a)
Four Seasons,
Regent Hotel
Branding
·
Branding is something that the hotel
concentrates on to improve on its brand by having strategically planned and
executed events. Unlike a room which is difficult to expends the hotels
existing brand and image. The process would be time consuming and more money is
needed for investment. As for an event, it can be well planned and attract a
certain target market to create awareness of the brand of the hotel.
Sponsorship
·
The hotel chooses appropriate sponsors for
appropriate events. One example would be that a white tie gala event having red
bull as one of the sponsors is not appropriate as it is not what the hotel
wants to convey as a luxury. The hotel searches for sponsors that fit the
hotel’s brand such that it can highlight the hotels image. It will be better to
search for an aspirational brand instead such as Apple as an example. It helps
to strengthen the image of the hotel as the sponsor of the event is of an
established organization.
b) Singapore Food Festival
The Singapore Food Festival is
an annual event that is usually held on the end June to end July. It was
launched in 1994 to fulfill the purpose as to showcase Singapore’s diverse food
offerings inspired by its culture and heritage. This food Festival is one of
the many platforms that serve to differentiate and market Singapore as a
must-visit destination by showing Singapore’s local cuisine to a wider audience
each year. There is a unique theme each year to showcase the food culture and
heritage in a fun and enriching way. It
is annually supported by the Singapore
Tourism Board (STB) and has contributed a significant role in developing
Singapore’s culture and heritage into what it is today.
For the event this year, the theme was Seafood
Tales of Temasek with 50 vendors serving refreshing varieties of local and
international seafood delicacies such as the famous Chilli Crab, Creamy Butter
Crab, Rojak with Prawn Paste, Sambal Stingray, Ngoh Hiang Prawn Cracker and
many more. There were also live cooking demonstrations by some of the chefs to
share on how to cook sumptuous dishes so that you will be able to try cooking
it at home.
This event was held at Clarke Quay Read
Bridge for the previous years and the space was smaller. Therefore this year
round it was able to be held at Promenade, Marina Bay which has a larger space
and it was also the first time that Singapore Food Festival (SFF) Village
extended its’ operation hours from 11.00am to 11.30pm daily from 13 – 22 July
2012, making the food available to the guests to savior the food with a total
of 120 hours. And this year with more seating area up to 1,500 sitting
capacity, everyone will get the chance to try out their desired dishes. Thus it was good to have a larger area so that
more activities can be carried out in the location and the extended hours are
able to allow the guests to have more time to try out all of the available food
and not miss out the programs that were happening such as the chef
demonstration.
c)
The
Marketing Mix
Product
Visitors of this event get to gain exposure
to local food culture and heritage that may have not be known to other countries
other than Singapore. Also this theme which was called ‘Seafood Tales of
Temasek’ has a part in educating about the culture and heritage of the past
Singapore as a fishing village and how it got to develop along with the food
when trade starts to come into Singapore till the modern Singapore.
For every year, there are different themes
with a different story to tell about Singapore’s food culture and heritage. Last
year’s theme was ‘Spice It Up!’ which has a story to tell about the Singapore
history of the Spice Trade Route. It had all spiced-induced dishes unique to
Singapore’s heritage such as the Bak Kut Teh, Fish Head Curry, chicken Biryani
and more to offer.
Place/Location
With the Festival
Village set up at Promenade, Marina Bay, it is very accessible to the public as
you can see from the map below that it just right in front of Bayfront Train
station and not far away is another train station, Raffles Place. Also there is
a car park nearby for those that are coming by their own means of transport.
Thus, many people were able to participate in the event which has a convenient
location with good ease of accessibility.
 |
| SFF 2012 Map |
 |
| SFF 2012 |
 |
| SFF 2011 |
As compared to last year’s
location it was held at Clarke Quay Read Bridge as seen on the map above. The venues
are scattered quite a distance away as compared to the event held at Marina Bay.
