THE FACILITATING Ps

2.1 Price
There is a saying that goes; nothing in this world is free, everything comes in with a price. Indeed this applies to events as well. The price tag need not be in monetary terms, it can be in terms of time, opportunity, travel, sensory costs or even travel costs. The Singapore Biennale has priced its single day entry pass at 10 dollars, entitling visits to 2 locations at City Hall and South Beach. The other art exhibitions are complements to the main 2 indoor locations. With so many attractions to visit for a ten dollar ticket, it is certainly worth it.

In my opinion, I felt that The Singapore Biennale price marketing was effective. Event organizers usually have to set more than one price for their products as they cater to different kind of target markets. The Singapore biennale cater to markets like students, children, senior citizens to even passion card holders. To further add on, the price paid is for a concession. This meant that a person can visit the City Hall on the first day and need not go to South Beach by the end of the day. They are able to take all the time they wish to take at City Hall for the first day and simple use the concession to go back to South Beach the next day for further enjoyment of the arts. In addition, the Singapore Biennale helps to reduce sensory and physical costs involved. City Hall and South Beach Development are indoor, air-conditioned and staged within a quiescent environment. It is peaceful, allowing visitors to relax, reducing sensory cost. Appreciating the art is relaxing; hence there are minimal physical efforts required to view the exhibits.

2.2 Packaging
It is always better to buy items in a package then to buy them one by one. Simply, the package offers more benefits than a single item. This goes the same for the Singapore Biennale. At the rate of 10 dollars for a single entry pass, visitors are allowed to visit mainly 2 locations, the City Hall and South Beach Development plus other complimentary destinations topped up with a short guide. Further inclusions included discounts to ride on the Singapore Flyer. The rest mainly consists of promotion discounts but all in all, the entire package consists mainly of visits and a short guide.

In my opinion, I felt that the packaging done by the Singapore Biennale is not up to standard. Indeed, they may have promotions and discounts which are equally attractive. However, packaging more items in besides offering discounts could even attract a larger audience to the Biennale. They could seek improvement by not only providing a short guide; they could offer pencils, stationeries for the visitors. The item maybe small but it is a gesture, a little memento the visitors could keep and use to remind themselves of the event. On top of that, they could top it up with coupons and vouchers of their sponsors. The coupons and vouchers help highlight their sponsor name to the public. At the same time, with the existence of such items, the visitors get to enjoy benefits. In addition, to help promote the contemporary art scene, the coupons could have promotions for other art events or even free entries to the Singapore Art Museum. Discounts for retail items may include items that are related to art from photos to cameras to even brushes or canvases. They vary. Hence, I believe with the inclusion of more items, the Singapore Biennale packaging would deem effective.


2.3 Partnerships & Promotions
As the saying goes, it takes 2 hands to clap. Similarly, an event usually demands formations of joint partnerships in order to achieve their purposes. In particular, the Singapore Biennale is working with the Singapore Arts Council to enhance the contemporary art scene of Singapore. For instance, the 2 main scenic locations of the Singapore Biennale are held at City Hall and South Beach Development. The architecture and history of the 2 buildings would enhance the Singapore Biennale to attract people to visit. Nevertheless, they are rarely opened to the public. The Singapore Arts Council is a government agency and they are one of the main agencies involving in the Biennale respective locations. On top of that, there are also the preservations of the monument board to the land and transport authority. All these agencies are the ones that could authorize decisions; take for instance places. Hence, by working with them, the Singapore Biennale locations were approved. Thus, only through such partnerships, contemporary art shown in the Biennale could be brought out effectively. This enables each respective agency to actually achieve their mission and purpose.

On top of that, the Singapore Biennale also has joint partnerships with other sponsors to offer promotion rates for the visitors visiting the Biennale. There is the one for one ticket promotion and Passion Card Holders are entitled to a 30 percent off for their tickets as well. Every purchase of a Wonder Set in McCafe also entitled them to a 20 percent off for entrance tickets. McCafe is a subsidiary of Macdonalds and Macdonalds is a household fast food chain. The Biennale would easily be promoted should someone just purchase a set meal. This is certainly possible with the popularity of Macdonalds. On top of that, there are also ticket promotions to ride the Singapore Flyer and of course discounts at food and beverage outlets at the Flyer as well. All in all, thanks to these join partnerships and sponsors, visitors visiting the Biennale get to enjoy monetary discount benefits and promotions. The sponsors themselves get their fair share of free advertisement. Both parties benefit. This is certainly an attractive point which could help highlight the Biennale to clueless people, unknown to the event

The Singapore Biennale works with their partners to cater to sales promotions. In addition, they do have other channels of promotions to bring out the event as well. For instance, there is the Internet, advertisements and certainly newspapers. Personally, I came to know about the Biennale through a television advertisement which was screening at the Suntec City Convention Centre. The advertisement was so captivating as it featured different age group of people promoting the event. On top of that, I read many reviews about the Singapore Biennale at The Straits Times and The New Paper. A single picture to words and colors of the event were displayed to me. Such channels of communication certainly attracted me to this event. Plus, we are living in an era of globalization. The Internet can be found practically anywhere anytime. Visitors can easily access the Biennale main website to check out their promotions as well. With so many promotions to choose from and such effective communication channels, it is no wonder the Biennale achieve their target of 500,000 visitors. This is of no surprise since any single one who wished to attend the event could enjoy monetary and leisure benefits. Hence, I sincerely felt that the promotion marketing was effective and so were the various partnerships to facilitate the sales promotion