Friday, June 27, 2008
Esplanade presents FLIPSIDE
AUTO AUTO- A CAR SMASHING SYMPHONY
Introduction
Recently, Esplanade organized Flipside in conjunction with the Singapore Arts Festival. Flipside showcases the wacky side of the arts. It featured artists from all over the world.
One of the programmes presented was Auto Auto- A Car Smashing Symphony, which is an extraordinary musical from Germany.
On the 8th June 2008 at 8pm at the Esplanade Theatre was the day I believed a car is a good form of musical instrument.
Ridiculously amazing things was done to the car with the aid of weapons such as an axe, a chainsaw and crowbars, all in the name of music.
Auto Auto has become an international success, touring Germany, Belgium, Holland and premiering at the Edinburgh Fringe 2007.
The Organizer
Flipside would not have been a success without the help of the organizer, The Esplanade Co Ltd, which emerged in the year 1997. The company’s role is to manage the new arts centre- Esplanade.
Esplanade provides world-class performance spaces and it offers a variety of events of all genres. Currently, they have presented more than 1,800 performances both local and international and there will be more exciting ones to come.
By hosting Flipside, it will definitely bring profit to The Esplanade Co Ltd since some programmes were ticketed programmes. Flipside offered both international and local programmes, thus attracting quality tourists to Esplanade. Since Esplanade offers a variety of shops that suits the tourists taste, their money will then be spent there and Esplanade will eventually profit from it all. This also acts as a catalyst to other businesses in Esplanade.
With more tourists making their way to Esplanade for the event, it helps to also promote and upholds the name of Esplanade as the centre of the arts and as a tourist attraction. This will encourage tourists to come to Esplanade again.
It also enhances The Esplanade Co Ltd reputation as an event organizer especially if it is a success.
Stakeholders
The internal stakeholders of Flipside are the organizer which is the Esplanade Co Ltd, the partners such as Nokia, Visa and even National Arts Council as Flipside is organized in conjunction with Singapore Arts Festival, performers of Flipside such as the Auto Auto casts and also the staff and volunteers of the Esplanade Co Ltd who assisted in running the event.
The external stakeholders are the audiences who came to the event, both locals and tourists, as they are the bottom line of the event.
Target Market
I noticed that Auto Auto attracted a wide range of people and age group, ranging from kids to even parents. One of the targeted audiences was the Art lovers. Another group of people were the tourists. I feel that Auto Auto attracted tourists because it is an international event and is probably well-known in their country. Furthermore, Esplanade itself is a tourist attraction; hence tourists will definitely catch the events of their interests there to have a feel of Esplanade.
Marketing Strategies
The Esplanade Co Ltd marketed Flipside through the 8 ‘P’s in event marketing to ensure success of the event.
1. Product
Flipside catered to needs of the targeted audiences by providing them with quality service. Service provided by the volunteers of Esplanade Co Ltd was good as they portrayed professionalism in their service delivery. This indeed contributed to the good experience I had when I attended the event. In addition, the programmes they organized were a mix of local and international programmes. This made the product satisfying as they catered to the different tastes and preferences of the audiences.
2. Place
The event took place at Esplanade which is an accessible and ideal place to host arts events. Different programmes of Flipside were presented at different venues of Esplanade. Auto Auto was at the Esplanade Theatre which is designed especially for musicals as such. The theatre provides an intimate setting between the audience and the artists on stage, thus enhancing the audience’s events experience.
3. Programming
The Esplanade Co Ltd marketed Flipside with a variety of programmes targeted at the different age group and needs of the audiences. They had ticketed and free programmes and outdoor and indoor programmes. All these added to the variety of the programmes for an otherwise typical arts event. Flipside was organized according to international standards as it was targeted more at the tourists.
4. People
Staff and volunteers of The Esplanade Co Ltd provided the audiences with good hospitality as they were competent and friendly in guiding the audiences to their seats. The cast of Auto Auto also made the audiences feel welcomed by interacting with them.
5. Partnerships
Since Flipside was organized in conjunction with the Singapore Arts Festival, thus the National Arts Council was one of the partners. The Esplanade Co Ltd collaborated with National Arts Council as a platform to promote its role as an arts centre. Other partners that contributed to the success of Flipside were Nokia and Visa.
