Recommendations

(d) Special Events

More than just collaborating with SWF for hospitality services such as accomodation for their invited guests, SWF can work with Four Seasons Hotel Singapore in hosting some of their events.

For example, their cocktail sessions can be hosted at Four Seasons Hotel where the hotel can provide the beverages as well as a holding area for the event. On top of that, Four Seasons Hotel has the available technology such as their audiovisual equipment to cater to the needs of SWF.

Another example would be hosting SWF Little Lit! Programmes at Four Seasons Hotel Singapore. In the hotel, there are babysitting services and children amenities. Thus, families with children will be able to leave their children at ease while they wish to attend the other SWF events which are for adults only.

Event Marketing Mix

(c) 8Ps in marketing SWF

The marketing mix is mainly divided into two components: experiential and facilitating components. The experiential component is the main item itself that allows customers to see and feel the event. The facilitating component is the supporting tool which aids in the smooth flow of the experiential component. Experiential components are product, place, programming and people. Facilitating components are partnerships, promotion, packaging and price.

Product

The 'product' of an event is the set of intangible leisure experiences and tangible goods designed to satisfy the needs of the event market. The product is mostly a service where its quality is essential. In this case, our product is the Singapore Writers' Festival (SWF) itself. In a service product experience, there are 3 elements to it.

1. The core service and benefits that the customer experience

In SWF, the workshops, seminar sessions and lectures are examples of the core service. Customer experience in terms of learning while guest speakers are sharing. In one of the workshops, "It's not about you- writing a First Novel", the instructor teaches how to get your book published and tips for food for thought to help new writers get a headstart. Personally, an experiential component for me was coming to a realisation that SWF was not just about books, but the skills and meaning behind a writer's story. It is more than just a plot of a story, but evoking in your readers emotions after reading your book.

2. Supplementary features/augmented services that differentiate an event from its competitors

In SWF, they feature world's literary talents such as renowned international authors like Michael Cunningham and even our former president, S R Nathan will attract people to come for SWF instead of any other book festivals with only lecturers from Singapore.

3. The delivery process

This will be the role of customer in the experience, the length of event, level and style of event. SWF is hosted from 2 to 11 November 2012. It is an event with many international writers from different parts of the world. Most of the customers whom I reckoned would be avid readers, would go to SWF wanting to learn more about writing skills and the inspiration which comes to it. Personally, I went there as a role of a student, thus I was looking out for operations and how the event was run more than the learning of writing skills.

Place

Place refers to the physical location site of where the event takes place and how it is created through design and programming. The choice of a single venue or multiple sites should be made in the context of the event's overall strategy. The physical setting is crucial to the satisfaction of the event consumer as certain destinations have certain unique features which gives an atmosphere. In the example of SWF, they collaborate with their partners from National Museum of Singapore, National Library, Singapore Management University (SMU), Singapore Art Museum, Peranakan Museum and School of the Arts. Their choices of the institution and places to host SWF is related to education, culture and arts. Thus, it is an appropriate place to host the SWF.

Singapore Management University

There is also a facilitating component of place. It is the distribution of event products and how they are sold to customers. If done poorly, this will negatively affect the customer's enjoyment. In SWF, they have a ticketing guide website which states the methods of how to go about purchasing the tickets. Advance tickets are available online via SISTIC websites, by phones and SISTIC outlets.

Partnerships

Partnerships are critical in attracting the resources to plan, manage and evaluate the event's marketing strategies. In partnership, joint marketing can occur as stakeholders play a part in producing the event. The most common partners will be government agencies. In SWF, their main partner is National Arts Council as they are the organisers as well. They have other key programme and venue partners differing in the control of the event. Examples are The Arts House and SMU.

When packages are jointly marketed, event managers might have to modify their price and even their products to make the packages more attractive. This is because their joint partners will seek to look for business opportunities and benefits that they can gain from your product.

