additional $21 for entry at the Singapore Flyer while the entry to all other venues are free of charge. There is a 50% discount off the admission fee for children above 3 years old, full time students with a valid student pass and senior citizens aged 60 and above.

The pricing of the admission ticket is generally affordable by members of the public and with additional discounts for children, students and the elderly, it can be seen that SB2008 is a mass-market event that is targeted at the general public. To encourage more visitors, SB2008 offered the ‘One for One Ticket Promotion’, whereby visitors can bring a family member to register at the Containart Pavilion and and a complimentary ticket will be presented.

However, the short guide of SB2008 is not provided with complimentary tickets so if visitors holding the complimentary tickets wish to fully enjoy the exhibitions, they will have to pay $6 for the short guide, which helps SB2008 to earn revenue despite giving out free tickets.

Although the admission fee might not be a substantial amount enough to cover all expenses and earn a profit, SB2008 is most probably receiving grants from the government as the National Arts Council (NAC) is the organiser of SB2008 (refer to Appendix 4). This indicates that SB2008 is not a privately organised exhibition which main concern is to reap profits but might rather have other objectives they hope to achieve with this exhibition like the promotion of arts in Singapore. Interns and volunteers are strongly welcomed to join SB2008 (refer to Appendix 5) as well, which helps to lower the cost of manpower as many people are needed to oversee the exhibition which spans over 6 different venues.

With a mid-range priced admission fee that is deemed generally affordable and price discrimination practiced to further ensure the affordability for children, students and elderly, this will help contribute to the high attendance rates of SB2008.

Place

There are multiple venues where the Singapore Biennale 2008 is held as per that of SB2006. This year, the venues are City Hall, South Beach Development, Raffles City Shopping Centre, Marina Bay, Esplanade Bridge, and Singapore Flyer (refer to Appendix 6). The reasons for choosing these venues are that they are spacious indoor/outdoor areas and are all within walking distance of each other, allowing visitors to freely roam the venues to discover the inspiration and awe from within.

In addition, with more venues available for visitors to visit and two ticketing booths at the 2 main venues, this increases the probability of SB2008 reaching out to more customers and makes it more convenient for customers to purchase tickets, thus increasing their willingness to consume and ticket sales for SB2008.

The 2 main sites are well chosen for SB2008. Both City Hall and South Beach Development have played major roles in Singapore history – City Hall witnessed the surrender of the Japanese as well as the self government of Singapore, the merger with Malaysia thereafter, as well as the sworn in of the first Singapore Government after separation and is now undergoing transformation into a world class national art gallery in 2013, while the South Beach site held the first National Service enlistment.

Quoting Mr Fumio Nanjo, the Artistic Director of SB2008 from the SB2008 guide, “South Beach Development could be said to represent the past of Singapore, City Hall the present in transition, and Marina Bay the future.” Using these sites as the main venues fits well into the theme of SB2008 – Wonder, whereby visitors get to experience the past and present of the venue and Singapore, leaving them space to ponder over the future and the many mysteries of the world. (Quoted from the short guide of SB2008 – “Artistic Director on The Art Of Wonder”)

Being situated in the centre of Singapore, SB2008 is likely to attract visitors from all parts of Singapore who congregate at the central as well as tourists who are in the vicinity to explore the cultural or entertainment side of Singapore. With artworks displayed outdoors at Esplanade Bridge and Raffles City Shopping Centre will allow SB2008 to engage mere passer-by in the world of arts even if they did not visit the site with the intention of viewing the artworks.

Promotion

SB2008 first came up with a commercial featuring people of different races and age groups, representing the demographic makeup of Singapore, saying “Wonder” after the screen showed “In Art, you’ll find your moment of…” This commercial introduces the audience to Singapore, and more specifically, the SB2008 and its theme ‘Wonder’. The commercial ended with the statement “Let the enchantment begin” which serves to intrigue the audience of what will be the content of SB2008 and spark their interest in attending SB2008. The duration of SB2008 was also added below the ending statement to inform the audience when they are able to attend SB2008. (Refer to Appendix 7)

The Vernissage was held on the 9^th and 10^th of September with programmes which includes a press conference, gala dinner and opening party of SB2008. This acted as a prelude to create a buzz for the opening of SB2008 and presumably attracted extensive media coverage at the press conference after the very successful inaugural SB2006, art professionals and government institutions were also involved, which created further publicity and promotion of SB2008 to the public.

