i ' v e f o u n d Y O U.

Friday, June 27, 2008

EVENTS INDIVIDUAL JOURNAL 4:22 AM

Name: Tan Si Wei Doreen

Admin number: 0607899B

Class: T01

Event chosen: Singapore Standard Chartered Marathon 2007

a. Introduction

A record of 40,000 runners took part in the sixth edition of the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2007 on the 2nd December 2007. The individual categories included the Full Marathon, the Half Marathon, the 10km, 10km Wheelies and the Kids Dash and the team categories included the team men, team women and team mixed. The flag off for the Full Marathon was at 5.30am for the first time as organizers said this was in response to feedback from runners that an earlier start will help them cope better with the heat and humidity. 60 elite male and female runners hit the road on a 42.195 km route stretching from the heart of the Central Business District to the scenic coastline of East Coast Park. The Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon attracted not only locals but also representatives from 18 countries all over the world- Kenya, Ethiopia, France, Sweden, Russia, Japan, Thailand, Scotland, Korea Republic, USA, Malaysia, Finland, Great Britain etc.

For 2007, Elijah Mbogo from Kenya set a new race record in the process and this is the third consecutive year that the race record in the Men's Open category has been rewritten. The Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon is also the second leg in the Greatest Race on Earth (GROE) series which includes Nairobi, Mumbai and Hong Kong. Furthermore, for the first time in the event’s history, elite athletics will also be able to use their timing set at the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2007 for their entry to 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Business Studies Club (BSC) of TP organized this volunteering event and involved all the interests groups in the different schools of TP to take part. Therefore, my Business Interest Group members and I are fortunate enough to have the chance to be involved in this big event. Basically, the whole team of volunteers from TP was assigned to the baggage crew segment two area. We were there on the night of 1st December 2007 to get ready for the event.

b. The background of the organizer

There are two organizers for the Standard Chartered Marathon 2007, they are the Singapore Sports Council and Singapore Athletic Association. The pictures provides the background of the organiser.

· Singapore Sports Council

· Singapore Athletic Association

c. Discuss the role of events to the organizer (or attraction / venue)

There are several economic and tourism roles of events to the venue as well as the organizers of the race.

Role of events as a tourist attraction:
As the Standard Chartered Marathon 2007 is able to attract foreigners from countries all over the world to participate, it will help to also attract quality tourists to the venue of the race. The runners will pass through some of Singapore’s finest scenic areas: The Singapore River, Marina South, The Central Business District, East Coast Park and City Hall. With the vantage points held at these places, the participants may want to increase their length of stay and spending in Singapore to visit the attractions at these places after the race.

Role of events as animator:
As discussed above, runners will run past many significant attractions of Singapore for example, they will start on the Esplanade Bridge, near to the Esplanade Theatres on the Bay. Therefore, before the race where they gather at the starting point, the runners are able to take a closer look at the esplanade theatres and this may arouse their interests to these places. Thus, this event will be able to encourage first and repeat visits to the nearby attractions.

Role of events as place marketing:
With the success of marathon, it will create a positive image of the organizers of the race which are the SAA and SSC. This desirable image will not only attract investors to invest in the future events organized by them, but also attract Singaporeans to participate more actively in the future sports events held.

d. The stakeholders in the event

The stakeholders in the event are as follow:

· Title sponsor: Standard Chartered Bank
· Co-sponsor: Adidas

· Official sponsors:

- Berocca (Health Supplement)

- Mentholatum Deep Heating (Muscle Rub)

- PowerBar (Energy Supplement)

- 100 Plus ( Isotonic Drink)

- Marina Mandarin Hotel (Hotel)

· Official partners:

- Eng Leong Medalist ELM (Medalist)

- Alexandra Hospital (Medical Provider)

- Streetdirectory.com (Map provider)

- Filiz (Pasta-Party Partner)

- National Park

- Land Transport Authority

- Traffic Police

· Participants of the race

· Spectators of the event

· Volunteers for the event

· Student nurses from Nanyang Polytechnic and Ngee Ann Polytechnic

· Assistants from Red Cross and St. John’s

· Media

- The Autism Association

e. The target market

The target market of this event will be:

· People who have interest and passion for running and sports regardless of race, nationality
and gender and age.