6. Packaging & Distribution
Purchases of tickets were made through SISTIC, either online, by telephone or at any SISTIC counters. I noticed that good relationship is cultivated between SISTIC and The Esplanade Co Ltd as SISTIC staff had adequate knowledge of the event. They worked together to enhance the audience’s event experience by providing quality service to every customers.
7. Price
For the ticketed programmes, Flipside adopted the target market pricing strategy which emphasised on different prices for different target markets. The ticketed programmes were priced from $25 to $50 and discounts were given to students, senior citizens and National Servicemen Full-Time. I paid $28, student price, for Auto Auto and to me it was worth it as it was an interesting international production, the hospitality provided was excellent and the venue was sophisticated.
8. Promotion
The Esplanade Co Ltd advertised Flipside though their own website with a brief description of each programmes to stimulate interest among audiences.
There were also attractive flyers for each programme located at the Esplanade and at every SISTIC counters. Flyers of upcoming programmes were displayed at the entrance and exit of the every Flipside programmes before it. This is a good marketing strategy because it is human nature that if the audiences enjoyed and liked that first show of Flipside, they will want to go for more. Thus, they will most likely to get tickets to attend the next show.
There were standees of the different programmes of Flipside at Esplanade and one of which was Auto Auto.
Billboards and posters of Flipside can be seen in and outside Esplanade. They had posters of a calendar of programmes pasted on the walls in Esplanade and Auto Auto was obviously one of them.
Brochures of the calendar of programmes of Flipside could also be retrieved at Esplanade and any SISTIC counters.
It is recommended that Auto Auto to be advertised through television or radio. Reason is it is an international success and was here in Singapore only for a night. Thus, it has to be publicized greatly to attract more people to catch this one in a lifetime rare showcase of making music through smashing of cars.
Rate Organization of Event
Overall, I thought the event was well organized. The presenting of tickets and security checks were all systematic and fast. Getting to our seats was a breeze with the help friendly ushers who were stationed almost everywhere.
Everything went smoothly. However, there was a slight hiccup which was the bad coordination of the lights and the show.
This indeed disrupted the show and it occurred at the most exciting part. That was quite disappointing.
Events like this usually have rehearsals and the person in charge of the lights should be well-trained and alert when it comes to this kind of situations.
At the end of it, we were nicely ushered out. Compliments goes to the ushers for doing a great job with crowd control.
All in all, the organization still did well on hosting Auto Auto, despite the minor hiccup.
Potential of the Event to Meet Tourist Demand
Esplanade is a tourist attraction. Tourists visit Esplanade to have a first-hand experience of what Esplanade is all about and witness the various events they host. In my opinion, Auto Auto did meet tourist demand as it emphasizes on music which is art and art is Esplanade’s middle name.
Also, tourists nowadays are interested in something new and hip. Thus, Auto Auto is a good example of it. Furthermore, Auto Auto has been an international success and since Esplanade is the centre of the arts, some tourists may expect something big from it and not just as a centre which host local events.
Recommendation
It is recommended that Auto Auto to be opened to more people. They can modify their target audience and reach out to more tourists. Moreover, the event was only for a night and it was held at the Esplanade Theatre which can accommodate 1942 people. However, only around 800 seats were opened up for that show.
The tickets were sold out and that showed how popular the show was. If they had opened up the other seats, the show could have attracted more audiences like the tourists. With more tourists spending, it contributes to the Singapore’s economy. Thus, achieving the tourism mission of making tourism the key driver of economic growth for Singapore.
References
Esplanade. (2005). Corporate: About Us. Available: http://www.esplanade.com/SOPApp/espsop/portal_proxy?uri=CCgMo4WE!ZGXoyWB_s1uHhFf99Szq=YGopSj3OO00=1KQjjusJFM. Last accessed on 15 June 2008.
Esplanade. (2005). What’s On. Available: http://www.esplanade.com/SOPApp/espsop/portal_proxy?uri=pbvr@qlLKXNk!bT=zDZN5s2F1xgJviW8cRd1KR=Zfb9SjshFmmKKPvGGRsJFM. Last accessed on 15 June 2008.
YouthSg. (2008). For Once, Wrecking Cars Isn’t Wrong. Available: http://www.youth.sg/content/view/4993/51/. Last accessed on 15 June 2008.
4:59 PM
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Welcome to my Events Management blog! (:
1:57 AM
