Name: Chen YunXin

Class:3B01

Tutorial Group: T01


Singapore Standard Chartered Marathon 2007

Introduction:
The Singapore Standard Chartered Marathon returns on 2 December 2007 with their promise to make the race a bigger and better one this year for both the runners and supporters. As mentioned by the event director for the marathon; Mr. Yazed Osman, it is their intention to develop the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon to be one of the region’s best races and we have put in place many measures to ensure nothing is compromised. The Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2007 also forms the second leg of the Greatest Race on Earth (GROE) series that includes marathons in Nairobi, Mumbai and Hong Kong. During this event, the organizers are expecting 38,000 runners which is an increase of six times from year 2002 when Singapore Standard Chartered became the title sponsor. The flag off for the full marathon was held at 5.30am. The time that was chosen for the flag off was due to the feedback from the runners that an earlier time will help them to cope better with the heat and humidity.


Background of the organizer:
The organizers of Singapore Standard Chartered Marathon 2007 are Singapore Athletic Association (SAA) and Singapore Sports Council (SSC).
Singapore Athletic Association is a non profit organization of Singapore governing body that has a membership of 20 affiliate institutions in track and field. It was founded in 1934 and has since grown to chart new territories for the future. The association takes pride in nurturing talents to work towards a holistic athlete development and making athletics a viable career. The roles of SAA – by its legal status, to sanction, promote, expand and strengthen athletics in Singapore.
The next organizer of Singapore Standard Chartered Marathon is the Singapore Sports Council. They are Singapore’s leading agency that is tasked with developing sports in Singapore. Their vision is to create a Sporting Singapore where sports are a way of life. They are formed on 1 October 1973, SSC us a statutory board that is under the purview of the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports. The aim of SCC is to develop sports champions and create enjoyable sporting experiences for Singapore through the three strategic thrusts of cultivating a sporting culture, achieving sports excellence and creating a vibrant sports industry.

The role of events to the organizer (or attraction/ venue):
Standard Chartered Marathon is a sports event tourism that was held to attract runners who have the passion for running. It may be regarded as a periodic hallmark event as it is being held once a year for six years. With this, it has a high tourist demand together with a high value. Values may be of different measures. The role of events to the organizer would be to attract not only the Singaporeans but also foreigners to this event. As the race is being held at the middle district of Singapore, which runners will be passing by the finest scenic areas of Singapore including the Singapore River, Marina South, the Central Business District, East Coast Park and City Hall, this will have an impact on the image enhancement, environmental value and economic benefits of Singapore. The positive images of Singapore Greenery can enhance the quality of life of Singapore to the foreigners. This will also combat the negative imagery attractions of Singapore. Also, with the increase in tourist to Singapore for this event, it will increase the visitors spending and the length of stay. The longer the tourists stay in Singapore, the more places he/she will visit. This will acts as the catalyst to support other places of interest thus encouraging repeat visits if they do not have enough time to finish the visiting or would like to have a re-visit to the attractions with their friends or families.




The stakeholders in the event:
The stakeholders of events all around the world are actually almost the same. In this case of Singapore Standard Chartered Marathon, the stakeholders would be everyone that is involved in this event to make it a successful one. To begin, we start from the organizers; SAA and SSC that are the one organizing this event. Without them, there would not be a Singapore Marathon. Next, we move on to the Sponsors of the event. They would be the main sponsor – Standard Chartered, followed by the Co-Sponsor – Adidas and the official sponsors who are Berocca, 100plus, Marina Mandrin, PowerBar, Mentholatum. Lastly, the official Volunteer Programmed Partner – National Volunteer & philanthropy Centre, Traffic Police, LTA, National Parks, Alexandra Hospita, Pasta-Party Partner. Charity event- The Autism Association

After all this bigger stakeholders that have been mentioned, I will now bring you to the other significant stakeholders of the event.
« Media for the event
« Staff of the organizing committee
« Crews involved in setting up the event venue
« Runners running in the race
« Volunteers helping out in the event
« Cheerers/ audience
« First-aiders
« Sweepers cleaning up after the event

The target market:
Standard chartered marathon has been held for a few years since it first started. Throughout the years, it includes many different competitors and runners. It seems no difference for last year Singapore Standard Chartered Marathon 2007. From the ages of the runners that are participating in the race, it shows that the target market for this event are definitely those that who are interested to join in for personal achievement or for the fun. As there are the individual and team races, the targeted groups for the different races are also different. For the individual race, the different segment for the race are the full marathon of 42.195km which target at older youths and adults who have train their stamina enough for this race, half marathon of 21.1km and 10km men and women who also targets at youths and adults, wheelchair segment of 10km only for those who are handicapped and the kids dash of 750m for kids below the age of 13. These races have clearly shown that there are many different segments, thus having different demographics for the age group.



The marketing strategies employed by the organizer:
There are many different marketing strategies that are being employed by the organizer for the event. These include the product, which in this case is the marathon itself. It is important to note what the runners need, want and will pay for, so as not to suffer from product orientation. The marathon has been carried out successfully thus having an overwhelming of participants from different countries.

Also, the location of the marathon held was very suitable and has provided a pure and clean atmosphere for the runners to run the race. It was design so as to allow the runners to have a more conducive place. Not only that, the settings of the event has also been clearly organized for the runners, spectators, and volunteers. They have different destinations which are the starting line, finishing line, baggage tent, on course, corporate hospitality, elite athlete tents, medical tents and volunteer’s tent. Each of which have their features so as to compromise and accommodate every single stakeholders. The event products were clearly distributed so as not to negatively affect the customer’s judgment. This was mainly done through the event launch and also through the promotions that was held.