· New runners that have not participated in any SCM

· Loyal runners, those who have run in previous editions of this race; as well as corporate
teams.

· Kids for the kids dash

· Handicapped for the wheelies race

· Supporters and spectators

f. The marketing strategies employed by the organizer

The marketing strategies can be categorized into the 8Ps.

· Product

The product is not only the race itself but also the experience participants and spectators gained from the event. The experience can be from the procedures of the race, whether the different categories races commence on time, whether the time for keeping and returning the valuables of participants is timely and whether the participants and spectators are able to receive appropriate help when needed from the volunteers and staff of the event.

More info on the race: http://www.singaporemarathon.com/2007/en/faqs/-sec=199&ssec=806.htm

· Place

All the vantage points of the race are chosen for a reason. The runners will run past some of Singapore’s finest scenic areas which include: starting from the Esplanade Bridge, Marina Bay, Business District, The Beach Run, Kallang River and end at The Padang. This luscious green route will also provide a pleasurable view for runners. Therefore, I think that the “place” of the race is appropriate for the participants and spectators. Additionally, the official website for Standard Chartered Marathon 2007 has also included the specific guided tour of the race route.

· Partnerships

The partnerships of the marathon are the stakeholders in producing the event which is mentioned in part d. With the help of these partnerships, Standard Chartered Marathon is able to package the run more attractive. For example, these co-sponsorships can contribute for the items in the goodie bags, race-entry packs as well as things needed during the event launch and the race itself. Partnerships with corporations such as the Alexandra Hospital are also able to provide ample medical support for the participants and spectators of the race. Besides, with these sponsorships and partnerships with reputable corporations, it will greatly improve the image and capture more attention to the race.

· Promotions

Promotions refer to the full range of communication mix including:

- Sales Promotions:
Runners who pay using a Standard Chartered Bank credit/debit card (Singapore Issue only) and Manhattan Cardholders will be entitled to 15% discount off the respective registration prices in the corresponding registration periods. To reward their loyal runners, runners who took part in the event in 2006 will receive a Direct- Mailer that entitles them to a one-time 20% discount off the Early Bird Price The Direct-Mailer Promo for past year’s runners is valid for the period from 16th July-31st July only.

- Advertising:

Posters of the Singapore Standard Marathon 2007 were advertised on billboards, TV and newspaper ads as well as on the platforms of MRT stations. Besides, the race has its own official website with sufficient information on the marathon.

- Public Relations:

A press release was issued on the 30th November 2007 on behalf of the Standard Chartered Marathon 2007 Organizing Team. Besides, an event launch is held on the 23rd July 2007 at the Raffles Place Lawn in front of the Chevron House. The on-site registration started at 11am and the 500 goodie bags were all given away by lunch hour. There were also marathon men and women (in blue) who were very striking and all ready to promote the marathon.

· People

The people are the cast of the race which includes all the stakeholders involved, mentioned in part d. They are critical for the event as they are the one providing service to the participants and the spectators. Their quality of service will help to shape the race experience which in turn, determines the success of the event. If the hospitality received by the participants n spectators does not exceed or falls below their expectations, there is a high possibility of them not joining for the future races and events held by the organizers.
“People” also includes the guest-of-honor who flag the race off, participants, supporters and spectators of the race. Any event without spectators and supports will not be a success therefore, it is very vital for the organizers to attract them. For Singapore Standard Chartered Marathon 2007, the organizing committee has made effort to attract more participants by having an earlier start time in response to feedback from runners that an earlier start will help them cope better with the heat and humidity. Besides, the committee also made minor route adjustments to ensure everyone has a safe and comfortable run, and in order to encourage more people to come out and watch the race, a series of activities along vantage points throughout the race will be planned.

· Price

For price, it includes not only the ticketing, but also those that are free. For example, the time needed to plan and organize this race, the travel cost of the committee, staff as well as the volunteers, lost opportunities incurred plus all the partnership and sponsorship fees. These expenses require thorough planning in order to run the event smoothly.
The ticketing information is as follows:

Participants can pay by cash at two different locations and only cash is accepted by in-person registration at the following locations: Singapore Athletics Association (SAA Head Office) and Singapore Athletics Association's Centre of Excellence. Those interested can also register online with their standard chartered card.