The Encounter Series was aimed at the public and art communities, bringing them together with the Singapore Biennale curatorial team. This creates a bond and sense of belonging between these different groups of the Singapore community and promotes attendance at SB2008 among them. Parts of the Encounter Series are media events whereby SB2008 get to promote themselves to the media world and thereafter to the public through press conferences.

The first Encounter – Encounters 01 was a media event held in the Venice Biennale 2007, was announced by the Artistic Director Mr Fumio Nanjo which gave a kick-start to SB2008 revving up the media interest on SB2008, not only showcasing SB2008 to Singapore but staging it internationally. (Refer to Appendix 8)

Programming

The Encounter series consist of artist talks, lectures, public forums, dialogues, and focus group sessions. The public forums, dialogues and focus group sessions are more general and require a certain maturity level and therefore is likely to be targeted at adults while the artist talks and lectures are more educational based and likely to be targeted at secondary and tertiary students.

Additional programs available for these students are:

· the Biennale Race 2008 – an Amazing Race alike whereby youths in teams of four have to race through SB2008 sites’ and complete tasks pertaining to the exhibits,

· Peer-led Guiding – whereby students are sent for a half-day training and then take their peers on a customised tour,

· the Wide Open Wonder (W.O.W) Trail – a 3 hour trail of SB2008,

· the Unconference – which allows participants to chat one-to-one about a chosen topic of the night within 4 minutes,

· as well as Wanderlust – where students come up with virtual maps of SB2008 sites with artists and are showcased on SB2008’s website.

Not neglecting the younger generations of Singaporeans, a joint effort of Singapore Biennale and Jet Airways came up with the Kids’ Biennale, whereby Singapore Biennale collaborated with Little Art Bug Workshop to bring the theme ‘Wonder’ into the classrooms of primary school students, imparting the skills and concepts of art inspired by Alice in Wonderland, thereafter ending their learning process at SB2008, where the Kids’ Biennale section will showcase the outstanding art works and special projects.

These are the programs held on site of SB2008 in conjunction with the Kids’ Biennale:

On-the-Spot Art Competition – with 2 categories for lower and upper primary students and attractive prizes to be won.
The Hunt for The White Rabbits – a treasure hunt where participants complete a puzzle and enters a lucky draw
Windmills of Wonder Day – a fund raising program where children aged 6 – 12 make windmills to raise funds for children’s charity and thereafter is entitled free entry to SB2008.

All these programs not only engages the primary level students but also their parents who attend the programs with them. In addition, the treasure hunt and Biennale Race helps to get participants to familiarise themselves with SB2008 sites and artworks involved before they enter the exhibition with renewed understanding of the exhibits in front of them. With the involvement of both educational institutions and adults, SB2008 is able to spread the arts and knowledge of the arts to all levels of the public, be it children, students or working adults.

Packaging

A package jointly offered by SB2008 and Singapore Flyer includes the short guide to SB2008, a one-time entry to the main venues as well as a ride on the Singapore Flyer, with special rates offered to students and senior citizens, which would attract many Singaporeans and tourists alike as it offers them the chance to enjoy both SB2008 as well as a chance to get on board the newly opened Singapore Flyer and experience Singapore in a different point of view.

This also benefits Singapore Flyer and SB2008 as during the promotional season of the package, visitors to the Singapore Flyer would prefer to buy the package as it is seen as more value for money and vice versa at SB2008, boosting the sales of tickets for both Singapore Flyer and SB2008.

SB2008 also collaborated with other art exhibitions in Asia-Pacific to form the Art Compass 2008, whereby the art exhibitions are lined up one after another – from the Biennale of Sydney, to the Gwangju, Shanghai, Singapore Biennales and lastly the Yokohama Triennale. On SB2008’s end, travel packages to Art Compass include return air tickets, hotel accommodations and airport – hotel transfers handled by Tradewinds Tours & Travel.

Although SB2008 made use of packaging, they did not provide a full package that encompasses the entire exhibition. The Art Compass travel package could include the Singapore Flyer and SB2008 package and maybe even provide transportation from the hotel to SB2008, making it a full package that tourists can just pick up and go. Alternatively, as food and beverages are not covered in this festival, SB2008 could coordinate with Raffles City Shopping Centre and offer a package to SB2008 and vouchers from Raffles City Shopping Centre with a certain cash value for customers to spend on food and beverage within the mall.