Also the location at Marina Bay is lager as compared to Clarke Quay so more
people were able to take part in the event this year
Partnerships
Every event has their own stakeholders and every stakeholder are parties that are interested to know how is the event coming up with and this may include the host organiser, host community, sponsors, media, co-workers, participants, and the audience.
Every event has their own stakeholders and every stakeholder are parties that are interested to know how is the event coming up with and this may include the host organiser, host community, sponsors, media, co-workers, participants, and the audience.
The host organiser of the event will be the
Single Point of Contact Solutions along
with Singapore F&B Alliance and they
have joined hands with Singapore
Tourism Board (STB) to make this event happen. This may attract more
tourists to visit the event, since STB is the closest organisation that is
related to tourist arrivals.
The main sponsor of this event is NETS FlashPay while the official
sponsors are Carlsberg for
official beer, Central
for official mall, Pokka for official
drink, Resorts World Sentosa for
official premium hospitality partner, Ruiter,
Zonin for official prosecco and Zocard for official outdoor media.
The partners for the event are namely Singapore Chef Association, The Malay Heritage Foundation and
Indian Restaurants Association Singapore for helping out with the food for the
food festival.
And lastly the strong supporter for this
event is Singapore Tourism Board
(STB) which helped to make this event successful as a whole.
As compared to last year, there are lesser
sponsors and partners which may affect this festival by not being able to
provide as many programmes and resources as the sponsors are important in
helping the event to function by providing the necessary facilities or
resources.
People
Food enthusiasts will feast on this event
with the wide selection of seafood available. One of the highlight of the event
was the Official Opening of the SFF which started off with a live cooking
demonstration of authentic Singapore signature dish chili crab by Chef Eric Teo
with Guest of Honor, Mr Teo Ser Luk, Minister of State for Trade and Industry.
After that, he had lunch together with the people that launched the festival. I
interviewed my friend Desmond Chua which attended the festival and he felt that
it was actually a nice place to feast and at the same time socialize with
people that have the same interest in food. Not only do you get to eat there
but you also get to meet new faces and know new people. He was with his family
at that time and it can also be an opportunity for the family to enjoy
appreciating food together and bond.
Promotion
One of the sponsors which is Zocard is the Official outdoor media for
Singapore Food festival. Zocard had made great efforts to promote SFF. A Total
of 20,000 standard cards were selectively distributed to locations to reach as
many people as possible. Some areas of distribution are Pubs & Clubs,
Travel & Tourism, Arts & culture and Changi Airport. All of the cards
were taken within three weeks maybe because of the popular signature Chili Crab
dish that was printed on the card as shown in the picture. Last year’s festival
also uses Zocard as the Official outdoor
media.
 |
| Zocard SFF card |
Not many promotions are found outside
anywhere in Singapore maybe due to the lack of capital as more of that are
needed to come up with the programmes and it may affect the amount of target
audience that can be reached.
Price
The admission fee to the Singapore Food
festival Village is free which will definitely attract more potential target
markets. In addition the main sponsor NETS
FlashPay encouraged the people to purchase the limited edition SFF 2012
NETS FlashPay card which entitles a 20% discount for all purchases at the SFF
Village as it is one of the mode of payment. This will attract more potential
market as discounts are given.
Other events that are happening elsewhere are also free except for some event such as the cooking workshop which was priced at $150+. You get to join celebrity Chef Violet Oon to learn how to whip up some dishes like Salted Egg Roe Crabs and taste more of her cooking. I would say it is a reasonable price to pay to meet a celebrity chef and also get to learn hands on. Also there will be lunch or dinner provided which is of quality. Also not to be missed is the seafood platter which is only available at SFF Village with a price of $36.90+. It is by Seafood Paradise which consists of their famous Chili Crab/ Creamy Butter Crab, Stir-fried Live Geoduck with Asparagus in XO Sauce, Crisp-fried Prawns tossed with Salted Egg Yolk, Deep-fried Coral Trout in Nyonya Style and Supreme Seafood Fried Rice. I would say it is an excellent price to pay for top notch quality seafood ingredients which you will never regret.