· Programming

Programming within an event is also a marketing decision, especially by way of creating targeted benefits. For this race, the organizers have planned ancillary events before and after the race such as the Running Clinics, Run-with-Me Sessions, Race Entry Pack, Collection, Pasta Party and the Carnival at the Padang. These events will help to bring more attention to the race.

g. Rating for the organisation of the event

I would rate 8/10 for the organization of the event. The reason for this rating is because as a volunteer as a baggage crew in the event, I went through trainings and talks in order for us, volunteers to familiarize with the process of the event as well as the duties we need to accomplish. With this, I feel that the organizers have done a great job in preparing the volunteers and staff for the event as they clearly understand the importance of volunteers and staff in contributing to the success of the event.

Besides, safety is of utmost importance to the organizers and medical care was top of the list for consideration when the committee met to discuss the objectives and requirements for this year’s event which constitutes to the high rating of the event.

Furthermore, with the improvements made by the organizer from the previous lessons such as an earlier start time for participants and more ancillary events for the spectators, this shows that the organizing committee made the effort to assess the weaknesses of the previous races held and make improvements and not just holding the event and making the same mistakes again.

Also, as part of the marathon's Run-For-A-Cause programme, the organizers have adopted the Autism Association (Singapore) as the official charity for this year's Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon. The Autism Association (Singapore) was established in 1992 and runs programmes catering to individuals with autism ranging, from 2 to 16 years of age. Besides, several of the staff and students of the Autism Association (Singapore) are planning to run in the marathon. S$200,000 has been raised so far and the funds will go towards the building of a new school for the Association. This proves that the Singapore Standard Chartered Marathon not only benefits their stakeholders but also to the society and to those in need. This further explains the high rating for the event.

As for not giving a perfect rating for the event, the reason being that there is always a room for improvement. I recommend the organizing team to also assess other events be it sports or other forms of events held in Singapore besides their own races. I believe with this, the organizing team will be able to provide a better and more attractive package for the participants and supporters in the future races held.

h. The potential of the event by the organizers to meet tourist demand

For Singapore Standard Chartered Marathon 2007, the organizing team has met several tourist demand which consist of:

· Safety

There were 40,000 runners signing up for the five race categories in a span of 10 weeks. This exceeds the initial target of 38,000 runners, and far exceeds 2006 record of 31,000 runners. As there were also runners from all over the world, apart from winning the race, safety is an important factor tourist will demand. Therefore, the organizers have put in place an ample medical program provided by Alexandra Hospital, the marathon’s medical provider. A total of 20 doctors and 60 nurses from the hospital will be supported by 200 student nurses from Nanyang Polytechnic and Ngee Ann Polytechnic and another 100 assistants from the Red Cross and St. John’s during the event. The organizers have also mobilized 20 ambulances, 10 mobile paramedics, 24 defillabrators, and six RAV4 vehicles with the aim of ensuring the safety and overall running experience of all runners.

· Unique experience

As tourists will certainly desire an enjoyable experience in Singapore, the organizers have made suitable vantage points for the races in order for the runners to not only concentrate on the race but also providing a pleasurable view of the scenic attractions of Singapore for the runners. In addition, the organizers have also prepared ancillary events after the race such as the Pasta Party and the Carnival at the Padang. These events will also help to create a unique experience for spectators as they were not involved in the race.

i. Suggestion on how the value of the event could be raised to be align with the tourism mission of Singapore

The tourism mission of Singapore is to be the Events & Entertainment Capital of Asia. In my opinion, I feel that Singapore Standard Chartered Marathon can better contribute to this mission by doing a better job in promoting this event to other countries in Asia. For example, the organizers can place advertisements in the overseas channels as well as in overseas newspapers. These will greatly increase the exposure of the event to tourists. Besides, the organizers can also invite media from other countries to take part in the event. In order to provide better entertainment experience to the participants and spectators, the organizers can assess the strengths of marathons in other countries and make appropriate improvements to their future races. With these, I believe that the Singapore Standard Marathon will be able to shape itself as a significant event in the event calendar of Singapore and also contribute to the tourism mission.

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