Partnership

The major sponsors of SB2008 are mainly government agencies such as Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), and Singapore Tourism Board (STB). These government agencies play a big part as partners as URA facilitates the land planning of Marina Bay and therefore can best arrange for artworks to be showcased at different parts of Marina Bay, while STB is the National Tourism Organisation of Singapore, and by promoting SB2008 through STB, this acts as a platform for SB2008 to get to more tourists.

Other major sponsors include City Developments Limited, Eladgroup and Dubai World (South Beach Development), Singapore Flyer Pte Ltd , and Raffles City Shopping Centre and Marina Bay Singapore, are the site owners of some of the venues of SB2008 and Jet Airways is the official partner for the Kids’ Biennale and are therefore the ‘essential’ partners of SB2008 for the festival to run smoothly (Refer to Appendix 9).

With Passion Card as their community partner, SB2008 can better reach out to the local community through community centres, where Passion Card promotions are more widely advertised. Anderson’s Ice Cream sponsored free ice cream for the Kids’ Biennale event which helped SB2008 save costs on providing free treats for the children.

With educational partners such as National Library Board (NLB) and LASALLE College of the Arts, SB2008 is able to market themselves to schools and people interested in education.

Overall, SB2008 has maximised the utilisation of partnerships with beneficial organisations and this could be one of the reasons for the overwhelming success of SB2006, and once again for SB2008.

People

The people involved in SB2008 are the organiser, interns, volunteers, steering committee, secretariat, artistic director, and curatorial team (refer to Appendix 10). During the Encounter Series, members of the public get the most interaction with the arts community and curatorial team of SB2008, facilitating understanding and helps the curatorial team to obtain feedback about SB2008. With a better understanding of SB2008 and the people behind this festival, the public will feel a sense of ownership for the arts in Singapore as well as for SB2008.

In the exhibition sites, there is minimal contact between the people involved and the visitors except at the ticketing booths, which is most probably the main interaction between the staff members and visitors purchasing the tickets.

This may be accounted for due to the nature of this festival being a showcase of artworks, visitors are given much personal space to connect with the artworks and find their personal meaning from within. However, as many visitors are members of the public and might not necessarily have knowledge about art, the staff members who are stationed at different areas of SB2008 to oversee and maintain the art works can be empowered to go beyond their duties, for example, help to elaborate the significance of the artworks to seemingly interested/attracted visitors and improve the visitors’ experience at SB2008.

3. Tourism Roles and Economic Value of SB2008

With Singapore’s aim of being Asia’s “Renaissance City” and “Global City for the Arts” (refer to Appendix 11) – a city envisioned by the government to be a leading arts and cultural hub in Asia, adding on to Singapore’s list of being a financial hub, leading sea port and airport, as well as a leader in the meetings and convention sector. This creates a more positive impression of Singapore to the world, which will in turn attract more investors to invest in Singapore

The highly acclaimed Singapore Biennale had been a one hit success since its inaugural in 2006. With extensive local and international media coverage as well as exhibiting art works from different regions in the world, the Singapore Biennale becomes a convergence point for art enthusiasts from all over the world to come together and appreciate the art works and culture of Singapore at the same time. After the success of SB2006, SB2008 acts as an animator by attracting repeat visitors from SB2006, which will further enhance Singapore’s position in the arts world as an arts hub where people are willing to travel from other places to Singapore just to enjoy the fine arts showcases here.

Although SB2008 is promoted at the general public, this can be seen as an effort by the National Arts Council to expose the public, locals and visiting foreigners alike, to the arts, cultivating the arts in people over time. With a more exposed general public to the arts, the image of Singapore will be elevated and thus reduces any negative image of Singapore that the world might have before.

Arts being a high culture whereby individuals need a certain level of skills or education to interpret the meanings behind the art works, indicating that such individuals are likely to be on the higher income end of the society as they are higher educated and thus have a higher spending power, making arts a highly profitable sector. By venturing into this highly profitable sector of the arts now, this will help to stimulate the growth of Singapore’s economy, as shown in SB2006 where it attracted more than 883,000 visitors locally and worldwide.

4. Conclusion

Overall, the success of SB2008 is largely due to the effectiveness of the marketing mix. However, certain improvements can be made; namely a more all rounded package that cater to most if not all the needs of the visitors, as well as the interaction between the staff and visitors of SB2008. With rectifications made to address these issues, SB2008 can maximize the utilization of the marketing mix, and bring the results of the festival to new heights.

Picture with the Evolutional Mythology, 2007 by Han, Jong-Gun
(additional pictures are available at the yellow page marker)

Fest & Events

Singapore Biennale 2008