Promotion

Promotion refers to the full range of "communication mix" including advertising, public relations and sales promotion. The communication mix requires ongoing management and relationship building, not just one-off efforts. Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) is a key part of it, where it delivers messages through channels which are sources of contact of customer, and makes use of communication methods that are relevant to customers. The platform for creating IMC strategies for events and festicals is knowledge about the visitors. How an event manages its customer relationships drives its brand value and event image.

For SWF, they have hosted a Media Launch on 27 August 2012 where all the writers are invited and updates are posted on Facebook. They also have an early-bird incentive where the first 10 to show up for the panel Comic Artists Capture Singapore stand a chance to get an ilovebooks.com voucher. In their official website as well, they advertise the event with this year's theme origin. I also came across several advertisements outdoor such as posters on bus stops about the opening of the event. 

Packaging & Distribution

Packaging avenues include different types of entertainment, food and beverage, and merchandise as a service bundle, and the opportunity to package the event with accomodation, transport and other attractions in the region. Destination can either provide these packages on their own, or combine with attractions and services. Good relationships must be cultivated with packaging partners and intermediaries. In SWF, their sponsors are given incentives such as access to tickets for events and hospitality opportunities such as lodging and accomodation. Volunteers and guest speakers are given complimentary festival passes.

Programming

Programming within the event is a marketing design, especially by way of creating targeted benefits. Organisers need to balance the personal or artistic vision of event directors with the realities of market success criteria and the costs involved. The event programme may also reflect media broadcasting requirements , the availability of desired performers and the practicalities of staging the event concept. Programming should value add to the environment as it will increase the success rate of the event.

In SWF, the event itself has a comparative advantage as it definitely value add to the environment being a platform of learning literature and writing. There are also a variety of programmes that cater to different target markets. For example, the Little Lit! Programmes which has many hands-on activities and games such as treasure hunting which would attract young children to participate in the events. On the other hand, they have cocktail sessions and talks such as "Gender Bender: Love in the age of sexual confusion" which is only for adults.

People

The interactions between customers, the setting, and the staff/volunteers constitute a large part of the event expense. People in an event includes the "cast", audience, hosts and guests. Events need ambassadors internally and externally to fully capitalise on their competitive potential. For example in SWF, there are many guest speakers who conduct the seminar sessions and volunteers who help to facilitate the flow of operations of the event as well as mascots which adds in to the atmosphere of the event. In the photo below, is Chin Yi and I who have taken a photo with the ilovebook mascot.

Price

Price is the cost of attending the event for the customers. Even events that are free comes with a price tag. For example, time, travel cost and lost opportunities. With the diversity of leisure experiences offered to consumers, price can be a key influence on event demand. Contrasts in pricing strategy exist according to the type of event and its target market. 

In establishing the price strategy for an event, an organiser will account for two cost categories: fixed costs and variable costs. Fixed costs are costs that does not vary with the volume of visitors. For example, venue rental, interests charged on loan, lighting and power costs. Variable costs vary with the number of visitors. For example, the cost of plastic wine glass at a festival, catering cost at a product launch.

In SWF, there are varying prices according to the event. Some require a ticket cost, some require a festival pass, and others are free. For example, the literary meals comes at a cost of $20 to $80 and the literary cocktails comes at a price of $25. The festival pass comes at a cost of $15 which includes many other panel discussions and meet-the-author conversations. Of course, there are events which are free, which was the ones that I was able to attend.

Fifteen per cent more passes to the Singapore Writers Festival were sold this year compared with last year. Total attendance also went up this year, with 16,200 people attending ticketed and free events from Nov 2 up to last Sunday. Last year, the attendance figure was 13,500. The festival director, Paul Tan, attributes the success of this year's SWF to the combination of programmes. This year, there are more genres of topics and more events for a given genre as compared to last year's. An example is the Little Lit! Programme as there are more interactive games and activities such as treasure hunt and a sing-along session whereas last year's was the usual storytelling and meet-the-author sessions.

