Sunday, November 23, 2008.
Christmas In The Tropics 2008> 8:26 AM.
Introduction:
The objective of this report is to identify the various component of event marketing mix that have been adopted in the Christmas In The Tropics 2008 and evaluate if the various components have effectively contributed to the success of this festival. Another objective is to consider the role of this festival that contributes to Singapore and to Singapore's tourism economy.
Having visited the light-ups along the Orchard Road and participated in some of the events collaborated by various organizations, research will be based on on-site experience. Other than that, researches are done through internet as well.
Christmas in the Tropics, this annual year-end festival always have a different theme every year, and this year it was themed, “ A Sweet Christmas in Singapore”, where decorations are about the Sweet Family living in Christmas Town, running a Sweet Shoppe. Activities and merchandise are therefore centered on the main characters which include Mr and Mrs Sweet and their three children with pets as well.
Every year, there will be many events happening around in Singapore aligned with this festival. There are also nightly performance by the various international cultural groups from Brazil, Taiwan, Indonesia, Hawaii, Australia and the Philippines along Orchard Road. There is also the highly anticipated Christmas Light-up which will mark its 25th anniversary this year.
November and December have been the peak period for tourism, and through this festival, it will definitely draw even more tourists and visitors, which in turn bring in more revenue into Singapore.Marketing Mix:PRODUCTThe first marketing mix I will talk about is Product which I think is the most important mix in marketing as this is the mix which will determine how to market the event and what to plan for the whole event.
For this festival, it has many products. Products will include the events and merchandises.
From the theme, “A Sweet Christmas in Singapore”, organized by the Orchard Road Business Association, a series of activities and items are derived and centered on this theme.
For instance, the main character of this event will be the Sweet Family which includes Mr and Mrs Sweet and their three children. They lived in Christmas town running a Sweet Shoppe. Decorations along the road are run based on the theme. There are also activities which further enhance on this theme. For example, every Friday, Saturday and Sunday night from 7pm to 11pm starting 28 November, the Sweet Family members will be walking along the Orchard Road giving out free candy and photo taking with the Sweet Family members are allowed. Also, limited edition products are printed, which the Sweet family will appear on.
Some of the decorations with Sweet Family being the center of attention. Continued from the same theme, decorations and the light up are evolved around the same sweet theme. The street is instantly changed into a candy paradise with gumdrops, liquorices, candy canes and jelly beans dripping along the road which create a visually appeal to the visitors. Colourful, sweet and cute.
Some of the light-up & decorationsHaving a theme for this annual will sure attract more visitors to Orchard Road, or Singapore. The theme used this year is rather family oriented which will thus also attract more families to Orchard to visit the events happening there. For locals, having this theme can attract more locals especially to families to visit Orchard, and thus the organizers have successfully targeted the families group. As shown, many foreigners came to Singapore, Orchard, to experience the atmosphere and the lightings there, having a themed event will sure add on the already significant number of tourists' visit rate.
Other than the above products, there is also free Christmas Light-Up Tour on the HIPPO Bus for visitors. While on the 30 minutes bus ride, one can enjoy the light ups fully and take photos too during their touring around Orchard Road and Marina Bay. This facility adds on to the festive experience of one. With this, more visitors will be attracted to this event, as there is extra facility provided to improve on the visitors' convenience.
Overall, I feel that the festival has used the product mix well as the products introduced are quite useful and it will be able to attract more visitors to the site and events.PLACENext is the Place mix which mainly is about the location.
Christmas in the Tropics 2008 mainly located along Orchard Road and Marina Bay. As the aim of the event is to attract more visitors to Orchard, or Singapore, thus being located in these area will definitely reach its goal.
Orchard Road is known to be Singapore's retail and entertainment hub of the city-state where the main shopping area in town. Not only it has many locals visiting Orchard, it has been a major tourism location for the tourists as well.
Marina Bay is located at near central of the southern part of Singapore. It is in the midst of transforming into the next bustling area for leisure, entertainment and business. Thus it already has some significant attractions built on site, for example the Singapore Flyer which is considered as Singapore's iconic landmark. This will in turn bring in visitors to this event when they visit Marina Bay, as there are a certain number of visitors who will go to there.
As the event is strategically located at near the central of Singapore, it will be quite accessible from the different parts in Singapore. This will then facilitate the traveling of visitors as it shorten the traveling time, which will enable people to be more willing to go for the event.
Then as the festival have other events happening around different malls and attractions, the location for these events is important too. Most of the venues are near the central, thus it’s still rather accessible for tourists, for example the Raffles City Shopping Mall, Suntec and etc.
To better bring out the atmosphere of the festival at the venue, Dick Lee, the Creative Director has conceptualize the venue with colourful gumdrops, candy cane street lamps, cupcake houses and giant doughnuts, which match the theme as set for this festival very well. It will bring out the warmth and sweetness as planned, with the suitable lightings along the streets, as well as the cute and colourful decorations around. With a different and interesting theme this year, visitor will tend to be more attracted to the event, to experience the new atmosphere and experience.