Next up would be the partnerships of the Singapore Marathon. Good relationships must be cultivated with packaging partners and intermediaries. In order to facilitate well the race, they have many different stakeholders and organizers involved in producing this event. This will then lead us to the promotions of the event. Advertising has been largely used for this event. In the case of advertising on banners alongside the road kerbs and bus stops, pamphlets and print ads, website and newspapers are part of promoting this event. Also, Standard Chartered Bank card to a 15% discount on their registration fees and all participants are entitled members are entitled to a 20% off all adidas running gear. Moreover, Team race and corporate races are sold at cheaper prices. (Prices are stated below)

As the communication mix requires ongoing management and relationship building which is not just a one-off effort, there are the ancillary events held which are the running clinics, run-with-me-sessions, race entry pack collection, pasta party and the carnival @ the padang. These events would help to improve the quality of the marathon to run more smoothly.
People are the most important marketing strategy being used. The cast that are involved in this event which are the stakeholders to allow the event to run smoothly is very important. The audiences, which include the supporters and spectators, add on a pinch of enthusiasm towards the race. The hospitality received by visitors will directly shape their experience thus constituting a large part of the event.

The prices of the event are as follows:
· Full Marathon - $85
· Half Marathon - $65
· 10km - $50
· Team - $300
· Kids dash - $15
· Wheelies - $50
· Corp - $50
· Bulk - $50
· School - $40

Runners will be able to get their run pack which include a dry fit tee for the day of the run, together with the bag that they will be able to keep their belongings in on the actual day of the event.

The rating of the organizations of the event. Why?
I would give a rating of 8.5 out of 10 for the organization of the Singapore Standard Chartered Marathon. Touching on the positive aspects of this marathon, the organizers have clearly done the feasibility study before carrying out this event. This is because; they have determined the climatic and weather considerations and venues for this event. Though the races are in the open, there are tents build up along the way on the track. This is to control any happenings if the weather is to change drastically. Also, the venues of the event was clearly planned and stated for the runners to know exactly the route of the whole race.

Not only that, information is widely available on the website of the marathon so as to help the runners and those who are interested to know more about the event to get the information readily. The awareness of the event is also being advertised and promoted widely. As mentioned above, banners are being put up to attract more people. Not only that, registration is made simple for the runners as they have choices whether to register online, over at SAA, or at the event launch.

With this, I can conclude that the organizers have prepared themselves well enough to carry out the event successfully. The missing 1.5 marks would be due to the unplanned crowdedness of the event. As I was a baggage crew volunteer of this event, I have encountered missing bags from the events which causes the runners to be unhappy. Also, they would have to return back to the baggage site only after the race has ended and the crowds being lessen before the search for the missing bags begins. Perhaps they could have done better such as having standby crews in search for missing bags instead of having runners to wait.




The potential of the event by the organizer to meet tourist demand:
Tourist demand may be different at all times. In the event of the Singapore marathon, the demand of tourists may be in the form of safety, food and accommodation. Firstly, the safety of the tourists has to be taken care of as they are here as visitors not only for the race but also a guest for leisure. If anything were to happen to them in Singapore, we will be labeled as a bad hosts and this will affect the reputation of Singapore thus causing problems when we were to organize such events again. Food and drinks are the necessity in one’s daily life. During the event, water plays an important factor as the runners may experience dehydration. Thus, the organizers have plan properly, having manned aid and drink stations set up along the route, the first being at the 3km mark and subsequent ones at approximately 1.5km intervals.

Lastly, it would be the accommodation of the tourists. As they are here to attend the event, they would definitely need a proper lodging. Thus, the organizers can actually co-operate with a few hotels for the tourists to stay in. Or perhaps, those participants may get a discount on the rate of the room.

Suggestions 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 become the Events and Entertainment Capital of Asia. As the event of the Singapore Marathon is held yearly with the participants increasing each year, this event should actually be made even wider. This can actually be done so by promoting the event not only in Singapore itself but also massive advertising overseas. As Singapore’s mission is to develop into an events capital of Asia, they would have to gain the awareness of foreigners in the first place. Thus, I believe that the best way in which Singapore can create massive awareness would be by marketing themselves together with the events overseas.

With regards to the event calendar of Singapore, I realised that every year after the day of the Singapore Standard Chartered Marathon, it will be the International Guitar Competition. In the year 2007, there are events such as the Christmas in the tropics, theatre show – Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and at the end of the week, there is the Zouk Out event. However, as seen on this year calendar, there are no other events held before and after the duration of the Singapore Marathon. Therefore, I feel that the organizers should choose a day with more events to be held within the week so as for the visitors to enjoy themselves at one go. With more visitors as participants in Singapore, it will mean that there would be a higher spending power of the visitors which is a key driver to the economic growth for Singapore. Not forgetting a part on the charity that Singapore Marathon is helping on to raised funds for the Autism Association.

Raising the value of this event can also be promoted overseas. Though all the information is available on the website, not all participants will look through everything especially the old runners. Thus, they could mail flyers together with the application form so as to increase the awareness of the charity raising.


Appendix:




Us @ the padang. PayTime!!!



The scenic of the event..



Crowd @ the padang



At the start of the race..