References:
Glenn Bowdin, J.A. Events Management. ELSEVIER
SWF Ticketing guide

Singapore Writers Festival (SWF)

(b) Background of SWF

The Singapore Writers Festival is one of Asia’s premier literary events. Officially started in 1986, the festival serves a dual function of promoting new and emerging Singaporean and Asian writing to an international audience, as well as presenting the world’s major literary talents to Singaporeans. SWF has delighted book lovers by featuring Singapore writers Shamini Flint, Alvin Pang, Suchen Christine Lim, You Jin, as well as international writers such as Steven Levitt, Michael Chabon, Neil Gaiman, Bi Feiyu, Andrew Motion and Marc Smith. To date, it remains one of the few literary festivals in the world that is multi-lingual, celebrating works in Singapore’s 4 main languages – English, Malay, Chinese and Tamil. Last year's programming and location attracted the record number of over 56,000 people who attended the panels, activities or saw the art installations. With the heart of the Festival District at the Singapore Management University’s Campus Green, this year’s panels, readings and performances will be spread out over 10 days and take place at The Arts House, the National Museum of Singapore, the Singapore Art Museum, the Peranakan Museum and The National Library.

VISION

A city where writing empowers and transforms lives.

MISSION

The mission of the festival is to not only present the world’s major literary talents to the people of Singapore, but also to promote new and emerging Singapore and Asian writing to a wider public.

2012 theme: Origins

SWF’s 2012 theme returns to the beginning. It evokes the beginnings, heritage and originality of the Singapore's story.

This year’s programming focuses on mainly story-telling, biographies, and historical fiction and traces the source of creative inspiration - understanding the viewpoints and memories of the writers and the significance of the characters that are used in their stories.At the same time, in an evolving world of mass reproductions, new technologies and endless iterations of old stories, SWF shows the reflection on what is truly original.

As Singapore is training the future younger generations, SWF also looks back to the past, imagining the lives of those before us by drawing on shared and individual histories. Origins allows us to revisit our own identities, the multiple roles we assume and the masks we put on. SWF prompt us in pondering about our own origins: "What is at the innermost selves – our ethnic origins, the faiths we profess or the colour of the identity card we carry?"

SWF 2012 promises debate, discussion and insights as they commemorate and challenge the written and spoken word. Formats are designed to facilitate deeper and more sustained examination of contemporary writing, and to foster discussion and participation by the audience.

Highlight of events

At a glance, there are 3 different groups of events that you can go for. Firstly, there is the festival pass events consisting of exclusive talks, panel discussions and meet the author sessions. Secondly, there are the other ticketed events comprising of SWF lectures, literary meals and cocktails, SWF publishing symposium and workshops and master classes. Thirdly, the free events such as "Little Lit!" and "Off the Page", which I managed to attended a few of it. To start off, I'll talk about some events that caught my eye...

Ream to reel: The hours

This is a festival pass event featuring Michael Cunningham of his book "The Hours". Michael Cunningham, widely praised as one of the most gifted writers of his generation, draws inventively on the life and work of Virginia Woolf to tell the story of a group of contemporary characters struggling with the conflicting claims of love and inheritance, hope and despair. The narrative of Woolf's last days before her suicide early in World War II counterpoints the fictional stories of Richard, a famous poet whose life has been shadowed by his talented and troubled mother, and his lifelong friend Clarissa, who strives to forge a balanced and rewarding life in spite of the demands of friends, lovers, and family. The book was inspired into a movie where I have read reviews of many people mentioning that it was one of their favourite movies.

From the trailer, I was already sucked into the plot of the story of the lives of the 3 women handling their different issues in life. It makes me think about how in different stages of life, there are different levels of problems that comes with it. This movie will probably leave a strong impact on people's mind thus, I'll recommend it for those with time to spare to ponder about life and its challenges. 

Now, let's go on to a more uplifting topic...