There are a total of 27 programmes with 9 free entry programmes and 18 paid programmes this year as compared to last year with a total of 24 programmes with 11 free entry programmes and 13 paid programmes. There is an increase in paid programmes as it may cater more to the high society people who are really devoted in appreciating food. Such programme like cooking classes or workshop allows them to gain more knowledge on food as well as preparing them.
 |
| Limited Edition SFF NETS FlashPay card |
Other events that are happening elsewhere are also free except for some event such as the cooking workshop which was priced at $150+. You get to join celebrity Chef Violet Oon to learn how to whip up some dishes like Salted Egg Roe Crabs and taste more of her cooking. I would say it is a reasonable price to pay to meet a celebrity chef and also get to learn hands on. Also there will be lunch or dinner provided which is of quality. Also not to be missed is the seafood platter which is only available at SFF Village with a price of $36.90+. It is by Seafood Paradise which consists of their famous Chili Crab/ Creamy Butter Crab, Stir-fried Live Geoduck with Asparagus in XO Sauce, Crisp-fried Prawns tossed with Salted Egg Yolk, Deep-fried Coral Trout in Nyonya Style and Supreme Seafood Fried Rice. I would say it is an excellent price to pay for top notch quality seafood ingredients which you will never regret.
There are a total of 27 programmes with 9 free entry programmes and 18 paid programmes this year as compared to last year with a total of 24 programmes with 11 free entry programmes and 13 paid programmes. There is an increase in paid programmes as it may cater more to the high society people who are really devoted in appreciating food. Such programme like cooking classes or workshop allows them to gain more knowledge on food as well as preparing them.
Programming
“Singapore Food Festival Village” is a free entry programme for anyone who is interested to explore into the world of seafood. About 50 vendors were stationed under a tent and all they need are the chefs to cook the dishes at each vendor. Since it is cheaper and easy to set a tent and all the small stalls, it is more productive for the stalls to earn more money overtime in the long run and hence this event is free.
As for “Sea-Food and Eat cooking workshop by Violet Oon”, it involves a celebrity chef, Violet Oon, who has been recognized by many for being Singapore’s Food Ambassador. Great effort is need to organize this cooking workshop as lunch or dinner has to be provided and the logistics for the cooking equipments are also part of the cost of planning. Ingredients are provided and also had to be sourced for. Hence the programme has to be charged instead of being free.
d)
Firstly, I would propose to the festival organizer
to host the Singapore Food Festival Village in my hotel. The hotel will be
providing the necessary logistics and venue for the event. I would also like
the hotel to participate in the event by sending the chefs from the hotel to
cook some of the popular seafood dishes that is available in the hotel’s
restaurant.
In addition to the Food Festival that will be
happening in the hotel, I would like to host a seafood cooking competition to encourage
talented visitors as well as passionate seafood lovers to cook the best tasting
Singaporean style seafood dish. The judges will be the chefs from the hotel and
the winner will get to enjoy a 50% discount when staying in the hotel with
meals provided from the restaurant. This will create an exposure to new
Singaporean inspired seafood dishes and visitors can get to learn how to cook
it as well. At the same time, it will also create an awareness of the food
culture and heritage of Singapore as each vendor has a story to tell about how
the food came about in Singapore.
References:
Ellena, G.(2012, July). Singapore Food
Festival 2012 @ Waterfront Promenade, Marina Bay. Cuisine Paradise.
Retrieved 20 November 2012, from: http://cuisineparadise-eatout.blogspot.sg/2012/07/singapore-food-festival-2012-waterfront.html
Hanna, B.(2012, June). Seafood featured
as theme of Singapore Food Festival. Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved 20
November 2012, from: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1209969/1/.html
Singapore Food Festival Official Website: http://singaporefoodfestival.com.sg/2012/
(2012). Case Study Singapore Food Festival.
Zocard. Retrieved 20 November 2012, from: http://www.zocard.com/pdfs/news/casestudy/2008041207106883CaseStudySingaporeFoodFestival.pdf
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