More light-upsIn all, the place mix for Christmas in the Tropics is being used relatively effectively as I find that the locations for the events are quite accessible and also it is at where most tourists will go to, thus this will able the festival to be reached out to more people.
PARTNERSHIP
Then is the Partnership mix.
Along with this festival, there are many other events happening around. For instance, the various shopping malls:
Takashimaya
Raffles City Shopping Centre
Vivo City
Marina Square
Central
Suntec City Mall
Esplanade Mall
These shopping malls have various in-house events in line with this festival being introduced to celebrate this season. For instance, Centrepoint have “The Cacao Show” that is related to this year's Christmas theme sweet family. Thus through this partnership with the shopping malls, this festival will gain awareness of the shoppers and they will in turn become the visitors of this festival as well.
Other than having the in-house events from the shopping malls, these malls are also extending their shopping hours. Shoppers can then have late night shopping in this season. With the extended hours for shopping of selected malls, there will be more options on the activities aftermath. I will enjoy the late night shopping as it will mean that I have more choices on the activities in the night. I feel that this will effectively attract the visitor to stay in Orchard.
Then the festival has also partnered with Hippo tour bus to provide visitors free tour on the Hippo bus to enjoy the Christmas Light-up on the Orchard Road. Visitors can have a better view of the light-up, and photo shots can be taken on this open-top bus during the 30 minutes tour ride. This give visitor a fresh and different encounter of this year’s light-up.
On top of that, Hitachi has been the major sponsor of the Christmas Light-Up for years along the Orchard Road. With a great support from a strong organisation, the festival is ensured having the necessary help from them.
With the sponsorship and partnership with various organizations and companies, this festival will gain awareness and recognition easier, and also there are more activities/events add on to this festival, which create a better and variety of activities for the visitors. With more resources and supports, this festival is ensured of being more successful with sufficient helps. Thus, I feel that the event has used this mix efficiently.PROMOTION
Now is the Promotion mix, which determines the advertising mode & strategies to use o market event.
Many sales promotions are available to attract more visitors to this festival. Wide variety of promotions range from merchandises to electronics to food & beverages to spa & wellness are available to all visitors. Through these promotions of various companies related to this festival, people from different group will then be reached, and thus there is awareness gained from the shoppers, which will then add on to the visitor rate for the festival. The goal of promoting to more people is successful, as the shoppers got interested in knowing more about the festival.
For advertising wise, the current festival has done a part on the e-marketing strategy. Christmas in the Tropics 2008 is being listed in the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) website. As most of the public and tourists refer to this website for guide in listing out the significant events happening in Singapore, being listed in the website will thus mean that the festival is being known by the public and tourists, which is consider as advertising. Other than that, this event has its own website which visitors who like to know more information can visit the website.
To add on, as there are some shopping malls, attractions and other participating company/organisation which collaborated with this event, the respective company and organisation will then do their own advertising on their own events and promotions. As their activities are related to this festival, Christmas in the Tropics also indirectly gain the advertising from others.
Overall, I feel that the promotion done by the festival is not sufficient. As it only has its advertising on the internet, and indirectly through the other partners' advertising, only a small group of people are being reached. Thus I feel that the festival has not fully used the promotion mix well.
I feel that it is necessary for the festival to have other means of promotion. Example will be like to advertise on magazine and on media. I feel that using these two means of promoting the festival will enable more people to know about this event as we know, media always has a great influence on people to make decision and also the media is also a better mean to reach out to a big group of people at one go. This will then be a more efficient way of promoting.
PACKAGING & DISTRIBUTION
Then we have the Packaging & Distribution mix.
There are a few package deals available for the visitors in this festival. One is the Kids Holiday Free promotion. For most of the deals, with every two paying adults, two children can have free admission, meals and surprises from over 20 attractions and over 10 dining establishments. As the festival targets on mainly families, thus having this package of children enjoying for free, it will attract families to go for the events which in turn bring up the awareness of the families on this festival.
I feel that under the packaging & distribution mix, the festival did not use this marketing mix well. The few packages it has I feel it wasn't enough to really attract many visitors to the festival. I feel that the packages were not really had high impact and special. Maybe more interesting packages can be come up with. Packages such as having accommodation, dining and merchandise in a package deal for tourists or even locals. As locals may not necessary stay in local hotel before, having this package creates an opportunity for locals to try out new experience.
Also, the festival can collaborate with a few travel agencies, thus it has more intermediaries to help promote this festival. Maybe package deals can be come up with travel agencies where more choices are given to visitors.
PROGRAMMING
Now is the Programming mix, which is consider quite an important mix of an event and festival as it will decide the interest level of the events and then determines the success of the event.
In Christmas in the Tropics, there are many different kind of programs, activities and events being integrated, to cater to the different target group of visitors with their different needs and wants, other than the annual light-up.