Off the Page: Tell me a story 

Professional storyteller Kamini Ramachandran from MoonShadow Stories read off some stories by SWF featured writers. For the session, Kamini draws from "The Scar" by Charlotte Moundlic and "Slog's Dad" by SWF 2012 featured writer David Almond. Both are children picture books and have a common similarity where it portrays the perceptions of a young child, teaching us how to deal with death of a close one. In "Slog's Dad", the book uses descriptive imagery of Slog's dad and how he bid his last farewell. In "Scars", it shows how a young child deal with his conflicting thoughts between the death of his mother and being a source of hope and strength for his father. Through the process, there was a maturity that birthed forth from him.

Slog's Dad

I attended this session on 10 November 2012 from 12.30pm to 1pm. I found it very interesting as the storyteller was able to portray out the emotions of the different characters just by the tone of her voice. When she was reading the story "Slog's Dad", there was mainly 3 different characters: Slog, his dad, and his friend Davie, but she was able to vary in the sound of her voice to convey a message from the character. These are some photos that I have taken while she was sharing the stories...

Off the Page: Livehouse featuring Elaine Lam

Gracing the local jazz scene like a breath of fresh air is Elaine Lam. She projects an image of a sunny girl-next-door, yet exudes the sensual sentiments of a pensive soul. She released her first album Jazz EP (a little blue jazz) that was launched on 10 May 2012. Her songs recalls snippets found in our everyday lives. With her voice, her melodies speak of blossoming love and take us back to a memorable childhood.

This session was from 2.30pm to 3pm the same day. During the sessions, she sang her songs along with a keyboardist, Chi Sheng, who was her friend. The first song which she composed was called "I wanna be here". She shared about how this song was first composed 10 years ago, when she first had her first crush. The Second song "Afternoon in May", third song was "Xiao Shi Le" which is disappear in english, fourth was "Apple of my eye" and lastly, "Huai Pi Qi". Before she sang all the songs, she shared about how some of them were composed by her with the lyrics conveying how she feels. For example, in "Apple of my eye", it is about the first feelings you have when you start a relationship where everyday is as bright as the sunshine. 

I remember the first thing that came to my mind was: "I thought SWF was all about books. There are songs involved as well?" This session changed my mindset about SWF. More than just the physical book that you see, it is the stories behind it, whether is it books, poems, and even the songs in the lyrics.

References:

Singapore Writers Festival
The Hours

Four Seasons Hotel

Four Seasons Hotel Singapore is located in a 20 storey building along Orchard Boulevard. It is a five-star luxury hotel just minutes from shopping centres, family attractions and the city's bustling financial district at the Orchard Road.

Deluxe Room

Premier Room

For the accommodation, there are a total of 255 guest rooms and suites. The rooms include Four Seasons Executive suite, Premier Room, Boulevard Room, Deluxe Room and Superior Room. Each hotel room has a contemporary style combining soothing earth tones furnishings, such as an executive ergonomic chair with a large work desk. There are also state-of-the-art amenities as rooms and suites at Four Seasons Hotel Singapore feature an LCD flat-screen television, DVD/CD player, MP3 connection with audio speakers, high-speed Internet access/wireless Internet and an in-room safe. In addition, there is a couples' floor at the 11th storey to better cater to adults who wish to have private time spent together. The couple room has in-room candies and sweets to sweeten the mood along with romantic music and movies from the concierge selection.

Spanning 6,000 square metres, facilities include a 24-hour gymnasium, a private exercise studio, two swimming pools, two indoor air-conditioned and two outdoor tennis courts as well as five treatment rooms offering a full range of pampering services at the award-winning spa. The outdoor pool is connected to the fitness facilities and spa on the third floor. By swimming in the pool, guests can enjoy the tropical foliage from the surrounding deck or whirlpool. For more relaxation and leisure, casual swimmers can cool off in the 20th-floor family pool, and enjoy panoramic views of the skyline. For the businessmen and women, there are 24-hour business services available daily, with audiovisual equipment, secretarial service, translation and interpretation service and wired or wireless internet access.

Jiang-Nan Chun

From traditional Cantonese fare to all-time favourite steaks, Four Seasons Hotel Singapore blends the familiar and extraordinary at our restaurants and lounges in Singapore. The restaurant One-Ninety prepares local and international favourites by renown chef and sous chef. For an authentic chinese meal, Jiang-Nan Chun presents classic cantonese fare in a luxurious setting. Jiang-Nan Chun is inspired by the ancient chinese background from its menu to art deco and furnishings. Enjoy Afternoon Tea indulgence at The Bar and Alfresco with a selection of delights, paired with champagne. Savour menu items such as freshly baked scones with clotted cream and preserves, delicate finger sandwiches and a variety of exquisite pastries. For those wanting to rest in the comfort of their own guest rooms, they can opt for in-room dining with menu featured items from the hotel's restaurants.

Guests can also visit their award-winning spa with a wide range of life-enhancing skin and body therapies like aromatherapy, Asian-influenced treatments, massages, reflexology, and beauty treatments. They have unique offerings, including a selection of 100% chemical-free products for face and body treatments and services.

Four Seasons Hotel Singapore has an offer column where there are discounts and special room rates for certain rooms that are unreserved closer to the date. They also have various packages for business, couples and even bed and breakfast offers to attract guests to quickly book them before it runs out. 

(a) Event Marketing Strategy

Strategic event marketing is the process by which an event organisation aligns business and marketing objectives and the environments in which they occur, with marketinf activities that fulfill the needs of events customers.

Event marketing is used by corporations to describe marketing through sponsorship or production of events. It is a non-traditional method, such as educational outreach and messaging. Activations focus on tactics that engage the public in new technologies and resources then measure consumer behavior and business results. For this strategy, I'll use the example of Four Seasons Hotel Singapore.

Four Seasons Hotel Singapore has adopted the event marketing strategy by production of events. In this modern society, they have made use of integrated marketing communications (IMC) as a promotional tool to respond to our technologically-savvy market educating them about their upcoming events. This includes the top few most commonly used social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. In these sites, they post up-to-date events that are coming up to allow people to gain awareness of the event. In this way, it shows how the internet is a major role in information distribution and purchase facilitation.

Recently, they are working with "Run For Hope" in organising a charity event to help cancer patients that will be occuring in 18 November, 2012. In the post, they updated a link for people to sign up for the online registration for the event. 

From my research, I have found out that Four Seasons Hotel Singapore are actively involved in the "Run For Hope" event (previously known as Terry Fox Run) to support cancer research annually since 1993. It began with only 300 participants but as years go by, the event has grown into a local/community event with close to 6,500 participants. Through this initiative, they have helped to raised almost 2.5 million USD for the cause.

In another instance, I have read a book "Put your dream to the test" by John C. Maxwell where I have come across a story about Terry Fox. It started out with this young man who was a Canadian Humanitarian, athlete, and cancer research activist who was determined to run marathons to raise funds for cancer patients. Little to his expectation that in the next following years to come, he was down with cancer. When he had recovered from the cancer, he continued to run for the marathons even though he was having a prosthetic leg on one side of his body. In the book, it mentioned how he would be covered in blisters from running long distance with the prosthetic leg. Later on, the cancer in Terry Fox spread to the other parts of his body and he passed on 9 months later. This story really touched me as I realised how the efforts of this man has caused many people all over the world to gain awareness of this cancer research event.

Four Seasons Hotel must have been impacted by his story as well, as they are committed to help local and foreign campaigns to eradicate cancer. More than just the "Run For Hope" in Singapore, they are also occuring in different parts of the world such as Macau, London, Washington and others.  The "Run For Hope" may be a charitable organisation event, but Four Seasons continued in partnership with them even though it is a non-profit organisation. This to me is really commendable and I believe that it is through the steps like these that the hotel is able to win the hearts of people. In the long run, they will begin to prosper as business associations would like to work with them knowing the genuineness which they have.

References:

Event Marketer

Four Seasons Hotel Singapore

Run for Hope

Creation of this Blog

A big call out to everyone!