For families with children, most of the shopping mall's in-house programs are family-oriented, which best catered to the children. There are also musical and workshops available too.
On top of that, there also international cultural performing groups from Brazil, Taiwan, Indonesia, Hawaii, Australia and the Philippines, performing along Orchard Road. These performances cater to those who are interested in the outdoor performances.
Also, there are many other lifestyle offers such as entertainment, dining, shopping available for visitors.
With a wide variety of programs being planned in this festival, most of the visitors will have at least an activity or event to take part in. Thus, I feel that this festival overall has effectively used the programming mix to reach out to the maximum number of visitors.
PEOPLE
Next is the People mix, which comprises the interaction between costumer and the settings.
There are light-ups along the Orchard Road which give people a warm and sweet feeling which matches the theme for this year's Christmas in the Tropics well. I personally like the decorations for the light-ups, it is cute and lovely.
Other than that, there are also giant cupcake house, candy cane street lamp and many more displays which visitors can take photo with. This provides us with more interaction with the displays such as taking photos with it. Also, the Sweet family will be around the Orchard Road giving out sweets. This is the chance for visitor to interact with them.
The giant cupcake and other decorations along Orchard RoadI feel that the people mix still need more improvements on it. For this festival, the interaction between the staff and customer was quite little as there no booth or station that will require staff. However I feel that there should be a booth or information counter located someone in the venue. I think it is necessary because visitors especially the tourists will need to inquire some details about the festivals, thus it will provide convenience to the visitors which add on to their experience.
PRICE
Lastly is the Price mix where every event will have it even though the events are free.
For Christmas in the Tropics, basically there are no charges for any event except for those promotions of sales of items, spending at the respective attraction and dining establishment, and etc.
Even though most of the events are free, there are still prices and cost behind the festival. The most prominent one will be the transportation charges. As one go down to the venue, they will have to pay their transportation, For example, if a local drive in during peak time, there is the Electronic Road Pricing charges, the petrol price and etc.
I feel that maybe they can encourage visitors to use the public transports which can help them to cut cost. However I feel that the transport charges will not be a great hindrance to stop visitor for visiting, because I do not mind paying that small fee to enjoy this festival.Tourism roles and economic value of festival: It was said that Christmas in the Tropics is one of the key tourism driver in Singapore by Ms Joycelyn Ng, Deputy Director of Leisure Marketing and Events Management of Singapore Tourism Board. (Appendix A)
Thus through this festival, it is expected to draw in visitors, both locals and from overseas to Singapore. From a survey done by STB during last year's Christmas in the Tropics, if was found out that 5 million people visited the Orchard Road area, with close to 1 million of them were foreigners. This shows that the number of tourists visiting Orchard Road was relatively high. More than 30% of visitors were making a repeat visit to the Christmas light-up at Orchard Road which was an increase of 25% as compared to 2006. This shows that more visitors are interested in this festival as compared to 2006. The survey also shown than more than 15% of the visitors had planned their trip to Singapore to participate in this festival. Thus this shows this festival had already gain its recognition and satisfaction within some of the overseas visitors as they knew about this event and interested in joining this seasonal celebration in Singapore. (Appendix B)
From the statistic shown, Christmas in the tropics have been attracting visitors over the years to celebrate this season in town, thus from this festival, more tourists are expected to come in for it, thus it will increase the guest arrival rate. With the increase in number of tourists, more revenue will be generated as well because there will be an increase in the tourists' spending. The increase in revenue generated from the tourists will help to boost Singapore's economy which in turn raises the standard of living in Singapore.
Other than having more revenue generated, it will be able to gain recognition as the place to be at for the celebration of the seasonal festive.
In conclusion, this festival is able to attract more tourists coming Singapore which in turn generate more revenue, boosting the economy here and gained recognition.
Conclusion:In a nutshell, I think that the marketing mix that had been used for this Christmas in the Tropics 2008 festival was effective to a large extend. The product for this festival was rather effective as it introduced many events, products and activities which will be sure to attract visitors over.
Next for the location of the festival is strategically located in town area which is near the central which will be quite accessible.
Having partnership and sponsorship with several organizations and companies, this festival will gain better awareness and recognition, thus it had been quite useful for marketing.
Promotions done currently are not sufficient to reach out to the maximum number of people targeted. Another better means of promoting will be through media which has great influence over people.
Though there are already a few packaged deals for this festival, I feel that more interesting packages can be come up with and also to collaborate with agencies to attract even more visitors over.
With the wide range of activities and events planned to the visitors, this festival was able to reach out to a great number of tourists which made this marketing mix as being successful.
For the people mix, I think it is not effective. Maybe a information booth can be implanted at the venue to help the visitors when needed.
Lastly for pricing, maybe public can be encouraged to use the public transport to cut down on their costs of traveling even though the events are mostly free.
Overall, the marketing mix used was quite successful as more tourists would be attracted to this festival which allows it to achieve its main objective.
